Data Analyst Intern –Policy + Ethics

FairwAI is an AI-powered bias detection and compliance platform transforming how industries identify and address algorithmic discrimination. We're building the regulatory infrastructure of the future—starting with hospitality, and hiring. We currently have opening opening for faspring 2026. The summer is 20-40 hours a week and fall/spring is 10-20 hours. We can work with CPT/OPT.

Our collaborators include leaders from MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and global institutions working on AI ethics, digital rights, and inclusive capitalism.

Team:
Shaurjya Mandal – Head of Research, AI Systems & Clinical Innovation
Role: Shaurjya leads FairwAI's research function and the development of its AI methodology — including structured retrieval architectures, sentiment and bias detection systems, and validation frameworks for fairness in clinical and high-stakes AI environments. He ensures FairwAI's research meets the standards of peer-reviewed clinical AI while remaining accessible and useful in real-world deployment.

Bio: Shaurjya Mandal is a machine learning research scientist at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, where he develops and evaluates AI systems for clinical settings. His research sits at the intersection of responsible AI, healthcare equity, and applied machine learning — with published and applied work in algorithmic bias, fairness in clinical decision support, and AI safety for vulnerable populations. He holds an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence from Carnegie Mellon University, where he conducted research at the Robotics Institute on machine perception and learning systems. Prior to his work at Harvard, Shaurjya served as a research engineer at India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and contributed to AI policy and infrastructure projects across the MENA region, including the design of responsible AI deployment frameworks for healthcare and insurance systems in the United Arab Emirates. He is a Nucleate Pittsburgh fellow, a recognized convener in early-stage biotechnology and AI commercialization. At FairwAI, Shaurjya bridges frontier clinical AI research with practical, ethical deployment — ensuring that what we build for the most underserved populations is also held to the highest scientific standard

Mr. Dixon –Chief Compliance Strategist
Role: Visionary founder of FairwAI, Mr. Dixon leads overall strategy, mission alignment, institutional partnerships, and compliance innovation. He ensures the platform remains focused on real-world fairness, risk mitigation, and public accountability—rather than abstract DEI.
Bio:
Mr. Dixon is a serial founder, public interest technologist, and global strategist known for building impact ventures at the intersection of technology, governance, and equity. He is currently a strategic advisor at MIT, where he collaborates across departments such as the MIT Media Lab and Martin Trust Center. Mr. Dixon has served as a policy strategist to President John Mahama of Ghana, worked with the U.S. Department of Energy on distributed energy infrastructure, and led multi-million-dollar public-private partnerships with organizations like GE Healthcare, USAID, and UNICEF.

Mr. Dixon is the founder of SolarFi, a social enterprise that builds portable solar-powered infrastructure for clinics, schools, and underserved communities across Africa. Under his leadership, SolarFi was awarded major U.S. government contracts and featured by MIT and the UN. He has also advised on diplomatic and philanthropic partnerships.
FairwAI is Mr. Dixon’s most urgent venture yet. Inspired by lived experiences of racial bias and systemic discrimination in global travel, hiring, and healthcare systems, he founded FairwAI to reframe fairness as a compliance and safety issue, not a corporate DEI trend. Antonio brings a rare combination of field-tested grit, institutional access, tech, diplomacy, and global coalition to ensure accountability becomes enforceable.

Dr. John Cooley – Technical Advisor
Role: Leads FairwAI’s technical architecture, AI compliance engine, and research partnerships.
Bio: Dr. John Cooley is a renowned technologist and serial entrepreneur who holds five degrees from MIT: B.S. in Electrical Engineering, B.S. in Physics, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, an Engineer’s Degree, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. He earned the David Adler Memorial Thesis Prize and the Morris Joseph Levin Award, recognizing his groundbreaking work in engineering and systems design. John was the CTO and later CEO of Nanoramic Laboratories, where he led the company to raise $44M+ in capital and developed cutting-edge battery and nanotechnology solutions. With 15+ years of experience at the frontier of hardware-software integration and AI systems, John brings a rare blend of research rigor and venture-scale execution. He now advises FairwAI on tech architecture, compliance logic, and academic research integration across MIT and international institutions.
Dr. Niousha Roshani – Social Systems Strategist
Role: Co-leads FairwAI’s strategy, focusing on culturally responsive AI, equity frameworks, and global engagement.
Bio: Dr. Niousha Roshani is a leading voice in the intersection of AI, social justice, and public interest technology. She is a former Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University and co-founder of the Center for Democracy Development and Rule of Law at Stanford University. With a background spanning the UN system, Latin American human rights movements, and Stanford’s impact tech community, Niousha brings a transnational lens to algorithmic fairness and ethical design. Her expertise ensures FairwAI builds tools that not only detect discrimination—but empower communities and institutions to address it systemically. Based in Brazil, she anchors our Global South partnerships and pilots. Brazil is the last country in the western hemisphere to abolish slavery.
Dr. Ryan Chin – Strategic Advisor, Urban Tech & Mobility Systems
Role: Ryan advises FairwAI on systems architecture, urban integration, and commercial strategy. He brings expertise in AI-driven mobility, sensor networks, and resilient infrastructure to inform how FairwAI scales across physical environments like hotels, hospitals, and cities.

Bio:
Dr. Ryan Chin is a globally recognized expert in smart cities, urban mobility, and sustainable design systems. He co-founded Optimus Ride, a leading autonomous vehicle company spun out of MIT, where he served as CEO and led the development of self-driving tech for campuses, cities, and business districts. Prior to that, Ryan was Managing Director of the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, where he pioneered AI-integrated mobility systems and urban computing platforms.

Ryan holds a Ph.D. and two Master's degrees from MIT in Media Arts and Sciences and Architecture. A serial entrepreneur and systems thinker, Ryan has advised Fortune 100 companies, U.S. government agencies, and international city governments on emerging technologies, sustainability, and mobility innovation. He is a frequent keynote speaker at Davos, Smart City Expo, and the UN.

At FairwAI, Ryan supports us with building out our advisory team and the integration of computer vision, IoT, and AI fairness protocols into real-world infrastructure, ensuring our platform is adaptable, sensor-compatible, and aligned with the future of ethical urban technology.

Mike Rinella – Government Affairs, Financial Strategy
Role: Shapes FairwAI’s public policy strategy, unions to get ivolved, government, and compliance market integration.

Bio: Mike Rinella brings decades of experience in public finance, state governance, and strategic planning. He served as a senior advisor to two Governors of New York, including Governor Mario Cuomo, where he worked on economic development, energy regulation, and state-level policy reform. He was also Director of Strategic Planning at SolarFi, helping guide federal partnerships and compliance infrastructure for renewable energy deployments. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School (’86), Mike is instrumental in crafting FairwAI’s pathways to adoption by Attorneys General, state legislatures, and procurement agencies. He also helps navigate our positioning with foundation-aligned capital like PRIs and MRIs.
Carson Smuts – IoT & Hardware Integration Advisor (MIT Media Lab)

Role: Advises on spatial sensing, IoT systems, and architecture for real-world monitoring.
Bio: Carson Smuts is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Media Lab’s City Science Group, where he has spent over a decade developing sensor platforms, digital twins, and hardware systems that interact with real-world environments. He co-created the CityScope urban simulation platform and led the design of MIT’s Environmental Sensing Infrastructure, a foundational piece of the lab’s smart city research. Trained as an architect at Columbia University, Carson transitioned into full-stack engineering with a passion for embedding fairness into built environments. He guides FairwAI’s integration with CCTV, IoT sensors, and spatial computing to power real-time bias detection in travel, healthcare, and hiring.

Dr. Taj Ahmad Eldridge – Strategic Advisor, Capital & Climate Justice
Role: Taj advises FairwAI on capital formation, social impact investment strategy, and ESG-aligned growth. He brings deep expertise in climate finance, racial equity, and fund structuring—ensuring FairwAI’s monetization models and funding pathways align with both mission and market.
Bio:
Taj Ahmad Eldridge is a leading voice in climate justice investing and equitable capital innovation. A former Senior Director of Investment at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), Taj has helped deploy hundreds of millions of dollars toward sustainable technologies and underrepresented founders. He is currently Managing Partner at Include Ventures, where he builds investment vehicles that close wealth gaps and accelerate climate solutions—particularly in communities historically excluded from capital access.
With 20+ years of experience in banking, venture capital, and fund management, Taj has advised funds and institutions including the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Elemental Excelerator, and Capria Ventures. He is also a Senior Advisor to Jobs for the Future (JFF) and a board member of multiple national investment networks and ESG platforms.
Taj’s unique strength lies in combining climate policy, community wealth-building, and financial engineering to drive systems-level impact. As an advisor to FairwAI, he supports efforts to build revenue models rooted in risk mitigation, government accountability, and regulatory tech—while helping ensure capital raised aligns with the venture’s vision of equity-first compliance.

Legal partners:
Baker Botts and Lowenstein Sandler

The Role
We’re seeking a sharp, curious, and mission-aligned Data Analyst Intern to support our core technical work in bias detection. You’ll help uncover patterns of discrimination in real-world datasets—from hospitality reviews to consumer feedback across industries.

This internship is ideal for students or early-career professionals interested in data science, AI fairness, and social impact analytics.

What You’ll Work On
Analyze public review data

Detect racial, gender, or cultural bias in language, ratings, and location trends

Support the development of whats going on for hospitality brands

Collaborate on prototyping data dashboards and explainability features

Document findings with clarity and ethical nuance

What You Bring

• Experience with Python (especially pandas, basic scraping, or NLP) Computer vision would be a bonus

• Comfort working with messy/unstructured datasets

• Strong communication skills (verbal or written — Loom optional)

• Passion for justice, fairness, or the intersection of AI and society

Bonus: Experience in data storytelling, visualization, or social science research

What You’ll Gain

• Real-world experience at the intersection of data science and ethics

• Direct mentorship from advisors at MIT and top-tier tech/policy institutions

• Portfolio-ready projects tackling algorithmic discrimination

• Flexible, remote-first work with global scope

Note: Selected applicants will be invited to complete a short technical screening challenge before moving forward.

We are currently operating in stealth with key global partners.

Pay attention:
We’re excited to see how you think. If you choose to use AI tools to help structure or brainstorm, that’s fine — but we’re not looking for polished fluff or regurgitated answers. We’re looking for your voice, your logic, and your lens

This is an unpaid internship however you may apply for scholarships or school credit or use it for a capstone project. The goal is that once funding is available to hire the interns that perform well.

Top-performing interns will be:
May be referred to graduate fellowships or full-time impact AI roles.
Eligible for future paid positions with FairwAI or its nonprofit arm if funding is available.
Supported in publishing or presenting findings at tech and policy forums.

You will aslo receive the FairwAI Vanguard Certificate for participation. This should help you with future employment and education.