Danielle Forward is a Product Designer at Facebook where she helps bring the next billion online for Facebook Connectivity. After 10 years of working to pay her own way through college, she graduated as valedictorian with her BFA in Interaction Design from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. As a Native American of Pomo heritage, she learned early on how structural inequality impacts livelihood and access to opportunity for marginalized groups, and dedicated her thesis to economic empowerment for Native American communities through tech and design. She founded Native Rising, a website that highlights Native American role models in tech and fosters mentorship connections between Native tech professionals and students.
