www.washingtonblade.com
Open in
urlscan Pro
188.114.96.3
Public Scan
URL:
https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/10/17/capital-stonewall-democrats-dc-election-endorsements/
Submission: On October 18 via manual from US — Scanned from NL
Submission: On October 18 via manual from US — Scanned from NL
Form analysis 1 forms found in the DOM
GET https://www.washingtonblade.com/
<form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://www.washingtonblade.com/">
<input type="text" name="s" id="s" value="Search" onfocus="if (this.value == "Search") { this.value = ""; }" onblur="if (this.value == "") { this.value = "Search"; }">
<input type="hidden" id="searchsubmit" value="Search">
</form>Text Content
* Politics
* Local
* National
* World
* Arts & Entertainment
* Financial
* Photos
* Opinions
* Life Style
* Noticias en Español
* Classifieds
* About
* Archives
* Print Edition
* Find a Copy
* Subscribe
* Contact Us
* Los Angeles Blade
* Advertise with Us
* Become A Blade Member
Connect with us
*
*
*
*
*
WASHINGTON BLADE: LGBTQ NEWS, POLITICS, LGBTQ RIGHTS, GAY NEWS
CAPITAL STONEWALL DEMS ANNOUNCES D.C. ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
Donate
* Politics
* Anti-LGBTQ ads dog Democrats in key races as polls tighten
* Baldwin attacked over LGBTQ rights support as race narrows
* Trump, GOP candidates spend $65 million on anti-trans ads
* Harris talks marriage equality, LGBTQ rights with Howard Stern
* Harris campaign ramps up LGBTQ engagement as Election Day nears
* Local
* Va. teacher fired for refusing to use student’s preferred pronouns reaches
$575K settlement
* Capital Stonewall Dems announces D.C. election endorsements
* Arlington County forms LGBTQ Advisory Committee
* D.C. LGBTQ Harris-Walz group seeks volunteers for phone bank
* Chefs for Equality returns with 150 pros serving up their best
* D.C.
* Maryland
* Virginia
* Delaware
* Best of Gay DC
* Photos
* National
* Pentagon gives honorable discharges to 800+ LGBTQ veterans
* Detroit teen arrested in fatal stabbing of gay man
* Karine Jean-Pierre becomes Biden’s fourth openly LGBTQ senior adviser
* Supreme Court begins fall term with major gender affirming care case on
the docket
* Lesbian software developer seeks to preserve lost LGBTQ history
* World
* Report: Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act has cost country $1.6 billion
* Pope Francis meets with transgender, intersex Catholics
* Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Asia and Europe
* Gay couple beaten, paraded in public in Nigeria
* Murdered Israeli hostage’s cousin describes family’s pain
* Noticias en Español
* Radicado por 3ra vez en Congreso de Colombia proyecto de ley que prohíbe
las prácticas de ‘conversion’
* Impunidad y violencia contra las poblaciones LGBTQ en Honduras: el caso
de Erlin Blandín
* Avanza la inclusión de poblaciones LGBTQ en Honduras
* Corte Constitucional de Ecuador insiste a Asamblea que apruebe ley sobre
reproducción asistida
* Unas 24 mil personas participan en marcha del orgullo en la capital
salvadoreña
* Opinions
* We owe future generations so much better than Trump
* Unfair attacks on Springfield Haitians recall our disturbing past
* To West Africa with love
* 10 reminders of why we must vote for Harris
* On National Coming Out Day: No more silent compromises
* Peter Rosenstein
* Kate Clinton
* Rick Rosendall
* Kathi Wolfe
* Brock Thompson
* Mark Lee
* A&E
* Best of LGBTQ D.C. 2024
* Homophobes threaten lives of WNBA star and wife
* ‘Witches’ unveils supernatural powers we get from growing up gay
* PHOTOS: Franklin County Pride
* Thom Gunn bio explores joys, complexities of modern gay life
* Television
* PBS ‘Disco’ is a Pride party you don’t want to miss
* Lesbian road movie returns with campy ‘Dolls’
* Watch ‘Feud,’ if you like glam and wit doused with betrayal and regret
* Rough and sexy ‘Open To It’ explores lighter side of polyamory
* ‘Fellow Travelers’ mixes queer love, politics for sexy history lesson
* Dining
* Union Market’s Last Call Bar a welcoming oasis for all
* RAMMYs honors restaurant industry professionals
* Behind the bar with Moon Rabbit’s Thi Nguyen
* My Rehoboth Beach culinary tour
* New D.C. restaurants opening just in time for spring
* Theater
* A contemporary take on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Folger
* ‘Acting their asses off’ in ‘Exception to the Rule’
* Broadening space for gender nonconforming singers
* A busy season underway in local theater scene
* Explore new venues, productions during D.C. Theatre Week
* Film
* ‘Beauty, beauty, look at you!”: 50 years of ‘Female Trouble’
* Aubrey Plaza, Hollywood’s most ironic star, delivers one-two punch
* Trans MMA star battles prejudice in ‘Unfightable’ doc
* What to watch this fall
* Timely doc celebrates America’s most beloved president as ‘Lover of Men’
* Music
* Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry plan fall releases
* Fall concerts feature Sivan, Eilish, Lauper, more
* National Symphony plays free concert Sunday
* Musical icons and newer stars to rock D.C. this spring
* Grammys: Queer women and their sisters took down the house
* Books
* Thom Gunn bio explores joys, complexities of modern gay life
* A rabid fan’s look at the best and worst of queer TV
* Author rails against racism and desire, politics, loss
* Fall books offer something for every taste
* Two books to read when your child comes out as trans
* Photos
* PHOTOS: Franklin County Pride
* PHOTOS: Winchester Pride
* PHOTOS: Dominique Jackson at Bunker
* PHOTOS: SMYAL Fall Brunch
* PHOTOS: Task Force cocktail reception
* Best of Gay DC
* Contests
* Financial
* Spooky Pride: Thrifty LGBTQ Halloween decor tips for your rental
* Avoiding the basement blahs
* The new kids on the block
* Ensuring safer water in rentals with ‘Lead Free DC’ initiative
* Make your home shine this fall
* Health
* US contributes more than $90 million to fight mpox outbreak in Africa
* Mpox outbreak in Africa declared global health emergency
* White House urged to expand PrEP coverage for injectable form
* Young gay Latinos see rising share of new HIV cases, leading to call for
targeted funding
* Asian American and LGBTQ: A Heritage of Pride
* News
* US contributes more than $90 million to fight mpox outbreak in Africa
* Mpox outbreak in Africa declared global health emergency
* White House urged to expand PrEP coverage for injectable form
* Young gay Latinos see rising share of new HIV cases, leading to call for
targeted funding
* Asian American and LGBTQ: A Heritage of Pride
* Cannabis Culture
* New Mexico guv signs marijuana legalization
* Delaware cannabis activists take on corporate marijuana
* Virginia marijuana legalization takes effect July 1
* Highstream 420 Festival Livestream
* Cannabis Culture
* Fitness
* NEW YEAR NEW YOU 2020: Local VIDA master trainer on trends, tips and
technology at the gym
* Why a personalized diet can help you achieve better results
* Al Roker blasts Jillian Michaels for criticizing Keto diet
* Make 2019 your year for fitness
* Raising healthy adults starts now
* Classifieds
* About
* Print Edition
* Archives
* Advertise
* Los Angeles Blade
* BECOME A MEMBER
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CAPITAL STONEWALL DEMS ANNOUNCES D.C. ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS
Published
21 hours ago
on
October 17, 2024
By
Lou Chibbaro Jr.
Capital Stonewall Democrats declined to endorse D.C. Council member Trayon
White, who’s been indicted on bribery charges. (Washington Blade file photo by
Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)
Share
Tweet
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, has
announced it has endorsed all but one of the Democratic candidates on the Nov. 5
D.C. election ballot.
Among those the group says it has endorsed wholeheartedly are Democratic
presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her vice-presidential running mate, Tim
Walz.
The one D.C. Democratic candidate it chose not to endorse is Ward 8 D.C. Council
member Trayon White, who was indicted earlier this year on federal bribery
charges.
“The membership declined to vote on the Ward 8 Council seat until the
investigation and trial of the Democratic candidate is concluded,” the group
said in an Oct. 9 statement announcing its endorsements.
In its endorsements for the two At-Large D.C. Council seats up for election
this year, Capital Stonewall Democrats broke from its tradition of endorsing
only Democratic candidates. In addition to endorsing incumbent At Large Council
member Robert White (D), the group also endorsed independent At Large Council
member Christina Henderson. Both Henderson and Robert White are longtime LGBTQ
rights supporters.
Among the other Democratic candidates endorsed by Capital Stonewall Democrats
include D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton; Ward 2 Council member
Brooke Pinto; Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George; and Ward 7 D.C.
Council candidate Wendell Felder. Felder is running for the seat being vacated
by incumbent Council member and former D.C. mayor Vincent Gray (D), who is not
running for re-election.
Pinto and Lewis George are running unopposed.
The remaining Democratic candidates endorsed by Capital Stonewall Democrats
include D.C. Shadow U.S. Senate candidate Ankit Jain and D.C. Shadow U.S. House
candidate Oye Owolewa.
The“shadow” U.S. Senate and House seats are unpaid positions with no voting
rights or privileges in Congress. They were created to lobby for D.C. statehood
and other issues of importance to D.C. that come before Congress.
The statement released by the group says it declined to take a position on
Initiative 83, a measure on the D.C. election ballot calling for creating a
rank choice voting system in D.C. and calling for open D.C. primaries. If
approved by voters, the measure would allow independents to vote in party
primaries that are currently open only to registered members of the Democratic,
Republican, and Statehood-Green parties.
The D.C. Democratic State Committee, the governing body of the D.C. Democratic
Party, is strongly opposed to Initiative 83 on grounds, among other things, that
it opposes allowing non-Democrats to vote in D.C. Democratic primary elections.
Howard Garrett, the Capital Stonewall Democrats president, said the group has
taken no official position on Initiative 83 other than it has chosen not to
endorse the measure.
“We just think it is in the best interest of our organization to let individuals
within our organization make their own determination on this issue,” he told the
Washington Blade. “We will not endorse or state that we are not in agreement
with I-83.”
The Log Cabin Republicans of the District of Columbia, the local chapter of the
national LGBTQ Republican organization Log Cabin Republicans, has not issued
endorsements of any of the six Republican candidates running for local D.C.
elective positions, according to Andrew Mink, the D.C. Log Cabin president.
Among the D.C. Republican candidates are Nate Derenge, who is running against
Ward 8 Council member Trayon White. Political observers say White is expected to
win re-election despite the criminal charges pending against him. However, the
D.C. Board of Elections’ list of candidates who have filed papers as write-in
candidates shows five candidates are challenging White as a write-in candidate.
Related Topics:Brooke PintoCapital Stonewall DemocratsChristina
HendersonD.C.D.C. CouncilD.C. Democratic PartyDistrict of Columbiaelection
2024featuredJaneese Lewis GeorgeKamala HarrisTim WalzTrayon WhiteWard 8Wendell
Felder
Don't Miss
Chefs for Equality returns with 150 pros serving up their best
Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST
FEATURED LOCAL SAVINGS
AROUND THE WEB
BRAIN SURGEON: DO THIS TO RELIEVE TINNITUS AND HEARING LOSS! (WATCH)
Growth Advice
PREPPER'S SOLAR INVENTION REVEALED (12X MORE EFFICIENT THAN SOLAR PANELS?)
Solar Switch
FIGHTING DIABETES? THIS DISCOVERY LEAVES DOCTORS SPEECHLESS!
Sugar Defender
UROLOGIST: MANY MEN WITH AN ENLARGED PROSTATE DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS SIMPLE TRICK
Titan Flow
ADD SITE FOR FREE
Ethereal Search Engine
WALMART CENTER FOR RACIAL EQUITY UPDATE: ADVANCING EQUITY IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Load More
YOU MAY LIKE
Best of LGBTQ D.C. 2024
We owe future generations so much better than Trump
Anti-LGBTQ ads dog Democrats in key races as polls tighten
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CHEFS FOR EQUALITY RETURNS WITH 150 PROS SERVING UP THEIR BEST
‘Restaurants are central to their neighborhoods’
Published
3 days ago
on
October 15, 2024
By
Evan Caplan
Chefs for Equality will be held Monday, Oct. 21. (Blade file photo by Michael
Key)
One year after its fabulous post-pandemic re-debut, the Human Rights Campaign
Foundation and hospitality veteran, food writer, and lead organizer David
Hagedorn are hosting Chefs for Equality on Oct. 21, featuring 150 chefs, bakers,
mixologists, sommeliers, and restaurateurs across 50 savory and 20 dessert
stations, under the theme “Fully Committed.”
Proceeds from this night of culinary decadence and altruism support HRC
Foundation’s fight for LGBTQ equality across the country.
Chefs for Equality, however, is more than an annual event. This year, for
certain, it contains weight and meaning, coming days before a consequential
election that may decide how inclusive, welcoming, and equity-focused state,
local, and national governments will be.
While many industries and companies have pulled back on DEI efforts this year,
the restaurant industry has maintained its strong stance on inclusivity.
Research from the National Restaurant Association showed that even during
difficult financial landscapes, restaurant operators still give back to their
communities. According to the 2023 State of the Restaurant report, “84% of
restaurant operators said that since 2020, they’ve made charitable contributions
to assist those in need.”
This national report proves that the industry is deeply entrenched in the
communities they serve and Hagedorn says the industry continues to serve in an
inclusive way.
Echoing the survey findings, he says that in D.C., “The industry continues to
step up for the LGBTQ+ community even though they have come through the hardest
economic challenge they ever faced with the pandemic.”
Hagedorn, who has been part of the organizing committee since the event’s
inception, says that the “chef community in D.C. is the most generous in the
country. They have been supportive of Chefs for Equality since our first event
in 2012.”
Indeed, even prior to Chefs for Equality, in 1990, Hagedorn started the annual
Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction, a benefit for Food & Friends to support delivery
of meals and nutrition counseling for people living with HIV/AIDS. Even then, he
notes, the industry made an effort to support a highly marginalized community.
He continued that the “industry in D.C. continues to support the diversity that
is represented across our various communities. Looking at the participating
businesses this year, there are more women and people of color represented than
ever.”
Plus, he says that many restaurants have LGBTQ owners, staff, and family, and,
of course, clientele. “We love to eat out and spend a lot of disposable income
doing it.”
RaShawn Hawkins, Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s senior director of the
Workplace Equality Program, echoed that, “LGBTQ+ people exist in all spaces.
We’re managers, chefs, bartenders, and customers. By being fully committed to
LGBTQ+ allyship, food and beverage businesses can not only create environments
that people are excited and proud to work in, but they get to reap the financial
benefits. LGBTQ+ allyship is not only better for people, it’s simply better for
business.”
Those employees and leaders have come out in full force. Community members
include Patrick O’Connell (Inn at Little Washington, one of the original
participants) Jason Berry and Michael Reginbogin (KNEAD Hospitality), Harley
Peet (Bas Rouge), Kareem Queeman (Mr. Bake Sweets) and Voula Tripolitsiotis
(Blue Lace Cakes), AJ Johnson and JP Sabatier (Jane Jane; and on the planning
committee), Joy Crump (FoodE), Ruth Gresser (Pizzeria Paradiso), and Jamie Leeds
(Hank’s Oyster Bar), among others. Dozens of allies have participated for
multiple years, underlining their personal and professional dedication to the
LGBTQ community, including Michelle and Christophe Poteaux, Georgetown Cupcake,
Todd Thrasher, Matt Adler, Amy Brandwein, Scott Drewno, Ris Lacoste, Mike
Friedman, David Guas, and Jose Andres.
One of the strongest allies, participating chef Masako Morishita (and Beard
Foundation Emerging Chef winner) from Perry’s, said that taking part carries
special meaning for her. “The restaurant industry has historically been male
dominated, even though women are integral to the space. As an immigrant woman
myself, I have seen how elements of the industry can be oppressive or exclusive,
and I have made it my priority to create an inclusive environment in my
kitchen.”
Perry’s, she notes, has long been a champion of LGBTQ rights, and has hosted the
longest-running drag brunch in D.C., dating to the 1980s. “As executive chef, I
continue to celebrate the community. Working at a restaurant that champions
LGBTQ+ culture, particularly drag culture, was important to me. Funnily enough,
when I moved to the U.S., I picked up a lot of my English from watching
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ which is still one of my favorite TV shows.”
Participating baker Kareem (“Mr. Bake”) Queeman said, “As a Black gay man who
has hidden his sexuality in the food space in the past, this event truly shows
the strength and community that we have here in the DMV. Still, he says, there’s
more work to do, like “providing training to staff on cultural sensitivity and
inclusive practices to create a more understanding and supportive work
environment.”
The 2024 version of Chefs for Equality features 13 personal chef tables,
providing an opportunity to dine with celebrity chefs for a lavish five-course
meal in the middle of the action.
Last year, the event premiered the Speed Diner Drag Brunch, during which five
chefs prepare a 20-minute brunch while three of D.C.’s top queens — Shelita
Ramen, Tara Hoot and Shi-Queeta Lee — put on a show. Upstairs, VIP ticketholders
gain access to an exclusive Upper Tier Apero Champagne and Petrossian and Caviar
Lounge; there is also an after-party at the Mayflower Club.
“It’s the largest LGBTQ+-focused event of its kind in D.C., if not the entire
country. The chefs always seem to make more of an effort for CFE — the food is
truly remarkable,” says Hagedorn. “Restaurants are central to their
neighborhoods, and I don’t see their support for our community wavering,”
Hagedorn concluded.
Tickets are available at chefsforequality.org.
Continue Reading
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
GLAA RELEASES RATINGS FOR ONLY FOUR OF 10 D.C. COUNCIL CANDIDATES
Defends decision to base scores on non-LGBTQ issues
Published
3 days ago
on
October 15, 2024
By
Lou Chibbaro Jr.
Council member Robert White scored a nearly perfect +9 on GLAA’s rating system.
(Blade file photo by Michael Key)
GLAA D.C., formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington,
announced on Oct. 8 that it has issued ratings for only four of the 10 D.C.
Council candidates running in the city’s Nov. 5 general election.
Under a policy adopted earlier this year, GLAA only rates candidates that return
a GLAA questionnaire, the responses to which GLAA uses to determine its ratings.
In resent years, GLAA has also limited its ratings to D.C. Council candidates
and candidates for mayor in years when a mayoral race takes place.
The GLAA ratings for the four candidates, three of whom are incumbent Council
members, include Council members Robert White (D-At-Large) +9; Christina
Henderson (I-At-Large) +8.5; and Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) +9.5. Ward 7
Democratic candidate Wendell Felder received a rating of +2 rating.
Felder is running for the seat being vacated by Council member and former D.C.
Mayor Vincent Gray (D), a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter who is not running for
re-election.
Under the GLAA rating system, the candidate ratings range from a +10, the
highest possible score, to a -10, the lowest possible score.
When GLAA, a nonpartisan LGBTQ advocacy group, began its candidate ratings in
the 1970s, it based its ratings on the candidates’ positions and record on
specific LGBTQ-related issues. But in recent years, with D.C.’s local government
having long ago passed LGBTQ supportive nondiscrimination legislation, the group
has based its ratings on issues raised in its candidate questionnaire that are
mostly non-LGBTQ specific.
Among the issues raised in the GLAA candidate questionnaire this year include
asking candidates if they support decriminalizing sex work among consenting
adults; removing criminal penalties for possession of drugs that are currently
illegal for personal use; increased funding for programs to reduce drug overdose
deaths; and “addressing concentrated wealth in the District” by raising revenue
“through taxing the most wealthy residents.”
Just one of the nine questions on the questionnaire asks about a potentially
LGBTQ-specific issue. The question asks if the candidate supports sufficient
funding in the city’s budget for the D.C. Office of Human Rights to adequately
investigate cases of discrimination. The Office of Human Rights has investigated
LGBTQ discrimination cases and could investigate those cases in future years.
GLAA President TyrONE Hanley has argued that each of the specific issues it
raises in its questionnaire has an impact on LGBTQ people and should not be
dismissed as non-LGBTQ issues.
“We believe all of the issues are LGBTQ issues as they impact LGBTQ people,” he
told the Washington Blade. “LGBTQ people are disproportionately impacted by the
lack of affordable housing, incarceration, and overdoses,” he said. “To ignore
the questions in our questionnaire would mean abandoning LGBTQ people who are
most impacted by the failures of our government and community inaction.”
The D.C. Council candidates that were not rated because they did not return the
GLAA questionnaire included Council members Brooke Pinto (D-At-Large), and
Trayon White (D-Ward 8). The non-incumbent candidates who GLAA did not rate
include Rob Simmons (R-At-Large), Darryl Moch (Statehood-Green Party-At Large),
Noah Montgomery (R-Ward 7), and Nate Derenge (R-Ward 8).
Under its policy of only rating D.C. Council and mayoral candidates, GLAA also
does not rate candidates running for the D.C. Board of Education, Delegate to
the U.S. House of Representatives, and the shadow U.S. Senate and U.S. House
seats, which are unpaid offices with no voting authority in Congress.
Among those who disagree with GLAA’s focus on non-LGBTQ specific issues for its
candidate ratings is gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein.
“GLAA has moved from asking candidates questions related to the LGBTQ+ community
to asking general questions,” Rosenstein said. “I don’t believe that is their
role, or that anyone consults the GLAA ratings anymore before they vote,” he
said. “My recommendation is we as a community thank GLAA for all their past
work, when activists like Rick Rosendall ran the organization, and now they
should close their doors and disband.”
The questionnaire and candidate ratings can be accessed at glaa.org.
Continue Reading
BUSINESS
DELVE DEEP LEARNING HARNESSES AI TO REVOLUTIONIZE PUBLIC AFFAIRS WORK
LGBTQ-owned D.C. company makes tech accessible for clients
Published
1 week ago
on
October 9, 2024
By
Joe Reberkenny
Kyle Huwa and Jeff Berkowitz of Delve Deep Learning
From senior federal officials like White House staffers and lobbyists who need
to keep abreast of international and domestic politics, to bookstore owners who
need to stay informed on the latest news to provide an engaging and relevant
space for customers, the city of Washington depends on the news.
One queer-owned start-up in the nation’s capital has recognized the need for
fast and extensive information collection and is working on a solution. The
start-up, Delve Deep Learning, is taking steps to make finding all information
on any topic as easy as a Google search through the monstrously powerful tool of
AI.
Two executives from the new information start-up Delve Deep Learning sat down
with the Washington Blade to discuss how their work is attempting to change the
way professionals think and work in the capital.
To grasp how Delve is transforming the way Washington operates, it’s essential
to first understand what Delve is.
“About 10 years ago, [I] founded Delve,” Jeff Berkowitz, founder and CEO told
the Blade. “It is a competitive intelligence and risk advisory firm focused on
helping public affairs professionals navigate all the different stakeholders and
complex policy issues that they have to deal with.”
Kyle Huwa, Delve’s research manager, offered a simpler explanation of their
work: “Delve is a consulting company specializing in public affairs
intelligence.”
Delve provides its clients with a monitoring program to keep track of challenges
they may face as well as on-demand research tools to help respond to those
challenges. Their clients, which range from industry associations to
policymakers, use this information to look to the future to find the best path
forward using AI.
“Public affairs professionals have the daily and weekly task of staying on top
of any number of issues for their clients and their companies,” Huwa said. “From
news articles to bills, regulations, press releases, social media posts, from
stakeholders. There’s just an overwhelming load of information that they have to
process. What we’re doing is taking all of that information, bringing it into
one place, and using AI models to really surface the content that is most
relevant to what public affairs professionals need to know.”
The “most relevant” information, Huwa explained, widely varies per client. Some
uses of Delve include watching the progress of a piece of legislation through a
state government, an old forgotten regulation passed by a government
organization, or news on current events in another part of the world. Regardless
of what they are tracking, Delve wants to make finding what their clients are
looking for easier.
The program, Berkowitz explains, was started initially to help its own employees
but was soon found to be valuable more broadly.
“The platform really started as an internal tool at Delve,” Berkowitz said.
“When Chat GPT 3.5 came along, we started to see the promise of generative AI.
It’s the first technology I saw where it can’t replace our team members, but we
can train it just like we can team members and make it a real co-pilot for the
analysis that public affairs professionals need to do every day.”
It soon became evident that this application could change the way research in
public affairs is conducted.
“It really became clear that this was something that every public affairs team
needs and that we didn’t necessarily need to be the intermediary between the
technology platform and them,” Berkowitz added. “We could really imbue the AI
models with our approach and methodology, and put it directly in their hands.”
This in turn, the duo explained, saved precious time and money for their clients
to more effectively research what needed to be done next.
To understand how this saves precious time and money for their clients, Huwa
explained how it differs from any general web search.
“Historically you do this with keywords, right?” Huwa said. “You might search in
Google with a keyword, but with keywords, you have to really guess exactly the
right keywords. Sometimes your search return would be too broad, other times it
would be too narrow because you didn’t guess all of the keywords that impacted
your issue. With AI, we’re able to really go beyond keywords and identify the
content, the news, the bills, etcetera, that a user is looking for in the same
way that an analyst would use critical thought to find and sift through content.
Once we surface that content for users, we’re helping them organize it into
reports. We’re helping them draft language insights about that content. It’s
really a way to save time and help them get to those insights more
effectively.”
Berkowitz told the Blade time is extremely valuable to those in the public
affairs sector. Many of which are working against the clock to push their
candidates, policies, or thoughts into the spotlight before their opponent.
“Our mission is to save public affairs teams 1 million hours in the next five
years because they spend too much time trying to figure out what’s going on in
the world and how it impacts their organizations or clients,” Berkowitz
explained. “Right now, they spend two plus hours a day, on average, that’s 25%
of their work week, which only leaves them 75% of their work week to do 100% of
their actual job, advocating on behalf of their clients or their organizations.”
This information in turn allows Delve’s clients more time to develop strategies
to deal with potential issues ahead.
“Our goal is to make sure that that surprise is no longer the standard for
public affairs teams, because that’s really the reality today,” Berkowitz said.
“There’s just so much information flying at them so fast that it’s impossible to
keep on top of everything.”
While extremely helpful in surfacing information, there are other aspects of AI
that have some people scared — particularly when it comes to abusing AI to
promote misinformation as truth.
Berkowitz said he is not worried about their platform being misused.
“For our platform there’s not really a great risk because there’s no access to
the prompt,” he said. “That’s all behind the scenes in the workflows. It’d be
difficult for somebody to misuse our product. But more broadly, misinformation
has been with us for longer than AI has been around. If I was working at a
Chinese or Russian troll farm, I would be worried about losing my job to AI, but
misinformation has been with us for a long time. It’s going to continue to be
with us.”
The way to deal with misinformation, Berkowitz said, is to inform people on how
to spot it.
“The best defense against that is a more educated populace,” he said. “The more
we help folks understand what’s real and what’s not. I think that’s going to
keep getting more challenging as AI gets more effective in creating videos,
creating avatars, creating these different forms of content.”
“Our platform’s job is to surface all of the content that’s out there,” Huwa
added. “I think it’s an ongoing process that that kind of everyone in the data
space is confronting, to figure out how you sift through, how you address
misinformation when there are more than a million news articles coming online
every day.”
Berkowitz pointed out that in some cases misinformation may be what the client
needs to find and if AI doesn’t show it, it would be significantly less
helpful.
“It depends on folks’ use cases,” Berkowitz said. “Some folks really only want
those trusted news sources and trusted sources of information, and we’re giving
them the ability to filter, to only get those. If you’re doing reputational
issues as a public affairs professional, you need to see the crazy stuff, even
if it’s not true, right? We’re going to surface that stuff, even if it is
misinformation because we need to flag it so that the folks that have the
ability to correct the record can address that.”
While they do not fear the potential for misinformation on their AI platform,
they are concerned about training the system to avoid bias.
“I think especially when it comes to AI, there has to be an extra sensitivity to
having diversity of experiences and backgrounds in representation,” Berkowitz
said. “These AI models, especially these foundation models, are trying to create
this foundation of knowledge of the world. If you’re only including certain
types of experiences, you’re not going to get the true foundation of the
world.”
One reason Berkowitz and Huwa care deeply about preventing prejudiced thinking
to impact their AI models is because of their identity as gay men and their
experience with prejudiced people.
“As LGBT founders, if you look at some of the core values that we’re bringing
into Delve Deep Learning, one of our core values is to build with precision and
transparency,” Berkowitz added. “I think being able to be open and clear about
what we’re doing is certainly something that can be a challenge for a lot of
LGBT folks growing up. One of our other core values is to make sure that we’re
building without silos — that it’s a very collaborative process, and everybody
is included… Isn’t it great making sure that we’re kind of building without
those walls in place? I think that that sort of comes from the ethos that I
think a lot of folks that identify as LGBT wish they had in more spaces.”
Huwa sees their experience as gay men almost in parallel to being a start-up
founder.
“I think some of the journey as an LGBT person is figuring out how to confront
challenges,” Huwa said. “I think starting a business that’s really pressing into
a new area, a new technology, and trying to be on the cutting edge of that
technology is just the process of taking risks and overcoming challenges.”
Huwa also referenced the support Delve got from Growth Lab, a startup
accelerator that provides mentoring, education, and networking opportunities for
companies founded by LGBTQ entrepreneurs, for their help in providing resources
to confront their challenges.
“Having Growth Lab as a resource and having other people who’ve experienced
being both LGBT founders and starting a business, which is a big undertaking,
right?” Huwa said. “I think one of the benefits of being a co-founder and LGBT
identifying is that you do have that community that can support you. Growth Labs
has been a great resource there. It’s nice to have that community support.”
With support from organizations like Growth Lab, the tech industry is
increasingly embracing diversity.
“I think for LGBT folks specifically, tech is fairly inclusive, particularly in
the political tech space,” Berkowitz said.
Huwa went as far as to say that he would encourage anyone within the LGBTQ
community to start looking into technology and the possibilities within AI to
make their world a better place.
“Coming from the technical side, I would advise anyone even remotely interested
in learning more about AI to just dive in and start learning how to prompt well
and start testing out the different tools,” Huwa said. “The great thing about AI
as a technology is that it is really accessible to everyone — for LGBT
individuals, for anyone underrepresented in the tech space. Also you have access
to these tools and can start learning how to use them. I think that can be
really helpful as you look for a job, as you think about maybe trying to start
and create a startup yourself.”
Continue Reading
Advertisement
* Latest
* Popular
a&e features12 hours ago
BEST OF LGBTQ D.C. 2024
Virginia15 hours ago
VA. TEACHER FIRED FOR REFUSING TO USE STUDENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUNS REACHES $575K
SETTLEMENT
Sports18 hours ago
HOMOPHOBES THREATEN LIVES OF WNBA STAR AND WIFE
District of Columbia21 hours ago
CAPITAL STONEWALL DEMS ANNOUNCES D.C. ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS
Opinions22 hours ago
WE OWE FUTURE GENERATIONS SO MUCH BETTER THAN TRUMP
a&e features12 hours ago
BEST OF LGBTQ D.C. 2024
Politics2 days ago
ANTI-LGBTQ ADS DOG DEMOCRATS IN KEY RACES AS POLLS TIGHTEN
U.S. Military/Pentagon3 days ago
PENTAGON GIVES HONORABLE DISCHARGES TO 800+ LGBTQ VETERANS
Uganda2 days ago
REPORT: UGANDA’S ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT HAS COST COUNTRY $1.6 BILLION
Books5 days ago
THOM GUNN BIO EXPLORES JOYS, COMPLEXITIES OF MODERN GAY LIFE
Advertisement
SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY E-BLAST
FOLLOW US @WASHBLADE
TRENDING
TINNITUS WORSENS BY EVENING? DO THIS IMMEDIATELY (WATCH)
Growth Advice
PREPPER'S SOLAR INVENTION REVEALED (12X MORE EFFICIENT THAN SOLAR PANELS?)
Solar Switch
UROLOGIST: MANY MEN WITH AN ENLARGED PROSTATE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS SIMPLE TRIC
Titan Flow
FIND SOMETHING NEW
Ethereal Search Engine
Advertisement
POPULAR
a&e features12 hours ago
Best of LGBTQ D.C. 2024
Politics2 days ago
Anti-LGBTQ ads dog Democrats in key races as polls tighten
U.S. Military/Pentagon3 days ago
Pentagon gives honorable discharges to 800+ LGBTQ veterans
Uganda2 days ago
Report: Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act has cost country $1.6 billion
*
*
*
*
*
* About
* Advertise
* Contact Us
* Find A Copy
* Classifieds
* Privacy Policy
* Terms of Service
* RSS Syndication
© Copyright Brown, Naff, Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. 2021. All rights reserved |
Powered by Keynetik.