CG Chen is the Founder and Executive Director of Ample Labs, a tech nonprofit in Canada whose mission is to empower individuals facing homelessness using technology. Their flagship product is Chalmers, an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that makes it easier to find social services like free meals, shelter, clothing banks and more in the City of Toronto all in real-time on desktop and mobile. It’s recently been featured in Forbes and Fast Company. Before Ample, CG worked at various tech companies as a user experience designer including ecobee where she was designing experiences for IoT devices, and Tulip where she designed enterprise software for luxury retailers like Chanel, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, and Frank & Oak. 

Nancy Hammerman is a Senior VP at Sutton Capital Partners, a technology investment banking firm.  Nancy heads up research and marketing and is also the co-founder of the Recurring Revenue Conference --an annual technology conference bringing together multiple industry leaders focused on the subscription economy.

Since 2008 she has coached social entrepreneurs for the Social Innovation Fast Pitch Competition; for Manhattan BeachTEDx; CNN Heroes:for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Living Progress Challenge and for the United Way Homelessness Challenge.  She has served on several non-profit boards and is passionate about technology and innovation.

Emily Uyeda Kantrim is an associate director for Safe Parking LA, creating programs that harness underutilized parking lots around the city to address the needs of Angelenos who are experiencing homelessness and sleeping in their vehicles at night. A career project manager, Uyeda Kantrim has previously worked as a program manager for the Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, administering field projects in physical space, as well as coordinating research and conferences with scholars from around the world. She is the board president a volunteer-led non-profit homeless coalition in the Midtown region of Los Angeles and has previously served as a publicly elected member of the Board of Directors of the Mid City West Community Council. Uyeda Kantrim has a BA in Classics, writing primarily on fascist aesthetics and the 20th century urban design of the EUR in Rome, and continues to edit for academic publications on Near Eastern Archaeology.

Kelly Kimball is a technology entrepreneur, political strategist, and sought-after lecturer. A noted visionary, Kimball has pioneered a variety of business enterprises, taking them from start-ups to multi-million dollar corporations. He founded SDR Technologies, Inc. (SDR) when government agency eFiling was still in its infancy, creating the country’s first electronic filing system for political reporting across multiple states. As Executive Chairman, Kimball enables Vitu to forge strong relationships between government and business enterprise. With years of experience consulting governments worldwide, Kelly is widely recognized as a pioneer of eGovernment, becoming a regular fixture in North American media.

Coley King, D.O. has been practicing family medicine at Venice Family Clinic for more than ten years. His training began at medical school in Kansas City, Missouri. The community he now serves includes many less fortunate individuals who have suffered from illness, addiction, and plain bad luck. Often these patients have become homeless. Dr. King’s practice and collaboration with local social services agencies such as The People Concern and St. Joseph Center have allowed him to reach out to homeless patients through street medicine and outreach clinics. Dr. King strives to understand their predicament as he would his own and to help them achieve their best. He is humbled and fortunate to be able to serve these patients.

Michael Koch is a visionary business and non-profit executive. Michael has a proven track record creating and implementing innovative models and start-ups that are transformative and drive large-scale change, improve systems, and achieve greater social impact.  Currently, Michael is a Program Director at Community Partners.  He is creating a program to provide hospice care to individuals experiencing homelessness.  Prior to Community Partners, Michael was President and COO of the UniHealth Foundation.  He also co-founded CaliforniaKids, a non-profit that provided over 90,000 children access to the medical, dental, vision, and behavioral health care services they deserve.  Michael is recognized as a champion and tireless advocate dedicated to promoting social justice, inclusion, and shaping public policy with the goal to reduce inequities and improve the health and well-being of underserved and vulnerable populations.

Jonathan Kumar is a user experience designer by trade, founding several projects to solve social issues. Jonathan received a BS in Informatics and Economics from the University of Michigan and also has produced multiple short films. His first social enterprise, FoodCircles, enabled anyone to provide nutrition to a local child or family in need simply by dining out. Jonathan then created Samaritan, enabling people on the street in Seattle to access the financial capital and relational guidance needed to find a home. 

Samaritan produces smart wallets specifically designed for people without a home, linking them to the financial capital and relational guidance needed to leave the street. The wallets are offered through care providers, equipping people experiencing homelessness to set their own housing and health goals, and then access the capital and community required to reach them. Learn more and take part at samaritan.city.

A 2019 graduate of CodeTalk Digital Web Technology Vocational Program, Ericka is a Junior

Frontend Developer and currently works for The Honest Company as a Technical Project

Coordinator. Ericka recently had the pleasure of working on the Project Management team for

“Project Phoenix”, the successful launch of The Honest Company’s new e-commerce site &

community on the Salesforce Commerce Cloud Platform.

“ It has been a privilege and amazing journey working with such an intelligent,

hardworking and fun group of people on this project. I have learned so much and gained

a great sense of pride in myself while working here at The Honest Company and on

Project Phoenix. I would never have gotten the chance to interview for this position, let

alone had the confidence to go after this opportunity, without CodeTalk.

Amy Perkins, MSW, is the Director of Interim Housing Strategies for the Office of Mayor Garcetti, overseeing crisis housing interventions, including the A Bridge Home project. Amy came to the city from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), where she was the Associate Director of the Access & Engagement Department, overseeing the training and develop of over 100 street outreach workers and aligning the department’s operations and strategic vision.  Amy was a founding representative at the city’s Unified Homelessness Response Center, where she worked to help develop relationships and align the missions of multiple agencies engaged in coordinated efforts to end homelessness. Prior to her work at LAHSA, Amy was the Director of Strategic Partnerships and oversaw Housing Navigation programs in the San Fernando Valley at LA Family Housing, one of the largest comprehensive real estate developers and homeless service providers in Los Angeles.  With a background in both domestic violence services and the adoption and foster care systems, Amy understands how the intersection of trauma, environment, and oppression can impact the lives of marginalized communities. “There is no them and us. There is only us.” –Greg Boyle 

I'm a Digital Communications Specialist, Project Manager & UX Technologist leading non-profit vocational program for under employed women to breakthrough performance through innovation.

I am a compassionate & effective leader focused on performance & dedicated to delivering highest quality results to exceed expectations. I provide leadership consistent with organizational goals and to support the fulfillment of the mission.

I believe that User Experience is vital not just in web design but in all facets of development & that context is the most important element in meeting goals. Who is it for and what is it really about? 

I believe in minimizing waste, reusing where possible, sustainable realistic growth and the notion that things should be well built in the first place. 

Mel Tillekeratne founded Monday Night Mission in 2011, Co-Founded The Shower of Hope in 2016 and started the #SheDoes Movement in 2018. From 2011 to 2018, Monday Night Mission, a total grassroots organization served on average 250 meals a night Monday through Friday on Skid row. The Shower of Hope currently operates 16 mobile shower sites in the county of LA as well as 2 Safe Parking sites. The #SheDoes Movement was created to bring awareness and resources to the thousands of women experiencing homelessness in LA and is involved in bringing community support to Supportive Housing, Affordable Housing and Brdige Shelters being built throughout the county.

Matt Tinoco is a reporter from Los Angeles. He reports on homelessness for KPCC & LAist.com. Before becoming a radio reporter, he fact-checked for Mother Jones Magazine in San Francisco and was a regular contributor for LAist.com before its reincarnation. He also worked as a freelance reporter for a variety of local and national publications like Curbed, Politico Magazine, CityLab, Quartz, LA Weekly, VICE, Jezebel, the L.A. Review of Books and others.

Natasha is a digital marketer turned community builder, who leads the augmented reality creator ecosystem at Snapchat, and co-leads the female employee resource group, Lady Chillahs.  Natasha is also involved with Code Talk as a mentor and workshop leader in her pursuit and advocacy of a more inclusive tech industry.