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Nicol Turner Lee, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow and Director
The Brookings Institution
Nicol Turner Lee, Ph.D., returns to the Washington Literacy Center's Board of Directors, where she previously served until her term ended in 2018. She is a technology and AI expert and has spent the last two decades working in these areas, particularly designing and implementing public policies and programs that advance equitable digital access. Dr. Turner Lee is a senior fellow and the director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, and the founder of the AI Equity Lab, which develops inclusive technologies in high-risk areas, including health, education, financial services, housing, employment, and criminal justice. She is the author of Digitally Invisible: How the Internet Is Creating the New Underclass (Brookings Press, 2024), which charts a path toward a more equitable digital society. Prior to her current role, she was Chief of Research and Policy at the Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council.
Dr. Turner Lee is a sought-out expert and speaker, and her work has appeared in major print, digital, and broadcast media, including the Washington Post, Politico, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, CNBC, PBS NewsHour, Washington Informer, among others. Dr. Turner Lee has served on various federal and state advisory boards; more recently on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Technology Advisory Committee, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's AI Safety Board, and the Federal Communications Commission's Communications, Equity, and Diversity Council, where she served as vice chair. She has also been recognized for distinguished career accomplishments by the American Sociological Association, Washingtonian Magazine’s Tech Titans, Alliance for Women in Media, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, among others. Nicol holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from Northwestern University and a B.A. from Colgate University.
Turner Lee's work on artificial intelligence and internet access for low-income communities speaks directly to WLC's mission of equipping adult learners with the digital, reading, and math skills needed to participate fully in today's workforce and economy.
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