About Me
Selected Bio
Tawana Petty also known by her poetry stage name Honeycomb, is a mother, social justice organizer, poet, author, facilitator and keynote lecturer.
Petty is the founding Executive Director of Petty Propolis, Inc., an artist incubator which leverages poetry, literary and literacy workshops, anti-racism facilitation, political education and community-centered initiatives in pursuit of data and digital justice and racial and environmental justice.
She is a 2023-2025 Just Tech Fellow with the Social Science Research Council and she serves on the CS (computer science) for Detroit Steering Committee.
Petty is a National LIO Yearlong alumni fellow of the Rockwood Leadership Institute and an alumni fellow of the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford PACS, the Detroit Equity Action Lab, and Art Matters Foundation. Petty also convened the Detroit Digital Justice Coalition from 2016 through 2024.
She has previously served as co-lead of Our Data Bodies, as Data Justice Director for the Detroit Community Technology Project, National Organizing Director at Data for Black Lives and Director of Policy and Advocacy for the Algorithmic Justice League.
Petty has been honored with numerous awards. Selected honors include a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition and Wayne State University’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies Peacemaker Award in 2018. In 2021, she was named one of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics. In 2023, Petty was honored with the AI Policy Leader in Civil Society Award by the Center for AI and Digital Policy, the Ava Jo Silent Shero Award by the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, with a Racial Justice Leadership Award by the Detroit People's Platform and with a Legacy Award from Sandy's Land, LLC. And in 2024, she was named on Business Insider's AI Power List for Policy and Ethics.