Iara Passos

I am a Social Scientist who codes and a Statistician who critically analyzes society. My career is dedicated to building sovereign data infrastructure, promoting public transparency, and using technology to expose complex issues of social justice and human rights.

Currently, I work as a Data Engineer, merging methodological rigor with software engineering to build scalable pipelines (Big Data, NLP, and LLMs). I have robust experience handling highly sensitive data, having served as a quantitative researcher for the National Justice Council’s (CNJ) prison census and conducting climate disaster diagnostics for Cemaden/UNDP. During the 2024 floods in Southern Brazil, I developed a management tool for the shelter where I volunteered. Recently, this tool was migrated to a free and open-source suite (repository), focused on an offline-first architecture, reaffirming that civic tech must serve territorial autonomy.

My hybrid academic background allows me to navigate seamlessly between technical architecture and critical theory. Influenced by thinkers like Mark Fisher, I apply the critique of “capitalist realism” to the tech ecosystem, proving that civil society does not need to rely on Big Tech. I hold an M.S. in Sociology (researching bias in criminal justice algorithms), an MBA in Data Science, and I am completing my B.S. in Statistics, building a spatial index of algorithmic vulnerability in Porto Alegre.

As an advocate for free software and digital sovereignty, I actively contribute to projects focused on public data transparency and the strengthening of agroecology and open-source networks. I am the founder of R-Ladies Porto Alegre and an organizer for AI Inclusive. My focus is on the technical emancipation of historically marginalized groups, ensuring Data Science remains a tool for protection, rather than colonization.