Cella M. Sum is an interdisciplinary researcher and Ph.D. candidate at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute. She is advised by Dr. Sarah Fox and is affiliated with the Tech Solidarity Lab. She also serves as a Research Assistant with Data & Society's Trustworthy Infrastructures team.
Her research focuses on technology, power, and resistance in labor and community contexts. She has explored how frontline workers at community-based organizations negotiate disempowering data and tech practices, how workers resist surveillance technologies, and how and why tech workers unionize. Using community-based participatory design methods, she works with affected communities to co-create more just alternatives. Her work has been published at CSCW, CHI, and Science as Culture.
Cella holds a Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction and Design from UC Irvine and a BS in Computer Science from Shippensburg University. She is a member of Collective Action in Tech and a former tech worker organizer with Big Cartel Workers Union. She has over 15 years of industry experience in software engineering, UX research, and design.
Recent News
- Jan 2026: Our paper, "The Tech Worker Movement and the Rise of the Tech Oligarchy" was published in Science as Culture
- Jan 2026: Our piece, "Data as Destiny in the Steel City: How Pittsburgh’s Industrial Past Is Being Leveraged for an AI Future" was published in Data & Society's Points Blog
- Nov 2025: Co-organized the "AI Workers' Inquiry" workshop at the New Luddism: Technology and Resistance in the Modern Workplacee Conference in NYC
- Oct 2025: Attended the doctoral consortium and presented 3 papers at CSCW in Bergen Norway
- Sep 2025: Started an RA-ship with Data & Society's Trustworthy Infrastructures team
See the full list of updates here.