# Governance biographies

Last updated: 2023-12-27
URL for this page: https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/governance-bios
URL for this site: https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/how-we-work

List of governance members [here](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/governance-members).

## IOI Steering Committee (+ Advisors)

Amy Buckland ([Concordia University](https://www.concordia.ca/); Canada):

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Jochai Ben-Avie ([Connect Humanity](https://connecthumanity.fund/); USA): 

Jochai Ben-Avie's career has been centered at the intersection of technology and human rights, as a leader in global policy and advocacy as well as a funder. Jochai is the Executive Director of [Connect Humanity](https://connecthumanity.fund/), a new initiative working in partnership with the World Economic Forum, to rally philanthropic organizations, investors, industry, governments, civil society leaders, and international experts to build a community of practice around the shared goal of connecting the unconnected, supported by the capital to do so. Prior to Connect Humanity, he served as Mozilla’s former Head of International Public Policy and lead of their Open Source Support Program funding arm (MOSS). During his time at Mozilla, he scaled the policy team from a solely US focus to a global presence active in shaping legislation across six continents to build a better internet. He also serves as the Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee for Code for Science & Society, IOI’s fiscal sponsor, and was deeply involved in the recent Critical Digital Infrastructure funding call, both as a funder (at Mozilla), as well as an operational support in the grantmaking process.

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Omo Oaiya ([WACREN](https://wacren.net/en/); Nigeria): 

Omo Oaiya is the Chief Strategy Officer of the [West and Central Research and Education Network (WACREN)](https://wacren.net/en/).  He was the pioneer CTO of the RREN and continues to work on the development of high-capacity network infrastructure and services for research and education.  Before WACREN, he was CEO of Datasphir, a private company offering software development and project management support to research and academic institutions in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

He leads [LIBSENSE](https://wacren.net/en/programmes/libsense/), a collaboration of the three African regional RENs aimed at building the information management capability of librarians and researchers, fostering communities of practice, and strengthening local services to support open science and research in Africa.  A certified SIM3 Auditor interested in the establishment and maturity of security teams (CSIRTs) in NRENs, he is the Service Manager for [TrustBroker Africa](https://www.trustbroker.africa/), the cooperation platform and service infrastructure providing vital support for security and incident response teams from Africa.

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Lorrayne Porciuncula (Datasphere/[Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network](https://www.internetjurisdiction.net/); France): 

Lorrayne Porciuncula is an economist and internationalist, with a career devoted to finding ways on how technology can contribute to improving people’s lives. She is the Executive Director of the Datasphere Initiative at the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network, a multistakeholder organization addressing the tension between the cross-border nature of the internet and national jurisdictions. Her professional and academic experience has been focused on issues around data, Internet governance, infrastructure regulation, and communication policy. She has strong interpersonal and management skills, with a proven track-record of working in international organizations (OECD, ITU), where she authored numerous reports and lead global projects, dealing with complex technical issues and building partnerships with business, governments and civil society stakeholders. 

Lorrayne is an affiliate to the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, conducting research on data for development. She holds a Master's degree in Development Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Switzerland. Most recently, she authored the report "[We Need to Talk About Data: Framing the Discussion Around Free Flow of Data and Data Sovereignty](https://www.internetjurisdiction.net/uploads/pdfs/We-Need-to-Talk-About-Data-Framing-the-Debate-Around-the-Free-Flow-of-Data-and-Data-Sovereignty-Report-2021.pdf)".

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Amy Sample Ward ([NTEN](https://www.nten.org/); USA): 

Amy Sample Ward is a trainer, author, and community organizer focused on the intersections of technology and social change. Amy is also the CEO of the NTEN, a nonprofit that supports organizations fulfilling their missions through the skillful and racially equitable use of technology.

Amy is driven by a belief that the nonprofit technology community can be a movement-based force for positive change. Their prior experience in direct service, policy, philanthropy, and capacity-building organizations has fueled Amy's work to create meaningful, inclusive, and compassionate community engagement and educational opportunities for organizations around the world.

Amy has had the privilege to present at conferences around the round, be a guest on podcasts, and author contributions in various books and magazines. Amy's most recent book is [The Tech That Comes Next: How Changemakers, Philanthropists, and Technologists Can Build an Equitable World](https://thetechthatcomesnext.com) co-authored with Afua Bruce. Their previous books include [Social Change Anytime Everywhere](http://socialchangeanytimeeverywhere.com/), co-authored with Allyson Kapin, which was a Terry McAdam Book Award finalist, and Social by Social.

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Berhan Taye ([Internews](https://internews.org/); Kenya):

Berhan Taye is a senior advisor for internet policy and governance at Internews, a nonprofit supporting independent media in 100 countries. Prior to joining [Internews](https://internews.org/), Berhan was the Policy Manager for Africa and a Senior Policy Analyst at AccessNow, where she led the [global #KeepItOn campaign](https://www.accessnow.org/keepiton/), combatting internet shutdowns. Her current work provides expertise on digital rights policy and advocacy issues including freedom of expression, data protection, privacy, access to information, surveillance, digital identity to the Global Internet Freedom Consortium. She has previously worked at organizations including the [Engine Room](https://www.theengineroom.org/), [Design Justice Project](https://designjustice.org/), [Research Action Design](https://rad.cat/) (RAD) and the [World Wide Web Foundation](https://webfoundation.org/), in addition to serving as a Ford-Mozilla Open Web Fellow. She is currenlty a a fellow at Stanford Univeristy’s Digital Civil Society Lab.

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Danil Mikhailov ([Data.org](https://data.org/); United Kingdom):

Danil Mikhailov is the Executive Director of data.org, a trustee and Vice Chair at [360Giving](https://www.threesixtygiving.org/) and the Chair of the [Global Pandemic Data Alliance](https://gpdahub.org/). He has over 20 years of experience setting up multiple start-ups and leading work across a range of diverse sectors, always investigating and innovating in the space where technology, culture, and society converge. Prior to data.org, Danil was at The Wellcome Trust, where he founded and directed the Wellcome Data Labs, an interdisciplinary team of data scientists, software developers, and social scientists, creating open-source data tools supporting Wellcome’s mission. While at Wellcome, Danil coordinated the data and data science aspects of the Trust’s Covid-19 pandemic response and co-founded the [Research on Research Institute](https://researchonresearch.org/), where his work focussed on improving the research funding ecosystem. Before joining The Wellcome Trust, Danil founded and chaired the Digital Strategy Forum for Science, Art, and Culture, in the United Kingdom. 

Danil strongly believes in the power of interdisciplinarity and, in addition to his tech expertise, he brings a social sciences and humanities perspective to his work. Danil holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Communications from the University of Brunel, an MA in Philosophy, from Birkbeck, University of London, an MA in Chinese Studies, from SOAS, University of London, and a BSc in IT & Business Management, University of York.

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Joe Deville ([Open Book Collective](https://openbookcollective.org/); United Kingdom):

Joe Deville is Managing Director of the Open Book Collective and a Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University, based jointly in the Department of Sociology and the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology. He is a co-founder and co-editor of Mattering Press, an Open Access book publisher and UK-registered charity, as well as a founding member of the ScholarLed collective of Open Access book publishers. Long standing concerns include the value of bringing an ethics of care to publishing practices and the politics of scholarly communication infrastructures. He is currently leading the Open Book Futures project, which is funded by Arcadia and the Research England Development Fund. The project is focused on developing a fairer, more sustainable and more diverse ecosystem for the production, funding, and preservation of Open Access books.

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Louise Marston ([Resolution Foundation](https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/); United Kingdom):

Louise Marston is Director of Ventures at the Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank and social investor focused on improving living standards for those on low to middle incomes. Louise leads Resolution Ventures, the social investment activities of the foundation, with a focus on investing in 'WorkerTech', early-stage ventures that can improve low-paid and precarious work in the UK.

Prior to joining the Resolution Foundation, Louise was Managing Director at Doteveryone, a responsible technology think tank, and Director of Innovation Policy and Futures at UK innovation agency, Nesta. She started her career as a requirements analyst and IT project manager, and has also been an investment analyst for venture builder Blenheim Chalcot. Louise grew up in Somerset, and holds an MA in Neuroscience from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Computer Science from University College London.

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Robert Karanja ([Co-Develop](https://www.codevelop.fund/); Kenya):

Robert leads Co-Develop’s investments and strategic partnerships in Africa working closely with the global investments team.

Robert is also a member of the prestigious 17 Rooms Initiative co-hosted jointly by both The Brookings Institution and The Rockefeller Foundation. 17 Rooms is designed for the “second half” of the SDG era, in which the world needs new approaches to collaboration, problem-solving, and collective leadership to chart a better way forward. I specifically sit in Room 9, a working group linked to SDG 9 for Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure. This year, the Room is co-led by Nelson Gonzalez of Amazon Services and Danil Mikhailov of Data.org. It focuses on launching a cross-sectoral multi-player effort to develop a set of DPGs for climate risk data analytics in Africa.

Robert is passionate about responsible technology and previously led Omidyar’s portfolio of investments in Digital Identity. At Omidyar his investment strategy included working closely with Governments, Multi-lateral agencies, civil society and research institutions that explored exciting areas of work including encrypted messaging platforms, data privacy, digital rights, digital transformation and E-Government.

Robert also currently serves as an Advisory Council Member for California State University’s Cybersecurity Program. The council works collaboratively to provide constructive feedback and strategic direction to guide quality improvement and assess program efficacy.

He is also serving on various boards including B Lab East Africa and Select Africa Limited where he provides strategic and advisory oversight to both organizations.

Robert holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Moi University and a BCom in Entrepreneurship from the University of Northern British Columbia.

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Eunice Mercado-Lara ([Open Research Funders Group](https://www.orfg.org/); Mexico):

I’m the Open & Equitable Project Manager at the Open Research Funders Group, where I explore action-oriented mechanisms for research funders to make grantmaking practices more equitable and incentivize open and collaborative scholarly practices. I have worked in the public sector to help government funding agencies align incentives and policies to advance open research in North and Latin America. I have served as a board and committee member in several international organizations and initiatives advocating for open scholarship practices, such as CERN’s SCOAP3 initiative, the Open Access Week, and the OpenCon LATAM.

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Jeff Ubois ([Lever for Change](https://www.leverforchange.org/); USA):

## Former members: biographies

Leslie Chan ([Knowledge Equity Lab](https://knowledgeequitylab.ca/), University of Toronto Scarborough; Canada):

Leslie Chan is Associate Professor in the Department of Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough. An early practitioner of the Web for scholarly exchange and online learning, Leslie is particularly interested in the role and design of network in the geopolitics of knowledge and their impact on local and international development. As one of the original signatories of the Budapest Open Access Initiative, a historical and defining event of the global open access movement, Leslie has been active in the experimentation and implementation of scholarly communication initiatives of varying scales around the world. The Director of [Bioline International](http://www.bioline.org.br/) and the [Knowledge Equity Lab](https://knowledgeequitylab.ca/), Leslie is a long-time advocate for knowledge equity and inclusive development. Leslie has served as advisor to numerous projects and organizations, including the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, the American Anthropological Association, the International Development Research Centre, UNESCO, and the Open Society Foundation. He was the Principal Investigator of the [Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network](http://www.ocsdnet.org/), funded jointly by the IDRC and DIFD. He currently serves on the advisory board of the [Directory of Open Access Journal](https://doaj.org/), the [Declaration on Research Assessment](https://sfdora.org/), and the steering committee of [Invest in Open Infrastructure](https://investinopen.org/).

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Evviva Weinraub Lajoie ([University at Buffalo](http://www.buffalo.edu/); USA):

Evviva Weinraub Lajoie is the Vice Provost for the University at Buffalo Libraries. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston University in History and her MLIS from the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to her role at SUNY Buffalo, she has had increasingly prominent roles at Yale University on the [Research4Life](https://www.research4life.org/) programs, Tufts University, Oregon State University, the Digital Preservation Network (DPN), and most recently served as the Associate University Librarian for Collections & Technologies at Northwestern University.

She is an active leader in ALA, ARL, IFLA, is the board chair for LYRASIS, and serves on the Steering Committee for the Investment in Open Infrastructure (IOI). She has published and spoken extensively on open-source software infrastructure, development, communities, and collaboration, library management, user experience, and intersectional feminism.

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Mmaki Jantjies ([University of the Western Cape](https://www.uwc.ac.za/); South Africa): 

Mmaki Jantjies is the Head of Innovation at a South African telecommunications provider and is also an adjunct associate professor at the University of the Western Cape. She holds a PhD in Computer Sciences and is one of Africa’s foremost thought leaders in technology for development particularly in education technology. Having led two academic departments, she has published research on local and international academic journals and conferences as well as on several public platforms such as Popular Mechanics, Fast Company and CNBC. Jantjies has conducted various studies focusing on system design and adoption of mobile application’s use to improve education and healthcare in South Africa. Passionate about community development, she rolled out school clubs with Mozilla in underprivileged communities that would educate and skill children on programming, robotics and related technology careers.

Jantjies has served as the South African delegate W20 representative to G20 in 2017 and 2018 focusing on policy impact of technology on women in G20 countries. She has been awarded several fellowships such as the Aspen New Voices in Development fellowship. She has been recognized as one of the 50 people who globally help make the Internet a better place by the Mozilla Foundation, MTN runner up of leading women in ICT in three categories of leadership, community builder and education, listed as Ndalo Media Destiny Power of 40 Women under 35, recognized as the Inspiring 50 Women in technology by the Netherlands consulate, listed as the Mail and Guardian 200 most influential young South Africans and recently recognized as the Mandela 100 young leaders under the visionary category and awarded the 2019 top Womandla women in technology.

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Danielle Robinson ([Code for Science & Society](https://codeforscience.org/); USA):

Danielle Robinson is a proven community leader and strategic advisor to researchers, librarians, and tech communities innovating in research and open source. In 2016, she completed a PhD in Neuroscience at Oregon Health & Science University, during which time was a NSF Graduate Research Fellow and advocated for policies that supported open access on campus. As a 2016 Mozilla Fellow for Science, she ran open source project management workshops around the world, explored decentralized approaches to data preservation. She now focuses on developing infrastructure to expand and protect open access to knowledge as the Executive Director and President of Code for Science & Society.

### Community Oversight Council

Sarah Lamdan, Co-Chair (CUNY Law School; USA):

Sarah Lamdan is a Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law who specializes in information law and policy across the spectrum from open government to personal privacy. She also has a master's degree in library science and legal information management. When she's not teaching administrative law, data privacy, and freedom of information law seminars, Sarah works with open access and data privacy groups. She is a member of the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative and a Senior Fellow with SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). She works with NoTechForICE organizations and open government groups to ensure that public information is easily accessible and private information is not. Sarah's book, Data Cartels, which analyzes the transition of publishers and electronic database providers to data analytics firms, is forthcoming from Stanford University Press.

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Shea Swauger, Co-Chair (University of Colorado Denver; USA): 

Shea Swauger is an academic librarian at the Auraria Library and PhD student in Education and Critical Studies at the University of Colorado Denver. He researches surveillance, data, technology, and abolitionist pedagogy. His most recent achievement is purchasing a vintage overhead projector at a thrift store and teaching his 8 year old daughter how to use it. To learn more, visit: [https://www.sheaswauger.com](https://www.sheaswauger.com/)

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Jennie Rose Halperin (Library Futures; USA): 

Jennie Rose Halperin (she/her/hers) is a digital strategist, community builder, and librarian who serves as Executive Director of Library Futures. She is focused on growing the organization and its reach and fostering a culture of open, inclusive leadership to support equitable library policy, technology, and advocacy. Jennie joins Library Futures from Harvard Law School Library, where she served as the Assistant Director for Outreach and Community Engagement. Previously, she managed communications for Creative Commons and worked on growth and community at O'Reilly Media and Mozilla. A committed civic leader, in 2018, she was chosen for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's SPARK Cohort for Millennial Leaders and received a New Urban Mechanics Public Space Invitational Grant in 2019. In 2021, she was named a visionary by Public Knowledge – a "future leader who will drive tech policy in the public interest for the next 20 years." Jennie is on the Advisory Board for Invest in Open Infrastructure and has completed the Coaching Fellowship, Outreachy, and the CBYX Exchange for Young Professionals. She speaks German and some Spanish. Jennie received her MLS from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her BA from Barnard College.

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## See also
* [IOI governance roster](https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/governance-members)
* Archived copy of this page (via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine): https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://hackmd.io/@investinopen/governance-bios

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This page first published: 2022-02-07

###### tags: `about-us` `community-council` `governance`

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