Launch Webinars

Kat Duffy is the Vice President for Global Technology Programs at SCS Global partner Internews, where she leads the strategy, technical approach, and institutional learning around technology. Kat also oversees an extensive portfolio of foreign assistance programming focusing on digital safety, digital rights, anti-censorship technologies, and direct technological support to civil society and media partners. Kat received her BA from Yale University and her JD from the University of Michigan.

Josh Machleder is the Senior Advisor for Media and Internet Freedom for the Civil Society and Media Division. At USAID, he heads up the agency’s flagship internet freedom programming as AOR for the “Greater Internet Freedom” (GIF) Project, has spearheaded USAID’s response to the issue of disinformation through the BAA “Advancing Integrity in Media” (AIM), and has provided numerous assessments and program designs for USAID Missions to support the independent media sector, advance digital security for civil society and media, and enhance advocacy for the open internet. In his career before joining USAID, he worked on media development programming with implementing partners as a Chief of Party in field-based positions for 14 years in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Thailand, and Burma. For six years before joining USAID, he was the VP for Europe, Eurasia and Asia Programs at the media development organization Internews. He was an Alfa-Fellow in Moscow, Russia in 2005-2006. He holds BA and MA degrees from Columbia University and speaks English, Russian, and Hebrew and has basic French and Uzbek language skills.

Lisa Vermeer is a Digital Policy Advisor at ICNL, where she advances the ICNL Alliance’s work on the impact of digital technology on civil society, philanthropy, and public participation. Prior to joining the ICNL Alliance, Lisa served as Senior Policy Officer at the Netherlands’ Foreign Ministry where she shaped Dutch policy to advance human rights on the internet. She also led the Netherlands’ foreign policy approach to online disinformation and worked in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands on the impact of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation on Dutch society.

Usama is a columnist for Pakistan’s leading English language daily, Dawn, and appears in national and international media to comment on issues relating to the internet. He is a board member of the Global Network Initiative, a multi-stakeholder initiative to protect freedom of expression and privacy rights globally, and a member of Facebook’s Privacy Experts Group for APAC. Usama also serves on the Advisory Board of the London-based Refugee Rights Europe, an organization committed to raising the human rights of refugees in Europe. Usama was a Chevening Scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) where he qualified for an MSc in Comparative Politics and holds a BSc in Politics and International Relations from the University of London.

Ona Flores leads ICNL’s support for the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Ms. Flores provides support in research and drafting of reports, assisting in the organization of consultations, official country visits, and academic visits. She also works with other Special Rapporteurs working on issues aligned with ICNL’s organizational mission. As Senior Staff Attorney at the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Ona was principal legal and policy advisor providing support on all aspects of the office’s mandate. Previously, Ona worked as a program coordinator at the Human Rights Center of the University of Chile and as an attorney at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Ona is a graduate of Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, Caracas, Venezuela (LL.B), and Columbia University Law School in NY (LL.M.), where she was a Fulbright Fellow and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

Jared Ford is a Senior Advisor for Digital Technology, Civic Activism, and Media on the DRG Center’s Civil Society and Media Team. He has 15 years of experience in designing and implementing adaptive international development programs, developing technology products and strengthening policy to improve democracy and governance. He most recently served as a Senior Technology and Innovation Analyst at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) where he helped to build political and civic organizations, strengthen democratic institutions, and promote citizen participation. Prior to joining NDI, Jared worked in the office of Senator Patrick Leahy and for the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. He has consulted on peace technology for the United States Institute of Peace, and on data systems for the District of Columbia Board of Elections. Jared holds a Master’s in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University’s School of International Service, and a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Amherst College.

Jon Camfield is a technologist dedicated to advancing human rights with more than two decades of experience spanning the public, startup, non-profit, and social enterprise sectors. At Internews, Jon leads a portfolio advancing digital safety for media and human rights defenders through training, the SAFETAG organizational security risk assessment framework, and tool development. Earlier, Jon led technology strategy for Ashoka’s Changemakers platform, consulted for a wide range on NGOs, and served in the Peace Corps with the Ministry of Education in Jamaica. Jon has an MA in International Science and Technology Policy from the Elliot School at GWU and a bachelor’s’ degree from the University of Texas’ prestigious Plan II Honors program.

Maria Paz Canales is a Chilean lawyer and holds a master’s degree with specialization in Law and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley. Since 2017, she has been Executive Director of Derechos Digitales (DD), a 13-years-old independent non-profit organization based in Chile, working across Latin America on human rights in the digital environment, particularly freedom of expression, privacy, and access to knowledge and information. She was part of the group who founded the organization in 2005. Maria’s previous work in private practice and academia covered telecommunications regulation, competition, data protection and intellectual property.