OPEN KNOWLEDGE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations and Financ
Cassandra's background is in finance where she has over 25 years experience. Cassandra is responsible for the organisation's operational and financial management. She supports the team to deliver the mission, vision and strategic objectives of the organisation. She is passionate about finance, spreadsheets and knowledge sharing as well as transparency. At the weekend you will find her in the great outdoors, trailing through forests and absorbing the scenery of the local mountain range.
Job Titles:
- Regional Coordinator, Europe Hub
Dr. Esther Plomp is a Data Steward (Delft University of Technology) and Open Science Community Member (The Turing Way, OLS, IsoArcH) based in the Netherlands. In these roles, Esther facilitates a more equitable way of knowledge generation, encouraging others to work more transparently. Her expertise includes a wide array of subjects including Open Science, Research Data Management, Open Data, FAIR principles, and Isotope Archaeology.
Job Titles:
- Vice - Chair of the Board
- Vice - Chair of the Board of Directors
Helen Turvey has spent the past two decades working to make philanthropy better. She is honoured to have spent over half of that time working with the Shuttleworth Foundation, an organisation brave and nimble enough to be truly experimental in their approach to changing the world and its own DNA along with it. Having spent time at the beginning of her career travelling, learning and keynoting on most continents, Helen now spends her time working with the Fellows and Alumni of the Foundation, building, supporting, strengthening and enabling leaders who iterate towards a more open and equitable world. She is also on the board of several organisations that drive open ideals.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Director of Standards
Irina is the Director of Standards and Interoperability at NHSX and is passionate about products and using technology to make things better. She spent many years working on open data at Open Knowledge (as one of the directors and CKAN product owner), at web startups, and most recently as a product lead or data consultant for W3C, Open Data Institute and the UK, Dubai and UAE governments. She co-founded redecentralize.org - a project to promote and bring together people working on and interested in decentralised digital technologies.
James Casbon is stepping down as a Board member. James has been in discussions with us Chair over last year about stepping back due to external commitments and James will now be stepping down. Board thank James for substantial contribution over many years and wish him well.
Jarmo Eskelinen has volunteered to be the OKF Board representative to sit on the Datopian Board, and Ira Bolychevsky has volunteered to be the observer.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Director of OpenOil
Johnny West is director of OpenOil, a Berlin-based consultancy which uses open data and methodologies to build investment-grade financial and commercial analysis for governments and societies of their natural resource assets. He sits on the Advisory Board of FAST, the only open source financial modelling standard, and is an alumnus of the Shuttleworth Foundation Fellowship. Johnny started professional life as a journalist for Reuters in the Middle East (and more recently wrote a book about the Arab Spring), then went into online journalism in the mid-1990s, and media development around the world, heading Internews Europe, an international NGO, where he commissioned a substantial extension of ToR anonymity software into repressive countries. OpenOil's work is guided by the belief that any effective response to climate change and other planetary boundaries needs a comprehensive open database of natural resources, and the analysis on top of it to feed public policy making. Johnny speaks French, Arabic, German, Spanish and Persian and is passionate about the potential of open knowledge system in the non-Anglophone space.
ACTION RP/JW to talk to JG about his work and time he wants to commit
Job Titles:
- Data Scientist from Argentina
- Regional Coordinator, Latin America Hub
Julieta Millan is a zoologist and data scientist from Argentina. She has over 7 years of experience in academia researching the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, and has recently moved to the private sector to work as a data scientist. Julieta is deeply interested in all the ways we can use technology to help create a more sustainable and inclusive future.
Job Titles:
- Communications, Institutional Relations & Advocacy Director Https
Lucas is a journalist, researcher, openness advocate and digital activist who is passionate about promoting the adoption of open standards, building open infrastructure for communities, and forming broad coalitions to drive systemic change. For the last 18 years, he has been part of a wide range of commons-based initiatives fighting for power distribution and people's participation in decision-making. Currently a PhD candidate in the Autonomous University of Madrid, his scholarly focus is on tracking and promoting commons-based practices among activist collectives, with particular attention to horizontal governance models and emerging organisational aesthetics from the Global South.
Madelon Hulsebos is a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley and incoming tenure track researcher at CWI in Amsterdam. Her research is on the intersection of machine learning and data management, currently focusing on Table Representation Learning to democratize insights from structured data with AI. She obtained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam for which she did research at MIT and Sigma Computing, and received several awards among which the Accenture-BIDS fellowship and the AiNed fellowship grant.
Mark Gibbs was thanked for his time with Open Knowledge and his work and the impact within Open Knowledge. Mark left the meeting 20:00.
Job Titles:
- Regional Coordinator, Anglophone Africa Hub @Maxbeg2003
Maxwell Beganim is an inspiring educator, tech enthusiast, and environmental sustainability advocate. He is a co-founder of Wiki Green Initiatives, organisers of Wiki Green Conferences. He serves as Knowledge Manager of the Ghana Pidgin Wikimedia Community, preserving linguistic diversity. He actively advocates for indigenous languages as a co-organiser of the Ghanaian Languages Wikimedia Community. He manages Open Knowledge Ghana.
Maxwell holds executive roles in internet governance, including Chairperson of Climate Change and Emerging Technologies at the Internet Society Ghana Chapter. He serves as a steering committee member of the Ghana Youth Internet Governance Forum and a steering committee member of the Ghana Internet Governance Forum.
Setu Bandh Upadhyay is a policy practitioner and has extensive experience researching and conducting legal and policy advocacy on societal impacts of technologies in the majority world. He is currently leading the Learning portfolio at the Global Network Initiative. He has previously worked with research institutes, civil society organisations, and think tanks. Setu is a public policy graduate of Central European University, and a law graduate of University of Mumbai.
Job Titles:
- Regional Coordinator, Francophone Africa Hub @Mbunzama
Narcisse Mbunzama is an IT professional, highly active in the Open Data, Open Government, and Open Science sectors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has been involved in several projects promoting the Open Data, Open Government, Open Science movements, and digital security for many years, making positive contributions. He is the founder of the Open Data Initiative in the DRC, an initiative advocating for the openness and transparency of public data in the DRC. Narcisse is based in Kinshasa, DRC. He is fluent in English, French, Swedish, Lingala and Kikongo.
Job Titles:
- Software Developer, Open Data Editor
Software developer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in open data initiatives for the past seven years. Started working with the LN Data team at La Nación, then collaborated with OCCRP and CLIP, and is now starting a new adventure as part of OKFN. Passionate about the collaboration between journalists and developers and the impact it creates.
Job Titles:
- Information Systems Engineer
- Tech Lead and Open Activist
Patricio is an Information Systems Engineer with more than 10 years of experience both in the private sector and NGOs. He has also been an activist of the open movement since a young age. He likes to collaborate with different communities to disseminate technical knowledge and participate as a speaker in events to spread the importance of more simple technologies. He loves programming and is always exploring new projects and tools.
Job Titles:
- Research, Open Data Commons @Chandra Rums
- Researcher With the Center for Internet and Society
Ramya Chandrasekhar is a lawyer and a researcher with the Center for Internet and Society, CNRS, Paris. Her research focusses on legal strategies and commons-based governance frameworks for the ‘opening up' of non-government data. She focusses specifically on platform data for research, health data, and re-use of publicly-available data for AI training. Ramya supports the Open Knowledge Foundation on our initiatives to update the Open Definition and to encourage uptake of open licenses that embed collective decision-making and sustainability in data generation and sharing. Previously, she has worked with the Berkeley Centre for Law and Technology, and the Data Justice Lab at Cardiff University.
Renata Avila is an international human rights and technology lawyer and openness advocate. She is helping individuals and organisations access and use data to take action on the most pressing social problems, as well as preserving and enhancing human rights through open standards, policy and advocacy. In her previous practice, focused in strategic litigation for access to information and access to justice, she represented high profile human rights advocates, including Nobel Peace Prize Rigoberta Menchu Tum. A former fellow and affiliate of the Stanford Institute of Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence, she is currently associated with the Center for Internet and Society at CNRS, France. She participates on the boards of several organisations, including Open Future, the Center for the Advancement of Infrastructural Imagination and the Just Net Coalition. She co-founded the <A+> Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms and the Progressive International. She has co-authored two books and contributed chapters to several others, and regularly contributes to different publications in English and Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Product Owner, Open Data Editor @Colmanromi
Hybrid data journalist working in the intersection of technology and communities of practice. For more than 10 years, Romina has designed and implemented complex data initiatives in close collaboration with journalists and NGOs. Her expertise lies in building bridges between technical and non-technical teams to transform abstract plans into concrete and impactful projects. Romina holds a degree in Communication sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and a master's degree in Media and Communications (Data and Society) from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE).
Job Titles:
- International Network Lead, Project & Community Manager
Sara works with communities. She leads the Open Knowledge Network and manages the Frictionless Data community as well as being its project manager. Sara has previously worked in EU policy research, advocacy, and communications. She has managed projects on digital education with schools and public libraries from all across Europe. Sara is an enthusiast of the open movement and strongly believes in removing barriers and opening knowledge as a means of empowering citizens and fostering democracy. She has studied comparative literature and political science, and is currently based in Bologna, Italy. She speaks English, French, Italian, and German.
Setu Bandh Upadhyay is a policy practitioner and has extensive experience researching and conducting legal and policy advocacy on societal impacts of technologies in the majority world. He is currently leading the Learning portfolio at the Global Network Initiative. He has previously worked with research institutes, civil society organisations, and think tanks. Setu is a public policy graduate of Central European University, and a law graduate of University of Mumbai.
Omidyar Network is our biggest funder in terms of unrestricted funds. PR will attend their Investment committee on the 28th September where £570K is realistic. We agreed to seek only a 2-year funding for now as it allows for the possibility to apply for another round of funding.
Hewlett Foundation wants to support us with unrestricted funding moving forward; at the end of 2017 when our current restricted grant ends, we will negotiate the terms of the unrestricted funding.
Open Society Foundation is one of the key funders of unrestricted grants in our field; to rebuild our relationship with them, we need to move into programmes that interest them.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Head of Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at King 's College London
Tim Hubbard is Professor of Bioinformatics and Head of Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics at King's College London. He is also Head of Genome Analysis at Genomics England, a company established by the UK government to execute the 100,000 Genome Project, which aims to mainstream the use of whole genome sequence analysis for treatment in the UK National Health Service (NHS). From 1997-2013 he worked at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute where he was one of the organisers of the sequencing of the human genome. In 1999 he co-founded the Ensembl project to analyse, organise and provide access to the human genome and from 2007 led the GENCODE project to annotate the structure of all human genes. He is an advocate of the benefits of open access and open data release for science and society as a whole and has served on multiple national information access advisory boards including Europe PMC (PubMedCentral), the repository for open access publications. He received his BA from Cambridge University (UK), and PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London (UK).
Tom Cobbold has also taken on additional commitments and finds himself stretched in finance responsibility and will be stepping down. Has done a sterling job over the last couple of years and we thank him for all his contributions.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
Vanessa Barnett is a lawyer who helps clients who are using technology and data to innovate or disrupt established ways of doing things, with particular expertise in Internet/platform based business models. She likes working with people who are changing the status quo. She has supported her clients from household-name global brands to nimble start-ups do this for over 15 years, first as a partner at two traditional City firms and now at disruptor law firm Keystone Law. She regularly advises boards on legal matters and strategy in her role as a lawyer. Vanessa has a specific interest in the cross over between technology, intellectual property and data, and right now is spending most of her working time advising on data related projects. She holds a degree in Law from Exeter University, is the founding author of the Internet section of Practical Commercial Precedents and sits on its editorial board. She is also on the editorial board of Digital Business Lawyer.