We are an organization composed of volunteers from a range of backgrounds. We collaborate internally and with a number of external partners to build connections and create knowledge about digital activism.
Strategy Group:
Katharine Brodock | Strategy & Communications Advisor
Kate is a digital marketing specialist and CEO of the marketing strategy firm, Other Side Group. She holds and MBA from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University, an MA in International Relations from The Fletcher School, and BAs in History and Political Science from the University of Rochester. In a professional setting, she works with new media to develop marketing strategies for the digital world. She is also the CMO of Girls in Tech. You can find Kate on Twitter, and blogging at Today and Tomorrow and Ad Your Comments Here.
David Faris | Strategy Advisor
David is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Roosevelt University. He completed his PhD in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote his dissertation on social media, blogging and political change in Egypt. His work has been published in Arab Media & Society and Technology & Politics Review. David’s activism experience includes a long stint as an organizer and leader in GET-UP, the graduate employee union at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently compiling a digital activism reading list for MAP to facilitate university instruction.
Mary Joyce | Founder and Executive Director
Mary is an expert in the field of digital activism and travels the world training, speaking, and consulting on the topic. She is the Project Manager for the Global Digital Activism Data Set, edited the anthology Digital Activism Decoded, and also writes for the blog. She was previously New Media Operations Manager for Barack Obama’s national presidential campaign. In addition to evaluating the ability of digital technology to subvert traditional power dynamics, Mary also enjoys biking, bánh mì sandwiches, and street art.
Patrick Meier | Strategy Advisor
Patrick is a PhD candidate at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and currently a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Program on Liberation Technology. His dissertation studies how access to information and communication technology changes the balance of power between repressive regimes and popular movements. Patrick is also Director of Crisis Mapping and New Media at Ushahidi and on the advisory board of Digital Democracy and DigiActive. He blogs at iRevolution and can be reached at patrick (at) iRevolution.net.
Brian Riley | Technologist
Brian has been a computer programmer for the past twelve years and manages the nuts and bolts behind Meta-Activism. In his spare time he is finishing an MA in American Studies at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. His thesis examines how the animal rights and veganism movements have made use of digital technology to promote their cause while at the same time trying to counteract the powers of both the state and corporate world who are using those same technologies against them.
António Rosas | Research Director
António has a PhD in Political Science, with a dissertation on democracy and nationalism in the First Portuguese Republic, and an MA in Culture and Communication, with a thesis focusing on the effects of Internet over the organization of Portuguese Political Parties. Apart from lecturing, he does research in two Portuguese research centers, specializing in nonconventional politics and New Media. He has published books and articles on democracy, deliberation and political culture and co-edited a book about digital participation and activism, Cidadania Digital (in Portuguese, 2010). As GDADS Research Coordinator, António helped in the creation of the GDADS Codebook. Some of his publications and recent activity can be found at http://antoniorosas.wordpress.com
Eric Tyler | Network Weaver
Eric is a program associate at the New America Foundation. His research focuses on the intersection of information and communication technologies, economic development and activism. Eric brings experience working in the non-profit, public and private sector, and has studied international relations and philosophy at Bucknell University and abroad at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. You can find Eric on Twitter and a selection of his writing here.
Board of Advisers:
Esra’a Al Shafei is one of the most prolific digital activists working today. Esra’a is the founder of Mideast Youth, an all-volunteer organization that produces slick web sites and content for digital campaigns across the Middle East, supporting the rights of migrants and religious and ethnic minorities. Though only in her early twenties, she has been a TED and Echoing Green fellow and, in 2008, received the Berkman Center for Internet and Society’s first award for “outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society”.
Hardy Merriman is a leading scholar and trainer in the field of nonviolent civic action. He has edited or co-authored some of the seminal works in the field, such as Waging Nonviolent Struggle (2005) and CANVAS Core Curriculum: A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle (2007). He is currently a Senior Advisor at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, a nonprofit foundation that develops the study and use of civilian-based, nonmilitary strategies to establish and defend human rights, democracy and justice worldwide.
Clay Shirky is an influential author and teacher on the effects of digital technology on society. He has published two books on the topic, Here Comes Everybody (2008) and Cognitive Surplus (2010), and is a frequent conference speaker. This year he is taking a hiatus from NYU’s Interactive
Telecommunications Program to be the Edward R. Murrow Lecturer at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
