On October 16, 2020, the Internet Governance Lab hosted (virtually) the first meeting of the Alumni Expert Council. Comprised of AU alumni who are experts and luminaries in their respective fields at the intersection of Internet governance and technology policy, the Alumni Expert Council meets twice a year to discuss the Lab’s work and offer recommendations on research, public events, and opportunities for alumni engagement with current students and recent graduates.
“This is a time when the work of our Lab is more needed than ever and we see the Internet Governance Lab as a dynamic research community where our Alumni Experts actively engage with our researchers and students — changemakers all — to enrich the Lab’s research and experiential learning agendas and, ultimately shape policy and practice” explains Internet Governance Lab Faculty Co-Director Dr. Nanette Levinson.
This year’s Alumni Expert Group includes influential policymakers from government and civil society, leaders from industry and the technical community, and internationally-focused Internet governance luminaries with years of experience working across the world.
“The number of AU alumni who have risen to the very top of their fields in government, industry, and civil society is remarkable and sets AU apart as a leading institution training past, present, and future generations of Internet governance and technology policy leaders” says the Lab’s Associate Director Kenneth Merrill, adding, “we are thrilled to have such an accomplished and impressive array of alumni join us as members of our first Alumni Expert Council.”
2020-2022 Alumni Expert Council members include:
Ms. Fiona Alexander (Chair) (M.A. International Relations, School of International Service) is both Distinguished Policy Strategist in Residence in the School of International Service and Distinguished Fellow at the Internet Governance Lab at American University. She recently left the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) where she served as Associate Administrator for International Affairs. In this role, she was the principal official responsible for the analysis, development, and execution of international Internet, cyber and communications policy within the Executive Branch of the United States government (USG). Ms. Alexander is NTIA’s sole Presidential Rank Award winner for her leadership in the two-decade effort to privatize the Internet’s domain name system (DNS). Ms. Alexander is a member of the High-level Advisory Group for the Global Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network and was appointed by the United Nations Secretary General to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Multistakeholder Advisory Group. Prior to joining NTIA, Ms. Alexander was a Senior Consultant at Booz, Allen & Hamilton. She has a Master’s Degree in International Relations from American University, Washington, D.C. and is co-founder of Salt Point Strategies, a consulting group that provides public affairs counsel, strategy, and advocacy to clients navigating the emerging high-tech economy.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin (M.A. International Communications Policy, School of International Service) was elected Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau on the 1st of November 2018. She took office on the 1st of January 2019. She is a strategic leader with 30 years' high-level experience in international and inter-governmental relations and a long history of success in policy and strategy development, analysis and execution. She has advised governments around the world on policy and regulatory issues, and is a regular presenter at high-level international forums and summits. Prior to her election, Ms Bogdan-Martin oversaw the organization's Membership, Corporate Communications, External Affairs and UN Liaison teams, and was instrumental in establishing the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, on which she continues to serve as Executive Director. She was one of the principal architects of the annual Global Symposium for Regulators, directed ITU's first global youth summit #BYND, oversees ITU's contribution to the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age, and is leading ITU's collaboration with UNICEF and others on the GIGA project to connect the world's schools. Prior to joining ITU, Ms Bogdan-Martin was a Telecommunications Policy Specialist in the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), US Department of Commerce.
Alexia Clincy (M.A. Intercultural Communications, School of International Service) is the Principal and Agency Director of Capitalize Social, a content marketing agency headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. As a research-oriented consultant and strategist with a Masters in Intercultural Communication from American University; Alexia works with brands and organizations to design the comprehensive content marketing frameworks that effectively target and engage core audiences for lead conversion. She also champions the work of bridging the gap between brands and content creators, serving as an Executive Director of tech startup, SwayBrand, an AI powered platform that creates authentic influencer micro-marketing moments over social media for brands, startups and nonprofits. As a recognized expert in her field, Alexia has been invited to speak to audiences of entrepreneurs, community leaders, and federal agencies alike. Through interactive seminars and trainings, she consults on the fundamentals of social media and virtual networking, virtual community building, and the necessary components of an effective marketing framework in the age of digital media.
Gayatri Murthy (M.A. International Communication, School of International Service) has spent a decade researching and consulting on what low-income people want and how digital technologies can help fill the gaps to financial inclusion. At CGAP, her work has focused on generating high-quality demand-side insights that can be applied to a range of topics from creating inclusive tech-based business-models to pro-poor data protection and privacy policy. Her continuing passion is to deploy a diverse toolbox of research methods to understanding the lives of low-income people, so that emerging insights compel us to transform policy, private sector and funding. Ms. Murthy also specializes in training financial institutions to build customer-centric business models. She has trained staff of financial institutions in workshops around the world, including at trainings organized by the Boulder Institute for Microfinance, the Social Performance Task Force, and the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance. Before joining CGAP, Ms. Murthy worked at Intermedia, where she conducted nationally representative surveys, impact evaluations, and qualitative studies on the role of digital technologies in financial inclusion and civil society building. She also worked at GiveIndia, a platform to promote efficient and effective giving to the poor in India. She has a Master’s degree in International Communication from the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India. She is fluent in Hindi.
Theresa Swinehart (J.D. International Law, American University Washington College of Law) is the Senior Advisor to the President on Global Strategy at ICANN. She works with stakeholders and policymakers around the globe to advocate the Internet’s multistakeholder model, and oversees a team with overarching responsibility for a range of initiatives including development of the organization’s five-year strategic plan. She rejoins ICANN after serving three years as the Executive Director of Global Internet Policy for Verizon Communications, where she specialized in emerging issues and stakeholder and policy leader engagement. Theresa spent nearly ten years at ICANN prior to joining Verizon in 2010. Her previous position at ICANN was as Vice President, Global and Strategic Partnerships, at ICANN. Her responsibilities included contributing to its reform process, leading the international team, the organization’s strategy for global engagement and outreach, and representing the organization in international forums, particularly those relating to Internet governance. She worked with a wide range of stakeholders, including business, regional and international organizations (governmental and non-governmental), technical community, government and civil society, on a range of issues bridging technical, political and policy expertise and experience (e.g. Internationalized Domain Names). Before joining ICANN, Theresa was Director for Global E-Commerce at MCI, where she was responsible for emerging international Internet issues, including ISP liability, data protection and the company’s participation in Internet related forums including the formation of ICANN. Theresa began her career in international human rights with a focus on economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Theresa holds a law degree from American University Washington College of Law (USA), a post graduate degree in International Studies from the University of Vienna (Austria), and a BA in International Relations from the University of California, Davis (USA). She has represented organizations in numerous international forums. She serves on the ISOC Board of Trustees and the Internet Governance Forum Multistakeholder Advisory Committee (MAG). She is fluent in English and German and conversant in French.
Atsushi Yamanaka (M.A. International Political Economy, School of International Service) is Professor and Advisor at the Kobe Institute of Computing Graduate School (KIC): the only graduate school focused on nurturing ICT for Development Professionals in Japan. He also currently serves as Chief Advisor of the JICA Rwanda ICT Innovation Ecosystem Strengthening Project which aims to foster a conducive innovation ecosystem in Rwanda. He has been supported by the Government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to strengthen ICT use for Development in Rwanda. During his decade long services in Rwanda, he facilitated the formulation processes of the 3rd National ICT Strategy & Policy (NICI-3) and supported its implementation processes. He has also been instrumental in securing support from the Government of Japan to realize various innovation facilities in Rwanda, including the kLab and FabLab Rwanda. Atsushi has more than 25 years of experience in pursuing topics of ICT for Development with which he has provided various policy advisory services and supported and managed many ICTD projects across 5 continents. He has worked in different organizations, including UN organizations (UNDP, PAHO/WHO), the private sector, and civil society. His services have rendered improved business processes and developmental results in more than 100 countries (through a network of country offices) in 5 regions and their public and private sector clients.