Geography: Global

  • Pollyanna Tassell

    I have spent the last 5 years leading the legal functions in high growth scaling two-sided marketplaces, specifically Checkatrade and Carwow, both of whom exist to make it easier to make high value transactions (new roofs, new cars) in industries which traditionally carry low levels of trust. I have a passionate interest in using tech to enable a better consumer experience.

    I also lobbied for the DMCCA to be passed from a digital markets perspective, to ensure that the markets start-up and scale-up companies found themselves in were fair and enabled innovation.

    As an in-house lawyer, my job previously revolved around contract reviews, but now the regulatory landscape is rapidly changing, with new regulations around Consumer Protection, AI, Data, Digital Markets etc, my role now is to keep my business in front of those changes and make they are implemented for the benefit of the company I work for and the businesses and consumers we serve. As a result, I have have been happily thrust into the world of policy, so I can capitalise on the opportunities provided by being in the right conversations at the right time.

  • Ronda Zelezny-Green

    Dr. Ronda Železný-Green is an internationally recognised digital governance strategist, data policy expert, and champion for equitable technology systems. As a Black and Indigenous woman living with ADHD, she brings a rare blend of lived experience, strategic insight, and technical expertise to the global effort to build more just and inclusive digital futures.

    She holds a Ph.D. in Human Geography and an MSc in Sustainable Development (ICT4D) from Royal Holloway, University of London, as well as an MA in Applied Linguistics and a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Technology Design from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. She also earned a BA in Philosophy and Spanish (Honours) with a minor in Non-Profit Management from Salem College. Fluent in English and Spanish, Ronda brings cultural and linguistic fluency to her work with global partners.

    Her journey began with a bold vision: that digital transformation should serve everyone—not just the powerful. As Co-Founder and Director of Panoply Digital, a women-owned, socially conscious consultancy, Ronda helped governments and international organisations design technology-driven solutions that reflect the realities of those they aim to serve. She co-developed USAID’s Gender Digital Divide course, supporting public officials in Ghana, Malawi, and Senegal to operationalise gender equity in digital policy. Her work has always bridged the gap between theory and practice—turning high-level commitments into action on the ground.

    That same commitment drives her leadership as the CEO and Co-Founder of datocracy, a nonprofit initiative created to democratise access to data and AI education. At datocracy, Ronda is helping to shift the balance of power in the digital space by equipping women, people with disabilities, and the Global Majority with the skills to participate fully—and lead confidently—in the data economy. The platform offers free, community-rooted learning that prioritises accessibility, relevance, and impact. For Ronda, datocracy isn’t just about inclusion—it’s about liberation.

    Before founding datocracy, Ronda served as Program Director at data.org, where she led one of the world’s most ambitious digital public sector learning initiatives. Under her leadership, over 3.1 million civil servants in India and more than 30,000 officials in Nigeria received training in responsible data management and digital governance. She embedded robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure sustained impact because, for Ronda, digital transformation must be measurable, ethical, and human-centred.

    Earlier in her career, Ronda shaped digital learning systems at scale. At the Internet Society, she led the design and rollout of a global learning platform that reached more than 15,000 learners annually across 15 countries. She created multilingual courses covering topics such as privacy, encryption, and internet governance, and built a cross-sector network of over 77,000 stakeholders, while managing a $2.5 million global portfolio. Her work proved that learning can be both technically rigorous and radically inclusive.

    At the GSMA, she delivered regulatory training for policymakers in over 150 countries, helping national governments and regulatory bodies adapt to the fast-changing landscape of digital policy. Her expertise in agile regulation, e-governance, and public sector innovation positioned her as a trusted advisor on the global stage.

    Ronda’s foundation in digital equity was shaped through her early work as an educator. From the U.S. and the UK to South Korea, Equatorial Guinea, and Madagascar—where she served in the U.S. Peace Corps—she has witnessed firsthand the barriers that prevent communities from accessing the full promise of digital opportunity. These experiences continue to ground her belief that digital transformation must start with people—not just infrastructure or innovation.

    Across every role, initiative, and country, Dr. Ronda Železný-Green is helping to redefine who digital systems are for—and how they can be reimagined to serve equity, accountability, and collective progress.

  • Nathaly Espitia Diaz

    Community communicator and journalist dedicated to working with grassroots communities. My passion lies in listening to others, learning through active participation, and leading with a focus on building trusted relationships and fostering collective care. I am also the co -creator of one of the first communication and resource projects centered on digital security for Indigenous and Black/Afro communities in LAC called Convite https://noisradio.co/convite

    I enjoy building regional networks with an intersectional approach, where journalists and Digital Rights defenders connect with artists. I collaborate with community communicators, journalists, and social and environmental leaders across Latin America and the Caribbean.

    As a co-founder of Nois Radio, a communication collective, I am deeply interested in exploring sound universes and creating engaging radio and podcast experiences. We produce radio programs that blend soundscapes with voices, music, live sounds, and performative actions. Together with different members of grassroots communities we create communication projects to strengthen community well-being and promote social and climate justice. Her work intersects technology, communication, culture, environment, and social change. Before joining The Engine Room, she served as a program officer for the Americas at Internews.

  • Navneet Gidda

    Navneet is a multidisciplinary strategic communications expert. She has led political communications strategies, across digital and traditional media, for charities, elected representatives, and think tanks.

    Navneet’s work and personal ethos are influenced by the history of art, literature, and moral philosophy. She is interested in narrative in public policy, and particularly how absurd and dystopian stories inform how governments imagine the future. Navneet’s current research interests lie in the realm of emerging AI technologies, corporate misconduct, and the global governance of big tech. In her work, she considers how nations can regulate – and provide new public imaginaries – about AI technologies that are disrupting the way we live and threatening our civil liberties.

    Navneet’s work bridges the gap between communications, governance, and the law to push back against big tech’s visions of the future, and produce tech policy that truly works for people.

  • Nayana Prakash

    PhD from the Oxford Internet Institute on narratives, tech, and creativity in India; currently a Research Fellow at Chatham House on issues related to tech policy, security and India; interested in the geopolitics of technology in a rapidly shifting world order.

  • Nettah Njoroge

    Policy only works when people understand, trust, and see themselves in it.

    That belief has shaped my 15+ year career, building and leading campaigns, programs, and partnerships that bridge the gap between strategy and lived experience. I’ve worked across Eastern and Southern Africa, as well as in the UK, delivering cross-sector projects in health, education, gender equity, and public engagement.

    My background blends strategic communications, policy research, and programme delivery. I’ve managed donor-funded initiatives with budgets over $1M, worked across 36 African markets, and partnered with government ministries, NGOs, and media platforms to scale impact. From designing AI-informed tools to expand cervical cancer screening access in underserved communities, to founding a grassroots menstrual health initiative that reached 1,400+ street-involved girls in Nairobi, I’ve built work that translates insight into action.

    I Bring Deep Expertise In:
    1. Localizing programmes across diverse cultural contexts
    2. Communicating complex ideas to diverse audiences
    3. Leading stakeholder alignment across government, community, and donor ecosystems
    4. Designing evidence-based campaigns that shift behavior and inform policy

    I leverage my cross-border experience and communication-first approach to inform policy engagement, program design, and research translation, particularly in areas of public health, social equity, and inclusive innovation.

  • Nana Adjoa Khartey

    Nana Adjoa is a lawyer, technology enthusiast and social development activist. Nana Adjoa has served as the Secretary to the National Communications Authority, the national regulator of the electronic communications industry in Ghana. She works closely with the Chairperson, the Board and Management to ensure the efficient running of the corporate governance structures of the Authority. Prior to her employment with the National Communications Authority, she was in 2018 appointed the Executive Director of the National Folklore Board, the state institution responsible for protecting the intangible cultural heritage of Ghana. During her tenure, she facilitated the passage of the folklore user fees into law and the Folklore Board also gained international recognition.
    She was also a speaker on telecommunications at the 2023 International Bar Association Communications and Competition Conference in Rome, Italy and the 2023 International Bar Association Conference in Paris, France.

    She is a board member of the Institute of ICT Professionals of Ghana as well as the Street Children Empowerment Foundation and a member of Women in Mining Ghana. She is also the founding director of the Social Bridge, an NGO that engages in social intervention projects. Nana Adjoa was a board member of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), the authorised body, legally permitted to assay, buy and sell precious minerals and to license agents in Ghana. She was also a member of the board of directors of the PMMC Jewellery Limited.

    Nana Adjoa was called to the Ghana Bar in 2015. She has Certificates in Sustainable Dispute Resolution, Sustainable Development and International Anti- Corruption from the University of Milan, Italy and a Masters in Business Administration. She also has a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Certificate (MITx) in Policy for Science, Innovation and Technology.

    Her legal expertise spans advisory services to international and Ghanaian clients on high profile transactions across various fields including corporate and commercial law, minerals and mining law, intellectual property law and labor law; due diligence reporting; drafting and review of legal documents, and providing clients with company incorporation and company secretarial services. She has worked with reputable law firms in Ghana namely Kulendi@Law, and JLD & MB Legal Consultancy. She was one of the two young female lawyers selected in 2017 to participate in the ASLA (Association of Legal Studies Associates) Lioness of Africa Project where she worked with Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer and NCTM Studio Legale in Italy.

    Nana Adjoa has also represented Ghana at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), UNESCO, the Commonwealth and Open Society Initiative. She has also published an article in the International Bar Association Newsletter and was a speaker on telecommunications at the 2023 International Bar Association Communications and Competition Conference in Rome, Italy, and at the 2023 International Bar Association Conference in Paris, France.

  • Mina Mohammadi

    Mina Mohammadi is a data journalist and researcher. She currently works as an AI Policy Program Manager at the Mozilla Foundation. Prior to this, she worked as a Data Analyst at Google News Initiative. She holds a Masters of Science from the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, and a Bachelors from New York University. Mina’s main research interests exist at the intersection of privacy-enhancing tech (PETs), tech workers rights and computational social science methods.

  • Miranda Cross

    Miranda is a Technology Policy Advisor at Ofcom, where she focuses on accrediting emerging technologies for Online Safety.

    Previously, Miranda worked as a Policy Research Assistant at the Alan Turing Institute, helping to deliver an interdisciplinary research agenda in digital society and policy. She completed an MSc in Social Science of the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute, where her thesis research focused on US labour unions’ responses to electronic surveillance of workers.

    Her research is focused on digital inequities of algorithmic management in the workplace, the role of labour unions in shaping AI policy, and governance of data collection in the workplace. She also served as a member of the Trade Union Congress’ Expert Working Group on their proposed Artificial Intelligence (Employment and Regulation) Bill. She is also a representative for Prospect Union, where she is working with leadership to advance AI Charters and union involvement in AI adoption in the workplace.

    Before moving to the UK, Miranda worked for the Chief Technologist at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on issues relating to emerging AI/ML technology in the financial sector, including algorithmic bias in loan origination and credit scoring.