Trainers

Ali Ranjipour

Amr Eleraqi

Amr Eleraqi is an Egyptian journalist with more than 10 years of data journalism experience. In 2012 he founded InfoTimes, the first infographic website in the Middle East. Since then he has trained more than 500 journalists in data journalism and data visualisation in cooperation with organisations such as Internews and BBC Media Action.

• Visualise your data with the best charts and graphs

Andrés Azpúrua

Executive Director at VE Inteligente. Activist and researcher, working in the fields of digital security, civic tech and human rights online. Andrés and his team defend the rights of Venezuelans online and help protect activists, independent media and CSOs.

• Mitigating Online Censorship
• Mitigating Internet Shutdowns

Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

Bozorgmehr is an Iranian journalist and filmmaker. He started his career in his home city of Tehran, where he worked for Persian media for almost 10 years. He joined the BBC World Service as a senior broadcast journalist in 2008 and until recently worked as a newsroom editor for BBC Persian TV. Bozorgmehr is now Iran Correspondent for Reuters.

• Media match-making for freelance Iranian journalists

Cathrine Anite

Catherine Anite is a Human Rights lawyer and freedom of expression expert. She is the Director of Global Programmes at Small Media Foundation, leading UPR engagements and championing digital rights in over thirty countries in Africa, MENA region and Central Asia under the UPROAR project. She is also the Founding Director of the Freedom of Expression Hub, an organisation working to promote and defend the right to freedom of expression in Uganda.

• Diplomacy and the UPR for Human Rights Advocates

Cheryl W. Thompson

Cheryl W. Thompson is an investigative correspondent for NPR. Prior to joining NPR in January 2019, she spent 22 years at The Washington Post, where she wrote extensively about law enforcement, political corruption and guns. She teaches investigative reporting as an associate professor at George Washington University and serves as board president of Investigative Reporters and Editors.

Felicia Anthonio

#KeepItOn Campaign Manager, Access Now

Felicia Anthonio works with Access Now as #KeepItOn Campaign Manager – leading a global campaign that unites over 280 organizations around the world working to fight against internet shutdowns. Before joining Access Now, she was a Programme Associate at the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) where she coordinated the African Freedom of Expression Exchange.

• Introduction to Internet Shutdowns
• Advocating and Campaigning Against Internet Shutdowns

Friedhelm Weinberg

Friedhelm Weinberg is the Executive Director of HURIDOCS, an organisation that helps human rights defenders utilise information and technology to shine a light on abuses and advance justice for both victims and perpetrators of human rights violations. Friedhelm previously served as HURIDOCS’ Deputy Director, overseeing and managing projects in Africa, the Middle East, the Former Soviet Union Region and Asia.

• Researching human rights law for advocacy

Gayatri Khandhadai

This course is presented by Gayatri Khandadhai, a lawyer with a background in international law and human rights. Her focus is digital rights in Asia with specific emphasis on freedom of religion, expression, assembly, and association on the Internet. She is the Asia Policy Regional Coordinator at APC - the Association for Progressive Communications.

• Introduction to the Universal Periodic Review
• Making an impact with the Universal Periodic Review

Jan Moolman

This course is presented by Jan Moolman, a feminist activist who works between women’s rights, technology and human rights for almost a decade, with a specific focus on gender-based violence.she is the Global Women’s Rights Policy Lead at the Association for Progressive Communications.

• Recognising and Responding to Online Gender-Based Violence

Laura Schwartz-Henderson

Advocacy & Research Advisor

Laura Schwartz-Henderson is the founder of Curious Shapes, a consultancy that focuses on using research and creative campaigns to fight for digital rights. In this work, she collaborates with activists, lawyers, journalists, designers, artists, and technologists from around the world to design actionable research projects and build strategic advocacy campaigns.

• Developing an Action Plan for Internet Shutdowns

Mani Mostofi

Mani Mostofi is the Director of Impact Iran, a coalition of Iranian human rights organisations. He’s an international human rights lawyer who reported on the human rights situation in Iran, Bahrain, and other places for many years. He was also the lead singer of a straight edge punk band.

• Documenting and reporting human rights abuses using testimony

Maria Xynou

Maria Xynou has worked with the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) since 2016, where she manages community engagement and research on internet censorship around the world. Previously, she worked with Tactical Tech where she created privacy and digital security resources, investigated the data industry, and facilitated digital security workshops for human rights defenders.

• Measuring Internet Censorship with OONI tools and Open Data

Mohamad Najem

Mohamad Najem co-founded and co-directs Social Media Exchange (SMEX). He focuses on integrating digital rights into Internet policy and governance through research, writing, and online campaigns. He has delivered dozens of digital media and advocacy workshops in Lebanon and throughout the Arab region.

• Social media production on a shoestring (Part 2)

Privacy International

Privacy International is committed to fighting for the right to privacy across the world. We litigate to ensure that surveillance is consistent with the rule of law. And advocate for strong national, regional, and international laws that protect privacy, conducting research to catalyse policy change.

• Researching Privacy
• Right to Privacy: Introduction and Principles

Raja Althaibani

Raja is human rights defender and citizen journalist with strong experience in Yemen and across the MENA region.

• Five top tips to improve your video skills
• Capturing, Storing & Sharing Video Evidence

Rose Parris Richter

Rose is the Executive Director of the Human Rights in Iran Unit at City University of New York. She has documented human rights violations in support of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran since 2011. She also used to be a pro surfer.

• Documenting and reporting human rights abuses using testimony

Sam Dubberley

Sam Dubberley is the head of the Crisis Evidence Lab and manager of the Digital Verification Corps in the Crisis Response Programme at Amnesty International. He is the co-editor of the book ‘Digital Witness: Using Open Source Information for Human Rights Investigation, Documentation, and Accountability’ and is a fellow of the University of Essex Human Rights Centre.

• Open source investigations for human rights: Part 1
• Open source investigations for human rights: Part 2

Stefanie Posavec

Stefanie works as a graphic designer with a focus on data-related design, with work ranging from data visualisation and information design to commissioned data art for a variety of clients such as Facebook, Penguin, Information is Beautiful, BBC and WIRED UK. Her work has been commissioned and exhibited internationally at major galleries.

• Design for change: Graphic design for human rights

Tara Kelly

Tara has experience in print, online and broadcast journalism in London, New York and Paris. She has written for the FT Weekend, The Huffington Post and TIME Magazine. Most recently, she was a digital producer for CNN International in London. Tara now works as a digital consultant and journalist.

Toby Mendel

Toby Mendel is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), based in Halifax, Canada. CLD works to promote, protect and develop those human rights which serve as the foundation for or underpin democracy, including the rights to freedom of expression, to vote and participate in governance, to access information and to freedom of assembly and association.

• The right to information for human rights advocacy
• Using Strategic Litigation to Combat Internet Shutdowns

Tracy Frauzel

Tracy is Mobilisation Strategy Director at Greenpeace’s Mobilisation Lab. She has managed digital campaigns that have brought companies such as Nestle, HSBC and McDonald's agree on concessions for environmental protection.

• How to create ‘People Powered’ Campaigns

Valentina Aguana

Valentina Aguana is a Venezuelan digital rights activist, computer engineering student and a member of the NGO VE Sin Filtro since 2019. She monitors internet censorship events and analyses cyber attacks that target dissidents from the Venezuelan government. Valentina also gives training to journalists and activists regarding privacy and security issues.

• Mitigating Online Censorship
• Mitigating Internet Shutdowns

Yvonne Ng

Yvonne Ng is an audiovisual archivist and the Archives Program Manager at WITNESS. Working at the intersection of human rights, technology, and human rights, Yvonne supports and trains grassroots activists on collecting, managing, and preserving video evidence for advocacy and evidence. Yvonne holds an MA in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation from New York University.

• Documenting Human Rights Violations During Internet Shutdowns
• Five top tips to improve your video skills