Meet the Heroines

Ania Wenerska-Dzieduch is a communication specialist from Poland, working mostly for NGOs. She also has a background in Polish public administration, European funds, as well as an experience in projects around United Nations' SDG (especially Goal 5 and 13).

She has spent 10 years working in regional authority in promotion units. Her responsibility was to encourage potential beneficiaries (companies, NGOs, local government units) to develop themselves thanks to European Funds. Her team has been shown as a good example for all EU member states for their effective work. Now, working independently, she supports NGOs in their communication activities, including open data projects.

Ania is a member of the Women in Technology Poland community, which encourages women to start and develop in the STEM branch.

Ayomide Bolaji is an open data activist and public finance professional with over 6 years of experience in public policy in the non-profit sector. Currently, an independent consultant with The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development on the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Project in Nigeria, she has lobbied government leaders, the media, and other key stakeholders to pass stronger legislation on OGP in Nigeria. With a strong passion for OGP and SDGs, Ayomide strives to achieve social impact by increasing youth participation in governance through the OGP, reducing the number of sexual and menstrual health-related problems in vulnerable communities, and empowering young leaders.

Brenda Uribe is a communications specialist who uses data from different sources to create narratives, content, and strategy. I like to describe myself as a data-driven storyteller. I have experience in working as a bridge between the public and the private sectors, developing public policy, communication strategies, and content designed for altering human behaviour. Recently, I started a journey to become a user researcher to promote diversity and inclusion in digital transformation.

Coraline Ada Ehmke is an internationally recognized speaker, writer, activist, and software engineer. For more than a decade, she's been working on practical approaches to promoting the values of diversity, equity, and justice in the technology industry, with a particular focus on open source. She is the creator of Contributor Covenant, the first and most popular code of conduct for open-source communities, and the Hippocratic License, an innovative open-source license designed to promote and protect human rights. Coraline co-founded the Organization for Ethical Source and currently serves as its Executive Director.

Specialised in public interest investigations. Published by Reuters, the BBC, Greenpeace, openDemocracy, The Black Sea +. Combines data-analysis, FOI, field reporting & storytelling. Co-author of two journalism manuals. Multiple awards winner. https://crinaboros.tumblr.com/

Edafe Onerhime is the Data Architecture Governance Lead at JP Morgan Chase. A data specialist, speaker, and writer, she has 20+ years experience making impact with data. She is a leading voice on decolonising data, data strategy and data standards. She leads collaborative change to make data valued and valuable with the motto: Data + Design + Culture. She lives in Glasgow, Scotland with her wife and cat.

Erika Owens is an organizer and facilitator based in Philadelphia. As Co-Executive Director of OpenNews, Erika convenes people and projects in journalism and open-source technology. Erika and the OpenNews team seek ways to build enduring connections by supporting a thriving network of inclusive, caring spaces for the journalism-tech community. Her adroit community work has been instrumental in establishing OpenNews as a leader in how to foster and sustain networks. Previously, Erika was the web editor at the Philadelphia Public School Notebook. She loves non-profit journalism, people-watching, and laughing heartily.

Génesis León is a data analyst programmer (R/Python) and a political science and government student with a diploma in political communication from the University of Buenos Aires. My professional profile is a hybrid between technology and social sciences, I highly value the impact of research on people's lives and I like going to concerts.

https://genyleong.github.io/blog/

Heather Leson is driven by a world where everyone lends a hand. She delivers innovative products and experiences with global networks at the intersection of social impact and technology. She is a technologist and strategist with over 25 years experience with a specialty in open governance, open source, open data and social impact projects/products.

Ifeoma Okonji is a Social entrepreneur and a Customer experience Professional with over twelve years experience in both the profit and non-profit sector. She is an astute young lady who has a passion to empower young women, and a knack for smart work, dedication and teamwork. She is the founder of Women Economic and Leadership Transformation Initiative (WELTI) a non-profit that advocates for equality for young women in leadership, technology, health and education and also co-founder of the NPO hub a community of non-profit individuals and organizations who come together to share ideas, leverage  opportunities and partner for sustainable social impact. She is also a Mozilla Open leader and mentor, an associate member of Women in Management, business and public service (WIMBIZ), an open knowledge thought leader/advocate and a member of the Open heroines Community. She has a propensity to travel, sustain useful acquaintances and loves music and dancing.

Irene Mwendwa is the executive director at Pollicy. She is a legal professional with extensive experience in innovative collaborations and executing projects that deliver better policies and legal frameworks on public policy issues such as elections and technology.

Isabelle is the Communications Associate at Open Ownership, having worked in the humanitarian and development fields, and more recently, spent several years working on transparency, accountability and anti-corruption. This includes UN OCHA in Sudan, Integrity Action in London and for an anti-corruption organisation in Vienna. She holds an MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies and a BA in Modern Languages. She has previously worked for a youth peace organisation in Sweden and a sustainable development NGO in Sri Lanka on issues including development and aid effectiveness.

Katherine (she/her) is a learning and evaluation, open government, and mental health expert. Through consultancies, she helps organizations work smarter in their monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, strategy development, and work planning/implementation efforts. She has expertise in results monitoring, storytelling, research, and data analysis and visualization. 

She is also a trained psychotherapist who is dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable therapy to those who most need it. She is particularly passionate about supporting women, non-binary people, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community in improving their mental health. She provides trauma-informed care and has specialized training in relationship and family counseling, crisis intervention, grief and loss, depression, and anxiety. 

She has lived and worked in several different countries and speaks English and Spanish fluently, along with some French and Italian. After living for many years in Mexico City, she recently moved to New Orleans and enjoys exploring her new home in her free time. She knows the best spots in town for beignets and jazz music, and is proud to serve as tour guide for any members of the community who visit this beautiful city.

Lauriane Gorce is a Program Manager at Open North. She brings her enthusiasm to data governance and data trust projects, demonstrating her ability to learn fast, plan and manage an ambitious program, dive deep into content and popularize complex concepts. Lauriane is dedicated to exploring how innovations (what’s new) can bring true progress to human beings and to our planet (what’s better). She has worked in Europe, Asia and North America, opening one “black box” after another, in diverse sectors: AI-based speaker verification and fairness; applied physics and image processing; industrial risk management and interculturalism; innovation public policies and sustainable development; circular economy and public infrastructure; technological start-ups and business strategy. Her strength is to connect: exact sciences with human sciences, the big picture with attention to details, abstract concepts with concrete applications and accessible communication. She is fluent in French and English, and is always happy to practice her German.

She holds a Master in Executive Engineering from MINES ParisTech - Université PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres) (Paris, France), with a minor in Public Affairs and Innovation (Science and Technology Studies).

Maira Elahi is a Canada-based researcher, dedicated to using tech, policy, and advocacy to serve her community. She has initiated various personal endeavours, namely establishing her own startup, working on app development, partnering with multiple organizations and academic institutions to research how emerging tech can assist disadvantaged groups, and spearheading a team in her city to educate students on the intersection of AI and justice. Her unwavering commitment to using technology for social good and prioritizing the welfare of humanity motivates and encourages her on a daily basis.

Michelle Volpin has a degree in Political Science (UBA), a journalist (TEA) and a Master's Degree in Public Policy (UTDT). With 10 years of experience in project management in the public and private sectors and in civil society organizations, Michelle has specialized in issues related to democratic strengthening such as political communication, transparency, accountability, citizen participation, consensus building, gender equality, among others, with special emphasis on the parliamentary sphere. He currently works at ParlAmericas, the inter-American parliamentary institution, leading projects on issues of hemispheric importance to support legislators in their work on climate change, sustainable development, the promotion of initiatives for gender equality, and the parliamentary paradigm.

During her PhD at McGill University, Monica discovered that incentives in academia promote practices that make knowledge less accessible. Monica has devoted her career to working in the open science space to make knowledge more equitable and accessible. As a Senior Open Science and Data Policy Advisor at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Monica provided subject matter expertise and supported the delivery of open science in the Government of Canada. Presently, Monica is working at Creative Commons on global campaign promoting open access of climate and biodiversity research. As a member of the Leadership Team at PREreview Monica works to make peer review more open and diverse. Monica is also currently on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Open Data Society to promote open data in Canada and an alumna of the Frictonless Data Fellowship.

Nadiia Babynska is an open data expert and project coordinator from Ukraine. She designs and coordinates civic and gov tech and open data projects. Nadiia is a founder and coordinator of one of the biggest open data communities in Ukraine, “OpenUp“.  She consults international organisations about open data and open governance. In 2017-2019, she designed and coordinated the first youth innovation challenge in Ukraine (UNDP project). In 2019-2020, she coordinated an EU-financed project on GIS development in 5 Ukrainian cities (DANIDA project). 

Nadiia Babynska was named as one of 9 women who change civictech and IT in Ukraine according to the Incubator 1991 civictechwomen list. She was a finalist of the Open Data Leaders Award in Ukraine in 2018.

Nelly Madegwa is an award-winning data journalist from Kenya. She tells human interest stories from datasets and has published with the Elephant, The Star and openDemocracy.

You can read some of her work here.

Renata Aquino Ribeiro is an independent researcher, teacher and journalist. Training teachers how to use technology in public schools at IK4T Institute. Tech news writer at Showmetech Brazil.

With over 15 years of experience in technology and education markets, Dr Ribeiro has acquired a broad knowledge of e-learning, instructional design, edtech and social media for learning industries. Also, Dr Ribeiro taught in universities and education and technology projects involving NGOs, public and private schools as well as corporate training programs. She has a PhD completed in 2012 in Education: Curriculum as a part of the research group in Technologies in Education at the Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). Ribeiro is also a Master of Arts in Hypermedia from the University of Westminster (UK – 2003), validated in Brazil through the University of São Paulo (USP). Her bachelor's degree is in Journalism from PUC-SP (1998).

She was an advisor of the MAG IGF – Multistakeholder Advisory Group in the Internet Governance Forum promoted by the United Nations, representing Civil Society (2016-2018). In Mozilla Open Leaders, a participant (round 4/2017) and mentor (round 5/2018) as well as a 2017

Mozilla Festival fellow. At Internet Freedom Festival 2017, a fellow in the Regions and Groups track. In 2014/2015, she was a researcher and a professor at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil. For the last decade, she has followed the internet governance debates such as regional IGFs and ICANN meetings.

Sia Towo is the Managing Director of Femme International, a non-profit offering menstrual sexual reproductive health (MSRH) education, research, and product distribution in East Africa. She understands the complexities of grassroots work, especially marginalised groups, having volunteered and worked with various grassroots organisations for nearly six years.

Sia aspires to drive change in education and health policy to improve the overall quality of menstrual health and promote gender equality in Africa. She is an aspiring pan-African leader looking to disrupt the several barriers to the development of women's rights in Africa.

‍

Soila Kenya is an award-winning data journalist, content creator and communications specialist from Kenya. She enjoys writing about women's health, science, environment, travel, career advice, tech and internet, and pop culture. She has written for Quartz Africa, Poynter Institute, The Org, The Continent, openDemocracy, The Star Kenya, Debunk Media, and Inspire Afrika. Find her work at soilakenya.com.

Tholakele Nene is a former Journalist based in Nelspruit, South Africa. She has seven years of media and communications training in South Africa’s non-governmental and private sectors. Nene has substantial experience in research, public interest journalism, and multi-stakeholder liaisons.

She is passionate about exploring creative means to use technology and data to empower disadvantaged communities. Her portfolio includes serving as a Communications Officer for Urban Earth, where she managed and produced overall content for a bilingual climate change platform.

Tholakele has also served as Project Manager for the #MineAlert digital platform, owned by the Oxpeckers Center for Investigative Environmental Journalism. As Project Manager she created an online information hub used by decision-makers, journalists, and mining-affected communities to realise social and environmental justice.

Nene has recently served as a Regional Coordinator for Click Learning, promoting digital literacy in disadvantaged schools.

Tholakele holds an Honours degree in Sociology, A bachelor of Arts in English and Sociology, as well as a Copy-Editing certificate.

Zainab Durrani is a Senior Program Manager, trainer and researcher with the Digital Rights Foundation in Pakistan. Her area of focus is the overlap of data privacy and gender and her latest research reports have examined and mapped the state of healthcare data privacy in Pakistan.

She is a lawyer by education and a passionate advocate of kindness, animal rights and feminist thought.

‍