(WASHINGTON) — The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is delighted to welcome Katherine Maher to its Board of Directors. Maher is the former CEO and Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, which owns and operates Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects. She is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and an appointed member of the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, where she advises the Secretary of State on the intersection of technology, democracy, and human rights.
“Katherine is a proven leader with deep knowledge of technology policy and a track record of working on many of CDT’s core issues, especially freedom of expression,” says CDT President & CEO Alexandra Givens. “We’re thrilled to benefit from her experience and commitment to protecting democracy and digital users’ civil rights and liberties.”
As CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, Maher successfully led its growth in new and emerging markets, achieved significant gains in global site readership, and reversed decades-long declines in core contributors. Before joining the foundation, she worked for UNICEF, the National Democratic Institute, the World Bank, and Access Now.
Said Maher, “I’ve long been an admirer of CDT’s serious and effective digital policy work. In recent years their renewed commitment to asking questions of technology’s effects on democracy and rights has been invigorating. I’m delighted to join the board, and looking forward to supporting this essential mission.”
Maher joins existing CDT Board members Julie Brill, Bill Bernstein, Alexandra Reeve Givens, Peter Hustinx, Morten Kjaerum, Carl Landwehr, Travis LeBlanc, Bruce Mehlman, Laura Murphy, Andrew J. Pincus, Philippa Scarlett, Mark Seifert, and David Vladeck.
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CDT is a 28-year-old 501(c)3 nonpartisan nonprofit organization that fights to put democracy and human rights at the center of the digital revolution. It works to promote democratic values by shaping technology policy and architecture, with a focus on equity and justice.