Nuala O’Connor Named President & CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology

The Center for Democracy & Technology’s (CDT) Board of Directors today announced that Nuala O’Connor has been named President & CEO, effective January 21, 2014. O’Connor will succeed Leslie Harris, who is stepping down after leading CDT for nearly nine years.

“Nuala drove an ambitious civil liberties agenda as the first Chief Privacy Officer at the Department of Homeland Security in a post 9-11 world. She fought for and implemented policies to protect the human rights of U.S. and global citizens in a climate of overreaching surveillance efforts. The Board is thrilled to have Nuala at the helm as CDT expands on 20 years of Internet policy work advancing civil liberties and human rights across the globe,” said Deirdre Mulligan, CDT Board Chair.

O’Connor is an internationally recognized expert in technology policy, particularly in the areas of privacy and information governance. O’Connor comes to CDT from Amazon.com, where she served both as Vice President of Compliance & Customer Trust and as Associate General Counsel for Privacy & Data Protection. Previously she served as the first Chief Privacy Officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). At DHS, O’Connor was responsible for groundbreaking policy creation and implementation on the use of personal information in national security and law enforcement.

“I am honored to join the superb team at the Center for Democracy & Technology. CDT is at the forefront of advocating for civil liberties in the digital world,” said O’Connor. “There has never been a more important time in the fight to keep the Internet open, innovative and free. From government surveillance to data-driven algorithms to the Internet of things, challenges abound. I am committed to continuing to grow CDT’s global influence and impact as a voice for the open Internet and for the rights of its users.”

“Nuala is a brilliant choice to lead CDT. She is a passionate advocate for civil liberties, highly expert about the emerging global challenges and fully committed to CDT’s mission. She is a bold leader who will guide CDT into its next chapter. I have had the honor of working with CDT’s talented and thoughtful team for almost nine years. I am confident that they will thrive with Nuala at the helm,” said Leslie Harris.

Beyond her experience at Amazon and DHS, O’Connor has also worked in consumer privacy at General Electric, and as Chief Counsel for Technology at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She also created the privacy compliance department at DoubleClick and practiced law at Sidley Austin, Venable, and Hudson Cook.

O’Connor, who is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, holds an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.Ed. from Harvard University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She currently serves on numerous nonprofit boards, and is the recipient of a number of national awards, including the IAPP Vanguard Award, the Executive Women’s Forum’s Woman of Influence award, and was named to the Federal 100, but is most proud of having been named “Geek of the Week” by the Minority Media & Telecom Council in May 2013. She lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her three school-aged children.