Emily Jacobi is co-founder and Executive Director of Digital Democracy, a New York-based nonprofit that works globally to empower marginalized communities addressing human & environmental rights.
Beginning her career as a youth journalist, at the age of 13 Jacobi reported from Havana, Cuba. She has since worked conducted media & technology projects with marginalized communities around the globe including migrant workers, women’s groups, refugee youth and indigenous communities.
Jacobi has written extensively on the use of technology for civic engagement, and has presented on the intersection of technology and human rights to the US Congress, the State Department, the United Nations, and numerous universities and technology conferences.
Recently, Digital Democracy was named one of eight winners of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation News Challenge on Mobiles. That support will enable Digital Democracy to launch Remote Access this spring, an initiative aimed at empowering remote and off-the-grid communities with a toolkit to report environmental and human rights threats. The pilot program will focus on sup- porting indigenous communities monitoring oil spills in the Peruvian Amazon.
Jacobi graduated from Lawrence Central High School in 2001 where she was special projects editor for the Cub Reporter, the award-winning student newspaper advised by Elizabeth Granger.
Congratulations, Emily. Looking forward to hearing your speech and your perspective.