Get ready for RightsCon Brussels: March 29-31, 2017!

Mitchell Baker

Executive Chairwoman, Mozilla

As the leader of the Mozilla Project, Mitchell Baker is responsible for organizing and motivating a massive, worldwide collective of employees and volunteers who are breathing new life into the Internet with the Mozilla Firefox Web browser and other Mozilla products. Mitchell was born and raised in Berkeley, California, receiving her BA in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley and her JD from the Boalt Hall School of Law.

Mitchell has been the general manager of the Mozilla project since 1999. She served as CEO of Mozilla until January 2008, when the organization's rapid growth encouraged her to split her responsibilities and add a CEO. Mitchell remains deeply engaged in developing product offerings that promote the mission of empowering individuals. She also guides the overall scope and direction of Mozilla's mission. As Chair of Mozilla, Mitchell continues her commitment to an open, innovative Web and the infinite possibilities it presents. TIME Magazine profiled Mitchell under “Scientists and Thinkers” in its 2005 TIME 100.

Behrouz Boochani

Author, Journalist, Professor, University of New South Wales

Kathy Brown

Former President and CEO, ISOC

Kathryn C. Brown joined the Internet Society as President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2014. A veteran of Internet policy development and initiatives that have aided in the Internet’s global expansion, Ms. Brown leads the Internet Society in its mission to keep the Internet open, thriving and benefitting all people throughout the world.

The Internet Society is at the center of the largest global network of people and organizations focused on ensuring the Internet continues to evolve as a platform for innovation, collaboration, economic development and social progress. As the Internet faces escalating challenges in the areas of privacy, security and governance, the Internet Society serves as a powerful voice for the Internet community as an internationally respected expert on Internet technical, development and policy issues.

Ms. Brown’s career spans the public and private sector, including serving in the United States National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and leading policy and global corporate social responsibility initiatives for telecom provider Verizon. She received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Marist College. Ms. Brown has served on the advisory boards of the Public Interest Registry (.ORG), the mPowering Development Initiative of the ITU, and the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab.

Alexander De Croo

Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium

Alexander De Croo is Deputy Prime Minister for Open VLD and Minister of Development Cooperation, Digital Agenda, Telecom and Postal Services in the Michel I Government. As Minister of Development Cooperation, he focuses on strengthening human rights and promoting local economic growth in the partner countries.

Before his political career, Alexander De Croo became a project leader of The Boston Consulting Group in 1999. Starting from 2006, he founded a new company called Darts-ip specialized in providing service to Intellectual Property professionals

Steve Crown

Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft

Harlem Désir

Former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

Harlem Désir was appointed as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on 18 July 2017 for a period of three years. Prior to this position, Désir (France) was French Minister of State for European Affairs, attached to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, since April 2014. Harlem Désir was a Member of the European Parliament for three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2014. He was a member of the Committee on Industry, Energy and Research, the Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Development. He was also Vice-President of the Delegation for relations with the United States (2002-2004), member of the Joint ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly (2002-2009) and member of the Delegation for relations with India (2009-2014). Désir served as Vice-President of the Socialist Group of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2009 and as First Secretary of the French Socialist Party from 2012 to 2014. In October 1984, Harlem Désir co-founded the French not-for-profit association “SOS Racisme”, whose objective is to fight against racism, anti-Semitism and all other forms of discrimination. In 1989, he also co-founded the international federation of “SOS Racisme”. Désir was President of both “SOS Racisme” France and of the eponymous international federation. Harlem Désir holds a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from the Paris I Sorbonne University. He has been awarded the Olof Palme Prize (Sweden, 1990) and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece, 2016).

Camille François

Global Director for Trust & Safety, Niantic; Lecturer, Columbia University SIPA

Steve Huffman

CEO and Co-Founder, Reddit

Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein

Former UN High Commissioner, Human Rights

Derrick Johnson

President & CEO, NAACP

Alice Klein

CEO, NOW Magazine

Named in 2000 as one of the 100 Graduates Who Shaped the Century by the U of T Alumnae Association, NOW magazine editor/CEO and co-founder/owner Alice Klein draws on her experience in politics, business and psychology to focus on issues related to archetypal evolution and the global economy. She is NOW's founding news editor, and the editor of NOW's annual Love & Sex Guide.

Klein is also a documentary producer, director and writer (2007's Call of the Hummingbird) and along with being a founding member of Green Enterprise Toronto (GET) she sits on the Boards of the Toronto Arts Council (TAC) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

Rashad Robinson

President, Color Of Change

Anthony D. Romero

Executive Director, ACLU

Nanjira Sambuli

Digital Equality Advocacy Manager, World Wide Web Foundation

Nanjira leads the Web Foundation’s advocacy efforts to promote digital equality in access to and use of the Web. A Nairobi-based researcher and analyst, Nanjira brings broad expertise as an advocate and consultant working at the intersection of governance, media, culture and society.

Immediately prior to joining the Web Foundation, Nanjira was Research Lead at the iHub in Nairobi, where she helped shape governance and tech research, and provided strategic guidance for the growth of technology research in East Africa. Her recent research includes work on the ICT and Governance Landscape in East Africa (iHub Research), Cybersecurity and Cyber-resilience in East Africa (CIGI), research into the challenges of promoting Internet access in developing countries while upholding net neutrality principles (Journal of Cyber Policy), and Technology Innovation Hubs and Policy Engagement (Making All Voices Count). Nanjira is also a columnist for the Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya, a member of DFID’s Digital Advisory Panel and served as a deputy on the United Nations High Level Panel for Women’s Economic Empowerment (2016-17).

Salil Shetty

Former Secretary General at Amnesty International

Salil Shetty joined Amnesty International as the organization’s eighth Secretary General in July 2010.

A long-term activist on poverty and justice, Salil Shetty leads the movement's worldwide work to end human rights violations. Prior to joining Amnesty International, Salil Shetty was Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign from 2003 to 2010. He played a pivotal role in building the global advocacy campaign for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

From 1998 to 2003, he was chief executive of ActionAid, and is credited with transforming the organization into one of the world’s foremost international development NGOs.

Salil Shetty studied at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and at the London School of Economics.

Brad Smith

President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft

In this role Smith is responsible for the company’s corporate, external, and legal affairs. He leads a team of more than 1,300 business, legal and corporate affairs professionals working in 55 countries. These teams are responsible for the company’s legal work, its intellectual property portfolio, patent licensing business, corporate philanthropy, government affairs, public policy, corporate governance, and social responsibility work. He is also Microsoft’s chief compliance officer. Smith plays a key role in representing the company externally and in leading the company’s work on a number of critical issues including privacy, security, accessibility, environmental sustainability and digital inclusion, among others.

Smith joined Microsoft in 1993, and before becoming general counsel in 2002 he spent three years leading the Legal and Corporate Affairs (LCA) team in Europe, then five years serving as the deputy general counsel responsible for LCA’s teams outside the United States.

Brad Smith

President, Microsoft

Edward Snowden

Board Member, Freedom of the Press Foundation

Edward Snowden is a former intelligence officer who served the CIA, NSA, and DIA for nearly a decade as a subject matter expert on technology and cybersecurity. In 2013, he revealed the NSA was unconstitutionally seizing the private records of billions of individuals who had not been suspected of any wrongdoing, resulting in the largest debate about reforms to US surveillance policy since 1978. He has received awards for courage, integrity, and public service, and was named the top global thinker of 2013 by Foreign Policy magazine. Today, he works on methods of enforcing human rights through the application and development of new technologies. He joined the board of Freedom of the Press Foundation in February 2014.

Audrey Tang

Digital Minister, Taiwan

Alex Walden

Counsel, Free Expression and Human Rights, Google

Alex Walden works on free expression and human rights at Google. Her work includes representing Google in the Global Network Initiative (GNI) and participating as a member of the Freedom Online Coalition's working group on transparency. Alex joined Google from The Raben Group, where she was a director focused on civil rights, women's rights, criminal justice reform issues, and nominations.

Prior to joining TRG, Alex worked at the Center for American Progress. She has also served as a law clerk for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights & Liberties and the U.S. Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. Alex also worked with the U.S. EEOC, U.S. Department of Labor, and Bay Area Legal Aid during law school. Before attending law school, Alex spent almost four years working in the D.C. Office of Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund). Alex holds a B.A. in political science from American University and a J.D. from University of San Francisco School of Law.