2024-2025 UC Berkeley Tech Policy Fellows

AI for Public Service Delivery

Claire Foulquier-Gazagnes

Sr. Manager, Civic & Sustainability Partnerships, Google
Adjunct professor, Sciences Po

Claire Foulquier-Gazagnes is driven by the intersection of technology and social impact. As a Partnerships Senior Manager at Google, she leads initiatives in Civics and Sustainability across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Claire also shares her expertise as an adjunct professor on Digital Transformation at Sciences Po Paris. Her career includes roles at Etalab (France’s Chief Data Officer team) and a rotation to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. A Montpellier native, Claire holds a BA from Sciences Po and a Dual MA from HEC Paris and Sciences Po.

Gideon Lichfield

Former Editor-in-Chief, WIRED & MIT Technology Review

Gideon Lichfield has been a journalist for 27 years, including stints as a science writer; foreign correspondent in Mexico City, Moscow, and Jerusalem; and editor. His most recent posts were as editor-in-chief of MIT Technology Review and subsequently of WIRED. He has taught journalism at New York University and held a fellowship at the Data & Society Research Institute in New York City. During the Covid-19 pandemic he edited “Make Shift: Dispatches from the Post-Pandemic Future”, a science-fiction anthology, for MIT Press. He collects languages (he speaks five), silver jewelry, and cocktail recipes.

Kambria Dumesnil

Management Analyst 5, WA State Department of Labor & Industries
Founder, AI Innovation Lounge

Kambria Dumesnil is a technologist and innovator dedicated to the people-side of tech to ensure meaningful and impactful 

implementations.  She is the founder of the AI Innovation Lounge and a management analyst with expertise in research, analysis, and facilitation on workplace issues impacting workers. Her research interests include exploring the psychosocial impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on workers, demonstrating her commitment to integrating technology with human-centric solutions.

Melanie Kolbe-Guyot

Head of Policy, Center for Digital Trust (C4DT), EPFL

Melanie Kolbe-Guyot is Head of Policy at the Center for Digital Trust (C4DT) at EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, where she leads the center’s science communication and digital policy work. Hailing from Berlin, Germany, Melanie has studied Political Science and International Affairs in Germany and the United States, and received her PhD from the University of Georgia. She previously served as an Assistant Professor for Political Science and International Affairs at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, with a focus on public policy and political economy. Her current research focuses on the challenges, risks, and strategic recommendations for the adoption of AI in the public sector.

Sabine Gerdon

Business Development Manager Data and AI, Amazon Web Services

Sabine Gerdon is a Business Development Manager for Data and AI at Amazon Web Services. She specializes in supporting public sector organizations in the EU on their AI adoption journeys. Previously, Sabine advised the UK Government on tech policy from AI, digital markets and GDPR, and led the drafting of AI procurement guidelines for the UK Government. She then collaborated with the World Economic Forum to publish the first AI procurement toolkit for governments. Sabine holds an MSc in Economics and Public Policy from the Toulouse School of Economics.

William Cutler

Head of Tech Policy, British Consulate San Francisco

William Cutler is Head of the UK’s Tech Policy team in the US. Currently based out of the British Consulate in San Francisco, William has 10 years of experience within the UK’s Civil Service focusing on Science and Innovation policy.  His interests and expertise span issues ranging from critical and emerging technologies, to online safety, data protection, and competition in digital markets.

Comparative Policy & Standards Analysis

Christine Galvagna
Head of Research, Eticas Foundation

Christine Galvagna combines expertise in human rights law with social science research methods to understand the impacts of technology and its regulation on the public. As the Head of Research at the Eticas Foundation, she focuses on auditing algorithmic decision-making systems for discriminatory bias and other problems. She holds an M.Sc. in Politics and Technology from the Technical University of Munich and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

Debora Comparin

Standardization Expert, Thales Digital Identity & Security

Debora Comparin is Standardization Expert at Thales Digital Identity & Security, founder and chair of the OSIA Initiative, co-founder of SIDI Hub and Advisory Board member of the Linux Foundation Europe. She is a strong advocate for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 ‘Identity for all by 2030’ and in 2019 founded the OSIA initiative, a public-private sector partnership to build interoperability for national identity infrastructures. OSIA is recognized as an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard by its 193 government members.

Melissa Hopkins

Health Security Policy Advisor, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security; Assistant Scientist, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Melissa works with academics and policymakers to translate evidence-based health security policy into implementable legislative and regulatory actions, specializing in policy related to biotechnology. Melissa’s diverse background spans Capitol Hill, the executive branch, political campaigns, and the private sector, giving her expertise in navigating complex policy landscapes, especially at the intersection of technology and national security. She holds a law degree from George Washington University, specializing in administrative law and national security, and combines this legal expertise with a distinguished academic background as a Davies Jackson Scholar at the University of Cambridge and a summa cum laude graduate from Bucknell University.

Nikhil Mulani

AI Policy Fellow in the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Planning at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Nikhil currently leads work on AI policy on the National Policy team at the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. His areas of interest include understanding the implications of AI for cyber offense and defense, securing intellectual property, and planning for AI security research and development. He recently collaborated with the Centre for Long-Term Resilience on projects to inform UK AI regulation and international policy. He also worked with the Centre for the Governance of AI (GovAI), where he developed a policy proposal for implementing information-sharing between leading AI labs and the UK Office for AI. Before working in policy, he worked as a product manager building machine learning software and as a consultant advising commercial and government clients. He received an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA in Classics from Harvard University.

Sissi De La Peña Mendoza

Director, Mexican Academy for Cybersecurity and Digital Law

Sissi De La Peña is a seasoned professional driving responsible AI adoption in Mexico. As the International Affairs Director at AMCID, she leads efforts in digital policy and AI governance, notably spearheading the UK-government funded AI Regulatory Sandbox project. A founding member of the National Artificial Intelligence Alliance in the Mexican Senate and a member of the UK’s LATAM Science and Innovation Network, Sissi bridges the gap between government, international bodies, and the private sector. With over two decades of experience, she champions ethical AI regulation and advocates for technology’s positive social impact, shaping a responsible and equitable AI future for Mexico and Latin America.

Content Moderation

Isabelle Higgins

Teaching Associate – Media, Culture, and Sociological Theory, University of Cambridge

Isabelle Higgins is a sociologist who studies how intersecting racial, reproductive and digital inequalities are reproduced through the design and use of everyday technologies. She holds a PhD from the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, where she explored how children deemed eligible for adoption in the USA are represented and/or monetized online by actors including government agencies, private adoption agencies and adoptive parents who work as social media influencers. Isabelle has held fellowships at the John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress, the New School Institute for Critical Social Inquiry, Cambridge Digital Humanities and the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence.

Jeff Lazarus

Strategic Response Manager, Meta

Jeff is a Strategic Response manager at Meta, where he helps drive leadership decisions on the most important regulatory, safety, and policy issues facing Meta. Before joining Meta, he spent over five years on the Trust & Safety teams of Google and Apple working on product and content policy with a focus on violent extremism and terrorist content. Jeff served as an economic and political analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. He has an MBA from the Tuck School of Business and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and History from Swarthmore College.

Joanna Smolinska

Counselor for Digital and Deputy Head of the EU Office in San Francisco, European Union Delegation to the US

Joanna is Counsellor for Digital and Deputy Head of the EU Office in San Francisco since the day it opened September 1, 2022. She focuses on AI policy and regulation, online content moderation, policies promoting digital markets openness and innovation in the context of transatlantic relations, forging cooperation with California civil society, business, academia and government. Before coming to SF, she had worked for 15 years in the European Commission in Brussels across a wide range of policy areas. In DG CNECT, the Commission’s department responsible for EU tech policy, Joanna  focused on digital and green transformation, digital services and copyright regulations, tech standardization, digital skills, blockchain, and technology start-ups/scale-ups. She was actively involved in the development of the EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. Of Polish nationality, Joanna graduated from Warsaw School of Economics, holds a Master’s Degree in Finance from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a Master’s Degree in European Law and Economic Analysis from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Seppe Kelchtermans

Senior Specialist, Platform Safety Policy, Reddit

Seppe is dedicated to enhancing online safety in his role on Reddit’s Platform Safety Policy team. With a strong track record in policy leadership, he previously led policy enforcement initiatives at Spotify and managed a global policy development team at TikTok. Seppe’s experience extends to public service, where he served as a policy advisor for the Flemish Government and represented Belgium in the States Representatives Group of the Innovative Medicines Initiative. He also managed European Commission-funded projects, focused on advancements in public health and health policy. Seppe holds a Master of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and a Master of Science in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences from KU Leuven.

Stephanie Haven

Responsible Technology Advisor

Stephanie Haven led Trust & Safety operations for elections and international conflicts at Meta, developing content moderation strategies based on human rights standards and designing external governance bodies to mitigate the relationship between online content and offline harm. Most recently, Stephanie directed an AI pilot at a war crimes tribunal in The Hague, exploring the opportunities for generative AI to enhance the efficiency of international legal processes. Her work focuses on developing successful technology products that balance innovation with safety and free expression. Stephanie holds a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she specialized in the intersection of technology and democracy.

Human Rights

Abeera Akhtar

GBV Tech Product Manager, UNICEF

Originally from Pakistan, Abeera Akhtar is the GBV Technology Product Manager at UNICEF where she has led the strategic planning and development of technology solutions addressing GBV, including a Virtual Safe Space Platform for women and girls in humanitarian settings. Abeera held significant roles at the Digital Impact Alliance and Oxfam America, focusing on digital citizenship, women’s economic empowerment, and rural connectivity, and currently also supports Web3 humanitarian pilots for Mercy Corps Ventures. Additionally, she co-founded the social enterprise FATE – From Apathy to Empathy. Abeera is passionate about affordable internet access for women and girls and ensuring safety online. She holds a Master of Global Affairs, with a specialization in Digital Development from the University of Notre Dame.

Imogen Resnick

Policy and Commissioning Manager, Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime

Imogen Resnick is the policy lead on tech-enabled violence against women and girls for the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime. This scope encompasses online harms, such as AI-generated so-called ‘deepfake pornography’, alongside physical tech products weaponised for domestic abuse and stalking. She sits on the Advisory Board of University College London’s Gender and Tech Research Group. She is also part of the NGO All Tech is Human‘s working group on Public Interest Technology. She previously worked in local government, working with communities to develop citizen-led approaches to tackling inequality, and believes emerging technology must be developed with the safety of women, girls and marginalized people at its core. She holds a Master of Science from Oxford University.

Meri Baghdasaryan

Senior Case and Policy Officer, Oversight Board

Meri Baghdasaryan is a dual-qualified Armenian human rights attorney, currently working at the intersection of law and technology, as a Senior Case and Policy Officer at Meta Oversight Board. She has prior extensive experience in International human rights litigation before the European Court of Human Rights, UN Human Rights Committee and Constitutional Court of Armenia. She served as a consultant for UNDP and Council of Europe. Meri worked on technology and human rights issues in the US and globally as a Legal Fellow at the Wikimedia Foundation and Electronic Frontier Foundation. She is an active member of various Internet Governance communities and is a former Steering Committee Member of Youth Coalition on Internet Governance and the IGF Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles.

Ritu Narula

Senior Counsel, Loeb & Loeb LLP

Ritu Narula, a practicing attorney, advises clients on strategic AI, privacy, security, and optimization practices, including data-related services and connected devices. She has spearheaded AI governance initiatives, counseled on risk analysis of AI technologies, and advised on AI legislation in the EU and North America. Ritu served on the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition Team and continues to contribute to AI and data-related discourse through speaking engagements, guest lectures, and publications. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Howard University School of Law, where she served as an editor of the Law Review, and received her bachelor’s degree with honors from Mary Washington University.

Stefanie Coyle

Deputy Director, Education Policy Center

Stefanie Coyle is the Deputy Director of the Education Policy Center at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she focuses on education litigation and advocacy efforts across the state. Stefanie has a long track record of serving students, starting in the classroom as a kindergarten teacher in Phoenix, Arizona. As a lawyer, she worked to create the first statewide ban on the use of facial recognition technology in schools in New York. Stefanie graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with high distinction from Pennsylvania State University’s Schreyer Honors College with a triple major in International Politics, Spanish, and International Studies. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan with a pro bono service certificate.

Improving Diversity in AI

Gabrielle Hurtubise-Radet

Principal Program Manager at Mila (Quebec AI Institute)

Gabrielle is the Principal Program Manager at Mila, the Quebec AI Institute, where she merges cutting-edge innovation with societal impact. As the leader of the Mila Entrepreneurship Lab, she drives the transformation of AI research into responsible, real-world ventures. A dual citizen of France and Canada, Gabrielle’s diverse experience includes supporting disadvantaged communities in Montreal, tackling global warming through a carbon-measurement startup in Paris, and crafting sustainability frameworks for multinational firms at Microsoft. She also works as a DEI consultant, focusing on integrating inclusivity into technology. Gabrielle holds dual Master’s degrees in Management from HEC Paris and Sciences Po Paris and is committed to advancing human-centric solutions.

Laura Carter

Independent researcher

Laura Carter is a technology, human rights and social justice researcher. She completed her PhD in the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex in the UK in 2023, where her thesis examined how public sector data technologies perpetuate stereotypes about gender. She also holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Gender Studies from SOAS University of London, and volunteers with OLS as a mentor for researchers learning open science principles and practices. Laura has previously worked as a Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, and as a human rights researcher and policy advisor at Amnesty International, where she led Amnesty’s research and policy on LGBTI rights worldwide. Originally from London, she recently relocated to the USA and now lives on traditional Duwamish lands in Seattle.

Maitreya Shah

Fellow, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University

Maitreya Shah is a lawyer and technology policy researcher with extensive experience working in the areas of technology governance, responsible AI, regulatory technologies, and disability rights. He is currently a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He has previously worked with Regulatory Genome at the University of Cambridge, European Network on Independent Living in Brussels, PRS Legislative Research in New Delhi, and the Prime Minister’s Office of India. He graduated with dual degrees in Arts and Law from Gujarat National Law University, India, and an LLM from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in the United States.

Naureen Rizvi

Product Policy Lead at Twitch

Naureen Rizvi is a policy wonk and technologist working on the development of safer interaction features on social media platforms. With experiences at Tiktok and Meta,  she specializes in product policy, digital well-being and creating safer experiences online for marginalized populations.  Her advocacy work and research focuses on increasing diversity in AI and amplifying voices of the Global Majority in dis/misinformation efforts. Naureen Rizvi is a policy wonk and technologist working on the development of safer interaction features on social media platforms. With experiences at Tiktok and Meta,  she specializes in product policy, digital well-being and creating safer experiences online for marginalized populations.  Her advocacy work and research focuses on increasing diversity in AI and amplifying voices of the Global Majority in dis/misinformation efforts. She is a dual alumna of the College and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.