People

As a Principal, Amira sources and manages Luminate’s global Civic Empowerment grants and investments to help ensure that everyone, especially those who are marginalised or underserved, can participate in governance, receive the services they need and hold those in power to account.

Amira was most recently Director of Programs and Strategy at Reboot, leading its New York-based Programs Team and working to advance civic participation and social action with a variety of philanthropic, government, and private sector partners. She also worked on Reboot’s theory of change and organisational strategy.

Prior to this Amira was a Programme Manager at Transparency International – Defence and Security. Amira first led the Africa Programme and later managed an initiative to develop global norms for responsible defence governance, as well as the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index, TI’s flagship publication on defence and security. 

A former Tahrir Square activist, Amira started her career in non-profit organisations in Egypt. 

Melody Patry is Advocacy Director at Access Now. She leads on global advocacy, communications, and campaigns, working closely with the Policy and Tech teams to develop the strategies and partnerships needed to protect the internet and those who use it. Previously, Melody was head of advocacy at free speech organization Index on Censorship in London, where she worked with human rights defenders, government officials, and in coalitions such as the Global Network Initiative, the Civic Solidarity Platform, and Don’t Spy on Us. Before that, she worked with Cairo-based grassroots organizations and artists on campaigns addressing women’s rights issues, assisted the Representative to the European Union for Doctors Without Borders, and acted as a political advisor for the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations. She holds an MA in International Security from Sciences Po Paris and a BA in Law and Political Science from Lille II University.

As Principal at Luminate, Swee Leng works with our Data & Digital Rights team to identify funding opportunities, support funding execution and portfolio management, and undertake policy research and analysis.

Before joining Luminate, Swee Leng was Head of Policy and Public Affairs at The Legal Education Foundation. During her time there she led a portfolio of policy grants focusing on the technical legal capacity of civil society to engage with the legislative process relating to the UK’s exit from the EU. Swee Leng was also responsible for developing the Foundation’s activity on data processing by government, public law, and rule of law principles, and is a member of Privacy and Consumer Advisory Group for the UK Government. 

Prior to this, she worked at the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law where she led the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rule of Law. She began her career as an environment and planning lawyer.

Audrey Tang is Taiwan's digital minister in charge of social innovation. She is a software programmer known for revitalizing the computer languages Perl and Haskell and for building the online spreadsheet system EtherCalc in collaboration with Dan Bricklin. Audrey served on Taiwan's National Development Council's Open Data committee and K-12 curriculum committee, and she led the country's first e-Rulemaking project. She has also worked as a consultant with Apple on computational linguistics, with Oxford University Press on crowd lexicography and with Socialtext on social interaction design. She actively contributes to g0v ("gov zero"), a vibrant community that focuses on creating tools for the civil society with the call to "fork the government."

As Advocacy Director, Alaphia leads on developing our advocacy and campaigning strategy, including engagement with partners. Her mission is to build a diverse network of civil society groups and stakeholders around the world to tackle digital threats to democracy. She brings a decade of campaigning experience, first at Amnesty International and then as a senior campaigner at Avaaz, where she focused on issues of media reform, human rights and the impact of digital hate speech on minorities. One of her successes includes protecting Sky television in the UK from a takeover by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Earlier she was a news anchor and journalist at New Delhi Television, expanding the network's coverage of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to some of the most remote parts of South Asia.

As Executive Director, Ben is responsible for strategic direction, overseeing the coordination of policy, technology and civic engagement work, providing expert counsel on policy development and advocacy. His mission is to push financial, knowledge and relational resources into a global network of organisations working to achieve our aims. Ben’s role is an evolution of his previous position as Luminate’s Director of Policy & Advocacy. Ben continues to be policy and advocacy advisor at Luminate. Before starting Reset, he co-led the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV) in Berlin, helping develop the organisation into a leading tech policy voice in German politics. He was also a Senior Adviser to New America in Washington DC, helping design the Public Interest Technology Initiative, and led the technology policy advisory group for the 2016 Clinton US presidential campaign.

As Chief Technologist, Dan oversees our technology-centred efforts, leading technology funding and implementation work, delivering counsel and a network of experts to support Reset and partners across the full portfolio of work. His mission is building our capacity as a trusted source and sharer of knowledge at the intersection of technology and democracy. Previous roles include Principal Director and Chief Technologist of the Open Technology Fund, which Dan co-founded in 2012 and remains involved as a strategic advisor to the team and board. Earlier, he served as Senior Producer and Technologist for the Al Jazeera Network, modernising traditional investigative journalism and protecting reporters in the field.

As a consultant on public policy, Poppy leads on Reset's UK policy and political strategy. Combining her expertise in policy and technology, Poppy's mission is to maximise Reset's impact in the UK, and driving its powerful policy agenda. As well as having run multiple technology advisory businesses, supporting some of the world's leading technology companies and start-ups, Poppy also worked in Downing Street for two years where she was an advisor on public appointments and tech policy. Poppy is a World Economic Forum "Global Shaper" and in 2018 was recognised in Brummell Magazine's "Ones to Watch" list celebrating London's high-potential talent.