Hello World!

By Kaleigh Schwalbe | June 04, 2021

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desert highway

Hello, world!  I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as a Senior Program Officer for Information Integrity.  I have become increasingly intrigued by efforts to counter disinformation and other forms of information manipulation online, and I am looking forward to diving in and focusing more on this important issue.

My interest in using technology as a tool for promoting social justice and advancing international development began in Arizona, where I served as an online organizer for several organizations advocating for undocumented immigrant rights in a harsh political climate.  When I began working in international development, the first proposal I wrote was on using open source technologies to establish an online system to track pre-trial detainees in Liberia.  I also spent several years working with professors at Arizona State University who were developing innovative technologies to support sustainable development across the globe, including clean cookstoves, water filtration and collection in arid climates, sanitation solutions, turning food waste into energy, and looking at critical issues such as equitable access to resources.

Most recently, I worked at the McCain Institute for International Leadership and the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in DC, where I managed projects and proposals that focused on rule of law, transitional justice, countering disinformation, internet freedom, and cybersecurity.  There I had the opportunity to look more closely at efforts to counter disinformation and to investigate the implications on democracy and human rights, as women and marginalized groups are often the targets of disinformation campaigns and online hate speech. 

Originally from the great state of New Hampshire (live free or die!), I now call DC home.  I love to spend time outdoors hiking and camping, usually with my two dogs.  I also love to eat good food with my husband, who happens to be a chef.

 

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