Mehwish Ansari is a program officer with the foundation’s Technology and Society program. She supports individuals and organizations working at the international level to ensure that technology respects and enables social justice, especially for people and communities facing persistent discrimination.
Previously, Mehwish was head of digital at ARTICLE 19. There, she led the Global Digital Program, which works to protect and promote the consideration of human rights in internet infrastructure technologies. Prior to joining ARTICLE 19, she worked with the Speech, Privacy & Technology Project and the Human Rights Program at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Mehwish has served as a member of the Advisory Network of the Freedom Online Coalition and the 2023 nominations committee of the Internet Society. Over the course of her career, she has served as lead negotiator for human rights issues on behalf of the United Kingdom and the European region on treaty-level resolutions at the International Telecommunication Union and delivered expert testimony to the United Kingdom House of Lords Select Committee on Communications and Digital. Her work has been highlighted at SXSW, cited in The Financial Times, and published in the 2023 book Eaten by the Internet by Meatspace Press.
Mehwish holds a master of science degree in global governance and diplomacy from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College, Columbia University.