Susannah Vila
Co-founder and Community Lead, the engine room
Susannah is a writer and entrepreneur who specializes in the use of new technologies for greater government accountability. She’s a co-founder and community lead at the engine room where she’s most recently been working on a partnership with the global NGO Transparency International to help national chapters integrate technology into their work. Based in Lima, Peru, she’s also a team member at JuventudDes, a network of youth working for more participatory governance and development in Peru.
Susannah co-founded the engine room in 2011 after co-conducting a series of interviews with coordinators of the Egyptian revolution (Tahrir Data Project) and observing a gap between national level advocacy initiatives and resources for integrating technology into their work. The organization uses research and networks to close this gap. Previously, she worked with the civic technology startup, CitiVox, to identify new initiatives looking to improve the relationship between citizens and governments. Previously, she managed a community of digital advocates and an effort to capture and disseminate best practices in the use of new technologies in social change for Movements.org.
Susannah began her career in journalism, working as a research assistant as the Nation Magazine and CBS news. She’s provided expertise on the nexus of new media and social change for outlets such as the New York Times, NPR and CNN and has written for Mashable, PBS MediaShift, and Global Voices Online as well as the engine room. She holds an M.A. and a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University and New York University, respectively.
Susannah co-founded the engine room in 2011 after co-conducting a series of interviews with coordinators of the Egyptian revolution (Tahrir Data Project) and observing a gap between national level advocacy initiatives and resources for integrating technology into their work. The organization uses research and networks to close this gap. Previously, she worked with the civic technology startup, CitiVox, to identify new initiatives looking to improve the relationship between citizens and governments. Previously, she managed a community of digital advocates and an effort to capture and disseminate best practices in the use of new technologies in social change for Movements.org.
Susannah began her career in journalism, working as a research assistant as the Nation Magazine and CBS news. She’s provided expertise on the nexus of new media and social change for outlets such as the New York Times, NPR and CNN and has written for Mashable, PBS MediaShift, and Global Voices Online as well as the engine room. She holds an M.A. and a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University and New York University, respectively.
Twitter: @szvila
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