OTI Looks Back with Year in Review and Forward with New Leadership Team

Today, the Open Technology Institute at New America releases its “Year in Review” report for 2015, summing up what was a historic year in the evolution of OTI with major victories and profound changes. The report demonstrates how, in 2015, OTI proved itself to be a critical tech policy leader on a range of issues including net neutrality, surveillance, encryption, and broadband access.

The Year in Review also looks forward, highlighting the new leadership of Kevin Bankston, who became Director of OTI last year after serving as its Policy Director, and spotlighting OTI’s new mission, which is focused on ensuring that all communities have access to an Internet that is both open and secure. To better accomplish that mission, OTI today announces a new leadership team which includes:

Brooke Hunter, who was recently hired to be OTI’s first Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Initiatives. Brooke brings a wealth of expertise and leadership experience to OTI from her time as the Chief Operating Officer at allied organizations Public Knowledge and Engine.

Sarah Morris, an OTI Senior Policy Counsel who has anchored OTI’s broadband policy work for the last half-decade, who will now step into the well-earned role of Director of Open Internet Policy. She will lead OTI into the next round of the net neutrality fight and provide direction for all of our work on broadband access and adoption.  

Ross Schulman, another Senior Policy Counsel at OTI, who has been promoted to Co-Director of the Cybersecurity Initiative at New America. Ross joined OTI last year with over a decade of experience in tech policy gleaned from working at the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, and Google. His leadership comes at a critical time as OTI continues to play a key role in ongoing debates over encryption and surveillance.  

Two more staff members complete the five-person leadership team working with Bankston to guide OTI’s work in the coming years: Georgia Bullen, who will continue to lead OTI’s technology development and research as Director of Technology Projects, and Chhaya Kapadia, who will continue to keep OTI running smoothly in her role as Director of Operations.  

The following statement can be attributed to Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America:  

The Open Technology Institute’s mission to ensure that everyone has access to an Internet that is both open and secure plays an integral role in the broader mission of New America. I’m proud of the incredible range of work that the OTI staff accomplished in 2015 under Kevin Bankston’s leadership, leadership that has been vital to OTI’s continued success and impact in a time of great change for the organization. With a renewed mission and leadership team, OTI is on track to do great things in 2016 and beyond!

The following statement can be attributed to Kevin Bankston, Director of the Open Technology Institute:

I am humbled and proud to be leading the Open Technology Institute into the next stage of its evolution, building on the vision and leadership of my predecessors Sascha Meinrath and Alan Davidson. As reflected in our newly-issued ‘Year in Review’ report, OTI proved itself in 2015 as a critical tech policy leader that helped achieve key wins on a range of issues from surveillance reform to net neutrality. Now, guided by a renewed mission and a strong leadership team of OTIers old and new, and with exciting new projects like the TechCongress fellowship program that’s putting technologists on Capitol Hill, we’re looking forward to even greater success in 2016. To everyone who has worked with us or supported us in the past year, I offer my deepest gratitude. Thank you, and welcome to the future of OTI.

OTI’s new mission statement:
OTI works at the intersection of technology and policy to ensure that every community has equitable access to digital technology and its benefits. We promote universal access to communications technologies that are both open and secure, using a multidisciplinary approach that brings together advocates, researchers, organizers, and innovators.