Lisa Jackson

Lisa is OpenMedia's Interim Executive Director. She brings a depth of experience within the non-profit sector, most recently heading up Leadership Programming at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where she was known for partnership and team building, operational excellence, and cultivating a participatory culture of equity, kindness and bold experimentation, along with a healthy dose of play and joy. Her background in designing and delivering adult education programming for artists, social innovators and Indigenous leaders and communities, often in remote locations across Canada, has heightened her understanding of the need for, and appreciation of the work that OpenMedia does. Lisa sits on several boards and is a First Responder in her community, but beyond work she ensures a substantial amount of her time is spent outside in nature as she has been incredibly fortunate to live in some of the world's most beautiful places.

Shantini Klaassen

Shantini (Shawn-tin-nee) is OpenMedia's Operations Director. Her non-profit background is in the arts, most recently as the operational leader of two of Vancouver's most exciting theatre companies; the Vancouver Fringe Festival and Electric Company Theatre. She's passionate about OpenMedia's human rights advocacy that helps make the internet equitable for everyone. When she's not working or chasing after her two small humans, you can find her thrifting and perfecting her croissant recipe.

Matt Hatfield

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Matt is OpenMedia’s Campaigns Director. His previous work focuses on bridging the gap between good policy and messy political reality, with 5 years experience leading international digital rights advocacy at IFEX, and previous experience with the UN Environment program and Canopy Planet. He holds a BA in International Relations from the University of British Columbia, and a Masters of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto. He loves cats and swing dance, and only infrequently attempts to combine the two.

Krusheska M. Quirós

Krusheska is the Operations & Digital Security Manager at OpenMedia. She brings with her a multidisciplinary background that extends from forensic science to community meshed networks with many other areas in between. One of her main insterests is the intersection of technology, activism and community development with an emphasis on the key role that different modes of communication –especially  telecommunications and their infrastructure– play in strengthening the self-reliance and autonomy of our communities.

Marianela Ramos

Marianela is OpenMedia’s Manager of Digital. She came to the advocacy world by way of design and communications. When she’s not at OM, she can be found producing podcasts.

Erin Knight

Erin is a Digital Rights Campaigner at OpenMedia. Erin has always loved the Internet; her passion began in childhood, when she taught herself HTML to add a sparkly background to her Neopets page (and a butchered MIDI version of Avril Lavigne’s Sk8ter Boi). Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies and a Certificate in Sustainability Studies from the University of Calgary. A rural Manitoban at heart and an advocate for rural youth, Erin is especially fired up about the Digital Divide and the many ways digital equity can empower Canadians living outside of cities.

Bryan Short

Bryan is a Digital Rights campaigner at OpenMedia. He first began writing about digital identity and internet citizenry as a student working for the Digital Tattoo Project at the University of British Columbia, but his interest in the internet goes back much further. He remembers a moment in childhood, when the internet was in its infancy, and his friends decided to go home and chat with each other on computers instead of in person. In that moment, he realized that things would never be the same again. He completed a Bachelor of Arts (English Literature) and a Master of Journalism degree from UBC. After graduating, he worked for the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association before joining OpenMedia.

Ramneet Bhullar

Ramneet is a Digital Rights Campaigner at OpenMedia. Her digital advocacy journey began by questioning her own positionality as a digital native and worked towards creating tools in aiding digital immigrants with online spaces. Ramneet holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Technology and Society from the University of Victoria. During this time, she worked on numerous research projects on campus in the Department of Computer Science, Political Science, and Technology and Society program. When out of the office, you can catch Ramneet hiking the nearest trail.

Chelsey

Chelsey is OpenMedia's Development Manager. She came to the digital rights world via the arts non-profit sector with a strong interest in leveraging storytelling to change the world. She majored in English and Ancient History with a MA focused on narratology (why we tell stories). Outside of the office she hones her photography, writing, and directing skills with local film and theatre projects.

Rosa Addario

Rosa is OpenMedia’s Communications Manager. She first found her passion for digital advocacy in her undergrad, where she focused her research on media policy and regulation in Canada. A researcher through and through, she completed an undergraduate fellowship studying early Canadian telecommunications technology from the 1970s and 1980s. She’s excited to bring her experience in the non-profit startup sector to the OpenMedia team. When she’s not at work, you can find her designing furniture, cooking big dinners for her friends, and cuddling with her cat Raspy. 

Dylan Armitage

Dylan is OpenMedia’s Development Coordinator. Dylan found a passion for digital media through first hearing about concentration in Canadian telecom during his undergrad at Carleton University. From there, Dylan took that passion into a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies at the University of Winnipeg studying established media industries’ regulatory and market practices for insight into emerging digital media industries, looking at their novel issues as well as their potential to empower communities. Outside of the office, you can probably find Dylan walking with his dog Ruby or online in his favourite Discord server.

Dylan Blanchard

Dylan is a leader of the user experience research organization at Shopify, working to identify opportunities to lower the barriers to entrepreneurship for people around the world. He’s spent the majority of his career in the technology industry, gaining expertise as a user experience researcher, becoming known for his ability to help teams make sense of complex environments so they can deliver value to customers while building towards longer term visions. Dylan uses his curiosity of human behaviours and their motivations to solve real problems for real people.

Gabriel Blanchard

Gabriel is a technology enthusiast and a digital privacy advocate. He is the Network  Operations Director at Start Communications, an Internet Service Provider located in  London Ontario. Prior to Start, he was the lead engineer at TekSavvy where he helped grow  it's technology operations from its very beginning. He is passionate about keeping the  Internet free and open. He has previously served on the TorIX board as well as the QIX  (Montreal Internet Exchange) as Secretary for 6 years. 

Jen Chow

Jen started her career in accounting and finance, earning her CPA, CA designation while working with a range of Canadian clients including non-profit organizations. She then combined her financial experience and interest in people and culture to focus on research, strategy, and leadership work. Carrying a passion for building great products and services that improve people’s lives, she’s most recently built and led teams, as well as shaped strategic plans at Shopify. Privacy, access to knowledge and technology, innovation policy, and tech’s impact on society are all areas of interest she’s cultivated for many years.

Paul Gibson

As Managing Director of Sapien Capital, Paul provides organizational design, coaching,  executive search, scale-up, and governance services for private and family businesses. Paul  is an ICD-certified director and has served as Vice Chair of WaterTAP (Ontario’s water  technology accelerator), as two-term Governor of the University of Guelph, and director for  institutions including West Park Healthcare rehabilitation hospital, Mohawk/Medbuy  Shared Services, as well as SaaS artificial intelligence start-up Daisy Intelligence and  affordable housing lender Home Ownership Alternatives. His private governance practice  includes roles as Board Secretary for general contractor Maple Reinders and Executive  Director for OpenWorm Foundation, a global artificial intelligence & digital modelling  enterprise. An apprentice woodcut and sculpture artist, Paul and his wife have raised four  children to adulthood and now maintain an new empty nest in Ancaster Ontario. 

Rob McClinton

Rob McClinton is the founder and CEO of Designing Nation Holdings and its internet registrar, Small World Communications, a hosting and online marketing company focused on small and local businesses. He is a 25 year tech industry veteran with roots in several startups including GoTo.com and X1 Technologies. He has spent more than 10 years in the internet industry. Rob's career started with developing and leading sales organizations before moving into executive management, management coaching, and entrepreneurship. He's passionate about helping people and organizations achieve their goals. He’s the Executive Director of the Idealab Alumni Association and serves on the development committee for Innovate Pasadena.

Angela Plohman

Angela has dedicated her career to building and growing nonprofit organizations and programs, and have specifically spent close to two decades playing key leadership roles in the fields of art, culture and open source technology. As Executive Vice President at Mozilla, she has been critical in evolving the Foundation into an advocacy and education organization. Prior to Mozilla, she was the Director of Baltan Laboratories, a laboratory for art and technology based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. She also served in key roles at the European Cultural Foundation in Amsterdam, the Blender Foundation in Amsterdam, and the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology in Montreal. She has written and spoken extensively on art and the importance of research and production spaces for artists and professionals working creatively with technology.

Travis Smith

Travis founded Hop Studios, a web design and development company that focuses on helping progressive social enterprises create modern, robust and efficient  online tools. He has been building content-rich, elegant websites since 1994, when he was  one of the original creators of the Los Angeles Times website. He’s also been the editor of  Variety.com and a lecturer at the University of Southern California and BCIT. He lives in  Calgary and in his free(ish) time, he plays many flying disc sports.