Our team
Director
Mauricio Lazala Leibovich
Mauricio is the Director of the Digital Freedom Fund. He is an international human rights lawyer and advocate. Before joining DFF in early 2022, Mauricio was Deputy Director at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, leading on strategic, regional and programmatic areas of work. He has also worked at grassroots human rights NGOs in various countries, and sits on the Advisory Council of the Investor Alliance for Human Rights. Mauricio is based in Frankfurt.
PGP Fingerprint: C50D 86CD 052F 644F A730 4788 F610 CC2C 4E4F 3BD7
Programme Officer
Thomas Vink
Thomas is the Programme Officer at the Digital Freedom Fund. Before joining DFF he worked at an international anti-corruption organisation, managing multi-country projects on areas such as ethics and integrity policy, protecting victims and witnesses of corruption, and social accountability. Thomas is based in Berlin.
PGP Fingerprint: 4785 9ED7 AE81 E2BC BA5C C7DE 2A9F ECE2 498A 87E9
Legal Adviser
Jonathan McCully
Jonathan is the Legal Adviser to the Digital Freedom Fund. He previously held a senior legal role at an international non-governmental organisation, working on strategic litigation before international, regional and domestic courts. Jonathan is also a Mozilla Fellow, creating resources to facilitate greater collaboration between litigators and technologists in cases challenging human rights violations caused by AI. Jonathan is based in London.
PGP fingerprint: 579D A71C C5B7 EC09 CF4A 59A9 0C5D FCBF AC40 0131
Racial and Social Justice Lead
Laurence Meyer
Laurence is the Racial and Social Justice Lead at the Digital Freedom Fund. She previously worked as a parliamentary assistant in the French National Assembly and works on the notion of race in law. She is also involved in several community-centered projects. Laurence is based in Berlin.
PGP Fingerprint: 68B1 72BD 74F6 DEBB B43A 1A44 21C9 8542 361F 75D3
Finance Manager
Darrah Hassell
Darrah is the Finance Manager at the Digital Freedom Fund. She is a qualified finance professional, holding a Master’s in Finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Before taking up her position at DFF, Darrah worked for eight years in the international development sector. Darrah is based in Berlin.
PGP Fingerprint: 3DBC 3963 5DA0 EAB0 D224 39F5 37BC 0ACA 201D B84D
Operations and Events Officer
Jihane Jadrane
Jihane is the Operations and Events Officer at the Digital Freedom Fund. She has a Master’s Degree from the University of Groningen in International Relations and International Organisation. Before taking up her position at DFF, Jihane held different positions in governmental and non-governmental organisations. Jihane is based in Berlin.
PGP Fingerprint: 5E5D E569 752C 996C 40EA 5AB7 3B58 EB8F 9206 FC2E
Racial and Social Justice Support
Joel Hide
Joel is the Racial and Social Justice Support at the Digital Freedom Fund. They recently completed a master’s degree in Global History where their research focused on the way in which gender and sexuality were reforged in colonial contexts. Before joining DFF they worked for an LGBTQ+ rights organisation. Joel is based in Berlin.
Legal Officer
César Manso-Sayao
César is the Legal Officer at Digital Freedom Fund. He is a law graduate from the University of Costa Rica, and holds two Master’s degrees from the University of Barcelona, one in Human Rights and the other in Sociology. He also has a postgraduate degree in Technopolitics and Rights in the Digital Age from Pompeu Fabra University and previous work experience in digital rights organisations. César is based in Berlin.
Communications Lead
Barbara Okeyo
Barbara is the Communications Lead at the Digital Freedom Fund. She brings over 10 years of experience in marketing communications, and content marketing strategy. She has worked in digital communications, social impact and advocacy with gender and reproductive rights NGOs. Her career goal is to use her skills to strengthen civil society in the areas of social justice and advocacy, intersection of gender and digital rights, sustainability, diversity & inclusion. Barbara is based in Berlin.
Artistic Support
Ahmed Isamaldin
Ahmed is the artistic support to the “Decolonising the Digital Rights Field” process at Digital Freedom Fund. He is a visual artist-designer and blogger from Khartoum. He studied physics at the University of Khartoum, graphic design and photography in Cairo, and visual communication at Kunsthochschule Weissensee, Berlin. His practice focuses on immigration and psychology, as well as the processes of revolutions, de-colonial design, and technology. He has participated in various exhibitions between Khartoum, Cairo, and Berlin, and is currently studying Media Art at UDK Berlin.