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
Legal Officer
Judith Rauhofer
Judith is the Legal Officer of the Digital Freedom Fund. She is qualified as a German Rechtsanwalt and a solicitor in England and Wales and has previous experience in legal practice, legal publishing and advising digital rights organisations on policymaking and strategic litigation. Before taking up the position with DFF, she worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh where she pursued research and teaching in the area of data protection and technology law.
PGP fingerprint: C8BC 0DC2 91B7 15EA 176E CF1C F9DD 7901 7033 442B
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
Operations and Events Officer (Maternity Cover)
Claire Aichholzer
Claire is the Events and Operations Officer (Maternity Cover) at the Digital Freedom Fund. She has a Master’s degree from University College London and studied at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. Prior to joining DFF, she worked in events, fundraising and grant writing at various nonprofits in the US, including the Public Art Fund and COVID Grief Network. Claire is based in Berlin.
PGP Fingerprint: E3EF 9B1A 9746 25CB F4C3 2B6D B281 1171 3E1D 785A
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.