Community Peer Group

As part of a series of changes to transform our grantmaking, since December 2024 we are piloting a participatory decision making process where grant decisions are made by a group of peers from the wider community, rather than by DFF.

In late 2024, we ran an open call for applications to be part of the first Peer Group, with around 40 applications received. Ten people were part of the initial version of the Peer Group, and this was expanded to 17 people, as listed below. Check out this blog for reflections on how the pilot has gone so far.

All members of the Peer Group sign a Terms of Reference, which includes a confidentiality policy and conflict of interest policy. All Peer Group members are compensated for their time.

Based on lessons from the pilot it is our intention to gradually role out participatory practices across all our grantmaking processes. The Peer Group itself will evolve over time, with some members leaving and new people joining on a regular basis.

Aintzane Márquez Tejón

Strategic Litigation Researcher at SOMO (The Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations). Based in Spain.

Amber Macintyre

A consultant on digital campaigns and political influence, and formerly Project Lead of the Influence Industry Project at Tactical Tech. Based in Germany and the UK.

Amina Mahović

Digital Rights Programme Manager at Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN HUB). Based in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Alex Haché

Co-Program Manager for Fembloc a feminist helpline providing support to survivors of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV), and Community Building Manager at the Digital Defenders Partnership. Based in Spain and France.

Atanas Avramov

Policy and Advocacy Officer at Association Stronger Together, an association for support of people living with HIV. Based in North Macedonia.

Danilo Ćurčić

Programme Coordinator at the A 11 - Initiative for Economic and Social Rights. Based in Serbia.

Di Luong

A public interest technologist, currently working for Global Voices and previously for the Open Technology Fund. Based in Germany.

Emma Irving

Co-founder of the Fénix Foundation, an NGO with a mission to leverage technology for international justice, peace, and accountability. International legal consultant specialising in the intersection of justice and technology. Based in Spain.

Gema Fernández Rodríguez de Liévana

Managing Attorney at Women's Link Worldwide, leading strategic litigation and support for survivors of gender-based violence, reproductive rights violations and racial discrimination. Based in Spain.

Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal

Policy Advisor at European Digital Rights (EDRi). Based in Belgium.

Jędrzej Niklas

Scholar and lecturer at the University of Cambridge working on technology governance and human rights. Previously active in Poland’s digital rights community, supporting civil society work on data protection and emerging technologies. Based in the United Kingdom and Poland.

Jill Toh

Co-founder of the Racism and Technology Center and PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam. Based in the Netherlands.

Olivia Njoroge

Legal Adviser, Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre. Based in Kenya.

Paige Collings

A lawyer, digital policy activist and community organiser working at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Based in Denmark.

Shradha

Programme Officer at Mama Cash International Women's Fund. Based in India.

Trajche Janushev

Executive Director at Sex Workers’ Rights Advocacy Network (SWAN) Foundation. Based in Austria.

Yigit Aydinalp

Digital Rights Programme Officer at European Sex Workers Rights Alliance and PhD candidate in Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. Based in the United Kingdom.

Community-led decision making – reflections on the pilot to change DFF’s grantmaking

Illustration by Berenice Alvarez and Laura Lopez Between December 2024 and May 2025 we piloted a new review and decision-making process for our grants. A group of ten people representing the wider digital rights community (the Peer Group) reviewed all pre-litigation research applications and decided which ones DFF should fund.

Transforming our grantmaking through participatory decision-making

DFF is undertaking a pilot of participatory decision-making for our grantmaking. We are seeking expressions of interest from people who would like to be part of the “peer group” (Peer Group) that will review grant applications in this pilot and decide where our funding should go. The call for expressions

Transforming our grantmaking

At the start of 2023 we published our new strategic plan for the next four years. A key aspect of this strategic plan is decolonising our grantmaking to increase the accessibility of grants to all actors in the digital rights community, and to concretely implement one of our key values.