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. The initial ten people to take part in the Peer Group are listed below.

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 new people joining each round.

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.

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.

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 Shreejaya

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.

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.