Moderator 

Elisa Lees Munoz. (@IWMF) Elisa is the IWMF’s Executive Director. She leads the organization to achieve its mission to support women journalists to develop their careers by providing training, tools and assistance to achieve gender equity and so that they can work as safely as possible.  Elisa enhances the IWMF’s brand, and delivers the annual Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement Awards She has grown the IWMF by expanding its programs into new geographies, such as Latin America, the Great Lakes Region of Africa; introducing new initiatives such as the IWMF’s work on behalf of photojournalists and a focus on physical, online and emotional security; partnering with organizations who support female journalsits; and driving communications and outreach to expand our mission.  She is a frequent spokesperson and author on issue at the intersection of gender and the news media. Elisa has been dedicated to social justice since graduating from the University of Maryland with degrees in International Relations.  Before joining the IWMF, Elisa led the Crimes of War Education Project and before that was an election monitor for the OSCE in the Balkans and monitored the human rights of scientists for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Speakers :

Joy Wathagi Ndungu (@wathagindungu) is the Vice President/ Co-founder at Digital Grassroots and is the Lead Coordinator for the East Africa Youth Internet Governance Forum. She is also the current Google Policy Fellow at Paradigm Initiative where she is working on a Digital Rights Project. In 2017 she was an Internet Society Fellow for the Youth@IGF Program. She was part of the 2018 Mozilla Open Leaders Program and she continues to work on Digital Rights in Africa in various capacities. Wathagi majors in International Law at the University of Nairobi where she is undertaking a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B).

Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) is an award winning print and broadcast journalist who has worked for The Statesman, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times and Zee news. Her first book, Daddy’s Girl, a murder mystery was published by Penguin Random House in September 2016. Her second, a non-fiction investigation was published in December 2016 to international acclaim. “I am a Troll - Inside the BJP’s secret digital army” has received wide coverage for it’s investigation into how the party in power is paying to abuse citizens in a democracy. Swati is a columnist with Gulf News and NDTV.com. She does regular investigative stories for TheWire.com. She lives and works in New Delhi, India.

Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) is the Secretary General for Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières (RSF), an international non-governmental organization defending press freedom and access to information with more than 30 years of accomplishments. Thanks to its unique global network of local correspondents investigating in 130 countries, 13 national offices and a consultative status at the UN and UNESCO, RSF is able to have a global impact, gather on-the-ground information, conduct major advocacy campaigns, and assist and defend news providers all across the world.

Christophe Deloire will be introducing RSF’s report “Online harassment of journalists: the trolls attack", and RSF’s Journalism Trust Intitiative (JTI) to fight disinformation online and restore journalism trust.

Amy Awad. Amy is the Manager of Legislative and Regulatory Policy (Broadcasting and Digital Communications) at Canadian Heritage. Her team examines issues related to Canadians’ transition to the digital world including online disinformation. She previously worked at Employment and Social Development Canada where she was involved in the negotiation and implementation of labour provisions in Canada’s free trade agreements. Prior to joining the government, she was a litigator for the Ontario Nurses’ Association and worked at a national human rights and advocacy organization. Amy holds degrees in software engineering and law including a masters in law and technology from the University of Ottawa. She articled at the Supreme Court of Canada.