New York, NY – May 29, 2024 – Data & Society is pleased to welcome Maia Woluchem as director of the organization’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program. In this role, Woluchem will lead the program’s research on approaches to building trust online and offline, which centers the work of people of color and the experiences of vulnerable communities.
Woluchem has extensive experience in the field, having worked across government, philanthropy, civil society, and academia to preserve human rights in the digital space. Her research interests lie in building a collective understanding around racial capitalism, democracy, and surveillance in sociotechnical systems, in both domestic and global contexts. Before joining Data & Society, Woluchem created programs, research, and funding strategy as a tech fellow at the Ford Foundation. She has conducted research at the Surveillance Resistance Lab, and helped build transnational advocacy work with the Coalition for Independent Tech Research. She has also worked with local, state, and international governments to better understand the impact of technological expansion on communities living in marginalized contexts. She is an adjunct faculty member at NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where she teaches about segregation’s legacy on public policy.
“Program directors at Data & Society are so critical to steering both research and impact of our core programs. I couldn’t be more excited to see Maia leading our Trustworthy Infrastructures team; her experience across so many sectors focused on using knowledge to create change is a perfect match for the program’s focus on trust, society, and technology,” said Janet Haven, executive director of Data & Society.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to join this group of incredibly thoughtful, inspiring, and creative colleagues at Data & Society,” said Woluchem. “I look forward to working with them to explore how technologies are impacting the communities we care most deeply about, and moving toward solutions that emphasize their agency, power, and belonging.”
Woluchem holds a masters degree from MIT and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
###
Media Contact: