## We are a media research lab, using science, data, and creativity to _research and reshape our relationship with media._ For more than a decade, our work has helped storytellers and strategists, decision makers and dreamers, harness the immense power of media to shape a _positive, pluralistic future._ 


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# We are a media research lab, using science, data, and creativity to _research and reshape our relationship with media._ For more than a decade, our work has helped storytellers and strategists, decision makers and dreamers, harness the immense power of media to shape a _positive, pluralistic future._ 


John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

## _Thanks_ for your support


## Harmony Labs emerged from a vision for _a new kind of research institution,_ able to update and apply an understanding of how media and society interact at scale to better balance our relationship with media.  

More than a decade in, after our founding by John S. Johnson in 2008, _this original vision remains._

At the core of everything we do is _an imperative to serve the public good._ We’re committed to research that is rigorous, participatory, and public. We work with a wide range of partners on issues of existential importance, like climate, denuclearization, racial justice, gun safety, artificial intelligence, and more. [Learn more about our approach](/approach).

_Also core to our work are data._ We’ve built an unrivaled data platform, called the [Narrative Observatory](https://narrativeobservatory.org), through data philanthropy with companies like [Nielsen](https://www.nielsen.com), [Comscore](https://www.comscore.com), and [Peakmetrics](https://www.peakmetrics.com), academic research relationships, and our own in-house data science and engineering teams. With its principled, transparent data practices, the Narrative Observatory allows us to study the actual media behaviors of real people and true audiences, without relying on survey data. 

_Many communities benefit_ from our data platform, the tools we build on top of it, and our research outputs. There are the cultural strategists and creative practitioners, advocates, artists, media brands, and institutional funders we work with to convert insights about audience, narratives and networks, content and media cultures, into compelling storytelling and cultural change. And there are the academics whose new discoveries our data powers. [Learn more about our work](/work).

Our partners and funders include [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation](https://www.gatesfoundation.org), [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation](https://www.rwjf.org), [Open Society Foundations](https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/), [Google](https://arvr.google.com/), [Amazon](https://aws.amazon.com/government-education/nonprofits/aws-imagine-grant-program/), and others. With their valuable support and our growing network of collaborators, we’re investing in _exploration, invention, and creativity_ to keep ahead of rapid developments in media and continue to make research that is _widely circulated, impactful_ and _a thing of beauty._ 

Harmony Labs is a 501(c)3 incorporated in New York State. 

Andre Banks is founder and CEO of [A–B Partners](https://www.abpartners.co/). With over 20 years of political communications and agency experience, Andre brings best-in-class creative strategies and deep expertise in social movements to move critical voices from the margins to the mainstream. Prior to founding A/B in 2018, Andre was Executive Vice President for Social Impact & Philanthropy at BerlinRosen, a leading national public relations and strategic communications firm. At BerlinRosen, Andre led communications strategy, staff-management, and business development for the 20-person practice area. Andre’s portfolio included philanthropy, criminal justice reform, international human rights, LGBTQ rights, voting and civil rights, sustainability, and media and culture. Before joining BerlinRosen, Andre was founding partner at Purpose and the co-founder and former director of All Out, a global campaigning organization with more than 2.2 million members leading the global push towards LGBT equality. He currently serves as the chair of the board at Color Of Change, and as a staff member leading the organization in its early years.

Andre Banks

A–B Partners

Gretchen Barton is [Future Majority](https://futuremajority.org/)’s research director. Gretchen has led research and served as a behavioral science strategist and researcher for political organizations and campaigns such as NextGen America, New Moral Majority, The Lincoln Project, Way to Win, Ideas 42, and more. Her work has uncovered key messaging insights to turn out the youth vote, revealing voters’ deepest hopes for presidential candidates, and identified insights using traditional and non-traditional research methodologies.


Gretchen Barton

Future Majority

Janay Cody is the principal behavioral data scientist for J. & J. David LLC. Cody’s work focuses on equitable data governance, creating inclusive data driven cultures, data literacy training, randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental testing, survey research, segmentation, machine learning models, and quality control.

Cody works with clients to improve their use and understanding of complex data. She has previously advised many organizations including major foundations, Movement Labs, the New Georgia Project and Faith in Action. 

Cody previously worked for the Analyst Institute, where she led research strategy, experimental design and implementation, and training for civic organizations across 22 states and collaborated with colleagues to build systems for flagging biases in data, advocate for more inclusive research, and design equity policies. She also co-authored the results of a major assessment of educational testing in urban school districts for Educational Testing Services.

Cody received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Notre Dame, where her research focused on public opinion and quantitative research methods.

Janay C. Cody

J. & J. David LLC

Nick Chedli Carter is the director of the [Resilient Democracy](https://www.resilientdemocracy.com/) initiative, and a philanthropic advisor with a focus on civic engagement. Nick is keenly interested in identifying and scaling effective initiatives that merge innovative technology, media, and inclusive voting practices with people-driven organizing. This is towards closing equity gaps in who benefits from innovation, towards increasing civic participation, and ultimately more inclusive and durable civic identities. 

Nick has held senior positions on presidential, federal and statewide electoral campaigns, policy advocacy efforts, and initiatives to build technical capacity and improve media literacy for nonprofit organizations. He is a Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center Technology and Democracy Fellow where he has focused on how state-anchored civic organizations integrate emerging technologies and practices into their programs

He has also worked at VICE, Planned Parenthood, CCTV Center for Media and Democracy, and is a proud Americorps Alumni.


Nick Chedli Carter

Resilient Democracy

Max Clermont is a Senior Project Lead with [Partners In Health](https://www.pih.org/)’s United States where he leads technical, operational and strategic support for public health departments across the country as they work to become more resilient, community-oriented, and equity-first health systems. Prior to PIH, Max served as chief of staff at the University of Chicago Medicine's Trauma Center supporting the launch of the center and design of the hospital-based violence recovery program. He is also a former project manager with 270 Strategies, a political consulting firm in Chicago, IL. While there, he advised clients on advocacy strategy, public affairs, and the development and implementation of campaign plans. He has previously held positions with Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, Obama for America, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Max is inspired by work that protects rights, promotes equity and strengthens our systems & institutions. He holds a M.P.H. from Brown University’s School of Public Health with a concentration in health services, policy & practice. He serves on the President’s Communications Advisory Council at Brown University and is on the board of directors for Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, Center on Halsted and Just A Start Corp. Additionally, he is on the board of advisors for Democracy Policy Network, Harmony Labs, and a member of Cambridge's Charter Review Committee.

Max Clermont

Partners In Health

Marc Da Costa is a creative technologist whose work engages with the intersection of emerging data technologies and lived experience. Working across multiple fields, Marc co-founded [Enigma](https://enigma.com/), an AI-driven linked data company in New York and holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of California where his research focused on Antarctic research expeditions and the role of cartography in shaping our understanding of anthropogenic climate change. His writing about technology and culture has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian and elsewhere. Marc is also a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and has held fellowships at the National Science Foundation, Intel Labs, the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Columbia Journalism School.


Marc Da Costa

Enigma

Amira Dhalla has spent over a decade in technology working on issues related to digital rights, privacy, and equity with global organizations and communities. Together, she works with educators and activists to design curriculum and resources to make emerging technology more inclusive, open, and safe. She currently works at [Consumer Reports](https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm) as the Associate Director of Engagement with a focus on digital rights. In this role she leads events, programs, and participatory research studies that give individuals the tools and skills they need to protect themselves in our increasingly digital lives. She completed her Master’s in Public Administration at Columbia University, focusing on the intersection of human rights and technology.


Amira Dhalla

Consumer Reports

[Imposter Media](https://impostermedia.com/) is the documentary studio of Brett Gaylor. His 2021 releases are Fortune!, and AR documentary released at the Sundance Film Festival, and Discriminator, an interactive film that had its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. His 2020 documentary The Internet of Everything broadcast in more than 10 countries and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. His interactive series Do Not Track is the recipient of the International Documentary Association award for best nonfiction series, the 2016 Peabody Award, and the Prix Gemaux for Best Interactive Series. His short OK Google animated a year of his son Rowan’s accidental voice searches and received the 2019 Webby Award. His 2008 feature Rip! A Remix Manifesto was the recipient of audience choice prizes at festivals from Amsterdam to South Africa, broadcast in 20 countries, and seen by millions of people worldwide on Netflix, Hulu, and The Pirate Bay.


Brett Gaylor

Imposter Media

For twenty years Sam Gregory has enabled people to use the power of the moving image and participatory technologies to create human rights change. He is Program Director of [WITNESS](https://www.witness.org/), which helps people use video and technology to protect and defend human rights. An award-winning technologist, media-maker and advocate, he leads the WITNESS Program team. Sam’s current work focuses on the threats and opportunities as emerging technologies such as AI intersect with disinformation, media manipulation, and rising authoritarianism.

An expert on new forms of misinformation and disinformation as well as innovations in preserving trust and authenticity he leads WITNESS’s ‘Prepare, Don’t Panic’ work on emerging threats such as deepfakes and on new opportunities such as livestreamed and co-present storytelling for action and curation of civilian witnessing. He is on the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court, and co-chairs the Partnership on AI’s Expert Group on AI and the Media.  From 2010-18 he taught the first graduate-level course at Harvard on harnessing the power of new visual and participatory technologies for human rights change.

At WITNESS, he has led a series of strategic program shifts that respond to complex and changing political and technological realities around technology, social media, and human rights, as well as supported his team to achieve lasting human rights impact. As well as overall strategic direction on the organization’s programs, he currently supervises the WITNESS Media Lab’s work around innovation in eyewitness video for human rights as well as work on citizen media and trust, authenticity and evidence. Additionally, he supervises WITNESS’ Tech + Advocacy work, advocating to technology companies on human rights and developing tools such as ProofModefor better authentication of contentious video. He co-founded the global Video4Change network, as well as helped launch WITNESS’ work to shape the emerging field of citizen media as evidence.

He has worked on impactful campaigns worldwide, particularly in Latin America and Asia, and advocacy he has supported has engaged decision-makers in the U.S. Congress, the U.K. Houses of Parliament, and the United Nations and contributed to changes in policy, practice, and law.  As well as publishing widely in academic settings he has created innovative training programs and teaching texts and was lead editor on “Video for Change: A Guide for Advocacy and Activism” (Pluto Press, 2005) and co-editor of WITNESS’ 2011 report Cameras Everywhere: Current Challenges And Opportunities At The Intersection Of Human Rights, Video And Technology.

He has spoken at Davos, TEDx, WIRED and the White House as well as many other festivals and universities. In 2010 Sam was a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Resident on the future of video-based advocacy, from 2012-17 a Young Global Leader of the WEF, in 2013 a Knight News Challenge winner and a ‘Future for Good’ Fellow at the Institute for the Future, in 2016 a WIRED Innovation Fellow and a New Media Innovation Fund awardee and in 2018-19, a UBS Global Visionary.

Sam has an MA in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, attending as a Kennedy Memorial Scholar, and a BA from the University of Oxford. He speaks Spanish and English and tweets at @samgregory.


Sam Gregory

WITNESS

Jennifer Humke has a long history working at the intersection of media, technology and social justice. Currently, she serves as a Senior Program Officer in the [MacArthur Foundation](https://www.macfound.org/)’s Journalism and Media program, where she leads grantmaking in support of organizations and activities that encourage and train individuals and groups, particularly young people and those from historically marginalized communities, to use new media tools, platforms and practices to contribute to public dialogue and help shape culture and policy. Previously she was a Program Officer for MacArthur’s Digital Media and Learning initiative, a 10-year, $200 million effort aimed at re-imagining learning for the digital age, with the goal of making high-quality, relevant and engaging learning opportunities more accessible and affordable. Prior to her tenure with MacArthur, Jennifer spent three as part of the media and public outreach team at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. In the late 1990s, she served as the communications lead for a human rights organization in Kampala, Uganda, that trained human rights activists from countries in conflict how to identify and document gender-specific human rights abuses in war.

Jennifer has an MA in international development and journalism from The American University and a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is Chair of the Board of Young Chicago Authors, a Chicago-based arts education nonprofit that uses writing, spoken word, and performance to cultivate youth voice and self-expression. She is also a founding Board Member for the Impact Guild, a new effort launched in 2020 to connect, empower and activate people who use media, technology and popular culture for social good and healthy democracies.


Jennifer Humke

MacArthur Foundation


Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn (Ph.D., Stanford University) is an Associate Professor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at University of Georgia. She is the founding director of the [Games and Virtual Environments Lab](https://www.ugavr.com/). Her main program of research investigates how interactive and immersive digital media such as virtual and augmented reality transform traditional rules of communication and social interactions, looking at how virtual experiences shape the way that people think, feel, and behave in the physical world. Her work is supported by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health and is published in numerous top-tier outlets in the fields of communication, health, and engineering. She is the recipient of the the Mary Alice Shaver Promising Professor Award from the American Academy of Advertising,  the inaugural Early Career Award from the National Communication Association's Health Communication Division, and the Krieghbaum Under-40 Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.


Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn

University of Georgia

Sasha Kai Parker has helped some of the biggest brands in entertainment and media bring their digital product dreams to fruition. As a digital product strategist, Sasha Kai has leveraged her passion and enthusiasm for technology and innovation to build best-in-class experiences that span across streaming, fan engagement, branded content, VR and AR. 

As a former Senior Product Leader with Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, Sasha Kai oversaw product development for the company's ever-expanding portfolio of entertainment, news and kids OTT streaming experiences, including DisneyNOW, ABCNews, Freeform and the launch of Star+ in Latin America. She also managed the product portfolio of several fan & branded digital experiences, including American Idol, Dancing with the Stars and Marvel's digital properties. Currently, she's Head of Product at [Seed&Spark](https://seedandspark.com/), leveraging her passion for storytelling with nearly a decade of product experience in the digital streaming & entertainment space. 

She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Southern California (fight on!) and currently resides in Los Angeles with her Frenchie Banksy, and her fiancé.

Sasha Kai Parker

Seed&Spark

Dr Karen Stenner is a political psychologist and founder of [Insight-Analytics](https://www.karenstenner.com/) (Australia), which uses all the tools of behavioural science to support democracy and tolerance, good governance and sustainability. Formerly an academic (Princeton, Duke), Stenner is author of The Authoritarian Dynamic (2005), which attracted extensive media coverage in the era of Trump (incl. NYT, The Atlantic) by anticipating, a decade ahead, the rise of 'Far Right' politics across liberal democracy. Stenner has perfected the science of shifting mass political behavior by unobtrusively embedding psychological messages in campaigns. She designs and tests (via subtle RCTs) messages of ‘normative reassurance’ that de-activate voters with latent authoritarian predispositions, thereby reducing their expression of racism and intolerance, and support for ‘Far Right’ candidates and causes.


 Karen Stenner

Insight Analytics

Amanda Kelso is passionate about technology and storytelling, and how together they can shape communities. She has spent the last 25 years serving as a creative communications and brand leader for global tech companies as well as lending her skills to non-profit organizations. Amanda’s tenure includes helping to foster and oversee the stewardship of Instagram’s community of more than one billion people, serving as the Managing Director of Google Creative Lab, and providing creative digital leadership at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and West Ventures. While the majority of her career has been working in a creative capacity in the technology sector, early in her career she worked on television productions including Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Amanda holds a BA from Columbia College at Columbia University in Film.

As an advocate for independent storytellers, Amanda is currently a member of the board of trustees for the Sundance Institute. She is also a member of the Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council, a judge for the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and an advisor for Harmony Labs. Work Amanda has produced has been recognized by Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, SXSW, D&AD, Clios, One Show, The Jim Henson Technology Honor, and Communication Arts.

Amanda Kelso

Eonia

Solana Larsen is the Editor of [Mozilla](https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/)’s annual Internet Health Report and a contributing editor to other research publications of Mozilla’s Insights team related to alternative data governance, trustworthy AI, and generally how to make the internet healthier. Earlier, she was the managing editor of Global Voices, a worldwide community of writers and translators reporting on current events as reported in local online citizen media in numerous languages. She is Danish-Puerto Rican and lives in Berlin.


Solana Larsen

Mozilla

Sian Lewis is a data scientist and researcher who serves as the Head of Research at [A—B Partners](https://www.abpartners.co/). Also, she serves as a political data scientist by employing predictive analytics on Democratic political campaigns. She serves on the board of MakersLab DC. Her research focuses on narrative structure and persuasion. She formerly served as the team lead for the Department of Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization project (DHMSM) at Booz, Allen, Hamilton. Her recent accolades include the 2021 Society of Women Engineers Spark award, the 2021 Black Engineer of the Year Modern Day Technology Leader Award, the 2020 Women of Color in STEM award, and the 2019 DC FemTech award. She holds a Master of Science in Data Science and Analytics from Thomas Edison University. She lives in Washington, DC.


Sian Lewis

Jennifer MacArthur is a filmmaker and media strategist working at the intersection of documentary, human rights, and the digital revolution. She is a 2018 IFP Cannes Producers Network Fellow and 2016 Sundance Creative Producing Summit Fellow. Jennifer produced the critically acclaimed feature documentary Whose Streets?, which premiered on DAY ONE of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and sold to Magnolia Pictures. She has produced for TIME Studios, Soledad O’Brien Productions, Climate Power, and Anonymous Content. Currently, Jennifer is producing and co-directing a documentary on social equity with Peabody, Emmy, and Academy award-winning filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir. The film marks Jennifer’s directorial debut. 

A recognized expert on media engagement, Jennifer is a 2015 Creative Change Leader and 2015 Rockwood JustFilms Fellow. Over a ten-year period, she helped define the field with impact campaigns for Traces of the Trade (POV, 2008) and Gideon’s Army (HBO, 2013); engagement strategy for the ITVS social TV platform OVEE; and thought leadership for the Impact Field Guide, Impact Tracker, and StoryPilot, among others. Her work also took her to Amsterdam, Melbourne, and Guadalajara for keynotes addressing systemic racism, big data, and low-fi transmedia. 

Doc Society selected Jennifer for its inaugural Impact Producers Retreat in 2012. Together with producer Brenda Coughlin (CITIZENFOUR), she established the peer support network Impact Producers Group and launched Impact Socials, a networking event for creative change-makers. Her commitment to artist development kept her active on the festival circuit as an industry delegate; a Lab Leader for IFP Labs; and an advisor for Sundance Labs, Tribeca New Media, and the Mozilla Foundation. 

Jennifer is a graduate of The New School’s film program. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles.


Jennifer MacArthur

Producer

Liz Manne is an expert impact storyteller and narrative strategist who draws on her experience as an independent film and television marketing executive to advance social change. She is a co-founder and principal of [Story Strategy Group](https://www.storystrategy.co/), a boutique consulting firm that helps mission-driven organizations use story and narrative to tackle big challenges and change beliefs and behaviors at scale.

As a senior media industry professional (HBO Films, SundanceTV, and Fine Line Features), Liz helped shepherd more than 100 critically acclaimed and award-winning films to market including the seminal documentary Hoop Dreams. A specialist in narrative and cultural strategy, Liz helped initiate and co-create a number of influential projects including the [Health Equity Narrative Project](https://narrativeobservatory.org/strategy-validation) (in partnership with Harmony Labs), [Story at Scale](https://www.storyatscale.org/?page_id=2583) (a narrative research project to advance gender justice), the [Midwest Culture Lab](https://allianceforyouthorganizing.org/midwest-culture-lab/), [#PopJustice: Social Justice and the Promise of Pop Culture Strategies](https://www.lizmanne.com/popjustice), and [Making Waves: A Guide to Cultural Strategy](https://www.lizmanne.com/what-we-do/making-waves). Liz serves on the advisory boards of Narrative Initiative and Harmony Labs, and has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1997. She was proud to serve on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities during the administration of Barack Obama. Liz holds a BA in Dramatic Art from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Liz began her entertainment career as a stagehand with the legendary San Francisco rock and roll concert promoter Bill Graham Presents.

Liz Manne

Story Strategy Group

As Chief of the Meetings Support Section of the [United Nations](https://www.un.org/en/), Narendra Nandoe oversees operations providing a wide-range of conference services to over 9,000 meetings held every year at the Organization’s Headquarters in New York, including those of the General Assembly and Security Council. Since joining the UN in 2000, Narendra has held various positions in the Organization’s broadcasting and publishing operations.

Before joining the UN, Narendra worked mainly in consumer marketing with an emphasis on helping companies enter new markets. This experience ranged from co-founding a specialized advertising agency in Boston to Director of Marketing for Warner Bros.’ first-ever branded cable network. From 1998 to 2000, Narendra served in the Cabinet of the President of Suriname assisting the Senior Environmental Official in implementing a project to establish a national environmental management structure. Today, the National Institute for Environment and Development, is a fully functioning entity contributing to the sustainable development of Suriname.

Narendra has a BS in Journalism from Boston University, and a MBA in International Business from the Maastricht School of Management.


Narendra Nandoe

United Nations

Amanda is a finance and operations expert helping innovative organizations build capacity and accelerate impact. She scaled the technology company behind LinkNYC—the world’s largest and fastest municipal wi-fi network. Most recently, as COO at [Vote Run Lead](https://www.voterunlead.org/), she oversaw 400% organizational growth (and growing!). She is passionate about empowering women and girls in leadership, bridging digital divides, and permanently closing the diversity gap in our democratic systems.


Amanda O’Donnell

VoteRunLead

Eli Pariser is the co-director of [New_Public](https://newpublic.org/), an incubator for better digital public spaces. He’s been an author, activist, and entrepreneur focused on how to make technology and media serve democracy. In 2004, at 23, he became Executive Director of MoveOn.org, where he helped pioneer the practice of online citizen engagement. In 2006, he co-founded Avaaz, now the world’s largest citizen’s organization. His bestselling 2011 book The Filter Bubble introduced the term to the lexicon. And Upworthy, the media startup he co-founded in 2012, reached hundreds of millions of visitors with civically important content. He currently co-directs the New_ Public project with Talia Stroud at the National Conference on Citizenship.


Eli Pariser

New_Public

Donna is a finance executive who brings twenty years of experience spanning finance, strategy, and operations with a focus on cross-functional improvements, forecasting, risk management, and the development of new businesses. She has worked across the for-profit sector in industries including investment banking, media, education, technology, and management consulting.

Donna has a passion for understanding how and why things work and using that knowledge to improve the impact to society. Donna thrives on helping people through inflection points and that passion has driven her work with maternal support organizations and educational technology firms. In her free time, Donna bakes for her family and reads books with her friends.


Donna Person Taylor

ExecOnline

Erin Potts is a pioneer of several innovative social change strategies, a producer of award-winning cultural events and products, and an organizer of unusual–but potent–groups of change makers. 

Erin’s work started in the 1990s when she co-founded the Milarepa Fund and the large-scale benefit concert series, the Tibetan Freedom Concerts, with the Beastie Boys. Since then, she has established and led several other nonprofits, including Revolutions Per Minute—a nonprofit agency that supports over 1,300 musicians and comedians making change and has become a model for artist engagement and cultural strategy.

Over her twenty-five year career of working with artists and nonprofits, Erin has raised $20 million for important causes, including earned income strategies that have resulted in over $12 million in revenue. Her work has been featured in Billboard and The New York Times, and she has been nominated for several prestigious awards, including the Reebok Human Rights Award and the Charles Bronfman Prize.

Erin currently lives in New Orleans with her husband and two children. She continues her groundbreaking work as a consultant specializing in cultural and narrative strategies. She also runs a residency for artists and activists creating change.


Erin Potts

Jumpslide Strategies

Justin Purnell is Head of Product for a new venture that's nominally in stealth mode. Prior to this role, Justin served as in Strategy and Business Development for NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises after launching Seeso, NBCU's Subscription Video on Demand service as Director of Content Strategy and Operations. Justin also directed Amy Poehler's web series "Smart Girls at the Party," a web series for ON Networks targeted towards building self esteem in early adolescent girls. Justin worked at Goldman Sachs for seven years, where he published over 400 pieces of written research as a bond analyst in the Energy and Gaming, Lodging, and Leisure industries. He graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in Economics and certificates in Finance and Political Philosophy, and received an MBA at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business.


Justin Purnell

Hotels at Home

Ryan Rigdon

Shipt

Tina Rosenberg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author. She co-authors the Fixes column in The New York Times. Her books include Children of Cain: Violence and the Violent in Latin America, and The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts After Communism, which won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. She has written for dozens of magazines and is author, most recently, of Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World.


Tina Rosenberg

Solutions Journalism Network

Accomplished executive with track record of building winning products for SaaS, Cloud, and enterprise markets. Specializes in developing strategy and aligning people and process against it. 25 years of experience leading teams of up to 350 people across multiple geographies. Trusted executive partner, creating company and product strategy around key drivers of Customers, Growth, Competition, Cost, Quality, Risk, and Technology. Expertise in Product management, Engineering, Research, Marketing, Operations and Support. Focus on empowering teams to make decisions and think radically differently to sustain continuous innovation. Relentless at aligning People and Projects with Business Objectives to ensure execution at every level of the organization.


James Rowley

Worklete

Andrea Shiah is currently the Head of Talent Strategy and Transformation for [Eightfold](https://eightfold.ai/), an AI company focused on matching people to their right jobs based on deep insights about their skills and experience.

Prior to joining Eightfold, Andrea had a 25-year career at American Express, taking on a broad range of roles including: launching new industries, managing top merchant accounts, product manager for small business credit card portfolio, product manager for Consumer Platinum and Centurion Card, head of Global Payroll and most recent role as head of Global Talent Acquisition. The common theme in all her various roles, is her focus on transformation and delivering significant improvements to products, processes and performance.

Andrea lives in New York City with her husband and twin daughters who just graduated from Middlebury College and University of Michigan, and are starting their busy careers in investment banking and medicine. In her spare time, Andrea likes to do anything with her family, she is active and enjoys swimming, running, biking and any sports activity, and has even swum in a race across the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge – and lived to tell about it!


Andrea Shiah

Eightfold

Caroline Sinders is a [design researcher and artist](https://carolinesinders.com/). For the past few years, she has been examining the intersections of technology, machine learning, abuse, and harms in design and digital conversational spaces. She has worked with the United Nations, Amnesty International, IBM Watson, the Wikimedia Foundation and others. Sinders has held fellowships with the Harvard Kennedy School, Google's PAIR (People and Artificial Intelligence Research group), the Mozilla Foundation, the Weizenbaum Institute, Pioneer Works, Eyebeam, Ars Electronica, the Sci Art Resonances program with the European Commission, and the International Center of Photography.


Caroline Sinders

Convocation Design+Research


Michael Slaby is a world leader in digital, strategy, technology, and how together they can drive organizations and companies.  Most recently, he ran [Chicago Ideas](https://www.chicagoideas.com/) – the community impact nonprofit behind the Chicago Ideas Week festival.  Previously, he founded and was Head of Mission of Timshel — a social-impact technology company.  He was Fellow at [Shorenstein Center at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government](https://shorensteincenter.org/).  Michael helped lead Obama for America as Chief Integration and Innovation Officer in 2012 where he oversaw all of technology and analytics, and as Deputy Digital Director and Chief Technology Officer in 2008.

In addition, Michael has served as an advisor and board member to initiatives including the [United Nations](http://www.un.org/en/index.html), the [U.S. State Department](https://www.state.gov/), [Rhize](https://www.rhize.org/), [Bright Pink](https://www.brightpink.org/), [I Am That Girl](http://www.iamthatgirl.org/), and [LiveStrong](https://www.livestrong.com/) and was named to Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40 and their Tech 50.  He is a graduate of [Brown University](https://www.brown.edu/) and currently lives in Rhinebeck, NY with his much more awesome wife, Lydia, where he tries to take advantage of finally living close to the mountains.

Michael Slaby

Sarah Stamper is the Chief Research Officer at Murmuration, where she sets the organizational research strategy and leads an interdisciplinary team focused on research and development. A neuroscientist by training, Sarah has spent her career trying to understand complex behavior in lots of critters – from bats and electric fish to students and the American electorate. She is particularly interested in understanding what motivates and drives civic participation in different populations, and how that can be leveraged to contextualize and elevate the importance of educational equity. She joined the civic tech space as the SVP of Science & Innovation at Helm, a subsidiary of Murmuration, where she focused on understanding human civic behavior and equipping organizers with research, data and tools to drive local community-level engagement. Prior to her work at Murmuration and Helm, Sarah served as the Director of Research for Art & Science Group, providing K-12, higher education, and nonprofit groups with data and intelligence so they could better understand the populations they serve. Sarah holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins University in Psychological and Brain Science where she still serves as a Visiting Scientist. 


Sarah Stamper

Murmuration

Sarah is a Global Program Lead on Racial Justice and Human Rights at [YouTube](https://youtube.com/).

In 9+ years at Google and YouTube, Sarah has led programs and partnerships directed at empowering diverse and historically underrepresented voices in media, as well as empowering non profits with access to cutting edge technology. Sarah has been instrumental in the development and production of many notable impact projects with partners such as UN Women, National Geographic, Discovery, UNAIDS, ICRC, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth and most recently NNEDV. Currently she is focusing her time on YouTube's Racial Justice strategy and Black Voices Fund. 

Sarah is also a co-founder and executive producer at Well Travelled Collective, a female led production company focused on conscious content.


Sarah Steele

YouTube

Kyle Stoneman has over 15 years experience helping nonprofits, progressive groups, and startups use technology to seize opportunities and achieve goals more effectively and efficiently. His direct experience with the entire process of planning and executing digital campaigns—not just strategic development, but also the brand design, copywriting, web design, testing, and technical development—allows him to develop holistic solutions to complex strategic and technical challenges. Kyle graduated from The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs with a BA in political communication.


Kyle Stoneman

Developer

Tajh Taylor is a polished and steady technology executive with over 20 years of experience building data-driven systems and leading engineering teams. Presently, Tajh is the Vice President of Data Science and Engineering at the [Wikimedia Foundation](https://wikimediafoundation.org/), the not-for-profit steward of Wikipedia and other wiki projects, where his responsibilities include data engineering, machine learning, search, insights, and research. data. Past experience includes Chief Technology Officer at Catalist, the data utility for the American progessive movement. In every role, Tajh applies the same philosophy: find ways to help each person be a better professional and engineer, and for systems to be more resilient and more useful than they were before. He has overseen transformational efforts to engineer and re-engineer systems that process voter registration and participation data, satellite weather imaging, cancer research data, verify ASIC circuit design, among many other application areas.

In time away from work, Tajh is a husband and father of two vibrant, multilingual children. He enjoys playing piano, taking photographs, and armchair study of cosmology, and has been known to smoke a brisket or picnic shoulder from time to time.


Tajh Taylor

Wikimedia Foundation

ADAORA is a leading media innovator,   with expertise in digital and emerging tech, future interfaces, spatial computing, video/film, creative development, and production. She works with corporates, investors and creators adopting and scaling emerging technology across sectors. She's an award-winning producer and presenter,  having developed VR & AR experiences for Google and others, short films (see her IMBD profile), and been a long time award-winning broadcast journalist-television, radio, and podcasting at CNN, ABC News, and public radio.  She is currently the Director at [RLab](https://edc.nyc/program/virtual-reality-and-augmented-reality-lab-vrar-lab), a New York City center focused on driving the growth of spatial computing, future interfaces, and 3D technology.  She is on the board of NEW INC, serves as an advisor for SXSW Pitch, Knight Foundation 360 Challenge,  Op'Ed Project, and a mentor at Tribeca Interactive, as well as a former juror for the Tribeca Film Festival Storyscape Prize (Immersive).


Adaora Udoji

Executive Producer

Andrew is VP of Engineering for [Point Predictive](https://pointpredictive.com/), where he is exploring new ways to use machine learning to combat financial fraud. He has spent over 20 years in the software industry, working in a variety of areas, from healthcare to text and image analysis. Andrew lives in Seattle with his wife, daughter, and dog. They spend as much time as possible traveling and exploring.


Andrew Wilson

Point Predictive

Nina Zenni is a nonprofit and foundation specialist with a background in grantmaking, social startups, and capacity building. Nina has worked in many areas across the social impact sector developing funding strategies, supporting nonprofit startup leaders, and optimizing grantmaking systems for effective and inclusive philanthropy. Her work has centered around driving both operational and programmatic strategy at organizations including Democracy Fund, Knight Foundation, and the Susan Crown Exchange with a focus on democracy, civic technology, journalism, media, elections, education, and open data. She has also worked as a private nonprofit consultant managing grant challenge programs, stewarding grants administration, and providing partnership coaching for organization leaders. Previous experiences in the nonprofit sector include corporate social responsibility, direct case management, youth development, and fundraising. She holds a Bachelor of Science in social work from New York University.


Nina Zenni

Democracy Fund

Ahnjili is a data scientist, Ph.D. candidate, artist, and science communicator. Ahnjili's academic research focuses on developing smartphones- and wearables-based biomarkers that can be used to monitor one’s mental and physical wellbeing for clinical trials. Ahnjili's artistic research and science communication focuses on educating the public about A.I. and algorithmic violence, which refers to the violence that is justified or is created by an automated decision-making system. The themes addressed in her work include predictive policing and DIY biased surveillance. Ahnjili is a Mozilla Creative Media and Erasmus+ Grant Awardee.


Ahnjili Zhuparris

Artificial Nouveau

Matthew Barzun is a former United States Ambassador, first to Sweden (2009-2011) and later to the United Kingdom (2013-2017). Previously he held various executive leadership roles at [CNET Networks](https://www.cnet.com/), where he was the fourth employee, and served as National Finance Chair for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Matthew is a graduate of Harvard University, serves on the board of [Gannett](https://www.gannett.com/), and is an active member of his local Louisville, Kentucky community where he has served on various non-profit boards like [Louisville Public Media](http://louisvillepublicmedia.org/), [The Free Public Library Foundation](http://www.lfplfoundation.org/) and [Teach Kentucky](https://www.teachkentucky.com/).


Matthew Barzun

Director

Emma Canarick is secretary of Harmony Labs. She is also the director of capacity building of the Pacific Fund at the Atlantic Foundation, a grant-making organization concerned with addressing issues of social justice, the environment, arts, and technology. Emma previously served as the director of development at [Advocates for Children of New York](http://www.advocatesforchildren.org/), as well as director of institutional giving at the [Community Service Society of New York](http://www.cssny.org/).


Emma Canarick

Treasurer

Jonah Peretti is co-founder of [The Huffington Post](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/) and, more recently, of [BuzzFeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/), a viral network with over 15 million unique monthly visitors. Jonah has been called a “viral marketing hotdog” by The New York Times, “the poster boy of guerrilla media” by [AlterNet.org](http://www.alternet.org/), and a “computer-whiz” by The New Yorker. Jonah is a graduate of the [MIT Media Lab](https://www.media.mit.edu/), and has taught at NYU and Parsons School of Design.


Jonah Peretti

John S. Johnson is founder and chairman of Harmony Labs. He is also founder of [Eyebeam](https://eyebeam.org/), a studio for collaborative experiments with technology and art, [Screenwriters Colony](http://screenwriterscolony.org/), a retreat and workshop for emerging media writers, and the [Filmmakers Collaborative](http://www.filmmakers.org/about.htm), a fund to test new relationships between capital, art, and media. More recently, Johnson co-founded [BuzzFeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/). He has written, produced, and directed two feature films, Without a Trace: June 10, 1979 (1991), and [Ratchet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117443/) (1996). In 2003, Johnson was a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He received a master’s degree in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from Columbia University.


John S. Johnson 

Founder, Chairman

Brian has a record of establishing innovative organizations at the intersection of tech, media, social impact, research. Before Harmony Labs, he served as managing director at [Institute of Play](http://www.instituteofplay.org/). He also served on the core founding teams for [Quest to Learn](http://www.q2l.org/), a New York City public school that leverages game design to make school engaging and culturally relevant for young people; and [GlassLab Games](https://www.glasslabgames.org/), a Silicon Valley development shop transforming digital games, like [SimCity](http://www.simcity.com/), into classroom learning environments with real-time formative assessments built in. Brian was trained as a poet. He has worked as a speechwriter, a management consultant, a professor, cook, and gardener, and built by hand a timber-frame cabin in the woods, where he spent five years reading, writing, and meditating.

Brian Waniewski

Executive Director

Omar Wasow is an Assistant Professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Political Science. His research focuses on race, politics and statistical methods. His paper on the political consequences of the 1960s civil rights movement was published in the [American Political Science Review](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/agenda-seeding-how-1960s-black-protests-moved-elites-public-opinion-and-voting/136610C8C040C3D92F041BB2EFC3034C#). His co-authored work on estimating causal effects of race was published in the [Annual Review of Political Science](https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-polisci-032015-010015). Previously, Omar co-founded [BlackPlanet.com](http://blackplanet.com/), an early leading social network, and was a regular technology analyst on radio and television. He received a PhD in African American Studies, an MA in Government and an MA in Statistics from Harvard University.


Omar Wasow

Maryl is a technology leader and advisor who led the development of groundbreaking measurement products at [Nielsen](https://www.nielsen.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw4c-ZBhAEEiwAZ105RfMwjCu0ah45uw569K55AvbuLqYPDOPwnLwNumUtGIisTQid17uu0RoC-70QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds), moving the media industry forward on issues of diversity, inclusion and democracy. Maryl came to Nielsen through its acquisition of Rhiza, an analytics company she co-founded that helps media companies and advertisers understand consumers. Passionate about helping people make data-driven decisions, she pioneered many of the earliest community information systems, citizen science platforms and web-based geographic information systems during her time at MAYA Design/BCG Platinion. Maryl started her career in the economic development sector managing social venture funds for women and minority-owned businesses at the Opportunity Fund and RSF Social Finance. She holds an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird and a BA in Political Economy and Multicultural Studies from Fairhaven College. Maryl lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two children. She spends much of her time trying to keep up with her teenagers, dogs and wild garden forest.


Maryl Widdows

Adam Wolfensohn is co-managing director at [Encourage Capital](http://encouragecapital.com/), an investment firm that seeks to change the way investment capital is used to solve critical environmental and social problems. In 2007, he debuted a documentary on climate change at the [Sundance Film Festival](http://www.sundance.org/), titled [Everything’s Cool](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything's_Cool_(film)). He has also worked in carbon finance with [Conservation International](http://www.conservation.org/) to create carbon neutral concert events for the [Vans Warped Tour](http://vanswarpedtour.com/) and [Pearl Jam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam).


Adam Wolfensohn

Secretary

Mena is a software engineer with a background in child welfare social work. She began her engineering career at Numerator working on a data analytics platform that helped brands understand their consumers in a holistic way. At Harmony Labs, she hopes to combine her coding skills with her passion for helping people. In her free time, Mena enjoys knitting, sewing, baking, and playing video games.

Mena Adams

Software Engineer

Tayler has a background in digital advertising where she ran growth strategy for eCommerce brands, progressive NGOs/political campaigns, and art museums. At Harmony Labs, she hopes to bridge her experience in data-driven tech with her passion for writing and training in philosophy. She believes storytelling is our most important tool for building shared meaning and asking questions about systems of belief. When not at work, Tayler is usually writing short fiction, camping in a truck, solo traveling, watercoloring, and having fever dreams at hot yoga.

Tayler B.

Communications Specialist

The Harmony Labs Director of Science, Riki comes to the team with an extensive background in data science for social good. Most known for her work on narrative research projects like [Story at Scale](https://www.storyatscale.org/) and the [Peoria Project](https://thepeoriaproject.org/), Riki has joined Harmony Labs to help researchers connect artists to the insights they need about their audiences. Riki holds a PhD from Northwestern University in Social Psychology but only because data science wasn’t invented yet when she was being educated.



Riki Conrey

 Science Director

Mercedes Coyle is a Software Engineer with a range of experience building resilient and scalable systems. She is an insatiably curious lifelong learner who tends to acquire at least 3 books on every new subject. Prior to Harmony Labs, she helped architect and scale infrastructure providing visual tools for developers at [Percy](https://percy.io/), and built user-focused monitoring system at [Sensu](https://sensu.io/). Her career has also involved building and monitoring data pipelines and supporting a 1-1 laptop program at a high school in San Francisco. In her free time, she can be found with a camera on a hiking trail, or tending to chickens and plants on her farm in Oregon.


Mercedes Coyle

 Lead Software Engineer

Coming from the tech + SAAS world, Ari became interested in data science and engineering by way of economics, hydrology, and sociology. This background was an excellent teacher in STATA, R, and Python, the latter of which is the foundation of building ETL pipelines at Harmony. Ari's love of film production evolved into a passion for professional wrestling, especially the way the vignette-style theater can leverage choreography, audience participation, and fourth-wall breaks to deliver a unique, real time narrative. When not at work, Ari is playing video games, watching horror films, and (remarkably!) not on social media.

Ari D.

Software Engineer - Data

Sem Devillart is a cultural analyst and strategist focused on visual and online culture. For the last fifteen years, she has collaborated with top organizations on innovative methods to turn cultural signals into high-value intelligence, media content, products and business models. Recently, Sem worked on the start up of a responsive, data driven creative agency at [Omnicom](http://www.omnicomgroup.com/). Sem is a founding faculty member of the [Masters Branding Program](http://branding.sva.edu/) at the [School of Visual Arts](http://www.sva.edu/) in New York. She studied semiotics, design and comparative religion in Tuebingen and Milan and grew up on three continents, between seven languages . . . early training in spotting hidden patterns in what's happening. 



Sem Devillart

Cultural Analyst

Kate brings more than 10 years of experience nurturing productive and positive work environments across a variety of industries. She began her career working in hospitality where she first applied a human-centered approach to managing teams and learned the importance of anticipating the needs of those you serve; spent eight years working in the NYC Mayor’s Office as a Chief of Staff; and most recently supported a philanthropic studio as Deputy Director for Program Management. Her career has focused on optimizing teams, ensuring effective and strategic deployment of resources, streamlining and managing day-to-day operations, and facilitating the highest level of performance and accountability across dynamic, multi-disciplinary teams. As lover of food, Kate is a gastronome holding a Master of Liberal Arts in Gastronomy, and a Certificate in the Culinary Arts, both from Boston University. Her passion for food, much like her philosophy of life, lies in all it can do to connect, nurture, and grow a community.  

Kate Gouin

Chief of Staff

Elsie has spent her career as a thought leader working at the intersection of strategy consulting, innovation and behavioral sciences. She has partnered with numerous organizations, such as Google, IBM, LinkedIn, Project Regeneration with Paul Hawken, and MoMA, to redefine their purpose and align business, brand and comms strategy with the vision for the future they want to create. Prior to Harmony, Elsie was Head of Strategy for AGO, a nonprofit agency accelerating the human rights and climate justice movements through a combination of systems design, network weaving, and strategy. She’s also served as Strategy Director at co:collective, a creative and strategic transformation consultancy. Elsie’s work and life are grounded in honoring our interdependence and in seeking out wonder and joy from the depths of the ocean to the heights of the Himalayas.

Elsie Iwase

Strategy Director

Joy J. has over a decade of experience across operations, client, and project management, ranging from helping Georgia residents connect with appropriate attorneys based on their legal issues to managing the operations of one of the highest producing residential real estate sales teams in New York City. At Harmony, Joy works across the organization to manage all facets of project management and oversees Harmony Labs’ annotation team. An Atlanta native, Joy spends her free time traveling, rock climbing indoors and out, and drinking copious amounts of iced coffee year round.


Joy J.

Project Manager

H Paul Johnson has spent most of his career helping mission-driven brands increase their impact. Before joining Harmony Labs, Paul led the marketing and media efforts at the [Mozilla Foundation](https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/), rallying millions of people to help protect the open Internet as a global public resource. Previously, he spent over a decade at [CREDO](http://www.credomobile.com/) where he led the marketing acquisition team and the integration of brand and activism efforts. In his free time, he and his wife are raising two kids — one a teenager, the other an infant — and sneaking off with friends to find adventure in the woods, on the beach or just about anywhere there’s live music.

H Paul Johnson

Marketing & Communications Director

Amy Sewell brings to Harmony Labs over 30 years' experience in multiple facets of business, management, and media making. She has been operations manager at [Women Make Movies](http://www.wmm.com/), and director of communications and development for [Urban Dove](http://urbandove.org/), in addition to holding various positions in the publishing sector. Amy is a writer and a producer, best known for her award-winning, audience-favorite feature documentary [Mad Hot Ballroom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Hot_Ballroom) and, more recently, the documentary short [Good Muslim Girls](http://www.unaff.org/2015/f_good.html). Among the books Amy has published are [The Mad Hot Adventures of an Unlikely Documentary Filmmaker](https://www.amazon.com/Mad-Adventures-Unlikely-Documentary-Filmmaker/dp/1401303188) and [She's Out There! The Next Generation of Presidential Candidates](https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Out-There-Generation-Presidential/dp/0981636845). Amy serves on the board of [Reel Works Teen Filmmaking](http://www.reelworks.org/) and is a member of [NYWIFT](http://www.nywift.org/), [WGA-West](http://www.wga.org/) and [The Gotham](https://thegotham.org/) (formerly IFP).  She has a BA from University of Michigan and an MBA from Schiller International University. Painting, poker, sailing,  backpacking, watching college sports with the hubby, and witnessing her 20+ something twin daughters soar joyously round out her days.

Amy Sewell

Operations Director

Justin Smith is a full-stack engineer, but it hasn't always been that way. In past lives, he has worked as an architect, a 3D animator, a multi-media artist, and a UX designer. Recently, he has built tech for U.S. presidential campaigns, international NGOs, mission-driven social impact organizations, and several liberal arts colleges and research institutions. When he is not designing UIs or writing JavaScript, he and his wife can be found at the Cleveland Museum of Art, at a concert (from heavy metal to opera), traveling the world, or restoring their century home near the shores of Lake Erie.

Justin Smith

Engineering Director

Building things with software has always been Ricardo's passion ever since he taught himself to code as a kid. As a software engineer he has built tech in the telecom space, digital goods e-commerce and, more recently, helped launch SaaS startups. In his spare time he enjoys playing soccer, watching or reading mostly sci-fi stories, and working on DIY projects. He is living his best life with his wife raising their kids in Ohio.


Ricardo Solano

Senior Software Engineer

Jon has a track record of harnessing research and data analytics to enable organizations to meet impact goals. Previously, he was the Senior Director of Data Analytics and Applied Research at A/B Partners, where he integrated media impact measurement into communications strategy. Before that, he developed the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management with Director Paul Romer, and started his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as part of their Research Group. He holds an MBA from NYU with concentrations in finance, economics, and social innovation and impact and a BS from Wittenberg University with majors in mathematics and economics and a minor in computational science. When not nerding out on data science, Jon can be found running and biking around upper manhattan, enjoying classical music concerts, baking sweet treats, or haunting new and used bookstores for his next great read.


Jon Stewart

Lead Data Scientist

Simone Van Taylor seeks to understand human behavior and persuasion by studying social neuroscience and media systems. Currently, she is Harmony Labs' inaugural Research Network Program Associate, a job that entails her two favorite things: collaborating with academics across disciplines, and learning about new scientific discoveries every day. Previously, Simone worked at an ER, a [social neuroscience lab](http://www.psych.nyu.edu/vanbavel/lab/index.html) at NYU, and an applied-neuroscience startup. When not geeking out over scientific insights, Simone can be found hitting the courts with her shuffleboard team, walking puppies around Prospect Park, and conducting an ongoing study of NYC’s best fried chicken.


Simone Van Taylor

Data Scientist

Vipassana is a Data Scientist at Harmony Labs and hopes her role will help facilitate a future with a public interest internet. She has worked as a sustainable transportation researcher, math teacher to middle-schoolers, and started her career as a software engineer. She has a Master’s degree in Applied Urban Informatics from NYU. When not working, she can be found reading, exploring the neighborhoods of NYC, journaling, biking to the ends for Brooklyn to see birds, meditating, and generally enjoying this life.


Vipassana Vijayarangan

Katie has built a career at the intersection of media, community, and advocacy. Before joining Harmony Labs, she led the national outreach program at PEN America, where she designed intersectional, multi-nodal engagements that championed literary achievement, defending a free press and elevating voices that have traditionally been marginalized. She’s also served as a literary agent representing authors whose work catalyzes social change and challenges the status quo; galvanized communities through a global, volunteer-led lecture series; and directed outreach and partnerships at a book-based startup celebrating the transformative power of stories and storytellers. When she’s not bringing people together for collaborative impact, you can find her with a book in hand or an eye to a viewfinder.


Katie Zanecchia

Strategic Partnerships Director

## Different perspectives, skills, and disciplines _simultaneously, always_ make our work go. We’re researchers, data scientists, engineers, activists, artists, designers, media strategists, organizers, explorers, inventors, _and more._

## See [open positions](https://harmonylabs.org/careers) or [get in touch](https://harmonylabs.org/contact) to _join the team._

About Vipassana

Vipassana Vijayarangan

Mena Adams

Tayler B.

Riki Conrey

Mercedes Coyle

Ari D.

Sem Devillart

Kate Gouin

Elsie Iwase

Joy J.

H Paul Johnson

Amy Sewell

Justin Smith

Ricardo Solano

Jon Stewart

Simone Van Taylor

Vipassana Vijayarangan

Brian Waniewski

Katie Zanecchia

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