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’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.