Emily Jacobi
Digital Democracy Founder, Executive Director
ejacobi@digital-democracy.org
Emily Jacobi has dedicated her life to using media and technology to amplify marginalized communities. The founder and executive director of
Digital Democracy (Dd), she works to decolonize technology by centering the voices and experiences of Indigenous communities, people of color and women. Since 2013, Dd has worked closely with Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Rainforest to build technology for mapping and monitoring environmental threats in remote offline environments. Dd pioneers new technology which its partners use to map millions of acres of rainforest, monitor oil spills and illegal mining activities, and lobby governments to respect land rights and increase environmental protections. Emily began her career as a youth journalist at the age of thirteen, and learned early on that the people most affected by a problem are the ones with the expertise to solve it. She has led technology, media and research projects in Latin America, West Africa, Southeast Asia and the United States.