Abir Ghattas

At Human Rights Watch, Abir is Chief Information Officer. She leads the Information Security, IT Operations, Enterprise Architecture and Digital Accelerator teams. She sets HRW’s global technology strategy and leads its digital enablement and modernization work, bringing technology, data and business systems together in service of the organization’s human rights mission.

Her career sits where feminist organizing and digital rights meet, with a focus on the people most exposed to surveillance, censorship and online abuse. She is on the board of directors of NetHope, a technology coalition of more than 60 humanitarian, development and conservation nonprofits working in over 190 countries. She also is on the board of Access Now, which defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk, and previously served on its grant advisory board. Earlier, she served on Article 19’s international board and the Open Technology Fund’s advisory council. She also founded HammamRadio, a feminist participatory radio launched from Berlin, where she is based.

Before HRW, Abir was director of communications and outreach at Raseef22, an independent pan-Arab media platform, and outreach director at Majal, a network of digital platforms for freedom of expression and access to information. She holds a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics and an MA in Communication and Digital Strategies.