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About
Project Liberty

Frank McCourt headshot

The internet is broken, and it’s urgent that we fix it. We can – and must – do more to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our children, our democracy, and our society as a whole. The institutions and ideals we cherish most are being destroyed for use of free apps that steal our personal data and digital identities. I encourage anyone who is interested in reclaiming their personhood from the machines of Big Tech to engage with Project Liberty and help reimagine an internet that is designed for people and the collective good. We can do this.

Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty

Project Liberty is stitching together an ecosystem of technologists, academics, policymakers and citizens committed to building a better internet—where the data is ours to manage, the platforms are ours to govern, and the power is ours to reclaim.

Three fundamental beliefs anchor our vision and form the foundation of Project Liberty’s work:

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Choice

When people have greater control over their individual experience online and expanded opportunities to manage their data, they can make informed decisions about everything from their privacy and safety to which spaces they choose to participate in. This is digital self-determination, and it is the fundamental principle of the web we deserve. It centers people, not platforms. It protects personal data, not corporate profits. It values freedom of movement across the web, not consolidation of power within any one platform. Self-determination online begins at the protocol level—the base infrastructure of the internet—which is why we’re developing new protocols like DSNP that give people agency over their digital experience and data.

Voice

When people can act as digital citizens entrusted to shape the governance of the spaces they log into everyday, they can create platforms and applications driven by societal value and transparency instead of corporate profits and black-box algorithms. This is digital citizenship, and it is the set of collective responsibilities undertaken by people who embody digital self-determination to build a digital civic architecture of spaces, platforms, tools, and practices that put into action the principles of openness, safety, privacy, accountability, transparency, and ownership.

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Stake

The platform-take-all business models of today’s internet are not equitable, long-term models. The economic value from big data and major network effects stem from the contributions, activity, and content of everyday people, and yet that value isn’t shared. An internet that resembles a representative democracy is an internet whose economic value is distributed fairly. This is digital ownership. It is the economic model compatible with a system of digital self-determination and digital citizenship. And yet, today we lack the models where people can participate in the economic upside of their data and online contributions. Innovation is needed, which is why Project Liberty is supporting the piloting and experimentation of new economic models for the future.

Team

Project Liberty Leadership

  • Frank McCourt headshot

    Frank McCourt

    Founder of Project Liberty

  • Tomicah Tillemann headshot

    Tomicah Tillemann

    President, Project Liberty; Interim CEO Project Liberty Institute

  • Paula Recart headshot

    Paula Recart

    Chief Impact Officer

  • Braxton Woodham headshot

    Braxton Woodham

    Co-creator of DSNP

Project Liberty Team

  • Scott Bendar headshot

    Scott Bendar

    Head of Software Development

  • Denise Duncan headshot

    Denise Duncan

    Head of Program Management

  • Kila Englebrook headshot

    Kila Englebrook

    Head of Operations

  • Harry Evans headshot

    Harry Evans

    CTO and Co-creator of DSNP

  • Lara Galinsky headshot

    Lara Galinsky

    Head of Partnerships

  • Kenne Ives headshot

    Kenne Ives

    Head of Product

  • Mickey Maher headshot

    Mickey Maher

    Chief Business Officer

  • Chris Mitchel headshot

    Chris Mitchell

    General Counsel

  • Alex Poscente headshot

    Alex Poscente

    Chief of Staff

  • Katie Uhlman headshot

    Katie Uhlman

    Head of Communications

Advisors

Project Liberty Board of Stewards

  • Frank McCourt headshot

    Frank McCourt

    Founder of Project Liberty

  • Angela Glover Blackwell headshot

    Angela Glover Blackwell

    Founder in Residence, PolicyLink

  • Dr. John DeGioia headshot

    Dr. John DeGioia

    President, Georgetown University

  • Todd Golub, M.D. headshot

    Todd Golub, M.D.

    Director, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

  • Eric Liu headshot

    Eric Liu

    Co-Founder & CEO, Citizen University

  • Dorcas Muthoni headshot

    Dorcas Muthoni

    Founder, OPENWORLD LTD

  • Dr. Dava Newman headshot

    Dr. Dava Newman

    Director, MIT Media Lab

  • Sir Trevor Philips headshot

    Sir Trevor Philips

    Journalist

  • Dan Porterfield headshot

    Dan Porterfield

    President & CEO, Aspen Institute

  • Jeremy Heimans headshot

    Jeremy Heimans

    Co-founder & Chairman, Purpose

  • Daniel Sachs headshot

    Daniel Sachs

    Founder & CEO, P Capital Partners

Project Liberty Fellows

  • Michael Bailey headshot

    Michael Bailey

    Colonel William J. Walsh Professor of American Government, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

  • Beatriz Botero headshot

    Beatriz Botero

    Assistant Professor of Law, Sciences Po // Affiliate, Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University

  • Erik Brynjolfsson headshot

    Erik Brynjolfsson

    Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Professor and Senior Fellow, HAI, Stanford University // Director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, Stanford University

  • Anupam Chander headshot

    Anupam Chander

    Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Law and Technology, Georgetown University

  • Jonathan Dotan headshot

    Jonathan Dotan

    Co-founder, Starling Lab

  • Florence G’Sell headshot

    Florence G’Sell

    Chairholder, Digital Governance and Sovereignty Chair at Sciences Po

  • Sergei Guriev headshot

    Sergei Guriev

    Provost and Professor of Economics, Sciences Po

  • Jon Haidt headshot

    Jon Haidt

    Social Psychologist, NYU Stern

  • Frances Haugen headshot

    Frances Haugen

    Founder, Beyond the Screen

  • Michael McFaul headshot

    Michael McFaul

    Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

  • Nate Persily headshot

    Nate Persily

    James B. McClatchy Professor of Law, Stanford Law School

  • Rob Reich headshot

    Rob Reich

    Professor of Political Science & Associate Director of Stanford’s Institute for Human-centered AI

  • Deb Roy headshot

    Deb Roy

    Professor, Media Arts and Sciences, MIT // Co-founder and Chair, Cortico

  • Marietje Schaake headshot

    Marietje Schaake

    International Policy Director at the Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University

  • Vivian Schiller headshot

    Vivian Schiller

    Executive Director, Aspen Digital

  • Latanya Sweeney headshot

    Latanya Sweeney

    Daniel Paul Professor of the Practice of Government and Technology, Harvard Kennedy School

  • Cyril Zimmermann headshot

    Cyril Zimmermann

    Founder and President, La Plateforme

  • Jonathan Zittrain headshot

    Jonathan Zittrain

    Professor of Law, Public Policy, and Computer Science, Harvard University // Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

Careers

Careers
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