Ory Okolloh
Ory Okolloh (or Ory Okolloh Mwangi) is a Kenyan activist, lawyer, and blogger. She is Director of Investments at Omidyar Network.[1][2][3] She was formerly the Policy Manager for Africa with Google.[citation needed]
Early life
She earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from Harvard Law School in 2005.[4][5]
Career
In 2006 she co-founded the parliamentary watchdog site Mzalendo (Swahili: "Patriot").[6] The site sought to increase government accountability by systematically recording bills, speeches, MPs, standing orders, etc.[6][7]
When Kenya was engulfed in violence following a disputed presidential election in 2007, Okolloh helped create Ushahidi (Swahili: "Witness"), a website that collected and recorded eyewitness reports of violence using text messages and Google Maps.[4] The technology has since been adapted for other purposes (including monitoring elections and tracking pharmaceutical availability) and used in a number of other countries.
Okolloh has a personal blog, Kenyan Pundit, which was featured on Global Voices Online.[8]
She has worked as a legal consultant for NGOs and has worked at Covington and Burling, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and the World Bank.[9][5]
Okolloh was appointed on the Board of Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, the body that acts as a guardian of the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles in May 2015.[10]
Notes
- ^ "Group launches initiative for global policy reform to lower Internet access cost". Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ^ Mohammed, Omar (2015-06-09). "Why aren't more wealthy Africans backing the continent's start-ups?". Quartz - Africa. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
- ^ Kozlowska, Hanna (2015-04-06). "#147notjustanumber aims to name all those slain in Kenya attack". Quartz. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
- ^ a b Bahree, Megha (2008-11-13). "Citizen Voices". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ a b Okolloh, Ory. "About". Kenyan Pundit. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ a b Bengali, Shashank (2007-06-21). "Native voices blog out of Africa". McClatchy Newspapers. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ Heavens, Andrew (2007-03-14). "The web watchdog biting Kenya's MPs". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ Boyd, Clark (2005-04-06). "Global voices speak through blogs". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ Kantai, Wallace (2009-07-19). "Kenyan gives platform for airing post-poll atrocities". Business Daily. Nation Media Group. Retrieved 2009-09-11.
- ^ "Ory Okolloh joins Reuters Board of Directors". Innovation Village. Retrieved 10 May 2015.