Graciela Selaimen is a senior program officer in the Brazil office. She is a journalist, specializing in gender and local development, and has been working for more than 20 years in the areas of digital technologies, communication, human rights, and social justice. At Ford, she has developed strategies and programs in the areas of Technology and Society, Creativity and Freedom of Expression, and Thriving Civic Space, crosscutting gender and race perspectives. Her work has contributed to consolidating the field of digital rights in Brazil and to supporting greater collaboration between organizations in the field of digital technologies, investigative journalism, and culture with organizations and social movements working on human rights and social and environmental justice.

Prior to joining Ford in 2013, she was a co-founder and director of the Nupef Institute, a research and advocacy organization on digital rights and internet governance, whose work influences national and international policy and debate. From 2008 to 2013, Graciela was a member of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. During the same period, she was editor in chief of the poliTICs magazine, the first and most influential publication dedicated to digital politics and rights in Brazil.

Graciela is certified in dialogues and groups facilitation and is the author of articles and book chapters in the areas of philanthropy, gender and technology, digital rights, surveillance technologies, and protection of activism. She holds a master’s degree in communication and culture from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.