Open Gov Stories

In celebration of International Women's Day, March 8th 2023, the Open Gov Hub hosted a podcast on the this year's theme: #EmbraceEquity. Podcast guests: Jean Scrimgeour (Accountability Lab) Jahanara Saeed (Open Data Watch) Blair McQueen (Open Government Partnership) Podcast host: Izabela Chmielewska (Global Integrity)

Abigail Bellows (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) and Jessica Lowing (Open Society Foundations)talk about the nexus of passion and power in the context of community organizing and political activism against corruption. They reflect on why uniting people's voices and building institutional change are critical ingredients in overcoming corrupt systems. No matter where we're from or what language we speak, we want the same basic things, like food and security. By joining together, citizens can advocate for -- and help enact -- the social contract. And freely "exercise what it means to be human" with collective confidence. NOTE: This session was originally in May 2019, which was long before COVID-19 has disrupted and tested our world. Yet, a lot of what is said here about working together and anti-corruption certainly resonates today. Listen in to learn more about this and other #opengov stories on our SoundCloud.

Changing perceptions about revolutionary countries, such as Egypt and Venezuela, can be difficult in America because they are often portrayed in negative light. Nevertheless, people who are rooted in these countries' complex cultures see things very differently. How deep does solidarity go? What about self-care in the context of difficult political situations and wanting to make social change? Listen to Nada Zohdy(Director of Open Gov Hub)and Andres Marquez-Lara (Founder & CEO of UFacilitate) as they share stories of their cultural identities and how they arrived at who they are today.

In this Open Gov Story, Sarah Orton-Vipond(Development Gateway) and Mor Rubinstein(360Giving)explore the question: What is the biggest challenge for women working in the field of OpenGov? The short answer: time. They talk about the gender inequality at home with chores and at work, including the Israeli military experience. Sarah and Mor also talk about the Open Gender Monologues as a therapeutic safe space, as well as the Open Heroines initiative that augments the voices of women in opengov, open data, and civic tech. Learn more here: https://openheroines.org/

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Mavra Zehra and Edith Mecha discuss the challenges of working in non-permissive environments back home -- in Pakistan and Kenya, respectively -- and how their experiences of the past have led them to work on social issues relevant to their country’s context. They then discuss their role as emerging voices in the developing world – promoting peacebuilding projects in the two countries and what they hope the future will hold for the civic space in there. Mavra Zehra is a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning fellow at the Transparency and Accountability Initiative (TAI). Edith Mecha is a former Communications Fellow at TAI.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Ola talks with his friend Didi about how exposure to different places at an early age helped motivate his commitment to social change in Nigeria, and how his work as a lawyer in the UK and as a researcher in the US all connect back to open government, youth empowerment and social change in his home country of Nigeria. They emphasize the need to invest in young people, how to change international development system, and how corruption is a great barrier to development and progress in Nigeria and beyond. Olalaken Oshunkoya is founder of eCove in Abuja, Nigeria and is currently completing his PhD investigating corruption and judicial reform in Nigeria. Didi Littlejohn is a media literacy advocate, social researcher, songwriter, educator and now analyst based in D.C.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Joel discusses working on consumer rights in the telecom industry and how fighting one woman's $300,000 phone bill helped pass game-changing protections for consumers in the US. He then discusses his role becoming a leader in the movement to promote open data and what he hopes the future will hold for open government data being a powerful public resource. Joel Gurin is founder and head of the Center for Open Data Enterprise, and author of Open Data Now. Nada Zohdy is Director of the Open Gov Hub.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, local development and open government activist from Pakistan Fayyaz explains the inspiration that led him to setting up Accountability Lab's Pakistan chapter and then the Open Gov Hub/Space in Islamabad. Fayyaz, in conversation with Blair - his mentor, friend and Executive Director of the Accountability Lab global - talks about the journey, personal experience with corruption, and vision for more integrity and accountability in Pakistan. Fayyaz Yaseen is head of Accountability Lab Pakistan. Blair Glencorse is founder and head of Accountability Lab global, supporting young people with creative approaches to combat corruption and promote integrity.

In this podcast, Adnen and Asma, co-founder and intern at El Space (Tunisia's first social innovation hub), talk about their motivations as social entrepreneurs and the social impacts of doing business differently, witnesses injustices in society, living through the Tunisian revolution of 2010/2011 that catalyzed the Arab Spring, what inspires and challenges them, and their hopes for the future. Adnen Ben Haj Yahia is executive director and the co-founder of EL SPACE, Tunisia's first social innovation hub. He launched several businesses and nonprofits after graduating business school and still a board member in some of these organizations. Adnen is also a social entrepreneurship and innovation specialist with demonstrated experience in the corporate, public and social sectors. Asma Rouabhia is a Tunisian business student and marketing intern at El Space, where she facilitates a program for youth.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, colleagues Suneeta and Doug talk about their first meeting and influential career moments, like sharing the stage with President Obama. Suneeta discusses believing in the power of one, prudent optimism, and advice for the next generation. Suneeta Kaimal is the Chief Operating Officer of Natural Resource Governance Institute. She is a Steering Committee member and former civil society chair of the Open Government Partnership. Doug Rutzen is President and CEO of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, which has worked in 100 countries to help develop the legal framework for civil society, philanthropy, and public participation. Doug also teaches at Georgetown University Law Center and serves on the Advisory Board of the United Nations Democracy Fund.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Tom discusses personal experiences with filing freedom of information requests. Tom and Kevin also discuss how the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and similar open government tools can help ensure that the people's taxpayer dollars are well spent. Tom Susman is founder of the DC Open Government Coalition. As a staff member in the Senate he helped write FOIA law in the earliest years (the 1970s), and has continued involvement ever since in law practice, board service in numerous related organizations, and senior executive work (director of government affairs) at the American Bar Association. Kevin Goldberg is a media lawyer, has been involved in open government issues for a long time. He offers legal guidance on organizational matters such as corporate formation, drafting of bylaws and membership policies, and acquisition and compliance with non-profit tax status.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, long-time colleagues and social entrepreneurs Dennis and Donna discuss their struggle after struggle that led to their success co-founding a global nonprofit social enterprise (Global Giving). Donna discusses the long-term journey of seeing the fruits of your labor working in the field of social change. They both discuss what the future may hold, and the lifelong uncertainty that comes with a career in this field, along with the personal bonds that come with it. Dennis is the former CEO and co-founder of Feedback Labs. He is also co-founder of GlobalGiving, where he was CEO from 2000 to 2010. Earlier he spent fourteen years as an economist at the World Bank, working in Indonesia and Russia. Donna is GlobalGiving's Chief Business Partnerships Officer. She joined GlobalGiving in 2003. Donna loves working with companies to help them and their stakeholders contribute positively to communities around the world.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, colleagues Gary and Allie share about their inspirations for their work on pushing government and corporate accountability in the US, stemming from effects of poverty on the Great Depression generation to the personal effects of the bankruptcy of Enron. Gary Kalman was a founding member of the FACT Coalition in 2011, which promotes financial transparency and corporate accountability, and joined as its Executive Director in 2016. Alexandria is an Assistant Policy Advisor, Anti-Money Laundering at Global Witness. She previously worked as a Tax and Budget Program associate at U.S, Public Interest Research Group.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Tinatin discusses growing up the war and economic collapse that followed Georgia's independence from the Soviet Union. She won a scholarship to study in the US and was personally impacted by corruption in the process. She also talks about the culture shock she faced as an exchange student in rural Minnesota at age 15, and what she finds most fulfilling in her current work. Tinatin is the IRM research manager at the Open Government Partnership, in charge of the quality control processes for international reports in a number of OGP countries. She has more than 10 years experience in anti-corruption and good governance field. Prior to joining OGP, she was a programme coordinator at Transparency International Secretariat focusing on transparency of political party financing in various regions of the world. Leslie is a senior program officer at Open Government Partnership.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories,Traci discusses growing up in an African American family with a strong emphasis on public service, her efforts to make government work better and to be more collaborative with the public as Washington DC's first head of the Office of Open Government, the legacy she hopes to leave behind, and dealing with microaggressions, stereotypes, and discrimination within government as a civil servant. Nada discusses similarly feeling the need to fight twice as hard to prove your worth as a minority woman. Traci Hughes is a Government and Strategic Communications Executive / Thought Leader / Transparency Advocate. She previously served as a director at District of Colombia Office of Open Government. Nada Zohdy is Director of the Open Gov Hub, a meeting place in Washington, D.C. that supports global open government reforms through shared resources and collaborative programs for 45 member nonprofits.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Lotte talks about loving travel from an early age, which led her to an international career and working on improving parliaments. Maria talks about studying journalism in Argentina, and they both discuss the importance of building consensus for effective collective action. María Baron is an Argentine journalist and global executive director of Directorio Legislativo, an organization that promotes transparency in government, democratic consolidation, and enhanced access to public information throughout Latin America. She is also founding chair of the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency. Lotte Geunis is a Program Officer at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and is based in Brussels. She leads OGP’s parliamentary engagement and supports OGP's public service delivery work across the Partnership.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Lawrence Yealue & Luther Jeke discussed the inception of the Accountability Lab movement in Liberia and the founding of iCampus - Liberia’s first innovation and coworking community space. They share personal and intimate stories about their work around social change, accountability and open governance - from living through Liberia's 14-year civil war and Ebola crisis, to spending time in the US, supporting youth as leaders of today, global sustainable development goals and grassroots solutions, and what the future holds for the work they do.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Iyanu, the manager of Civic Hive in Lagos, Nigeria talks with his sister Ilerioluwa about his upbringing, becoming leader for civic tech in Nigeria, personally experiencing injustice that motivated him to support police reform, and his hopes for civic tech supporting Nigeria's development in the future.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Edison Frangu, an open gov leader in Albania, shares with his childhood friend Nerisa many experiences that made him the changemaker he is today. She asks him many questions to get to know why he does his work. He discusses challenges growing up poor during the transition from communism to democracy in Albania, beginning his career working in the local municipality, becoming an advisor to the mayor, his journey on a fellowship to the US, and more. He ends with why he is so committed to improving his country of Albania.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Meg discusses her time teaching English and organizing a girls empowerment program in rural Malaysia. Amy talks about the intergenerational commitment she shares with her family to work for social change - discussing experiences working in Michigan on a farm with refugees, and with the homeless. They both discuss learning what roles to play and not to play as outsiders and as Millenials when trying to serve others and support social change, abroad and at home.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Zoe and Danielle who are close friends share with each other what led them to working on transparency and accountability in the US and the biggest challenges moving forward. Zoe discusses feeling a strong patriotism from fighting for the values of transparency and integrity that she was taught this country was based on, her pride as a New Yorker, and her mom who was a whistleblower, and the first time she felt "othered." Danielle discuss understanding the emergence of Trump as the result of normalizing "smaller" ethical violations. They end with a vision of what they hope this work will achieve in a few years.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Kristi talks about growing up post-9/11 and pushing back against black and white political narratives in rural conservative Ohio. Rebecca talks about growing up with a strong public service, activist/social justice Catholics. Kristi and Rebecca explore how to personally respond to the suffering of those they seek to help/serve, sacrifices for a life of public service, and moments of solidarity and connection.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Dalia Mogahed tells her colleague and mentee, Katherine “Kat’ Coplen, about being attacked for her political opinions, her Muslim-American identity, and the origin of the Arab Spring in Egypt. She emphasizes how the data at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies helped minority communities finally speak for themselves, and how data can aid struggles for social justice in safeguarding the truth and making possible the promise of American pluralism.

In this episode of #OpenGovStories, Jean-Louis Sarbib tells his colleague and mentee, Nada Zohdy, about growing up in a Jewish family in Algeria during the French occupation and war, moving to the U.S. and being part of the student anti-war protest movement in the mid 1960s, and what he considers to be one of his greatest accomplishments as a former executive at the World Bank. Nada talks about her student activism protesting the US invasion of Iraq.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, Katie Petit and her friend, Jennifer Lentfer, discuss their careers as grassroots organizers. Katie talks about growing up biracial and her transformative experience at Standing Rock and the power of prayer and healing. Jennifer talks about the importance of listening first and the power of global community.

In this episode of Open Gov Stories, fellow global activists Lisa VeneKlasen and Emira Woods talk about becoming aware of unjustice at an early age and what led them to their careers growing up in the United State and Liberia. Lisa talks about working directly with the Sandinista government in the middle of a revolution. They discuss their shared passion for supporting feminists in social justice struggles. Emira talks about her grandmother growing up in Liberia next to a Firestone rubber plant. They end with their sources of hope.