Former OECD Ambassador Karen Kornbluh to Initiate GMF Technology Policy Program

WASHINGTON, DC  — The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is pleased to announce that Ambassador Karen Kornbluh will join the organization as director of the technology policy program and senior fellow, leading GMF’s newly created technology policy program.

This new, high-profile position at GMF will use the organization’s global, multi-sector network, reputation, and the sum of its substantive expertise to help shape a future in which technology strengthens rather than undermines democratic values. This program will contend with the challenge of online disinformation as well as other technology policy issues including 21st century jobs and innovation, democratic implications of frontier technologies, and cyber dimensions of national security. In addition, it will develop a framework for global transatlantic leadership on technology policy.

A leading voice at the intersection of digital and economic policy, technology, and foreign affairs, Kornbluh comes to GMF from the Council on Foreign Relations, where she was senior fellow for digital policy. Kornbluh served as policy director to Barack Obama during his term in the United States Senate and was the Obama administration’s ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) from 2009 until 2012. In this role she spearheaded development of the first global Internet Policymaking Principle and launched both the OECD's Gender Initiative and the Middle East-North Africa Women's Business Forum.

Addressing issues brought on by technological change is integral to GMF’s mission to strengthen transatlantic relations. The security implications of the emergence of cyber and hybrid warfare, the role that disinformation on social media, urban mobility, privacy issues, and trade are among the many focus areas where GMF is actively involved in fostering transatlantic dialogue on technology. Aligning technology policy between Europe and America is essential to ensuring the democratic values GMF represents: international cooperation, human rights, and rule of law.

“I am delighted that Karen is joining the GMF team,” said GMF President Karen Donfried. “The future of democracy rests on how technology is integrated into society. Karen’s expertise and relationships on both sides of the Atlantic make her the ideal person to lead GMF’s efforts to shape the transatlantic conversation on technology.”

In addition to her extensive government service, Kornbluh served as executive vice president for external affairs at Nielsen and founded the Work and Family Program at New America. She continues to serve on Broadcasting Board of Governors, as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and as a Mozilla fellow. Kornbluh has published widely on technology issues, including her recent Foreign Affairs article “The Internet’s Lost Promise” and her widely cited Washington Post op-ed “Foreign policy of the Internet.”

Kornbluh will be based at GMF’s headquarters in Washington, DC and is starting this role on October 31, 2018.