Professional highlights

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ENGAGEMENT

Research: International Engagement on Mitigating Disinformation (2023-2024)

A collobarative, multi-faceted landscape mapping combining research by regional partners, expert interviews, desk research, and field work: https://upgradedemocracy.de/en/perspectives/

  • Developed the research concept, including methodology, emphasis of regional perspectives, scope, and approach to topical mapping, overseeing the team that conducted the overall landscape mapping, which resulted in a searchable database of 220+ initiatives.
  • Identified and contracted partner organisations in Africa, Asia-Pacific, South and North America.
  • Supervised research engagements in all five target regions, and joined field work in Thailand (Asia), Argentina (South America), Belgium (Europe).
  • Oversaw series of seven research reports, and managed comparative analyses geared towards policy recommendations for European and German decision-makers.

DATA KNOWLEDGE HUB

Product Launch: Data Knowledge Hub for Researching Online Discourse (2022-2024)

A collaborative one-stop shop to lower the threshold for conducting independent data-driven research on very large online platforms, notably with a view to identifying, understanding, and countering disinformation: https://data-knowledge-hub.com/

  • Inception: Identified, organised, and wrangled first meeting between selected established actors to identify research and network gaps (Dec 2022).
  • Network and trust building: Wrangled network through the process of what it takes to lower the threshold of monitoring online discourse, encouraging exchanges and contributions (Jan-Jun 2023).
  • Implementation: Identified, curated, reviewed, and edited chapters for v1 launch with 15 initial authors (Jul-Dec 2023).
  • Distribuition: Wrangled and supported community outreach and crowdsourcing phase to pitch, evaluate, and expand purpose and usability of the hub beyond initial cohort of actors (Jan-Jun 2024).
  • Scaling: Managed integration with GitHub, allowing for automated updates, and facilitating crowdsourced contributions, including expanding beyond European input (Jul-Dec 2024).

MOZILLA

Programme: Environmental Sustainability (2020-2021)

Head, Environmental Sustainability | Office of CFO

Launched and directed Mozilla’s environmental sustainability programme for both Corporation & Foundation, managing critical change processes and a lean, but impactful team.

  • Collaboratively developed and set 3-5 year strategy horizon across non-profit foundation and for-profit corporation.
  • Recruited, trained, and mentored 25 environmental champions within a year driving and amplifying organisational change.
  • Launched multiple pilot initiatives, raising awareness in a creative, open manner.
  • Designed and managed data collection, analysis, and visualisation for annual greenhouse gas assessments (GHG Protocol), working with over 60 data owners, legal and trust teams, human resources, data science, and marketing.
  • Generated cross-organisational leadership buy-in to publicly pledge Mozilla’s Climate Commitments, incl. defining and executing a meaningful offsetting strategy that ensured carbon-neutrality in the first year and, combined with reductions, net-zero emissions in the long run.
  • Facilitated implementation workshops with each department to develop data-driven reduction and mitigation plans (SBTs).

Process: Reimagine open (2019)

Planned, designed, implemented an open consultation process on the future of the web, initiating internal and external change management processes. | Office of the Chair

  • Planned and managed the initial, exploratory phase of this project championed by Mozilla’s Executive Chairwoman, defining scope and priorities, and setting the tone for joint global outreach of the initital core team.
  • Designed and launched a broad-based survey to gather general insights with almost 20.000 responses from 160 countries.
  • Ran and supported additional dedicated focus groups to test hypotheses and interviewed over 100 people from 25 countries.
  • Analysed and evaluated results, sharing our findings in publications and keynotes, laying the groundwork for phase 2 deep dives in policy, Africa innovation, and sustainability.
  • Captured pitch, process, and outputs in an open wiki about the overall project.

Research: Luxury to Disconnect (2018)

Pitched the idea that privacy online is becoming an expensive commodity and that without fundemental protections the yet to be connected, often already vulnerable parts of the population are at risk to be further exploited and disadvantaged. I captured and shared my research in writing and speaking opportunities and it has since been picked up across Mozilla’s comms channels as well as by digital rights partners.

Publications:

Conferences: RightsCon Toronto (May 2018); IGF Paris (Nov 2018).

Campaign: G20 digital process (2017-2018)

Launched, designed, and managed impactful cross-sector partnerships and global outreach to strengthen the G20’s digital agenda. This was a strategic pilot initiative defining and testing the Global Governance approach of Mozilla’s external engagement led by the Office of the Chair.

Managing a close partnership with the Internet Society and the World Wide Web Foundation, we jointly published opinion pieces, met with high-level government representatives, and built a global support network that actively engaged in our multilingual advocacy campaign.

CONSULTANCY

Liberate Science: Theory of Change and Impact Strategy (2022)

Advised the Founder and CEO of Liberate Science to refine and strengthen the company’s theory of change, focusing on how to bring their vision of an inclusive, equitable, and mutually enriching research ecosystem to life.

  • Managed and structured the process, identifying the 10-15 year impact horizon and facilitating the decision-making around the initial 1-3 year strategic goals and activities, including around their core product ResearchEquals.
  • Organised feedback workshops with experts from across disciplines to refine and improve assumptions and hypotheses.
  • Conducted Liberate Science’s GHG assessment for their baseline year 2020 as well as their progress report with data for 2021. Supported the development of their climate targets and mitigation strategy.

Climatiq: B Corporation Certification (2021-2022)

Advised on and managed Climatiq’s B Corp certification process from completing the Impact Assessment to developing required policies, processes, and procedures to liaising with the B Lab for review, verification, and certifiation.

  • Successfully completed the initial B Corp Impact Assessment within the first 4 weeks of consulting, responding to some 200 questions across all impact areas, namely governance, workers, environment, community, and customers (Nov ’21)
  • Secured Pending B Corp status reserved for companies that have been in operation for less then 12 months (Feb ’22).
  • Developed short, medium, long-term goals to maintain and improve Climatiq’s overall score.
  • Led on development, coordination and implementation of improvement goals, incl. internal policies and procedures (Employee Handbook), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy, GHG reporting, and stakeholder engagement.

Global Partners Digital: Cybersecurity Capacity Building (2016-2017)

Consulted on and led the initial phase of GPD’s Cypersecurity Capacity Building programme, including developing the initial strategy, defining success criteria, conducting field trips to Chile, Kenya, and Indonesia to evaluate and conclude partner selection, setting up an advisory board process, and managing the funder relationship.

FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE OF GERMANY

Internet Governance (2013-2015)

  • World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+10 process):
  • Internet Governance Forum, 2013/2014/2015:
  • ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2014 (PP-14) | Busan, South Korea:
    • Prepared the Foreign Office’s involvement and attended on site. Primary resolutions and declarations followed: Internet Governance, Cybersecurity, Cyber Capacity Building, WSIS process and expanding internet access.
  • European Dialogue on Internet Governance, 2014 (EuroDIG) | hosted at the Foreign Office:
    • Served as primary contact and contributed to the Opening Speech by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier: “Put simply: It takes many to run the internet. And it takes many to make sure it remains free, safe and open! That’s why this conference is a ‘Dialogue’. And that’s why I am glad about the diverse mix of people in this room…“

Freedom and Human Rights Online

Cathleen Berger