GIOVANNA ÁLVAREZ NEGRETTI

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR • BARCELONA, SPAIN
GIOVANNA@THE-OPEN.NET

An organizer, campaigner and advocate since as long as anyone can remember, Giovanna's career has been fueled by her passion for community building and people-powered movements. Catching a fever for civic action at a very young age in her native Vieques, Puerto Rico, she has spent more than twenty years in executive leadership at local, regional and global organizations working for social justice.

Early in her career in the United States, Giovanna worked as legislative aide to the state's first African American woman elected to the Massachusetts Senate. From there she co-founded the first statewide Latino political organization and served as its founding Executive Director. In 2008 she was elected a proud Obama delegate to the DNC Convention in Denver.

Shifting to the global sphere, Giovanna became Middle East Regional Director of the Nobel-prizewinning human rights group the American Friends Service Committee, developing diplomatic strategies and social cohesion programs during and after the Arab Spring. Throughout her career, she has served as advisor or strategist to political campaigns, philanthropic foundations and country presidents in Europe, the United States, Latin America and the Middle East.

Giovanna graduated magna cum laude from Emerson College and holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is a recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, the Prime Movers Fellowship and the Eisenhower Fellowship.

MATT BLIZEK

DEPUTY DIRECTOR • CHICAGO, IL, USA
MATT@THE-OPEN.NET

Throughout his 20+ year career, Matt has had a passion for training individuals and organizations to fight for social justice. He has worked for dozens of progressive candidates and led campaigns that have mobilized tens of thousands of people to take action across the US as well as internationally.

He's designed innovative training programs for numerous progressive organizations including MoveOn, Warren for President, PCCC, and Democracy for America which have trained thousands of people to run for office or make a difference in their community.

When he's not organizing a workshop or campaign, you might find Matt fishing with his family in lowa, surfing in Puerto Rico, hanging out in the Wrigley Field bleachers in Chicago, or exploring a new country.

KELSEY DE PORTE

CAMPAIGN SUPPORT SPECIALIST • HESINKI, FINLAND
KELSEY@THE-OPEN.NET

Kelsey is a progressive digital campaigner, mobiliser, and activist with a wide range of movement-building experience. Most recently, she's acted as a campaigner and
strategist for grassroots climate groups, and prior to that worked as a campaign manager in the 2019 EU Elections-contributing to a record-amount of young, progressive, candidates in the European Parliament, and a spike in youth voter turnout.

Outside of work, Kelsey enjoys climbing, making music, and long walks with her dog, Lola.

JANNA HEDLUND

DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS • WASHINGTON DC, USA
JANNA@THE-OPEN.NET

Accompanying her background in the nonprofit sector, Janna holds a bachelor’s in advertising, and a master’s in market research and consumer behavior. She has experience in both technical and creative writing, and enjoys using her skillset to connect with global audiences in unique and meaningful ways. Janna has energy to spare and is excited to channel it towards her passion for social justice. When she’s not on the clock, you can find her swimming in the nearest body of water, or reading in the sun.

ARTURO HERNÁNDEZ

EVENTS COORDINATOR • SITGES, SPAIN
ARTURO@THE-OPEN.NET

Arturo spent nearly two decades as an Art Director in the Advertising world. Before joining OPEN he worked as a freelance Event Coordinator and Graphic Designer. He has lived in San Juan, New York and Barcelona. Arturo's role in OPEN is to support the Executive Director, the Network Team and organise all OPEN Events. He also coordinates all our Graphic Design needs.

Outside work he is a writer and the author of three graphic design books and a novel.

FRANCES McMULLIN

TECH SUPPORT SPECIALIST • DUBLIN, IRELAND
FRANCES@THE-OPEN.NET

Frances has been working in and with tech for over a decade. She has worked for and with several OPEN orgs in the past and supported the network as maintainer of the Identity software collaboration until mid 2022. Frances has core expertise in Ruby, Rails and JavaScript, with broad experience managing deployments and working with a much broader range of technologies. Frances is skilled at solving problems with code and also appreciates the importance of clear communication, planning and strategic decision making.

When she's not at work, Frances enjoys juggling, and spoiling her cat, Nemesis.

BEN MORT

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER • SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
BENM@THE-OPEN.NET

Ben is a progressive digital specialist passionate about accelarating the adopting of progressive values through the use of leading edge technological research and innovations. He brings together research from fields of sociology, marketing, and information technology to driving positive social, political and environmental change.

For over 12 years he has been leading a range of organisations, from small bespoke to large corporate environments. His drive lies in the planning and implementation of robust and scalable digital campaigning, organising and communications platforms.

When Ben is not developing a new digital project he is snorkelling off the beaches of Sydney or learning to play the piano.

RANJANI RAJASHEKARAN

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER • LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
RANJANI@THE-OPEN.NET

Ranjani has a Master's Degree in Accounting with a vast experience in diverse fields like accounting and finance, supply chain, advertising and operations. While most of her experience comes from the corporate sector, she is very enthusiastic about being associated with OPEN and contributing meaningfully to society

YO WAKITA

HR & OPERATIONS COORDINATOR • HEIDELRBURG, GERMANY
YO@THE-OPEN.NET

Driven by a passion for humanitarian issues, Yo has dedicated over 6 years to non-profit and international development work. In his previous role as an HR professional with a UN agency, he supported talent management and various HR projects. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s in Global Refugee Studies. Outside work, he takes pleasure in cooking and exploring sustainable living spaces.