General News, Student Experience, Tech & Public Policy

Tech & Public Policy Fellows partner with leading tech advocates

January 18, 2023

The McCourt School’s Tech & Public Policy program welcomes four distinguished scholars to work with Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower and advocate for accountability and transparency in social media, and her organization Beyond the Screen.

Technology impacts every part of our world, and having ethically-trained, data-driven leaders at the helm of policymaking is imperative. The Tech & Public Policy (TPP) program is proud to support annual paid fellowships for emerging technology policy leaders at the McCourt School and welcomes Rachel Bogdan (MPP’24), Morgan Zimmerman (MS-DSPP’23), Ryan Arazi (MPP’23) and Jeremiah Ong (MPP’24) as the inaugural class of TPP Fellows. 

Over the next five months, Bogdan, Zimmerman, Arazi and Wei  will work closely with Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower and advocate for accountability and transparency in social media, and her organization Beyond the Screen, in partnership with the McCourt Institute. The Fellows will help to advance Beyond the Screen’s Duty of Care project, aimed at identifying and developing strategies to mitigate social media harm. 

Meet the inaugural class of Tech & Public Policy Fellows

Rachel Bogdan (MPP’24)

Rachel Bogdan headshot

“In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national emergency in youth mental health. This declaration coincided with the release of thousands of internal Facebook documents by Frances Haugen, which showed the company was aware of the harm its products have on users. I was thrilled to learn Frank McCourt is seeking to increase McCourt’s research and engagement with the issues surrounding technology and public policy, and I believe these issues also need to be addressed from a public health lens.” 

Morgan Zimmerman (MS-DSPP’23)

Morgan Zimmerman headshot

“The Duty of Care project aims to amplify technology policy issues that are close to my heart. I think we as a society have become accustomed to the potential harms of social media, but have failed our youth in our lack of commitment to mitigating those harms. This is timely work, and a policy area that will continue to expand and evolve, and I am extremely excited to be part of the initial collaboration stages with the Duty of Care team.”  

Ryan Arazi (MPP’23)

Ryan Arazi headshot

“The name ‘Duty of Care’ alone was very intriguing. It’s rare for ‘care’ to be at the forefront of an organization’s mission, despite how essential it really is, especially in the tech world. One of the main reasons I applied to McCourt was because I wanted the opportunity to step out of the world of ideological polarization. I was correct in assuming that is what I would get from McCourt, and I hope to use these ideas to help drive the non-partisan nature of the Duty of Care project.”

Jeremiah Ong (MPP’24)

Jeremiah Ong headshot

“From living in post-Brexit UK, I have seen how extremists have used social media to stir up racism and xenophobia by playing on the fears of people who feel that they have been left behind, or abandoned in their own country. I have hope that, despite the current polarization in our political landscape, there are still opportunities to find common ground and work together to mitigate social media harms. I’m excited to work on policies and projects that protect the mental health of children, and encourage healthy online disagreements rather than echo chambers which fuel hatred for other communities.”

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