Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe is a human rights activist and former U.S. diplomat who recently served as U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for Digital Freedom at the Department of State. Previously,she served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council,having been appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009.[1][2] She was the first ambassador following the referent UN body changing from the predecessor United Nations Commission on Human Rights. After serving her term as ambassador,Donahoe was appointed as Director of Global Affairs for Human Rights Watch,where she focused on digital security and Internet governance.[3] She then founded and served as Executive Director of the Global Digital Policy Incubator at the Freeman Spogli Institute's Cyber Policy Center[4] working at the intersection of governance,technology and human rights. She was an affiliate of Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation,a center of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.[5]
In 2023,Donahoe took a leave of absence from her position at Stanford University to serve as the inaugural Special Envoy and Coordinator for Digital Freedom,in the newly established Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy in the U.S. Department of State.[6] In this role,Donahoe worked to promote digital freedom and a rights-respecting approach to U.S. technology policy.[7] She left the role on December 13,2024.[8]
In 2006 she published her PhD dissertation on the topic of Humanitarian Military Intervention.[15] The dissertation addressed conflicting moral imperatives versus the rule of law justifications associated with military intervention during humanitarian crises.[16]
In September 2023,she was appointed as Special Envoy and Coordinator for Digital Freedom in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP).[8]
Human rights advocacy
On November 9,2009,the Obama administration nominated Donahoe to be the first U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. This was subsequently approved by the Senate,and Donahoe was appointed to the position where she represented the lead body in the promotion and protection of human rights.[19]
During her role as Ambassador,Donahoe was actively engaged in advocacy for human rights,liberty,dignity,justice,and opportunity during a period marked by transformative change.[20] Throughout her three-year term she spearheaded the effort to protect freedom of expression on the Internet,which culminated in all 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council voting to include this as a basic human right,[21] and took action on various urgent human rights crises of the time,including Cote d’Ivoire,Syria to Libya,Iran and more.[22]
Following her successful tenure serving her term as UN Ambassador,Donahoe was selected to the role of Director of Global Affairs for Human Rights Watch,where she was particularly focussed on the areas of Internet freedom,security,and governance in relation to global human rights foreign policy.[23] Ahead of the US presidential and congressional midterm elections in 2017 and 2018,Donahoe held the role of Executive Director of the Global Digital Policy Incubator at Stanford University,where she engaged in several conversations,panels,podcasts,and papers advocating for freedom,security,and democratic accountability in the digital world.[24][25][26]
Her podcast with Quinta Jurecic and Alina Polyakova,the president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis,covered the topic combatting digital authoritarianism,protecting freedom of expression and privacy,and the use of international human rights law frameworks to protect and moderate digital commentary.[27]
Again,in 2020,with a new US election looming,Donahoe made the case for internet platforms to exercise the protection of democracy and for private sector platforms to exercise their rights to combat political disinformation through leaning toward a stronger governance and articulation of their digital powers. This post was published following the Republican and Democratic parties threatening to revoke the Communications Decency Act Section 230,a law that is essential to the protection of free speech online.[28]
Following the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018,the newly appointed Biden Administration announced plans to rejoin the Council in 2021,a move which Donahoe indicated she supported during an interview with NPR’s Michele Kelemen.[29] Donahoe presented her comments that the US should have a seat at the table with human rights diplomacy,especially at a time when the aspirations and values of human rights commitments are being challenged in 21st century digital society and are in danger of succumbing to digital authoritarianism,[30] highlighting the emerging of China’s archetype of digital authoritarianism as a momentous event in history during a time of China’s growing influence and increasing push for power.[31]
On November 29,2022,Donahoe hosted the Tech4Democracy Silicon Valley Venture Day and encouraged a new way of thinking with regards to reinforcing democracy through concentrating on advancing and applying the newly emerging opportunities of technology that can boost democracy.[32][33]
She is married to John Donahoe who has been the CEO of tech companies like eBay,PayPal,ServiceNow,and Nike. They have four children,three sons and a daughter,and live in Portola Valley,California.[41][42] In 2021,Donahoe and her husband donated $20 million to Dartmouth College. The donation is intended to increase diversity in science,technology,engineering and math.[43][44]
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