July 14, 2022 Prof. Gina Neff appointed to the Board of Directors of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Author(s): Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy Gina Neff, Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy. Prof. Gina Neff joins the Board of Directors of the SSRC, a groundbreaking organisation designed to generate new insight into pressing societal issues. The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy are delighted to announce that our Executive Director, Prof. Gina Neff, has joined the Board of Directors of the Social Science Research Council in the United States. The Social Science Research Council community is an interdisciplinary and international network of social scientists and practitioners dedicated to galvanising knowledge and mobilising it for the public good. ‘Professor Neff’s expertise will provide invaluable guidance to the Council as we seek to understand the impacts of digital platforms and other new media on individual and societal well-being’- Anna Harvey, President, SSRC For nearly 100 years the Social Science Research Council has coordinated the research, policy, and philanthropic communities in the pursuit of evidence-based policies to promote human well-being, emerging as both a pivotal force in the academy and a respected contributor to the public good. Speaking about Prof. Neff’s appointment, Anna Harvey, President of SSRC said: ‘We are thrilled to have Professor Gina Neff join the SSRC Board of Directors as we begin our second century of supporting innovative social and behavioural science in the service of increasing global well-being. ‘Professor Neff’s expertise will provide invaluable guidance to the Council as we seek to understand the impacts of digital platforms and other new media on individual and societal well-being.’ Speaking about her appointment, Prof. Neff said: ‘The SSRC have provided international leadership for the social sciences for nearly a century. ‘I am deeply honoured to guide the organisation’s future, especially when there are so many open questions for society that require urgent research.’ Prof. Neff is the Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy at the University of Cambridge and professor of Technology & Society at the University of Oxford. Her books include Venture Labor (MIT Press, 2012), Self-Tracking (MIT Press, 2016), and Human-Centered Data Science (MIT Press, 2022). Her research focuses on the effects of the rapid expansion of our digital information environment on workers and workplaces and in our everyday lives. ‘I am deeply honoured to guide the organisation’s future, especially when there are so many open questions for society that require urgent research’ – Prof. Gina Neff Prof. Neff holds a PhD in sociology from Columbia University and advises international organisations including UNESCO, the OECD, and the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society. She chairs the International Scientific Committee of the UK’s Trusted Autonomous Systems programme and is a member of the Strategic Advisory Network for the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council. Her academic research has won both engineering and social sciences awards. She also led the team that won the 2021 Webby for the best educational website on the internet, for the A to Z of AI, which has reached over a million people in 17 different languages. About the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy is an independent team of academic researchers at the University of Cambridge, radically rethinking the power relationships between digital technologies, society and our planet. We are based in CRASSH. About the Social Science Research Council The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is an independent, international, nonprofit organization founded in 1923. It fosters innovative research, nurtures new generations of social scientists, deepens how inquiry is practiced within and across disciplines, and mobilizes necessary knowledge on important public issues.