Heather Leson

Data Literacy Lead, IFRC


Heather Leson

Data Literacy Lead, IFRC

Heather is the Data Literacy Lead at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies supporting 191 National Societies and 11.6 million volunteers. As a technologist, she approaches humanitarian data and technology opportunities by combining human-centered design, social learning, diverse partnerships, and innovation methodologies. Together with 100s of contributors from across the globe within IFRC and partners, she curated the Data Playbook (Beta) project to support a data-driven organization. This project is being piloted in 4 regions across many sectors. Previously, she has lead programs on community building, social innovation, and technology at Qatar Computing Research Institute (Qatar Foundation), Ushahidi, and Open Knowledge (School of Data). Her experience also includes working on internet technologies including domain name services, network operations, and software-as-a-service. She is a current Board Member at OpenStreetMap Foundation and a past Board Member at the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (4 years). She co-wrote a chapter on Open Communities and articles the power of data and digital literacy for the World Economic Forum and Civicus Datashift. Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Combined Political Science and History from Carleton University, as well as a Library and Information Technician diploma from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.