Cameron Hickey – Renowned Journalist, Technology, and Democracy Expert – to Serve as CEO; Katie Harbath Named Board Chair
January 5th, 2023 –
In its 77th year as a congressionally-chartered nonprofit advancing democracy, the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) announces Cameron Hickey as the new Chief Executive Officer for the organization.
As an expert in misinformation and its effects on democracy, Cameron has served as the Director of the Algorithmic Transparency Institute, a current project of NCoC, for the past 3 years. His expertise in the analysis of misinformation has led to the development of groundbreaking tools like Junkipedia and the establishment of the people-powered misinformation monitoring program, the Civic Listening Corps.
“The Board and I are confident that Cameron will lead NCoC into an exciting and impactful new era, working to combat the many online and offline challenges facing our democracy and to repair America’s frayed civic fabric,” says Garrett Graff, who chaired the organization since January 2020.
Prior to joining NCoC, Hickey helped lead the Shorenstein Center’s Information Disorder Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School to monitor mis- and disinformation in the 2018 midterm elections. Cameron is an Emmy-Award winner with work appearing on PBS NewsHour, Nova, Bill Moyers, and The New York Times. In 2019, he was awarded the Brown Institute Magic Grant to investigate inauthentic activity on social media.
Building from NCoC’s wide portfolio of programs and trove of civic data, Cameron leads NCoC into a new era to combat the many digital challenges facing our democracy.
“The future of our democracy and of citizenship itself will be defined by how we confront the challenges posed to our civic discourse,” said Cameron Hickey. “As much of that conversation now takes place on digital platforms, our efforts to improve civic life in America must now expand in ways that enable and promote meaningful civic engagement by empowering citizens to take back control of the public forum and work together to rebuild our democracy.”
Katie Harbath, NCoC’s Interim CEO over the past year, will now step into the role of President and Chair of the Board of Directors, replacing Garrett Graff. Graff will remain on the board. Katie is a global leader at the intersection of elections, democracy, civic, and tech. She is the founder and CEO of Anchor Change – a civic tech strategies firm focused on developing solutions at the intersection of tech, policy, and business focusing on global issues related to democracy, elections, and civic engagement online.
“Since joining NCoC first as a board member and then interim CEO I’ve seen firsthand the impact that this organization’s programs have on improving our democracy. I’m excited to continue supporting the organization in this new role and thank Garrett for his years of service as board chair,” Harbath says.
Looking ahead, NCoC will continue to leverage its historic role and network to convene civic leaders across the country at the Annual Conference on Citizenship, as well utilize its programs to advance democracy and repair America’s frayed civic and social fabric.
For questions about NCoC’s leadership changes, please contact Cameron Blossom ([email protected]).