About the fellowship

The Newspeak House yearly fellowship programme is designed to support mid-career technologists to develop a holistic understanding of the civic landscape in the UK, in order to found groundbreaking new projects or seek strategic positions in key institutions.

The 2024 cohort hail from 11 countries and collectively speak more than 15 languages.

2024 Fellowship Candidates

Heather McRobie Allansdottir

Law scholar and writer at the intersections of public international law and political technologies. Doctorate in Law from Oxford University; Lecturer in international and human rights law in Iceland, Australia, and the UK; Researcher in space law and sustainability.

Ollie Bream McIntosh

Researcher and designer at the intersections of sustainability transitions and collective intelligence. PhD Candidate at Brussels School of Governance; Principal Consultant at Raincoatfish; Associate Researcher at Mútua Systems.

Jyotsna Iyer

Jyo is a Research Assistant at The Alan Turing Institute in the Trustworthy Digital Infrastructures for Identity Systems project. She is currently interested in producing research/projects in the field of political economy/platform economy and has been developing an independent research practice which draws from the humanities (literary and cultural studies, media studies, philosophy).

Richard Kemp

Focused on cultural evolution, coordination problems, spirituality, and optimism. Interested in recreating the positive effects of religious faith in a distributed way and reforming democracy for a complex world. Background in engineering and financial services; enjoys programming, fantasy, science fiction, and music.

Paulina Wisdom

Data analyst with degrees in Applied Mathematics and Data Analytics, shifting to public health to apply behavioral science and game theory. Experienced in community-building and connecting students with non-profits. Passionate about leveraging technology, science, and art for positive change.

Ilya Mouzykantskii

CEO of Civox, a startup creating voice AI tools for global political campaigns. Stanford CS graduate with experience at Telegram and Cardless. Former reporter with work in major newspapers, focused on open data and transparency.

Claddagh

Claddagh's background lies in political advocacy and campaigns, and scrappy start-ups. She holds master’s degrees in public policy and computer science. She cares about refugee rights, climate advocacy, trade unionism and workers rights, OSINT and ICC/ICJ reform, and is interested in exploring their intersections with political technology while at Newspeak.

David Norton

Leads research, development, and innovation at Ekō, mobilizing millions to hold corporations accountable. Previously worked in Washington, D.C., Brussels, and London, including roles at the ITUC. Studied sociology, political science, corpus linguistics, and gender studies, focused on how ideas and movements spread online.

Dorcas Nyamwaya

Governance specialist researching digital technologies, democratic processes, and justice. Focused on using data and technology to promote equity and address global challenges. Background in law with experience in urban development and AI governance initiatives.

Alex Papadopoulos

UX Researcher in public sector, focused on improving user experiences. Co-runs a queer film festival with a background in Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction. Passionate about making a positive impact through creative pursuits like writing and theatre design.

Tristan Spill

Graphic designer specializing in UI/UX and online branding. Focused on activism for Green issues and neurodiversity.

Melissa Tranfield

Software engineer focused on using technology, education, and policy to build a better society. Contributes to Campaign Lab on progressive tech and election tools, and organizes for codebar, teaching programming to minority groups. Passionate about exploring well-designed political tech to drive social change.

Casimir Jan Wanot

Software engineer at ExpressVPN, exploring game development and meditation. Interested in large-scale human systems, AI safety, and how individual actions shape them. Practices Global Wayfinding meditation and writes about spirituality and AI alignment on his blog.

Simon Wisdom

Data Scientist combining analytical thinking and creative experimentation with a background in management and fintech. Currently focused on AI, exploring technical alignment, governance, and policy. Enjoys creative projects and facilitates connection workshops at festivals and workplaces.

Yung-Hsuan Wu

Yung-Hsuan is a social studies researcher on AI dedicated to portraying the co-constitutive relationship between technology and society; he documents his adventure on Substack and Medium. Outside of research, he purposefully gets lost in different parts of the city, meets people and writes them into stories, and works on secret side projects.