“When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989, I was 15 and growing up in extremely challenging conditions as a young girl. I wish I had been able to access the internet and knew how to use it to call or connect with someone to rescue me from the human trafficking I experienced.”

– Marieme Jamme

The Web Foundation is pleased to welcome Mariéme Jamme as the newest member of our Board of Directors. Her deep technological expertise, entrepreneurial mindset and tireless activism will help guide the Web Foundation’s fight for digital equality. Mariéme believes the internet must be used for good, especially in Africa. She is passionate about ensuring young African women growing up can access the internet to improve their lives and learn about the world around them.

Mariéme is a Senegalese-born British businesswoman, who works extensively across civil society, government and the private sector to promote economic development, good governance and digital inclusion. Selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, she has founded a number of initiatives directly relevant to our work, including Africa Gathering, a forum for African leaders to share ideas for positive change, and Accur8Africa, which advocates for better data across Africa to ensure that progress on the Sustainable Development Goals can be accurately measured. Mariéme is also an Advisory Board Member of Data Pop Alliance, a global coalition promoting a people-centered Big Data revolution. Her consultancy, Spotone Global Solutions, helps technology companies do business in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

She is also particularly dedicated to empowering women and girls through science, technology, art, engineering, maths and design (STEAMD). Her latest initiative, iamtheCODE, aims to help one million women and girls become coders by 2030.

Welcoming Mariéme, Jose M. Alonso, interim CEO of the Web Foundation said:

“We are delighted to have Mariéme join the Web Foundation Board of Directors. We look forward to harnessing her skills, experience and passion – especially in the area of online gender equality – as we work towards our vision of digital equality.”

For more updates, follow us on Twitter at @webfoundation & sign up to receive our email newsletters. You can follow Mariéme on Twitter at @mjamme and read more about her at www.mariemejamme.com.