Benetech Appoints Keith Hiatt to Vice President of Human Rights Program

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - September 29, 2016) - Benetech, the leading nonprofit empowering communities in need by creating scalable technology solutions, today announced the appointment of human rights technology and policy pioneer Keith Hiatt to the position of Vice President of Benetech's Human Rights Program. Hiatt will lead Benetech's efforts to empower human rights defenders around the world by providing technology solutions and capacity building.

"Keith is a proven leader with vast expertise at the intersection of human rights, technology, policy and law," said Betsy Beaumon, president of Benetech. "We need the world's best and brightest leading the charge to empower human rights defenders with the tools and resources they need to document, report and manage data in pursuit of justice and policy reform. We are thrilled to have Keith join the Benetech team to lead us into the future."

Hiatt is currently a member of the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court, a Research Fellow at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law and an Affiliate at the Data and Society Research Institute in NYC. He previously served as Director of the Human Rights and Technology Program at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law, recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. After graduating from Berkeley Law, Hiatt clerked for Judge Ronald Gould of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2014, as a community lawyer in East Palo Alto, he received the California Bar Association President's Award for Pro Bono Service. Prior to attending law school at UC Berkeley, Hiatt worked as a software engineer at Microsoft and a systems analyst at Boeing.

"Benetech has long been the leader in providing the world's human rights defenders with the tools and solutions they need to do their work," said Keith Hiatt, newly appointed vice president of Human Rights at Benetech. "I am honored to join the team, and look forward to building on Benetech's proven successes."

About Benetech

Benetech is a different kind of tech company. We're a nonprofit whose mission is to empower communities in need by creating scalable technology solutions. Our work has transformed how over 425,000 people with disabilities read; made it safer for human rights defenders in over fifty countries to document human rights violations; and equipped environmental conservationists to protect ecosystems and species all over the world. Our Benetech Labs is working on the next big impact. Visit www.benetech.org.

About Benetech Human Rights Program

Benetech empowers human rights defenders around the world to pursue truth and justice by providing technology solutions and capacity building. The Martus platform is a free and open source toolset allowing practitioners to securely capture, encrypt and analyze sensitive information. We train human rights practitioners on secure data collection to protect at-risk communities, including women, ethnic minorities and LGBTI individuals. Visit www.benetech.org/our-programs/human-rights/.