Dr. Dominique Harrison Joins Joint Center as Director of Technology Policy

The Joint Center is excited to announce Dr. Dominique Harrison has joined the team as Director of our Technology Policy program. Dr. Harrison will lead the Joint Center’s work on key tech policy issues affecting Black communities, including those related to data privacy, access to and adoption of broadband, ad targeting, and artificial intelligence.

“We are ecstatic to have Dominique join the Joint Center team and lead our growing technology policy program,” said Joint Center President Spencer Overton. “Joint Center research has shown how a lack of access to reliable broadband, targeted disinformation campaigns, and automated decision making may disproportionately harm Black communities. Dominique’s leadership will help ensure that Black communities are at the table to discuss and analyze these and other critical issues that will shape our future.”

“The Joint Center has served Black communities for 50 years, and I’m so happy to join the Joint Center team and be a part of that history,” said Joint Center Director of Technology Policy Dr. Dominique Harrison. “I look forward to delving into these important issues and leading the program in service of Black communities by working with policymakers, grassroots organizations, philanthropy, the private sector, and academics to develop ideas that lead to change. I also look forward to establishing networks of Black experts and others who are committed to equity in the tech ecosystem to collect data, identify and grapple with emerging challenges, and publish research and policy solutions that advance Black communities.”

Prior to joining the Joint Center, Dr. Harrison served as Project Director in the Aspen Digital Program at the Aspen Institute, where she conceived, developed, and led projects at the intersection of media, technology, and public policy. She also served as the primary thought leader on efforts related to justice, equity, race, and technology. At the Institute, Dr. Harrison developed the Tech X Talent Project, funded by the Ford Foundation and Schmidt Futures, that seeks to promote greater equity in the technology workforce.

Dr. Harrison earned her B.S. in Advertising from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an M.A. in Media Studies from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Technology, Policy, and Society from Howard University. Her dissertation examines gender awareness among stakeholders of Jamaica’s information and communication technology (ICT) policy. Dr. Harrison’s full bio can be found here.

For more information on the Joint Center’s Technology Policy program, click here.