Usama Khilji, Director of Pakistan-based research and advocacy organization Bolo Bhi, will assume the position of GNI’s Vice Chair from October 2024. Khilji is a longtime member of GNI, having served as co-chair of GNI’s Membership Committee and an alternate member of GNI’s Board of Directors between 2019 to 2024. In addition, he has also moderated or spoken at various events hosted or organized by GNI.
Acknowledging his appointment as Vice Chair, Khilji said, “I am honored to be elected Vice Chair of the Global Network initiative as I strongly believe in the principles that guide this organization. As states move towards mandatory human rights due diligence starting with the EU, GNI has demonstrated in its almost two decades how co-regulation in the industry with a multistakeholder approach is possible and can help shape regulated practice. I look forward to working with the board, staff, and membership to facilitate the next company assessment cycle which we have recently opened up to the entire membership of GNI, encouraging wider inclusion that is bound to make the process even more robust.”
Vice Chair Usama Khilji
Khilji is a member of the Carnegie Endowment’s Digital Democracy Network and the Business and Human Rights Resource Center’s Global South working group on investor engagement, and served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Systemic Inequality and Social Cohesion. He also regularly writes a column on digital rights in the Dawn newspaper, and has contributed opinion pieces to Al Jazeera English and Slate magazine on global digital rights issues.
Khilji will succeed Agustina Del Campo, Director at the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) at the University of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and will support GNI’s growing, multistakeholder membership to protect freedom of expression and privacy in the tech sector alongside Independent Chair Vicky Bowman.
“I am delighted that Usama Khilji has been elected to take on the role of Vice Chair of the Global Network Initiative during these uncertain times,” said Vicky. “His firsthand experience of digital rights advocacy in South Asia and globally will be very valuable to me and the whole GNI Board.”
GNI’s Executive Director Jason Pielemeier also welcomed Usama’s nomination as vice chair, recognizing, “Usama has been an integral member of GNI and we are absolutely thrilled to have him as our Vice Chair. His poignant and profound insights, together with his background and experiences will help us navigate the path forward as we continue to advocate for freedom of expression and privacy rights in the digital age.”