Bio:
Carolina A. Rossini is an expert in technology policy and law, with over 25 years of experience leading transformative global initiatives across the private, nonprofit, and academic sectors. A dual citizen of Brazil and the United States, Carolina has served as a strategic advisor to governments, international organizations, and global corporations on digital governance, technology innovation, and human rights. Known for her ability to connect diverse stakeholders and build cross-sector partnerships, she has driven key policy developments in the Global South, advocating for digital inclusion and economic empowerment.
As the Director of Public Interest Technology Programs at the University of Massachusetts, she leads efforts to integrate technology with public interest goals, promoting equitable and ethical digital innovation via community building, graduate programs, and more. Her classes focus on preparing students to navigate the complex challenges of the digital age with integrity and a strong sense of responsibility. As Co-Founder at the Datasphere Initiative, she led organizational policy and partnership strategies and spearheaded the Data for AI Governance Dialogues, the Observatory Project, and the Fellowship Program. She has served in high-level global forums, including various UN agencies processes, trade agreements negotiations (e.g., ACTA, TPP), World Economic Forum Councils and working groups, OAS and OECD consultations, and the G20/T20.
Carolina is also a Law Lecturer at Boston University School of Law and a PIT SPARC Fellow at the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences, where she designs curricula that integrate law, technology, and public policy and leads PIT projects such as the 2023 PIT-UN Convening and the New England PIT Rising Stars Program, in partnership with the PIT-NE coalition.
Previously, Carolina served in senior leadership as co-founder and director of the Datasphere Initiative, co-founder and CEO of the Portulans Institute, vice president for international policy at public knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and global connectivity public policy manager at Facebook. She served as the director for RightsCon Tunisia, bringing together over 3000 participants from around the world, and was a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, working with Prof. Yochai Benkler (2008-2010). As an advisor board member, she supported the foundations and organizational development of Global Partners Digital (3-year appointment), InternetLab (10 years), Open Knowledge Foundation Brazil (3 years), and Instituto EducaDigital (5 years). As a consultant to organizations such as Co-Develop, Open Society Foundations, the Organization of American States Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, UNHCR, and more, she continues to advance inclusive, rights-based technology frameworks and architectures, including large-scale Digital Public Infrastructure projects and deployments in Latin America and the Caribbean, that empower societies to harness the benefits of digital transformation responsibly and ethically.
She is married to John Wilbanks, with whom she shares Noah, a dog (Uba) and a cat (Blueberry).
Education:
Virginia University, Diversity Leadership Training Certificate Program, via WEF YGL Education Award (2021)
Oxford University, Transformational Leadership Certificate Program, via World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (WEF YGL) Education Award (2017)
Boston University School of Law - Boston, MA (2007-2008) - LL.M. in Intellectual, with a scholarship from BU
UNICAMP and UNESP Santiago Dantas Joint Program - Sao Paulo, Brazil (2005-2006) International Relations and Economic Negotiations Joint Masters
Instituto de Empresa - Madrid, Spain (2003-2004) - MBA for E-Business
Awarded Scholarship and Year Salary by Telefonica Group and Fundación Carolina, Spain.
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUCSP) – Sao Paulo, Brazil (2000-2004)
International Relations Bachelor (incomplete – 3 of 4 years) Honors: Cambridge Leadership Training Award
University of São Paulo School of Law - São Paulo, Brazil (1996-2000)
Bachelor of Laws - 5 year-program (JD equivalent)