Alexandra Reeve Givens

Alexandra Reeve Givens is a lawyer, technology policy expert, and nonprofit executive who serves as president and chief executive officer of the Center for Democracy & Technology, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization focused on protecting civil rights and liberties in the digital age. Givens is an advocate for online privacy, access to information, and ensuring that emerging technologies advance human rights and democracy. She has stated that she realized early in her career that "the fight for civil rights in the 21st century is a technology fight."

Givens holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. She began her career as a litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City and taught for nine years as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School and Georgetown Law. Her work in technology policy was shaped by a pivotal role on Capitol Hill, where she spent more than five years on the Senate Judiciary Committee and became chief counsel covering technology, with a focus on consumer protection, innovation, and protecting people's rights. She developed legislative and oversight strategy on issues including patent reform, federal trade secrets legislation, net neutrality, First Amendment issues related to online speech, and oversight of mergers and antitrust policy.

Prior to joining the Center for Democracy & Technology, Givens was the founding executive director of Georgetown University's Institute for Technology Law & Policy, where she set the institute's research agenda and directed its public convenings, policy work, and strategic development. While at Georgetown, she also taught the foundation seminars for Georgetown Law's Tech Law Scholars Program and was a founding leader of the university's Initiative on Tech & Society. These roles established Givens as an institution-builder at the intersection of law, technology, and public policy before she assumed leadership at the Center for Democracy & Technology.

Under her leadership, the Center for Democracy & Technology has expanded its global reach and deepened its work on issues such as artificial intelligence governance, internet freedom, surveillance reform, and algorithmic accountability. Givens regularly appears in news outlets such as CNN, CBS News, NPR, The Washington Post, and Wired, and has testified in Congress multiple times. In a televised interview with Bloomberg UK, she discussed the global landscape for artificial intelligence regulation, further establishing her as a key voice in international technology policy debates. Her writing has been featured in outlets including Democracy Journal, Barron's, Slate, and Ms. Magazine.

Givens serves on advisory boards for the Aspen Institute, World Economic Forum, Partnership on AI, KKR, and various technology companies. She is a judge for the Webby Awards and is recognized as a privacy and technology expert by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Givens also serves on the boards of the Urban Institute, BSR (Business for Social Responsibility), and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which is named for her late father, Christopher Reeve.