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Lucy Bernholz, Ph.D.

Lucy Bernholz is a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS) and Director of the Digital Civil Society Lab. She has been a Visiting Scholar at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and a Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center, the Hybrid Reality Institute, and the New America Foundation.

Lucy is the author of numerous articles and books, including the annual Blueprint Series on Philanthropy and the Social Economy, the 2010 publication Disrupting Philanthropy, and her 2004 book Creating Philanthropic Capital Markets: The Deliberate Evolution. She is a co-editor of Philanthropy in Democratic Societies (2016, Chicago University Press) and of the forthcoming volume Digital Technology and Democratic Theory. She writes extensively on philanthropy, technology, and policy on her award winning blog, philanthropy2173.com.

Lucy studied history and has a B.A. from Yale University, where she played field hockey and captained the lacrosse team, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Posts by Lucy Bernholz, Ph.D.

Algorithmic Bias: Better Policy and Practice for Civil Society

In this 2018 virtual roundtable, experts in tech and data ethics explore how civil society organizations can work toward better policy for predictive technologies.

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The Internet of Things: Risks and Rewards of a Connected Future

Podcast and Transcript: Nonprofit tech experts discuss how the Internet of Things has sparked a new era of social impact.

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Digital Infrastructure for Civil Society: A Look Ahead

The concept of “digital civil society” has taken hold as a framework for practitioners and leaders alike. But how much of the current moment does the term convey?

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Digital Identity — A Missing Piece for Civil Society?

“What if the people involved in building blockchains or developing AI or setting standards for the Internet of Things were as diverse and worldwide as the people whose lives are affected by these things?”

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Two Reasons Why the GDPR Matters Everywhere

Digital Impact’s Lucy Bernholz sees the EU’s data protection regulation as a framework that may just align with your mission. A silver lining?

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Data Privacy and Security: From Mandate to Mission

Lucy Bernholz moderates a discussion on how social sector organizations can utilize data while integrating responsible data governance into their culture.

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Good Data Collaborative: Defining Responsible Data for Nonprofits

Podcast and Transcript: Experts discuss responsible data, power, and the role of data and ethics in the tech for good space.

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Data Labs: Improving Access to Government Data

Data practitioners discuss an emerging data-sharing model that helps dissolve barriers to collaboration while safeguarding sensitive data.

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From Policy To Technology: Takeaways from Predict-a-palooza 2018

With the tax changes in the U.S. and the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU, policy is expected to play a big role in changing the philanthropy landscape in 2018. Income inequality will be another key factor, shaping philanthropic fortunes on one end of the spectrum and fueling political unrest from the other end. […]

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Robot Nonprofits and Algorithmic Philanthropy

This post is part of a series of excerpts from Philanthropy and Digital Civil Society: Blueprint 2018, the ninth annual industry forecast from Lucy Bernholz. Read the entire Blueprint series and join the conversation on social media with #blueprint2018. Big data, open websites, and algorithms make certain kinds of research much easier. Scanning job postings as a […]

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