Cohort Year 2025-2026

Sohyeon Hwang on the Challenge and Promise of Coordinating Governance Across Online Communities

Sohyeon Hwang, PhD is in her second year as a Siegel Research Fellow. Sohyeon serves as a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) at Princeton University, where she studies community-based systems of governance in technologies, including decentralized social media and gig work. We sat down with Sohyeon to learn more about her recent work on inter-community governance processes, how she involves communities in her research, and strategies for overcoming some of the frictions that emerge from coordinating across decentralized social media communities.

Alexandra Mateescu on Workers’ Experience of Technology, Worker Power, and Finding Hope in Challenging Times

Alexandra Mateescuis in her second year as a Siegel Research Fellow at Data & Society, where she has worked for the last decade. In this Q&A, Alexandra shares her research about the gendered experience of the gig economy; how AI is an extension of existing tools of surveillance and control of workers; and how workers themselves are building power and challenging existing narratives about the promise and peril of technology. We also discuss Alexandra’s new co-authored paperon the underlying dynamics of power, control, and ideology that are shaping AI adoption in the workplace.

Meet Our 2025-2026 Siegel Research Fellows

Siegel Family Endowment is proud to announce the 2025–2026 cohort of Siegel Research Fellows. This cohort brings together a group of scholars and practitioners working at the intersections of technology, labor, and governance. Spanning economics, computer science, law, ethnography, public policy, and public interest technology, the fellows are united by a shared focus on power, participation, and accountability in technological systems.

Tiauna Webb

Tiauna Webb is a faith-rooted public interest technologist and social impact strategist committed to advancing digital equity, cultural memory, and justice within Black communities across the Diaspora. As Co-Director of Public Interest Technology at the #BlackTechFutures Research Institute, she supports…

Sabrina Shih

Sabrina Shih serves as an AI Governance Fellow at the AI Governance Lab at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), where she works to develop and promote adoption of robust, technically-informed solutions for the effective regulation and governance of…

Alex Bolton

Alex is the Executive Director of the Tech Policy Lab, a unique interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Washington founded by faculty from the School of Law, the Information School, and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science &…

Melina Much

Melina Much is a postdoctoral fellow for NYU’s Center for the Study of Social Media and Politics. She attained her PhD from the University of California, Irvine in 2024 along with a Masters in Math and Behavioral Sciences. For CSMaP,…

B Cavello

B Cavello is a technology and facilitation expert who is passionate about creating social change by empowering everyone to participate in technological and social governance. They serve as director of emerging technologies for Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute. B…

Aurelia Glass

Aurelia Glass is a policy analyst for the Inclusive Economy team at American Progress with a focus on the American Worker Project. Glass formerly worked as a mechanical engineer and pursued a master’s in international economics and finance at the…