'Asslema

Working in Tunisia and right across Africa and the Middle East, Emna Mizouni is a tireless advocate for internet freedoms, and a human rights defender supporting social movements and activists, advancing free knowledge across the region and globally.

Originally a communications specialist, Emna is the founder of Digital Citizenship, an initiative and consultancy that works on gender issues online and digital literacy among youth. This includes countering online hate speech, as well as equipping women journalists and bloggers with the tools and skills they need to be effective online. She occasionally writes in her blog and for different media in the MENA region. 

Emna is the founding president of Carthagina, a national organisation to promote Tunisia globally by digitising its rich heritage. She is an advocate for open culture and open knowledge, a community leader in the Wikimedia Movement, and an active member and contributor in the Tunisian, Arab and African communities. She was elected as the Co-Chair of the Wikimedia Foundations’ Affiliations Committee for three mandates, through which Emna served the Wikimedia movement globally to build their local and regional communities. She is also part of the World Economic Forum network, the former curator of the Global Shapers in the Tunis Hub working on climate change, to empower the startup scene in Tunisia and the social ecosystem to strengthen the exchange between the Tunis hub and the other African hubs. 

Following her mandate as the Global Shapers Tunis Hub Curator, she joined the Racial and Equity subcommittee to the Global Shapers board. She currently is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council (GFC) on Data Equity following her mandate in the Tech & Human Rights Council.

Emna is a member of the Board of Directors of Access Now, the world leading digital rights organization and a current member of the Wikimedia Foundation's Knowledge Equity Fund. 

She worked previously with the British Council in Tunisia then with Hivos as a Communications Officer in the “Green Works program” which supports grassroots in creating sustainable jobs and boosting the green economy in Tunisia and North Africa.

Emna’s work has been recognised internationally and nationally, including as a grantee of the Shuttleworth Foundation,  Wikimedian of the Year 2019, and a 2020 Yvonne-Hebert Awardee. She is a fellow of the Aspen Ideas Festival of the Aspen Institute and NGO management alumna of the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the U.S. Department of State.

Emna's work covers Tunisia and the rest of the Middle East and Africa where she moved a lot and was able to acquire local knowledge. She's been interviewed by many international media and featured in many documentaries. She has frequently contributed to international conferences and forums across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. She divides her time between Tunis and Washington, DC.

Emna holds a Master in Communications and an undergraduate degree in Management and Business Practices from L'École Supérieure de Commerce de Tunis "ESC" - Université de La Manouba.