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Founding Members & Cooperators
In alphabetical order by surname:
Open Thinkerer. Tech sherpa. Writer. Open advocate.
Doug Belshaw is a specialist in digital literacies and new forms of accreditation such as Open Badges and Verifiable Credentials. He likes to help people become more productive in their use of technology. He’s a doctor, but not the type that can help you with an emergency tracheotomy!
Doug helps people and organisations become more intentional in their uses of technology. He’s a seasoned keynote speaker and workshop leader, using his conversational and collaborative style to help people understand complex issues.
Convenor & Connector. Co-op radical. Partnership wizard. Zen in the room.
John Bevan connects people for the common good. He’s devised and run open innovation programmes for a host of household names, helping them to break silos both within and between organisations. He describes himself as ‘the human embodiment of a Chinese military shovel’
Strategist & Idea Maker. Creative genius. Tech wizard. Expert facilitator.
Laura Hilliger is a creative champion for communities. Her mind baffles us. She builds, writes, sees big pictures. She thinks she’s funny (she is), dislikes juggling and contributes because she knows that collective action is a powerful tool for a better world.
An expert in open source, Laura won the Women in IT 2020 Digital Leader of the Year award. She also re-routed her longtime collaboration with Greenpeace through WAO to power-up her work bringing open principles to the non-profit.
Along with collaborating with sister co-ops are part of the CoTech and workers.coop networks, we cooperate with a number of individuals on specific projects.
Bryan Mathers, also a founding member and now cooperator, creates pictures to explore and engage others in ideas, concepts and messages. He draws everything from avocados to zany figures. His mind can turn words into pictures that inspire more words.
Listening is Bryan’s superpower. He knows how to tune into what people are saying, and capture and translate it visually. He works with We Are Open Co-op and coined the term “Thinkathon”, one of our most beloved services.
Anne Hilliger is a media educator and learning design aficionado. The projects she is working on are at the intersection of social learning and technology. She likes to rethink how we teach and learn and is eagerly creating new learning paths and educational materials. Anne has a certification in media design and is passionate about feminist research and gender studies.
If she is AFK you can find her either on her gravel bike somewhere in the forest or at her favourite arthouse cinema.
Hannah Belshaw was WAO’s Company Secretary for the first five-and-a-bit years of our existence. She also collaborates with us on various projects after a career change from experienced teacher to UX designer.
Hannah wanted to work in a role that directly contributes to improving people’s lives, so she fits right in with the rest of We Are Open. We really value the educator’s eye she brings to our work!