14 Facts About Eileen Donahoe

Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe is an American diplomat and human rights activist who recently served as US Special Envoy and Coordinator for Digital Freedom at the Department of State.

Eileen Donahoe was the first ambassador following the referent UN body changing from the predecessor United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Eileen Donahoe then founded and served as Executive Director of the Global Digital Policy Incubator at the Freeman Spogli Institute's Cyber Policy Center working at the intersection of governance, technology and human rights.

Eileen Donahoe was an affiliate of Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, a center of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

In 2023, Eileen Donahoe took a leave of absence from her position at Stanford University to serve as the inaugural Special Envoy and Coordinator for Digital Freedom, in the newly established Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy in the US Department of State.

Eileen Donahoe currently serves as Vice Chair of the National Endowment for Democracy Board of Directors and on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Eileen Donahoe holds a bachelor's degree in American Studies from Dartmouth College, and she received her JD and master's degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford.

Eileen Donahoe earned a master's degree in Theological Studies from Harvard University, and a PhD in Ethics and Social Theory from the Graduate Theological Union, an affiliate of University of California, Berkeley.

On 9 November 2009, the Obama administration nominated Eileen Donahoe to be the first US ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Ahead of the US presidential and congressional midterm elections in 2017 and 2018, Eileen Donahoe held the role of Executive Director of the Global Digital Policy Incubator at Stanford University, where she engaged in several conversations, panels, podcasts, and papers advocating for freedom, security, and democratic accountability in the digital world.

Again, in 2020, with a new US election looming, Eileen Donahoe made the case for internet platforms to exercise the protection of democracy and for private sector platforms to exercise their rights to combat political disinformation through leaning toward a stronger governance and articulation of their digital powers.

Eileen Donahoe presented her comments that the US should have a seat at the table with human rights diplomacy, especially at a time when the aspirations and values of human rights commitments are being challenged in 21st century digital society and are in danger of succumbing to digital authoritarianism, highlighting the emerging of China's archetype of digital authoritarianism as a momentous event in history during a time of China's growing influence and increasing push for power.

On 29 November 2022, Eileen Donahoe hosted the Tech4Democracy Silicon Valley Venture Day and encouraged a new way of thinking with regards to reinforcing democracy through concentrating on advancing and applying the newly emerging opportunities of technology that can boost democracy.

Eileen Donahoe is married to John Donahoe who has been the CEO of tech companies like eBay, PayPal, ServiceNow, and Nike.