Alexandra Reeve Givens is the CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology, the leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization fighting to protect civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age. She is a prominent advocate for protecting people’s online privacy and access to information, and ensuring emerging technologies advance human rights and democracy.
Alex regularly appears in news outlets such as CNN, CBS News, NPR, The Washington Post and Wired, and has testified in Congress multiple times. Her writing has been featured in outlets ranging from Democracy Journal and Barron’s to Slate and Ms Magazine.
At CDT, Alex leads an international team of lawyers, policy experts, and technologists. CDT advocates to policymakers and the courts, works to improve tech companies’ policies and product designs, and helps the public have a voice in how technology shapes our lives and futures.
Alex previously served in the United States Senate, as the chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee covering innovation and consumer protection. Prior to joining CDT, she was the founding Executive Director of Georgetown University’s Institute for Technology Law & Policy, where she set the Institute’s research agenda, and directed its public convenings, policy work, and strategic development. Alex began her career as a litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City, and taught for nine years as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law and Georgetown Law.
Alex serves on the boards of the Urban Institute, BSR, and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which is named for her late father, Christopher Reeve. She also serves on advisory boards for the Aspen Institute, World Economic Forum, Partnership on AI, KKR, and numerous companies, and is a judge for the Webby Awards.
She holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.