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About us

Team

Hadi al Khatib

Managing Director

Hadi is the Managing Director of Mnemonic and the founder of the Syrian Archive. Hadi has worked since 2011 to collect, verify, and investigate citizen-generated data as evidence of human rights violations. Hadi previously worked with Tactical Technology Collective to support journalists and human rights groups in securing their data, devices and communications online. Hadi worked as a part-time open source investigator with Human Rights Watch and Bellingcat. He also worked as a consultant with the UN International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism. Hadi is a fellow at Ashoka, and the Centre for Internet and Human Rights. He was selected for the 2021 #TIME100NEXT list, the FastCompany's Most Creative People in Business list for 2021, and as one of Wired UK's 2021 list of changemakers.

Friedhelm Weinberg

Director of Programmes

Friedhelm oversees and supports all programmatic work of Mnemonic, including the Archives, Research, Policy and Advocacy. After beginning his career as a journalist, he spent the last decade working on human rights documentation methodologies, developing open source software tools and co-creating organisational security approaches. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of HURIDOCS, where he steered a diverse and distributed team to grow its programmatic footprint to the largest it has been in the organisation’s 40 year history.

Libby McAvoy

Legal Advisor

Libby is a lawyer based in Berlin and barred in Washington State. At Mnemonic she specializes in digital evidence archives, litigation support, and open source investigations into international crimes and human rights violations. Previously, Libby worked with the Video as Evidence program at WITNESS and the Project on War Crimes and Mass Graves at the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic. She earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School.

Maria Mingo

Policy and Advocacy Manager

Maria has 10 years' experience in international criminal law, specialising in documentation of atrocity crimes through technology. At Mnemonic, she leads its work on content moderation, engaging with social media platforms, NGO coalitions, and other stakeholders on content over-removals and preservation. Previously, Maria worked at eyeWitness to Atrocities, an initiative of the International Bar Association, leading their documentation capacity-strengthening work, collaborating with activists using documentation technology for accountability. She holds an M.Sc. in international relations and diplomacy from Leiden University, and an LL.B. in international law from Dresden University of Technology.

Kelly L.

Project Manager - Rapid Response

Kelly joined the Rapid Response team in 2022 as the project manager. As the team is the entry point of emergency requests on archiving digital content, Kelly has been setting up, developing, and overseeing different projects before they evolve to fully stand-alone programmes, including projects related to Ukraine, Iran, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Palestine. Meanwhile, she also runs training on open source data collection, preservation, and processing. Prior to joining the team, Kelly has been a journalist for more than eight years with various outlets. She holds an M.A. in Human Rights from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg where she studied International Human Rights Law and Politics, and a B.A. in Cultural Studies.

Mahasin D.

Project Manager - Sudanese Archive

Mahasin is Project Manager of the Sudan Archive, where she leads teams engaged in the use of Open Source Investigative (OSINT) techniques to examine cases of human rights violations in Sudan and to combat violence against women and children. Mahasin has engaged in various activities within the public sphere, taking on different roles to shape agendas and promote movements in Sudan. She has a fervent commitment to human rights, particularly gender equality and social justice, and is deeply interested in working with her colleagues to establish a feminist paradigm in Sudan.

Michael Elsanadi

Senior Researcher

Michael is specialized in open source investigations into conflict zones in the Middle East and North Africa. He has previously worked on public and confidential investigations for organizations such as Physicians for Human Rights into human rights violations committed in Syria, Sudan, and Yemen. Alongside conducting investigations, he runs trainings on open source investigative techniques with the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley. Michael studied Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Haneen K.

Research Coordinator - Syrian Archive

Haneen is a Research Coordinator with Mnemonic. With over 8 years of experience in journalism and open source investigation, Haneen has previously worked as a journalist with many outlets, including Enab Baladi. Alongside conducting investigations, she runs trainings on open source investigations. Haneen studied Communicational Engineering at the University of Damascus.

Gregory Waters

Open-Source Investigator

Gregory Waters is an Investigator with Mnemonic. Greg researches security forces, primarily utilizing open source research to assess the capabilities and structure of Army and allied militias. Gregory is a non-resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute and works as a research analyst at the Counter Extremism Project.

Kayla Koontz

Open-Source Investigator

Kayla Koontz is an Investigator with Mnemonic. She graduated from UC Berkeley’s Global Studies MA Program and former researcher at the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center. She received her B.A. in International Relations with a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies from San Francisco State University in 2016. Her work has been published by the Middle East Institute, and Bellingcat.

Mohamad O.

Archival Officer

Mohamad is a researcher with Mnemonic, mainly working on quality control of the archiving process with the Syrian Archive program. He also volunteers with Refugee Voices Tours and finishing a Master's in Humboldt University in political science.

Taha M.

Open-Source Investigator

Taha is an Investigator with Mnemonic at the Syrian Archive. He has a Master degree in Political studies from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris.

Mustafa K.

Open-Source Investigator

Mustafa is an investigator of the Syrian Archive. He is a Syrian researcher, writer and editor based in France collaborating to a number of Arabic newspapers and digital publications. Winner of Samir Kassir award for the best investigative article category.

Eugene Bondarenko

Open-Source Investigator

Eugene joined Ukrainian Archive in October 2023 as Open-Source Investigator. As an Open-Source Investigator, he monitors human rights violations, developments on the ground, possible war crimes, and violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine. In addition to conducting open-source investigations, Eugene supports public-facing workstreams of the program. Prior to joining the Ukrainian Archive, Eugene worked as a Consultant at WITNESS as well as a lecturer in Russian and Ukrainian languages and cultures at the University of Michigan, Slavic Department. Eugene holds a Master’s degree in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Michigan.

James Fee

Open-Source Investigator

James joined the Ukrainian Archive in June of 2023 as an Open-Source Investigator. He graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Global Studies and is currently pursuing a M.A. in International Relations from Saint Mary’s University of Texas. James previously worked as a Threat Intelligence Analyst at Horizon Intelligence, specifically focusing on security threats in Europe. Additionally, James has published multiple research articles on counterinsurgency missions in Africa.

Nadia Volkova

Legal Advisor – Ukrainian Archive

Nadia joined Ukrainian Archive in January 2023 as a Legal Advisor – Ukrainian Archive. Nadia advises the Ukrainian Archive team on investigative matters in the framework of international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law, and accountability efforts. Prior to joining the Ukrainian Archive, Nadia worked at Amnesty International, Council of Europe, Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel. She is the founder of the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group (ULAG), focusing on monitoring and analysing Ukraine's legal landscape, litigating strategic cases, and advocating for legislative and institutional changes. In 2022 Nadia was a recipient of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) Human Rights Award for her outstanding commitment to human rights and the rule of law in Ukraine and internationally. She brings a comprehensive knowledge of international humanitarian law and criminal law in Ukraine. Nadia holds LLM in International Law from Oxford Brookes University and was called to the Bar of England and Wales, and she is a practicing international lawyer in Ukraine.

Baraa T.

Research and Data Coordinator - Yemeni Archive

Baraa is Research and Data Coordinator with Mnemonic’s Yemeni Archive project. She previously worked in the social and humanitarian field. Most recently, she worked on project design, initiation and implementation for the Ayounkoun project, providing eye care for Syrians and Lebanese in need, funded by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Baraa studied political science at the American University in Beirut.

Tareef M.

Tech Lead

Tareef is the Tech Lead at Mnemonic and oversees the technical infrastructure of all archival projects, creating development plans and setting up schedules for tech team to reach its goals. Tareef has worked with Mnemonic since 2017 as a researcher then a web developer before leading the tech team. Tareef worked as a project manager with Hsoub which is a group of Internet businesses that operates the largest two Arabic freelancing platforms. Tareef holds an associate degree in computer science from UoPeople.

Giovanni C.

System Administrator

Giovanni is a System Administrator with Mnemonic where he primarily works on system administration. He is responsible for the installation and maintenance of all the IT systems, including data collection, archival, and storage. Giovanni has a background in political activism, has collaborated with human rights groups and journalists on topics of investigation and online security. He also worked on community infrastructure projects.

Roberta Pasini

Finance & Administration

Roberta is Mnemonic’s Admin & Finance Manager. With more than 15 years of experience as project and programme manager in the field of development and cooperation, Roberta previously worked as project manager for MiCT, country representative of No Peace Without Justice in Gaziantep, Turkey, and local project manager at the Italian Cooperation in Jerusalem. Roberta has a Masters degree in Cultures, Institutions and Languages of the Mediterranean area from Ca’ Foscari University, Venice. Roberta is also part of the SyriaUntold media project.

Carol Stephan

Grant Specialist

Carol is the Grant Specialist at Mnemonic, with over five years of experience in grant and project management roles in the humanitarian and development sectors, focusing on the MENA region. She has previously worked at Terre des hommes multi-country delegation of Jordan and Palestine, Mercy Corps - Iraq, and Democracy Reporting International, where she supported projects in Tunisia and Libya, and has fieldwork experience with UNHCR Jordan. Carol holds a MA in Public Policy from the Central European University in Budapest, as well as a Double Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Middle East Studies from McGill University in Montréal.

Cettina Di Natale

Finance & Administration

Cettina is Finance Officer at Mnemonic and has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 10 years. Before joining Mnemonic, Cettina worked as a project manager at Save the Children International and was country manager for two Italian NGOs "MAIS" and "Ricerca e Cooperazione" in Egypt. Cettina has often worked as an independent consultant for several NGOs, the Italian Cooperation and the European Union Delegation in Egypt. She has experience in managing multi-donor programs in the fields of development, child protection, migration, culture, economic development and agriculture. Cettina holds a Master's degree in Oriental Languages and Civilization from L'Orientale University in Naples.

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Mnemonic is an NGO dedicated to archiving, investigating and memorialising digital information documenting human rights violations and international crimes. Mnemonic also provides trainings, conducts research, engages in content moderation advocacy, and develops tools to support advocacy, justice and accountability.

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