Shadrock Roberts, Program Management for Humanitarian Data Protection & Technology
SUMMARY
Driven Program Director with 10+ years of experience launching and managing technical programs for humanitarian data collection, software development, data governance, and data protection, often in complex environments.
EXPERIENCE
Mercy Corps - Director, Global Data Protection, Privacy, & Ethical AI 2022-12-01 — Present
https://www.mercycorps.org
  • Expanded and managed comprehensive data protection and privacy program for global humanitarian organization operating in complex emergencies and 40+ countries.
  • Scaled global data subject requests (DSAR / DSR), privacy impact assessments (DPIA / PIA), record of processing activities (ROPA), cybersecurity training, and compliance using OneTrust, Proofpoint, and Microsoft M365 Purview.
  • Managed data breach investigation and incident response and developed standard operating procedures during rapid office shutdowns in South Sudan and Gaza.
  • Lead restructuring of team strategy and business model to grow team and increase funding by 40%.
  • Founded office of Ethical AI launching the first use of generative artificial intelligence to reduce risk and improve document intelligence using M365 Azure OpenAI. Developed guidance, policies, and training for safe and ethical use of AI in humanitarian operations.
Mercy Corps - Deputy Director, Global Data Protection & Privacy 2021-04-12 — 2022-11-30
https://www.mercycorps.org
  • Expanding data protection and privacy operations by creating and delivering products, services, and policies for humanitarian response in over 30 countries and complex environments.
  • Establishing policy and operating procedures; conducting privacy reviews and risk assessments; and providing incident response support for data breaches.
  • Created business intelligence pipeline, KPIs, analysis, and visualization. Managed creation of team dashboard and lead automation of business functions to increase efficiency by 10%.
  • Developed “Data Protection and Privacy Guides” to translate guidance into operational procedures for Mercy Corps’ staff, partners, and peer agencies.
Clark University - Assistant Professor of GIScience 2019-08-25 — 2021-05-28
https://www.clarku.edu/schools/idce/
  • Created and delivered graduate courses on data management, analysis, and visualization for humanitarian operations.
  • Created scalable online courses, under open license, to support continuity plans for COVID-19.
  • Founded internship program with the United Nations Satellite Centre.
Ushahidi - Director of Resilience & Research Programs 2014-03-01 — 2019-07-01
https://www.ushahidi.com/
  • Directed program design and implementation of $1,630,000 in grant-funded programs to deliver new features in open-source software for humanitarian data collection and analysis.
  • Managed globally distributed program staff and partnered with engineering teams throughout the product development lifecycle to drive technical roadmap and deliver integrations with machine learning and natural language processing services; data collection via chatbot; and data pipeline to the UN Humanitarian Data Exchange.
  • Lead user-research teams in complex environments to identify data protection and privacy issues across platforms and translate needs into feature requests and operational procedures.
  • Developed work plans; supervised field operations; and managed delivery, monitoring, and evaluation with communities in Rwanda, Kenya, Nepal, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
U.S. Agency for International Development - Principal Geographic Information Systems Analyst 2011-04-01 — 2014-02-01
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8ead65bfa9df49edb0ad3690229191a7
  • Led expansion of USAID’s geospatial capacity by co-founding the GeoCenter: lead business strategy and creation of programs, products, and training across departments in the Agency.
  • Established policies and operating procedures to mitigate risk to online volunteers and ensure data integrity and protection for crowdsourcing projects. Lead cross organizational teams to develop crowdsourcing software and workflows.
  • Founded USAID’s Remote Sensing Program: defined requirements and developed data pipeline to deliver satellite imagery valued at $1.5 million to internal and external partners.
  • Created and led global trainings to support field staff regarding safety and security of data providers, structuring partner data, and data collection for monitoring, evaluation, and reporting in Iraq, Haiti, Kenya, Thailand, Nepal, Congo, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Center for Geospatial Research at the University of Georgia - Research Project Manager 2010-01-15 — 2011-04-15
https://geography.uga.edu/research/lab/center-geospatial-research
  • Planned and implemented field data collection and managed staff for U.S. Geological Survey grant ($500,000) to capture remote sensing data for Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Research Fellow 2008-07-01 — 2009-07-01
https://orise.orau.gov/cdc
  • Developed remote sensing algorithms for semi-automated extraction of cultural features in refugee camps to estimate population in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya.
PUBLICATIONS
Designing Chatbots for Crises: A Case Study Contrasting Potential and Reality, Proceedings of the 32nd Human Computer Interaction Conference 2018
http://oro.open.ac.uk/55325/
Understanding Crowdsourcing and Volunteer Engagement: Case Studies for Hurricanes, Data Processing, and Floods, Wiley 2017
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119217930.ch9
Crowdsourcing to Geocode Development Credit Authority Data: A Case Study, USAID 2013
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2151/USAIDCrowdsourcingCaseStudy.pdf
Guidance for Collaborating with Formal Humanitarian Organizations, DHN/OCHA 2012
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/guidance-collaborating-formal-humanitarian-organizations
VOLUNTEERING
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team - Voting Member 2018-03-27 — Present
https://www.hotosm.org
  • Assist with the election of directors, board members, and other decisions of importance to the OpenStreetMap community and HOT. Serve on steering committees for projects.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Innovation Fellow Mentor 2014-02-01 — 2015-02-01
https://www.unhcr.org/innovation
  • Provided GIS and software development consultation to UNHCR Innovation fellows.
EDUCATION
The University of Georgia
PhD - Geography
The University of Poitiers
Masters of Science - Geography
Colorado State University
Bachelor of Arts - French Language and Literature
SKILLS
Project Management (High): Kanban, Scrum, Agile
Data Protection (Certified): CIPP-US, CIPP-E, IAPP
GIS (High): ArcGIS Online, Mapbox, OpenStreetMap
Visualization (Intermediate): PowerBI, Tableau, Carto
Coding (Basic): HTML5, CSS, LeafletJS
Mobile Data Collection (High): ODK, Ona, KoBo Toolbox, Ushahidi, OSM Editing Apps
LANGUAGES
English (Native speaker) , French (High speaking, reading, and writing proficiency.)