PROFESSIONAL STAFF
Communications and Membership Coordinator: Emerson Victoria Johnston
Emerson Victoria Johnston is a technology policy researcher at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. There, her work focuses on the innovation and talent ecosystems that underpin emerging technologies, and how technology companies and governments alike can better understand the people behind the technologies they’re creating and regulating. More broadly, she’s interested in the sociotechnical imaginaries people cast onto their devices: the stories we tell ourselves about what these machines are, what they mean, and how they can and should be incorporated into our lives. She’s particularly interested in how these projections vary across cultures, communities, and contexts.
Emerson received her B.S. (summa cum laude) in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics and in History from Northeastern University, and her M.A. in International Cyber Policy and Security from Stanford University, where she was also a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. She is currently on leave from Stanford’s M.A. program in the History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine, where her thesis examines the regulatory evolution of the early internet and social media.
Contact: ac [at] aoir [dot] org
Conference Coordinator: Ann McLean
Ann McLean is a Brisbane-based management practitioner with a transformative leadership career across education, not-for-profit, and government sectors. Ann’s expertise in stakeholder management and mission-aligned engagement developed through her executive and program leadership, communications, business development, and major event management roles. Holding a Master of Arts in Creative Industries Management (QUT) and science degrees, Ann is recognised for balancing strategic oversight with large-scale project execution, and for bringing complex programs and campaigns to life to achieve lasting change.
Ann’s work spanning strategy through to delivery includes executive and program leadership roles with Brisbane Writers Festival, Brisbane Open House, Ausdance, Topology, and BlakDance, contributing enduring value to Australia’s cultural and innovation landscape. Campaign leadership includes communications for the QUT Chancellery, corporate communications for QUT Science, and a landmark statewide engagement initiative across local government for the State Library of Queensland. Committed to community, literacy, and democratic participation, Ann currently project manages strategy development and advocacy initiatives for the State Library of Queensland.
Contact: confcoordinator [at] aoir [dot] org
