Ian Schuler

As CEO, Ian oversees the technology strategy and development capacity at Development Seed, keeping it pointed at the most interesting problems in development.

Ian has a rich history of building teams and communities at the intersection of technology and human rights. Ian was a founding member of the National Democratic Institute’s ICT team where he led innovations such as SMS-based election monitoring and open election data. Ian went on to build Internet Freedom Programs at the State Department’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

Ian oversaw a growth in the State Department’s Internet freedom portfolio from $20 million to over $100 million. His stewardship of Internet freedom funding helped to grow the community of organizations advancing digital rights.

Ian graduated from Johns Hopkins University, where he “focused” on physics, economics, computer science, and international relations.