Imran Ahmed is the founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate US/UK. He is an authority on social and psychological malignancies on social media, such as identity-based hate, extremism, disinformation, and conspiracy theories.
He regularly appears in the media and in documentaries as an expert on how bad actors use digital spaces to harm others and benefit themselves, as well as how and why bad platforms allow them to do so. He advises politicians around the world on policy and legislation. Imran was inspired to start the Center after seeing the rise of antisemitism on the left in the United Kingdom and the murder of his colleague, Jo Cox MP, by a white supremacist, who had been radicalized, in part, online, during the EU Referendum in 2016. He holds an MA in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. Imran lives in Washington, D.C.
Richard Casper, Co-Founder & Executive Director of CreatiVets, is a Marine Corps Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, artist, entrepreneur, and songwriter.
During his Iraq tour (2006–2007), Richard survived four IED blasts, sustaining a traumatic brain injury and witnessing the loss of a close friend, leading to post-traumatic stress.
Turning to art and songwriting for healing, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where the vision for CreatiVets took shape, a non-profit dedicated to helping wounded veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries heal through art and music.
Named a CNN Hero in 2022 and one of TIME magazine’s Next Generation Leaders in 2017, Richard is featured in TIME’s documentary Evidence of Things Unseen, in which President George W. Bush recognized his life-changing work with veterans. He is also an alumnus of the Bush Institute’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program.
Richard lives in Nashville, TN, with his wife Ashley and their children, Barrett and Quinn.
Hannah Fried is the Co-Founder and CEO of All Voting is Local. Prior to co-founding the organization in 2022, she served as the National Director and Deputy General Counsel for Voter Protection on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
In 2012, Fried was the Voter Protection Director for President Obama’s reelection campaign in Florida. From July 2009 to March 2012, she held the roles of Deputy Director and Deputy Counsel for Voter Protection at the Democratic National Committee. During the 2008 primaries, she worked with the Obama campaign’s voter protection team and later joined the advance staff for the general election in June 2008.
Fried also served in federal government roles at the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2008 and is admitted to practice law in New York.