Lena is the associate director of digital risk and resilience, US programming at Open Briefing. She has over 15 years of experience working at the intersections of human rights, security and technology with movement spaces, human and environmental rights defenders, and scientists and researchers under threat primarily across Europe and the Americas. Her early roots are in organising, peer support work, crisis management, and LGBTQ+ spaces.

Prior to joining Open Briefing, Lena served as Director of Public Policy for the ACLU of New Mexico. There, she led a team working in coalition for community safety and data privacy in the face of increasing surveillance and attacks from the government, hostile private actors, and corporations. Previously, she worked for a number of years in protective accompaniment with Peace Brigades International and with an international network of activist researchers in frontline spaces.

Raised across the U.S., Lena holds a PhD from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and speaks English and Spanish.