Spring 2022 Intern Cohort Newsletter

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Friend,

We’re thrilled to introduce you to S.T.O.P.’s Spring 2022 interns! With so much anti-surveillance work to be done, we’re excited to have expanded our team!

Our incredible cohort were selected from hundreds of applicants from all around the world. Together, we know we’ll do amazing work in the fight to abolish mass surveillance.

S.T.O.P.'s Spring 2022 Interns

Anna Sipek - Research Intern

Anna Sipek is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where she spent her time studying Rhetoric and Computer Science. As an undergraduate, she became increasingly involved with the local community. Anna was on the editorial team of ALT Magazine, a publication dedicated to exploring the intersection of fashion, art, and activism. It was during this time that she found her passion for tech advocacy and channeled that energy into petitioning the Computer Science department, requesting they include ethics as a requirement for all their students. After graduating in the Spring of 2021, Anna moved to Harlem where she now happily resides. Outside of her work for S.T.O.P., Anna can be found tinkering on something at a hackerspace or volunteering with the Policing and Social Justice Project.

Helen Webley-Brown - Research Intern

Helen Webley-Brown is a research intern at S.T.O.P. A senior at Washington University in St. Louis, she is majoring in Political Science and minoring in Anthropology. During college, she has participated in a research lab on the historical, physiognomic roots of facial recognition and served as a Responsible Tech ambassador for All Tech Is Human. After graduating this May, Helen hopes to pursue a PhD in Information Science or Political Science, focusing on identifying and combating how the government’s use of algorithmic systems compounds systemic inequities. She is particularly interested in examining how law enforcement agencies use emerging technologies to surveil and discriminate against marginalized communities. Prior to S.T.O.P., Helen interned with The Bail Project and conducted research on how electronic monitors harmed its clients’ social and financial health.

Jabari Randolph - Advocacy & Communications Intern

Newly graduated with a Bachelor's in Human Development, Jabari Randolph (They/them or she/her) is a 4+1 Masters of Human Rights (MSHR) student at Binghamton University and a Graduate Assistant of the same program. Jabari is a lifelong student, organizer, and artist. They are committed to discursive thought around topics of power, oppression, and institutional vulnerability. As a queer nonbinary transfeminine Black radical living in the United States, her studies are not only formed from studying historical social movements not usually covered by mainstream society, but also by being in community with marginalized people from various walks of life. She has previously worked with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated persons through visitor programs, court watches, story gathering, letter writing campaigns, phone banking, social/mass media campaigns, lobbying, policy analysis, community review boards, protests, mutual aid programs, and participatory action research. Their work aims to further Black liberation, queer liberation, Black radical feminism, gender autonomy, disability justice, abolition, food justice, fat liberation, landback, de-colonization and other anti-oppression movements. Her current master's capstone is focused on institutional precarity, carcerality, new media ethnography, and the intersection of various liberatory ideologies. Their interest in learning more about digital humanities, technology, and human rights was what initially led them to becoming a HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory) fellow and discovering this blended Advocacy & Communications internship at S.T.O.P. They hope to assist S.T.O.P. in ending discriminatory mass surveillance that over criminalizes marginalized communities and bridge the gap between organizations in the city and southern tier NY.

Leo McCordick - Non-Profit Development Intern

Leo McCordick is a recent graduate of Boston College with a B.A. in Political Science and a concentration in Environmental Studies. He currently serves as a Research Assistant for the Boston College Political Science Department investigating Muslim American sociopolitical perspectives. His volunteer experience includes building homes in Appalachia with Habitat for Humanity and working to alleviate poverty and hunger in the Bronx with Part of the Solution (POTS). Leo is excited to work as a Nonprofit Development Intern at S.T.O.P. and participate in S.T.O.P.’s mission to fight discriminatory surveillance.

Sanjana Pothugunta - Non-Profit Development Intern

Sanjana Pothugunta is a junior at Barnard College majoring in Medical Anthropology. She is invested in combatting discriminatory surveillance, especially the harm it imposes on minority bodies. Sanjana is also committed to the destigmatization of mental health and hopes to pursue a future in making mental healthcare and advocacy more accessible through restructuring care to be inclusive of all identities. Outside of STOP, she currently serves as Co-President for the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Columbia University. Sanjana is excited to engage with the meaningful work of STOP as a non-profit development intern.

We can't wait to see what's in store for S.T.O.P. and the amazing work we'll do with our new interns this spring. Please donate to S.T.O.P. today to help make 2022 our biggest year yet in the fight to abolish mass surveillance.

With thanks,
Sam Van Doran
Development Director

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Newslettercommunications staffFebruary 10, 2022