Our story

Knowledge Futures is an independent nonprofit organization powered by academic, industry, and advocacy groups. Together we build and support products and protocols to make knowledge open and accessible to all.

Founded in 2018 as a partnership between the MIT Press and the MIT Media Lab, Knowledge Futures was created to build sustainable tools and technologies for libraries, presses, museums, activist organizations, researchers, and others whose knowledge work seeks to serve collective understanding and the public. What began as a handful of grad students working on publishing tools grew to an organization focused on addressing the systemic challenges faced by public-oriented groups beholden to infrastructure that is designed with misaligned incentives and unjust power dynamics.

In September 2019 we formally organized as an independent 501c3 nonprofit. Today, we are committed to building a full-stack of technology protocols and products that demonstrate an effective, equitable, and sustainable knowledge economy is possible. We work with partners to design for interoperability and to catalyze a distributed ecosystem of development.

MIT Press
MacArthur Foundation
Reid Hoffman
Sloan Foundation
Siegel Family Foundation
Protocol Labs
Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Annual Reports

How we work

Knowledge Futures is guided by a set of values that drive and focus the work we do. From hiring, to product development, to day-to-day interpersonal relationships, these values serve as the ground truth for how we work.

Accessibility: We believe that just because knowledge is available doesn’t mean it’s truly accessible. We put ourselves in others’ positions to understand the barriers that prevent knowledge from being truly accessible to diverse groups around the world.

Conscientiousness: We value honesty and good-faith efforts to fulfill our duties and obligations as highly as success in its own right.

Curiosity: We approach challenges with an honest, experimental, problem-solving mindset. We bring an intellectual curiosity that explores problem spaces with openness and intrigue in ways that lead to important new ideas.

Egalitarianism: We acknowledges that all people deserve equality and fairness regardless of the individual circumstances of their life. We recognize that teams, especially distributed ones, are made of people who bring different perspectives, opportunities, and cultures that add to the strength of the team.

Systemic outlook: We prioritize solutions that tackle problems in systemic ways rather than iterating solely at the margins. We think systematically when we approach problems, rather than solely thinking locally.

Sustainability: We value solutions that are sustainable and durable for the long-term, even if they’re more difficult, over ones that are more expedient but less sustainable.

Statement of Independence

Knowledge Futures, Inc is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. We are committed to the independence and autonomy of Knowledge Future’s products and communities. We do not accept funding that would affect our ability to pursue work free of external interference, and we protect the independence of our staff, communities, and partners in their intellectual activities and relationships. We build our products in concert with the people who use them, implementing a bottom-up, community-led approach.

Team

Amy Brand
Amy Brand
Board Member Emeritus
MIT Press, Director
Boyana Konforti
Boyana Konforti
Board Member
Catherine Ahearn
Catherine Ahearn
Head of Communities
Chelsea Johnston
Chelsea Johnston
Open Publishing Editor
Danny Hillis
Danny Hillis
Underlayer
Dawit Tegbaru
Dawit Tegbaru
Director of Community Publishing Services
Deepak Jagdish
Deepak Jagdish
Design Lead
Emily Esten
Emily Esten
Project Lead, Docmaps
Eric McDaniel
Eric McDaniel
Senior Software Engineer
eve
eve
Senior Software Engineer
Gabe Stein
Gabe Stein
Head of Operations
Board Member
Greg Eow
Greg Eow
Board Member
Kalil Smith-Nuevelle
Kalil Smith-Nuevelle
Senior Software Engineer
Katherine Fata
Katherine Fata
Community Services Intern
Michael Stebbins
Michael Stebbins
Board Chair
Qwelian Tanner
Qwelian Tanner
Software Engineer
Reem Hassan
Reem Hassan
Operations Manager
Sarah Kearns
Sarah Kearns
Acquisitions Editor
Sarah Kember
Sarah Kember
Goldsmiths Press, Director
Sarah Schwettman
Sarah Schwettman
Contributor
SJ Klein
SJ Klein
Underlayer
Board Member Emeritus
Thomas Renkert
Thomas Renkert
Contributor
Heidelberg University
Travis Rich
Travis Rich
Executive Director
Board Member
Zach Verdin
Zach Verdin
Head of Growth & Innovation