Internet Changemakers

In the seventh episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Claire van Zwieten and Noha Ashraf AbdelBaky sit down with Alejandra Stolk to unpack one of the most tangible questions people have about the Internet: why is my connection so expensive—and is it worth the cost? Alejandra, an alumna of both the ISOC Mid-Career and Community Fellowships, is president of the Internet Society’s Venezuela Chapter and network connectivity m...

In the sixth episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Claire van Zwieten and Yug Desai sit down with Craig Newmark, the quietly influential founder of craigslist, a global classified advertisements website, and a major advocate for cybersecurity, journalism, and digital resilience. Known for his values-driven approach, Craig shares the story behind one of the Internet’s most enduring classified platforms, revealing how his ...

In the fifth episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Noha Ashraf AbdelBaky and Claire van Zwieten sit down with Kim Ochs, PhD., an educator and researcher specializing in lifelong learning and education technology, and Isaac Carrasco Ortiz, a sociologist and digital literacy advocate, to explore how the Internet connects—and often divides—different generations. This episode, The Digital Age Divide, underscores that the nte...

In the fourth episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Claire van Zwieten and Yug Desai explore the science and strategy behind Internet measurement—how we track outages, latency, and even hidden surveillance across the global Internet ecosystem. Joined by leading researchers Dr. Alexander Gamero-Garrido (Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Davis) and Anand Raje (Co-Founder and CTO, Indi...

In the third episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Claire van Zwieten and Noha Ashraf AbdelBaky explore the human stories and technical realities of Internet connectivity with guests Cedrick Mbeyet and Lito Ibarra, often called the “father of the Internet in El Salvador.” Together, they unpack what it really means to be connected—not just as a technological achievement, but as a social and cultural milestone. The discuss...

In the second episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Yug Desai and Claire van Zwieten are joined by Alan Ramírez García and Everton Teles Rodrigues, prominent representatives of the Latin American Internet community and alumni of the Internet Society Mid-career Fellowship (2023). Alan and Everton share their earliest memories of discovering the Internet in the 1990s, reflecting on how their initial curiosity and the pursu...

In the first episode of Internet Changemakers, hosts Noha Ashraf AbdelBaky and Claire van Zwieten welcome Dr. Vinton Cerf, often referred to as one of the fathers of the Internet, to discuss his groundbreaking contributions to the creation of the TCP/IP protocol and the early days of Internet development. Dr. Cerf shares his favorite uses of the internet, recalling the first email he sent and the origins of networked email...

Welcome to Internet Changemakers, a podcast by the Internet Society Alumni Network.

From the days of dial-up to the rise of AI, the Internet has transformed how we live, work, and connect — but who’s driving that change? And what challenges lie ahead?

Meet your hosts: Claire van Zwieten, Alumni Specialist at the Internet Society; Yug Desai, a PhD candidate, and Internet Society alumnus; and Noha Ashraf Abdel Baky, an IT prof...