Jonathan Donner

CEO

Boston, MA, United States26 yrs 6 mos experience

Highly StableAI Enabled

Key Highlights

Expert in digital inclusion and financial services.
Authored influential publications on digital economies.
Keynote speaker at major international development conferences.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Digital Inclusion and Development Expert with a strong focus on Fintech and ICT4D.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Digital InclusionDigital EconomyDigital Financial ServicesInternational DevelopmentResearch Design

Other Skills

Mixed Methods ResearchICT4DFuture of WorkPlatform LivelihoodsResponsible AIStakeholder Engagementinclusive innovationDigital IdentityPolicy AnalysisStrategyAnalyticsBloggingEntrepreneurshipEthnographyProgram Management

About

I work at the intersection of digital technology, inclusion, and international development—helping funders, tech companies, and development actors make sense of complex digital transitions. As Chief Knowledge Officer at Caribou, I guide research and strategy on digital economies, platform livelihoods, digital identity, and financial inclusion. My work bridges rigorous, field-grounded research with real-world decisions—supporting organizations like the Mastercard Foundation, Gates Foundation, and UN agencies as they navigate evolving digital ecosystems. Over the past two decades, I’ve authored dozens of publications—including After Access (MIT Press, 2015) and The Platform Livelihoods Project (2024)—and collaborated with researchers and institutions around the world. My focus is always the same: surfacing actionable insights about how people actually live, work, and connect in a more digital, mobile, and unequal world. I’m especially interested in how digital systems shape opportunity—and inequality—at scale. Across sectors and contexts, I try to ask better questions, bring clarity to complexity, and contribute to work that’s both analytically sound and practically relevant.

Experience

26 yrs 6 mos

Total Experience

4 yrs 6 mos

Average Tenure

1 yr 4 mos

Current Experience

Caribou

2 roles

Chief Knowledge Officer

Promoted

Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 4 mos

Caribou is a research and advisory firm focused on building inclusive and sustainable digital economies. Trusted by philanthropic foundations, development agencies, and global tech partners, it supports work in digital financial services, identity, livelihoods, responsible AI, and climate and sustainability.
As Chief Knowledge Officer, I guide the firm’s research strategy and its broader engagement with the field—shaping agendas, curating insights, and supporting conversations that bridge evidence and practice. I work closely with philanthropic and development partners to clarify complex digital transitions and identify actionable paths forward.
I frequently represent Caribou in public forums, including as a keynote speaker at USAID’s Digital Development Conference and as a panelist at UN and WTO digital economy events.
I value the close working relationships and professional camaraderie we have established as team-members at Caribou Digital. In this spirit, I work with researchers and professionals from diverse disciplinary and personal backgrounds, building organizational capacity while accelerating others’ careers.

Digital InclusionMixed Methods ResearchICT4DInternational DevelopmentDigital EconomyFuture of Work+8

Senior Director, Research

Nov 2014 – Jan 2025 · 10 yrs 2 mos

As Caribou’s founding Senior Director of Research, I helped shape the company’s intellectual direction—designing research agendas, building partnerships, and delivering insights that informed strategy for foundations, development agencies, and technology firms.
I co-led Caribou’s largest long-term engagement: a six-year learning partnership with the Mastercard Foundation focused on digital financial inclusion. I also supported public-sector partners including USAID, UNCTAD, and DFAT.

Digital InclusionMixed Methods ResearchICT4DInternational DevelopmentDigital EconomyFuture of Work+8

The fletcher school at tufts university

Affiliate / Faculty Fellow

Feb 2022 – Jun 2024 · 2 yrs 4 mos · Medford, Massachusetts, United States

From 2022 to 2023, I was a Visiting Faculty Fellow at the Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs at the Fletcher School of Global Affairs. I designed and taught a master’s-level course on digital development and advised graduate students on research and policy capstone projects.
In 2023–2024, I continued as an affiliate of the Center, supporting student work on themes related to “Development in a Digital Age.”

Digital InclusionICT4DInternational Development

Microsoft

Researcher

Nov 2005 – Oct 2014 · 8 yrs 11 mos

Microsoft Research is the company’s global research division, home to interdisciplinary teams advancing knowledge across computer science, engineering, and the social sciences. I worked in the Technology for Emerging Markets group, focused on how digital technologies can improve daily life in low- and middle-income countries.
Over nine years, I designed and led research on digital inclusion, mobile banking, mHealth, citizen journalism, and digital platforms—work that informed both product and policy thinking at Microsoft and contributed to broader academic and development conversations.
During this period, I authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and three books, including Mobile Communication (Polity, 2009) and After Access (MIT Press, 2015).

Digital InclusionMixed Methods ResearchICT4DInternational DevelopmentDigital Financial ServicesResearch Design

Columbia university

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Earth Institute

Sep 2003 – Sep 2005 · 2 yrs

The Earth Institute at Columbia University brings together researchers across health, engineering, and the social sciences to address global development challenges.
As a postdoctoral fellow, I conducted some of the earliest research on mobile phone use in the Global South—including a 2005 review in The Information Society that has since been cited over 1,200 times. I also led Columbia’s contribution to a multi-institution initiative to support Rwanda’s national HIV/AIDS information system, using mobile technologies in collaboration with Tulane University, Voxiva, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Digital InclusionICT4DInternational DevelopmentResearch Design

Otf group

Senior Consultant

Jan 2000 – Jan 2002 · 2 yrs

OTF Group was a strategy consultancy spun out of Monitor Group, focused on competitiveness and private sector development in emerging markets.
At OTF, I conducted a national e-readiness assessment for the Government of Rwanda, developed participatory research tools for the World Bank, and advised on innovation strategy and stakeholder engagement across multiple country contexts. My work bridged economic development and business strategy, with clients ranging from government ministries to international development organizations.

Digital InclusionICT4DInternational DevelopmentResearch Design

Monitor deloitte (ex monitor group)

Consultant

Jan 1994 – Jan 1996 · 2 yrs

Monitor Group was a global strategy consultancy advising Fortune 100 companies and governments. Now part of Deloitte, the firm was known for its work in competitiveness, innovation, and market strategy.
I contributed to projects in telecommunications, financial services, and health insurance, focusing on customer segmentation, market forecasting, and survey design. I also supported development-sector engagements, including business environment assessments for the U.S. Council on Competitiveness and stakeholder consultations in Venezuela, El Salvador, Israel, and Macedonia.

Research Design