Youth and women members of parliament from around the world will discuss how they are harnessing opportunities presented by social media and mobile technologies to strengthen engagement between citizens and their elected representatives. How are women and young politicians using technology to promote deliberation and compromise and more inclusive political leadership, rather than political polarization? What opportunities and challenges does the rapid pace of technological change pose for democratic governance in different countries around the world? The panel discussion is part of an exchange program supported by the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for Development on Leadership in the Digital Economy. The program brings bring together members of parliaments – mostly women and young MPs – from around the world to Washington D.C. and the Bay Area.

Stacy Donohue (Moderator)
Stacy Donohue leads Omidyar Network's Governance & Citizen Engagement initiative in the U.S.. She is a board member for Code for America, Global Integrity and the Sunlight Foundation. Prior to joining Omidyar Network, Stacy spent nine years at Hewlett-Packard in senior roles spanning strategy, corporate development, and merger and acquisition transactions.

Hon. Tinatin Khidasheli (Georgia)
Hon. Khidasheli was elected a member of parliament in the October 2012 general elections. Hon. Tinatin is a member of Georgia’s Republican party, which forms part of the governing Dream Coalition in Georgia. She serves as chair of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Commission and has been active with the Legislative Openness Working Group of the Open Government Partnership. She has 20 years of human right experience working as a leader of the biggest human rights NGO in the region.

Hon. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah (Ghana)
Hon. Bedzrah is the member of parliament for Ho West Constituency in the Volta Region of Ghana, elected in 2008. He serves as chair of the Government Assurances Committee of Parliament, which has been experimenting with new ways of collecting citizen input through WhatsApp and SMS messages. Hon. Bedzrah is also a member of the House Committee and the Select Committee on Water, Resources, Works and Housing. He is a steering committee member of the National Open Government Partnership (NOGP).

Hon. Gordana Comic (Serbia)
Hon. Comic was elected to the National Assembly in 2000 and served as the deputy speaker from 2001 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2014. She was the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2004 to 2007, member and deputy chairperson of the Environmental Protection Committee from 2001 to 2007 and 2012 to 2014 and member of the Serbian Assembly’s European Integration Committee from 2005 to 2014.

Hon. Sabrine Ghoubantini (Tunisia)
Hon. Sabrine Ghoubantini is a member of the Tunisian Assembly of People's Representatives and a chartered accountant. She is a member of the National Founding Board of Nidaa Tounes, a political party founded in June 2012, which defines itself as progressive. She is also a trainer in its Political Academy.