Nerida Brownlee

Nerida Brownlee is FIRE’s chief of staff. Nerida is an experienced operations professional, having spent more than 15 years in management roles across global nonprofit and free expression-based organizations, primarily in the media sector.

Prior to joining FIRE, Nerida was the VP of operations at Meta’s Oversight Board, responsible for finance, IT, risk, security, and facilities. Nerida was also Access Now’s director of finance and human resources for seven years, leading on all financial oversight and people management initiatives across a growing and globally diverse team. Prior to these roles, Nerida spent 10 years at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Sydney. In her role as chief of staff to the managing director, the ABC underwent its digital transformation both from an operational and strategic perspective. 

Nerida has a master’s degree in media studies from The New School with additional focus areas and certificates from NYU in nonprofit accounting and project management. Nerida completed her bachelor of arts degree at the University of Sydney, Australia.