Marek Tuszynski, Executive Director of Tactical Tech, is recognised by Mozilla as one of the 25 leaders worldwide shaping the future of the internet

Berlin. October 4, 2023. We are thrilled to announce that our Executive Director and co-founder, Marek Tuszynski, has been recognised by Mozilla's Rise 25 Awards as one of the artists and visionary leaders actively shaping a more ethical, responsible, and inclusive future for the internet.

After months of searching and almost a thousand submissions from all over the globe, Mozilla announced the 25 people who will be honored at the Rise 25 Awards, which will be held during Mozilla’s Reclaim the Internet five day-long event in Berlin, Germany on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.

Rise 25, hosted in the frame of the celebration of Mozilla’s 25th anniversary, recognizes 25 game changers across five categories: activists using the internet to drive social and political change, builders, engineers and technical people building the infrastructure of the internet, artists creating innovative and thought-provoking digital artwork, creators using storytelling to build community online, and advocates shaping the policies and regulations governing the internet.

The five artists recognised, including Tuszynski, “are being honored for creating innovative and thought-provoking digital artwork, using the internet as their canvas to inspire others and re-think what's possible online”.

Marek Tuszynski, Executive Director and co-founder of Tactical Tech, is an artist, designer and curator working at the intersection of technology and activism. Marek is also a filmmaker,  producer, teacher and provocateur whose creative interventions span media from film and radio to television, books, exhibitions, public spaces and the web. For 30 years, he worked at the intersection of  technology and politics, information and activism, and the consequences of living in a quantified society.

Marek and Stephanie Hankey co-founded Tactical Tech in 2003. Before becoming Executive Director, Marek was organisation's Creative Director. Under his leadership, Tactical Tech co-developed award-winning and thought–provoking experiences, interventions and educational offerings that promote conversations and raise awareness about the ways technology impacts society.

Within Tactical Tech, he co-founded the creative agency Tactical Studios and co-curated the exhibitions Nervous Systems, The Glass Room (Recognised with the Creative Review's award in 2020) and Everything Will Be Fine. He also co-authored the books Visualising Information for Advocacy and Efficiency And Madness. His latest piece, There Is Plastic In The Clouds, looks at how technology defines, determines and shapes the way we perceive our role in the world under crisis and its limitations. It includes examples of how technology can be used as a tool of hope, to fix the fixable, to make escape plans, and to decide what roads society can take to get to a better future than the one we see being predicted.

The recognition of our Executive Director and co-founder comes at a perfect time to continue our celebrations of Tactical Tech’s 20th anniversary. Twenty years ago, Tactical Tech was formed with the goal of enabling communities around the world to face the challenges and changes brought by new digital technologies. This year, we celebrate two decades of innovation and co-creation with our partners, collaborators and funders through which we have reached over 30 million people worldwide.

Those interested in viewing the Rise 25 Awards can do so via a livestream on Mozilla’s YouTube channel on Oct. 13 beginning at 8:30 p.m. CET/2:30 p.m. ET or on the Washington Post’s homepage.