Berkman Klein Center Enters New Era with Two New Appointments to its Senior Leadership Team

The Berkman Klein Center is thrilled to announce two leadership appointments that will propel the Center forward as it continues to tackle today’s most urgent questions around AI, online platforms and their impact on society, and advancing digital technology in the public interest.

Alex Pascal is joining us as our new Executive Director. A seasoned and passionate public servant and policymaker, Pascal brings a wealth of experience in technology governance, domestic policy, and national security to the Center. Pascal will begin his tenure at BKC in late July.

Pascal joins BKC from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he is a Senior Fellow focusing on policy for artificial intelligence. Previously, he served for over a decade as a national security and domestic policymaker in the U.S. federal government. As Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 2021 to 2023, Pascal helped lead U.S. policy initiatives on artificial intelligence and social media platform accountability. During the Obama Administration, Pascal served on the National Security Council staff in various roles and as Senior Policy Adviser to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He taught at Tufts University’s Fletcher School and NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, and was a Nonresident Scholar in the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"Alex brings policy depth, strategic vision, and a collaborative spirit to the Berkman Klein Center. His experience working with people to navigate complex global digital issues will help us chart new directions for the Center’s work. We’re thrilled to welcome him into our community,” says Jonathan Zittrain, Faculty Director at the Berkman Klein Center.

Pascal’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for the Berkman Klein Center, as it continues to explore and address the societal impacts and implications of artificial intelligence.

"I’ve long valued the Berkman Klein Center’s interdisciplinary work to understand and improve the digital world and its impact on society. I am thrilled and honored to join BKC’s incredible team and dynamic community to build on the Center’s impressive legacy of public-interested research and action, especially at this pivotal moment as artificial intelligence is changing our lives and world in profound ways,” says Pascal.

Pascal holds an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. from Stanford University. 

BKC is also pleased to announce that Meg Marco has been appointed Senior Director of its Applied Social Media Lab (ASML). Marco brings a unique blend of editorial leadership, product strategy, and public interest technology to the role. She has held senior positions at WIRED, The Wall Street Journal and ProPublica where she helped shape some of the most impactful digital journalism of the past decade. At ProPublica, her team’s work earned the 2021 National Magazine Award for Social Media, and she co-edited the newsroom’s COVID-19 coverage, which was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Gold Medal for public service.

At ASML, Marco will lead efforts to build and scale public interest technologies that support civil discourse, safety, and democratic participation. Her background in investigative journalism and digital product development positions her to guide the Lab’s work at the intersection of media, technology, and civic trust.

"Meg’s experience navigating the evolving media landscape and her commitment to public-interest values make her an ideal leader for ASML at this moment of growth and experimentation,” says Zittrain.

Before joining BKC, Marco served as editor and head of product at Consumerist, a Gawker Media publication acquired by Consumer Reports, where she oversaw deeply reported coverage on consumer privacy, telecom policy, and product safety. Her work has consistently focused on making complex systems more transparent and accountable.

“The Berkman Klein Center has long been a unique environment for research and experimentation, and I'm thrilled to be a part of a team of technologists, engineers and academics who are focused on building a better Internet. There isn't a better place or time to be engaged in this vitally important work,” says Marco.

These appointments reflect a shared vision for the Berkman Klein Center: one that connects interdisciplinary inquiry with actionable solutions, and brings together scholars, technologists, and practitioners to address the most pressing challenges in the digital world. With Pascal and Marco stepping into their respective roles, the Center is poised to deepen its impact through research, tool-building, and informing public discourse and policy.