Rebecca Firth

Rebecca is HOT’s Deputy Executive Director, acting as Interim Executive Director starting from January 2023. She joined the HOT staff team in 2016, after volunteering with HOT and Missing Maps since 2014.

Before stepping into the role of Interim Executive Director in 2023, Rebecca served as HOT’s Senior Director of Strategy & Program. In that role, Rebecca managed HOT’s Community, Partnerships, and Communications activities, and oversaw HOT’s global expansion into four Regional Open Mapping Hubs (Asia Pacific, Eastern & Southern Africa, West & Northern Africa, Latin America & Caribbean). She has worked to improve HOT’s capabilities to provide longer-term capacity building for OpenStreetMap communities through training and microgrants, grow OpenStreetMap use amongst NGOs and other partners, and share HOT’s message globally with new volunteers and partners. Rebecca also led HOT’s Audacious Project application in 2020, delivering HOT’s TED Talk.

Rebecca joined HOT from working in digital and innovation consulting at a global management consulting firm. Rebecca holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Geography from the University of Cambridge UK, where she focused on international development. Working with HOT brings her interests in geography, international development and digital together. Rebecca has lived & worked in Borneo, Japan, Colombia, and Peru, focusing on public health, education, disaster reduction, and organizational operations.