Prior to this, Ory was Google’s policy and strategy manager for Africa.  She was responsible for managing government relations and driving the implementation of policies that increased Internet access and supported the growth of local online content. Ory was also at the forefront of developing technology innovation as a founding member of Ushahidi. She was the organization’s Executive Director from inception until December 2010. Ory is also the co-founder of Mzalendo, a website that tracks the performance of Kenyan MPs.

In 2010, Ory was named one of the top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine and in 2011 Ory was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and one of Africa’s most Powerful Women by Forbes Magazine. In 2014 she was named Time 100’s most influential people in the world.

She serves on the Board of Directors of several organizations including the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company  Stanbic Holdings Plc and Stanbic Bank Kenya.  She also serves as the Chair of the Stanbic Foundation.  Ory is also an Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) Fellow and an advisor to the Rest of the World, a new global nonprofit publication covering the impact of technology beyond the Western bubble.  In the past, she has  served as a member of the World Bank’s Council of Eminent Persons and as advisory board member to Twiga Foods, Endeavor Kenya and Amnesty International Africa, the Committee to Protect Journalists  amongst several other organisations.

Ory earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh. She was previously a Chayes Fellow at the World Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity.

When she’s not busy trying to keep up with her 3 (growing too fast) daughters, or trying to solve ALL of the problems, Ory loves to figure out what the line-up will be for her now infamous #SundayReads on Twitter every Sunday and to cook up interesting recipes with a glass of wine on hand.