Charles Belle is the founder and Executive Director of Startup Policy Lab, a new nonprofit think tank dedicated to connecting policymakers and the startup community. Examining public policy at the nexus of startups and technology, Charles' research is currently focused on privacy and how to support local government open data initiatives while simultaneously protecting citizen privacy.
Prior to Startup Policy Lab, Charles was the Executive Director of the Institute for Innovation Law at UC Hastings, where he launched the Privacy and Technology Project. Charles also served as the lead researcher for Code for America’s procurement reform project and is a grantee of a Sunlight Foundation OpenGov grant to make municipal procurement laws more understandable, accessible, and transparent.
Charles is an appointed public member of the City & County of San Francisco’s Committee on Information Technology, the entity that sets the policies and direction for San Francisco’s information technology community. He also serves as the global Policy Director for Hackers/Founders, the world’s largest community of hackers and founders. You can find his ramblings on the blog Brainseed.com. Charles has an AB and AM from the University of Chicago and JD from UC Hastings.