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Jennifer Hansen is the Director of Open Data Policy & Strategy at Microsoft, where she leads efforts to advance open data initiatives and build strategic partnerships across sectors to enable innovation and address global challenges. Her work sits at the intersection of data policy, open science, and equity, focused on ensuring that data and knowledge are accessible, usable, and impactful for the public good.

Jennifer is a recognized leader in the global open data and open research movements. She has written in Data & Policy on the role of corporate data in advancing solutions to complex societal challenges and was appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to co‑lead the U.S. Research Data Summit. Through her work, she has helped shape conversations on responsible data sharing across industry, academia, and government.

Before joining Microsoft, Jennifer served as Senior Officer for Knowledge and Research at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she co‑developed the Foundation’s landmark Open Access Policy, which was hailed by Nature as the world’s strongest. The policy was widely recognized for setting a new global standard for equitable access to publicly funded research and for helping accelerate change across scholarly publishing.

Jennifer is a frequent speaker and advocate on open knowledge and equity. She was named a SPARC Innovator and delivered a TEDxSeattle talk, “Setting Scientific Research Free,” championing the belief that access to information is foundational to fairness, innovation, and societal progress. Throughout her career, she has worked to close gaps in access to knowledge and to inspire institutions to build systems that serve the public interest.

She holds degrees in history, journalism, and library science from Indiana University, where she also taught as an adjunct faculty member.