Jacinda Ardern joins Harvard University, to work on online extremism and leadership roles

Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has signed up for three new roles at Harvard University, where she will research and speak about online extremism, governance and leadership.

In an Instagram post, Ardern on Wednesday announced that she was “incredibly humbled" to be joining Harvard University through joint fellowships at the Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, based at Harvard Law School.

The former president's course at the law school will be focused on online extremism and on building governance and leadership skills at the Kennedy School.

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The fellowships will start in the autumn, and Ardern will remain overseas during October when the election will be held in New Zealand.

Ardern said, “While I’ll be gone for a semester (helpfully the one that falls during the NZ general election!) I’ll be coming back at the end of the fellowships. After all, New Zealand is home!”

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The former prime minister had made a visit to Harvard last year where she was given an honorary doctorate of law and had received a standing ovation when she was speaking at the university's commencement on gun control and democracy.

Ardern will continue to work on the Christchurch Call, which is an inter-governmental and tech company pledge that she developed post the Christchurch terror attacks to stop terrorists and extremist content from spreading online.

Ardern's time at Harvard will include “time spent studying ways to improve content standards and platform accountability for extremist content online, and examine artificial intelligence governance and algorithmic harms,” the University stated in a statement. She will also work on the board of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, in which five awards of £1 million ($1.25 million) prizes are given each year to those who do incredible work towards providing solutions to major environmental issues.

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Berkman Klein Centre's co-founder Prof Jonathan Zittrain said it was “rare and precious for a head of state to be able to immerse deeply in a complex and fast-moving digital policy issue both during and after their service,” and that “Ardern’s hard-won expertise – including her ability to bring diverse people and institutions together – will be invaluable as we all search for workable solutions to some of the deepest online problems".

In a statement, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said that Ardern “showed the world strong and empathetic political leadership”. “She earned respect far beyond the shores of her country, and she will bring important insights for our students and will generate vital conversations about the public policy choices facing leaders at all levels," he added.

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