Mara Balestrini is a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researcher and CEO of Ideas for Change, an innovation agency advising cities, businesses and institutions. She has authored over 25 publications and coordinated projects such as Making Sense EU, Bristol Approach and #DataFutures. Mara earned a PhD in Computer Science from the Intel Collaborative Research Institute on Sustainable Connected Cities (ICRI-Cities) at University College London (UCL). Her work has been awarded by several publications and featured in international media such as the BBC, The Financial Times and El País.