Jeremy Ely McKey

I am an independent researcher affiliated with Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP). My current work focuses on the political economy of digital public infrastructure, especially payment systems. More broadly, I am interested in how technology can be governed democratically. I write about these issues on Digital Rails, a Substack that I co-author.Previously, I spent five years in philanthropy at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, where I worked primarily on issues related to U.S. democracy. There, I helped build the Trust for Civic Life, an organization that supports local civic infrastructure. In the 2025–26 academic year, I am also a Policy Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation.

Writing

India & The Olympics of AI, Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, March 2026

China, India, and the Contested Politics of Payments, Pekingology, December 2025 (with Mihir Kshirsagar and Felix Chen)

A New Age of Trillionaire Philanthropy is Coming. Democracies Should be Wary, Tech Policy Press, June 2025

AI Hustle: Human Capital, Sovereignty, and the Global South, New America, May 2025

A Seat at the Digital Table: Centering Disability in Digital Public Infrastructure, The Quantum Hub, May 2025

Digital Payments are the Latest Geopolitical Battlefield, World Politics Review, April 2025 (with Jordan Sandman)

Contact

jeremymckey at gmail dot com