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Meet our Trainees – Anna Charron
Meet Anna Charron, a Digital Transformation Trainee who joined our Fall 2025 semester. Anna graduated in Arts, Culture, and Society and is now working in a trainee team alongside VPRO to broaden access to information. Find out more about her background and journey until now!
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your background?
I come from the U.S., so I did my bachelor’s studies in International Studies and Multilingual with minors in Anthropology and Philosophy. In 2021 I moved to Rotterdam for my master’s at Erasmus University, where I got my degree in Arts, Culture, and Society. As for my interests, I enjoy going to museums, cultural events, festivals, and spending time with my friends.
How did you hear about Digital Society School?
I first heard about DSS through a friend of mine a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t at the point of applying for it yet. And I ultimately heard about it more recently through a mutual connection on LinkedIn. And I checked it out and decided to apply.
What has your career or educational path looked like until now?
First I did my bachelor’s in the U.S., then master’s in the Netherlands. After my master’s, I took an internship at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. The focus of that internship was inclusive, social, and urban planning. I was a Programme Maker intern and did a lot of production work and research for the programmes at Pakhuis. And after that, I moved back to the U.S. for a bit and reoriented my career plan. While I was in the U.S, I took an editorial position for an online publication here in the Netherlands. All that led me to DSS, where I am right now.
How would you describe your first few weeks at DSS?
So far, so good with the first few weeks. It’s been a lot of introductions and getting to know each other. We all come from very different backgrounds, so it’s nice to see what brought people here and also what they’re hoping to get from the programme.
What has your favourite moment been in the programme so far?
My favourite moment would probably be when we were placed into our teams and given our project brief. I felt like that was the moment the programme shifted from the introductory stage into figuring out what the next four or five months are going to look like.
What are you most excited about during your time here?
I’m most excited to see what the team is able to produce for the final showcase. I think working with a team for five months, sectioned off by sprints, it will be very nice at the end to see how it all comes together and look back on how each stage ended up producing the final product or prototype.
What made you want to apply to this program as opposed to another master’s programme or internship?
I thought DSS would be a nice opportunity to gain some more technical skills. I’ve spent a lot of my academic experience in the theory-heavy side of things, which I really like, but I also would like to complement that experience with some technical skills. And the length of DSS works well to cover a lot of things in a short amount of time, which is nice to kind of set myself up for the next opportunity with a set of skills that I was able to gain in a short time.
How has your experience been living in Amsterdam so far?
Living in Amsterdam so far has been really exciting. There’s always a lot on offer, a lot of things to do. And previously living in Rotterdam, which has its own charms, I think Amsterdam also feels quite like a hub of opportunity. Getting to know more people who live here has given me a better understanding of the city and also a bigger appreciation for it.
Which partner organisation is your team working with and what’s the project about?
We’re partnered with VPRO, and the project is about access to information in repressive regimes. So the focus is on strengthening relationships with citizens and citizen journalists from repressive regimes to those beyond, and to create a safe and reliable channel through which they can share their information.
And how was your first sprint working with a partner organisation?
The first sprint has been oriented towards research, so once we received the project brief, we had our own understanding of what VPRO might want, but once we met with them, we were able to fine-tune our research methods. We’ve had the opportunity to interview some Dutch journalists and specifically some experts who have experience working in hazardous environments. We’re looking forward to meeting with them next week and seeing how we can keep improving what we’re doing.
Looking ahead, what’s next for you after the DSS programme?
After DSS, I’m open to working in a number fields, ideally in a role related to digital communities, tech-driven change, and urban and social inclusion.
