Russell Deffner
Voting MemberBoardSecretary
Bio
Hello, I am Russell Deffner.
I was introduced to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) at State of the Map 2011 and began contributing the following year. Since then, I’ve served in roles ranging from field coordinator to project manager and board leader. Early on, I helped establish HOT’s Code of Conduct, chaired the Voting Membership, and coordinated projects such as Mapping Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
My work has often centered on disaster mapping and capacity building. I contributed to developing HOT’s activation procedures, managed the Eliminate Malaria Mapping Campaign across seven countries, and later oversaw the Facebook AI-Assisted Road Mapping project. From 2020 to 2023, I focused on strengthening local disaster response, helping expand HOT’s reach through regional hubs and empowering communities to lead their own crisis mapping.
OSM has also shaped my personal journey. At State of the Map 2018 in Milan, I met my future wife, and together we’ve since built a family while continuing to be part of the global open mapping movement.
In 2024, I joined HOT’s Board of Directors and now serve as Secretary, supporting governance, bylaws, and policy development. Having been part of HOT’s growth for over a decade, I’m committed to ensuring the organization continues to thrive and its community remains empowered to respond to global challenges.
Posts
Validators: Experienced Mappers Making an Outsized Contribution
Validators serve an essential role in ensuring data quality and providing feedback to new mappers. Learn how validation works and how you can become a validator.
Building a Global Network to Map for COVID-19 Response
With support from the Humanitarian-to-Humanitarian Network, HOT has engaged the global humanitarian mapping community to support local Covid-19 responses in the biggest disaster activation in HOT's history.
1 Year & 1 Hundred-Thousand Kilometers with HOT & Facebook
Partnering with Facebook, the HOT Indonesia team has added about 125,000 kilometers (80,000 miles) of road to Indonesia so far.
Local Indonesia OSM Chapter teams up with HOT and Facebook to improve road coverage in Indonesia.
HOT has been mapping Indonesia for disaster preparedness and resiliency since 2011. However, there is still a lot of road network missing outside the major cities. Learn how the local community is working with Facebook to fill in the gaps using artificial intelligence tools.
OSM Puerto Rico Emerges Stronger and Ready to Help Rebuild!
As Hurricane Maria‘s winds and rain battered our home in San Juan, Puerto Rico, among the many thoughts that bounced in my head in those long hours was wondering about the people living in the mountainous regions of the island. The winding roads, heavy foliage, cliffs, bridges and terrain susceptible to landslides could make it the worst place to be in during such a powerful storm. Many small communities on those mountains would become isolated for weeks.
World Health Day 2017: show your support by mapping for malaria
Malaria is a disease that affects millions of people around the world, particularly children under 5 and women. Malaria is prevalent in some of the most unmapped places. Malaria is a preventable and curable disease, but currently organisations do not have detailed data on the number of vulnerable people in an area, which reduces their ability to respond. Malaria spreads through mosquito bites, and if you can prevent bites, you can reduce the spread of infection. This means that you need to know where those vulnerable to malaria live, so you can spray their homes with insecticide or distribute bednets. This way you can save more lives, more quickly.
Mapping Ulaanbaatar with Asia Foundation
Recently we had a very pleasant surprise to be contacted by Nicholas Doiron, who Project Coordinator, Severin Menard, knew from previous work including in Haiti. Nick, now working with Asia Foundation alongside Michelle Chang, knew about the HOT Mapping Ulaanbaatar project and reached out for advice as the Asia Foundation planned an OpenStreetMap Mapathon competition.
Mongolia - Mapping Ulaanbaatar Update - Welcome Interns!
It is our pleasure to welcome a group of student interns from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) to the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) as stewards for the Mapping Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia project we began in 2013. The project is a collaboration between HOT, the World Bank, nonprofit research group ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development) and the city of Ulaanbaatar to create and maintain a map of the city within OpenStreetMap (OSM).
