FOSI 2023 Annual Conference

Michelle Donelan is the Secretary of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) which works to spur stronger growth, create better jobs and unlock bold new discoveries. As the lead department for the five critical technologies of quantum, AI, engineering biology, semiconductors and future telecoms, DSIT is charged with cementing the UK’s status as a science and technology superpower by 2030.

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter was sworn in as a Federal Trade Commissioner on May 2, 2018.

Commissioner Slaughter brings to the Commission extensive experience in competition, privacy, and consumer protection. She builds consensus for a progressive vision, and staunchly advocates for our nation’s consumers and workers. Commissioner Slaughter believes that the FTC’s dual missions of promoting competition and protecting consumers are interconnected and complementary, and she is mindful that enforcement or rulemaking in one arena can have far-reaching implications for the other.

A proponent of greater resources, transparency, and comprehensive use of the FTC’s authorities, Commissioner Slaughter is outspoken about the growing threats to competition and the broad abuse of consumers’ data. Targeted merger retrospectives, corrective enforcement, and expansion of the Commission’s rulemaking authorities are among the approaches that she has championed during her time at the FTC. Along with advocating for consumers, particularly those traditionally underrepresented and marginalized, Commissioner Slaughter strongly supports working families and work-life balance.

Before joining the FTC, Ms. Slaughter served as Chief Counsel to Senator Charles Schumer of New York, the Democratic Leader. She was an associate in the D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP before entering federal service.
Ms. Slaughter received her B.A. in Anthropology magna cum laude from Yale University and her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal. She lives in Maryland with her wonderful husband and their four amazing children.

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Gill was appointed Ofcom’s Group Director for Online Safety at the end of 2022, formally taking on her role in April 23 when the new Online Safety Group was formed. She oversees Ofcom’s new duties as the UK regulator for online safety.

Prior to this Gill, was the inaugural Chief Executive of the UK’s Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) where she established the DRCF as a world-leading approach to implementing digital regulation.

Gill spent four years as Google UK’s Senior Director of Client Solutions & Analytics, leading teams in data analysis, measurement, user experience, consumer segmentation, having previously led their Market Insights across EMEA. Gill previously worked at Channel Four and BBC Worldwide in a variety of strategy leadership and technology-driven roles, beginning her career at the Bank of England and Deloitte Consulting.

Gill holds a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute and spent 2 years conducting academic research in her interest areas of data markets and data access.

Gill is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. She is a Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair of Informa plc, the British Olympic Association, and Chair of the Board for The Rugby World Cup 2025.

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Carly Anderson is an experienced elementary school teacher, administrator and literacy expert as well as a parent. 

Carly works as a content creator online, fostering conversations around inclusion and accessibility for families. She worked in Los Angeles schools, supporting parents as they navigated growing children and access to new technology and is passionate about creating open and honest conversations within families and larger communities.

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Pratishtha Arora is a well-known champion in India for female equality and the protection of children while they are online, in addition to her roles as CEO and co-founder of Social Media Matters. She comes from a diverse academic background and is regarded as an authority on the subject of gender studies.

She has acquired a skill set that enables her to construct frameworks and classes that are customized to the particular requirements of a broad variety of communities, and she also has experience in administering sensitization training. Together, these two aspects of her background have allowed her to develop this ability.

Pratishtha has also led national initiatives on subjects such as online safety and cybercrime, which demonstrates her commitment to cultivating a digital environment that is both safer and more welcoming to people of all different kinds of backgrounds. In the course of her career, she has led more than 100 training meetings with various law enforcement personnel as well as more than 500 workshops all across India. This comprises law enforcement personnel from the National Police Academy, the Karnataka Police Academy, the Delhi Police Department, the Lucknow Police Department, the NOIDA Police Department, and other police divisions. Additionally, she has advocated for women's help centres and cyber crime cells within the Delhi police department, in addition to compiling a catalogue of cyber crime cells located throughout India.

As part of her professional background, she has also compiled and developed workshop documents for use by law enforcement officials in the delivery of training sessions. Additionally, she advocated for Indian interests while serving as a committee member for a major technology company.

Pratishtha Arora's substantial experience in gender studies, along with her dedication to nurturing a digital environment that is both safer and more accepting to people of all backgrounds, positions her as a valuable asset in the development industry. In general, this is the case because Pratishtha Arora is dedicated to fostering a digital environment that is both safer and more welcoming to people of all backgrounds. This is particularly true in the areas of preventing crimes committed online, maintaining one's digital health, and ensuring online safety.

Some of her work featured in news and other agencies:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/for-delhi-s-rape-victims-cops-can-be-first-to-respo nd-but-last-to-understand/story-bEOPfXBJQhQEMykfup7HdM.html

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/4-years-after-nirbhaya-delhi-rapes-tri ple-police-reforms-fail-116081200772_1.html

https://www.socialnews.xyz/2016/08/12/4-years-after-nirbhaya-delhi-rapes-triple-police-reform s-fail/

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Laetitia Avia is a French lawyer, expert in digital policy and compliance.

She is a former member of the French parliament and former spokeswoman from President Macron’s political party. As an MP, she dedicated her works to internet safety and regulation. She is the author of the French law – known as the “AVIA Bill” – which aims to regulate technology companies and fight online hatespeech. She also contributed to the works of the European Commission around major EU digital regulation – the Digital Services Act (DSA).

After leaving office, Laetitia Avia joined the Center for American Progress as a Senior Fellow specialized on digital threats to democracy. She now advises European organizations and companies on digital regulation and compliance.

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Charlotte has a broad range of experience in the field of digital safeguarding - for 10 years she led Becta’s advice and support to Government, local authorities and schools on keeping children safe online.  She also worked with Dr Tanya Byron on her review of Safer Children in a Digital World - leading the implementation and co-ordination of the education recommendations in the Review as part of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS).

In April 2010, Charlotte became Director of Practice at the children’s charity – Beatbullying, where she was responsible for the innovative Cybermentors programme, a peer to peer online support service for children and young people.  In 2011, Charlotte was seconded to NCA CEOP where she conducted a review of CEOP’s educational programmes and made recommendations to CEOP’s board on the future direction of the Thinkuknow programme which has been delivered to thousands of professionals across the country.

In 2013 Charlotte started her own consultancy – Charlotte Aynsley Consultants – Rethinking Safeguarding and she has worked on several high profile programmes and initiatives including the NSPCC’s Share Aware campaign, The It Starts With you online safety campaign from Walt Disney/Club Penguin, Parent Zone’s Parenting in the Digital Age programme, the Keeping Children Safe online safety guide and the Sexting in schools – what to do and how to handle it document. 

She has spoken about digital safeguarding at several key national and international events including the UN and supported local authorities, the police, children’s organisations and international NGO’s in educating professionals, parents, children and young people on all things online safety related.

In 2016 Charlotte worked with UKCCIS and NCA CEOP authoring national advice on responding to incidents of sexting – Sexting in schools and colleges: Responding to incidents and safeguarding young people.  Since the advice has been published she has delivered training to over 500 professionals supporting them in planning their response to incidents of sexting.

More recently Charlotte has been working with several high profile organisations including the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), NCA – CEOP, the Princes Trust, Girlguiding, The Mayor of London and the NSPCC to develop leading edge safer platforms and advice and resources for professionals working with children to keep them safer online.

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Jenny Backus is the founder and President of Backus Consulting, a strategic communications firm specializing in strategy development, campaign and project management and intergovernmental consulting for corporations, media outlets, trade associations, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions and advocacy campaigns. Backus Consulting also works closely with clients on creating winning public affairs campaigns, event design and management and facilitation of conferences, conventions and workshops.

A nationally recognized spokesperson, moderator and expert on strategic communications and partnerships, Backus has worked for Fortune 500 companies, national trade associations and NGOs and in the political arena serving in leadership positions in the US House, the US Senate and on Presidential campaigns, including designing & managing more than 40 Presidential Primary Debates/Forums and events for the national media in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential cycles.

Prior to restarting her consulting business in 2016, Jenny served for three years as a Senior Policy Advisor and Head of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement for Google where she developed Google’s state-by-state public affairs teams and strategic plans, managed all Google’s US NGO and 3rd Party relations and oversaw a multi-million dollar public affairs and policy budget.

Jenny also served in the first two years of the Obama Administration as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategy & Planning at the US Department of Health and Human Services working closely with Secretary Sebelius and the White House. She managed communications activities for HHS and all their operating and staff divisions and during her tenure grew HHS ASPA from a $6 million to a $20 million department; expanded web and new media capabilities and supervised and managed more than $250 million worth of communication contracts across HHS.

Backus Consulting, the firm Jenny founded in 2002, has worked for a variety of clients over the past decade in the technology, healthcare, financial services, media, immigration, and legal services space as well as political parties, candidates and campaigns. She has also done extensive work in the nonprofit world helping think tanks, advocacy groups and community-based organizations expand their communications, outreach and fundraising capacity.

In addition to running her own consulting business, Jenny also serves on several Boards, including the World Learning Board, the National Consumers League Board and Impact 100 DC Board.

A graduate of Brattleboro Union High School and Brown University, Backus lives in Washington DC with her husband Ed Pagano and son Jack.

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For the past 30 years, Stephen Balkam has had a wide range of leadership roles in the nonprofit sector in both the US and UK. He is currently the Founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), an international, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC. FOSI’s mission is to make the online world safer for kids and their families. FOSI convenes the top thinkers and practitioners in government, industry and the nonprofit sectors to collaborate and innovate and to create a “culture of responsibility” in the online world.

Prior to FOSI, Stephen was the Founder and CEO of the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) and led a team which developed the world’s leading content labeling system on the web. While with ICRA, Stephen served on the US Child Online Protection Commission (COPA) in 2000 and was named one of the Top 50 UK Movers and Shakers, Internet Magazine, 2001.

In 1994, Stephen was named the first Executive Director of the Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) which created a unique self-labeling system for computer games and then, in 1996, Stephen launched RSACi – a forerunner to the ICRA website labeling system. For his efforts in online safety, Stephen was given the 1998 Carl Bertelsmann Prize in Gutersloh, Germany, for innovation and responsibility in the Information Society and was invited to the first and subsequent White House Internet Summits during the Clinton Administration.

Stephen’s other positions include the Executive Director of the National Stepfamily Association (UK); General Secretary of the Islington Voluntary Action Council; Executive Director of Camden Community Transport as well as management positions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London) and Inter-Action. Stephen’s first job was with Burroughs Machines (now Unisys) and he had a spell working for West Nally Ltd – a sports sponsorship PR company.

Stephen received a BA, magna cum laude, in Psychology from University College, Cardiff, Wales in 1977. A native of Washington, DC, Stephen spent many years in the UK and is now has dual citizenship. He writes regularly for the Huffington Post, appears often on TV and has appeared on nationally syndicated TV and radio programs such as MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC and has been interviewed by leading newspapers such as the Washington Post, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, radio and in the mainstream press. He has given presentations and spoken in 15 countries on 4 continents.

* Denotes member of FOSI Board

Tami Bhaumik is the Vice President of Civility and Partnerships at Roblox where she spearheads the platform's digital civility initiative and works to foster a global community of internet safety leaders to ensure good digital citizenship on Roblox. To establish a healthy and safe community, Tami is focused on providing kids, teens, parents, and caregivers with skills needed to create positive online experiences, in partnership with the world’s leading safety and industry organizations. At Roblox, she empowers platform users to self-govern and create a confident, resilient online community with the knowledge and tools to create positive experiences for themselves and others in the metaverse.

Zhamilya is a founder of PrivaZy Collective, an initiative by youth who value privacy and encourage critical thinking in peers when engaging with data collecting technologies. She is an intern at Youth, Media, and Well-being Lab at Wellesley Centers for Women. Zhamilya studies Data Science and Anthropology at Wellesley College. Previously, a summer intern at Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University where she focused on children’s rights, privacy, and digital well-being advocacy. She was also a Data Analytics intern at Meta (previously Facebook).

She has experience in research, community organizing, teaching computational thinking at Wolfram Summer Camp, and leadership in tech ethics and women’s health. She is interested in researching cultural and social implications of data-driven tech and creating security and privacy educational content for young people and their parents. She is also a first generation immigrant to the US from Kazakhstan. She grew up in a multi-faith, multi-racial and cultural family, that’s why she loves finding connections and similarities between spaces and ideas that don't seem connected at first.

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Dr Mashilo Boloka is the Chief Executive Officer of the Film and Publication Board (FPB), an online content regulatory authority in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). He holds a doctoral degree in media studies and has taught at various universities. A passionate ambassador for online safety policy within the African context and internationally. Dr. Boloka and the FPB serve as chair of the steering committee on Harmonisation of content regulation in Africa, with a membership of 6 regulatory entities from different African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Eswatini, and others. Dr Boloka has more than 15 years of work experience in public service in various capacities, he possesses immense experience in public broadcast services, policy development, and regulatory oversight. He joined the board of the International Hotline Operators Network (INHOPE) in 2022, and he was recently appointed to serve as the Vice-chairperson of the Global Online Safety Regulators Network (GOSRN, to stand shoulder to shoulder in creating a safer, more positive online world.

Sinead Bovell is a futurist and the founder of WAYE, an organization that prepares youth for a future with advanced technologies, with a focus on non-traditional and minority markets.
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Sinead is a regular tech commentator for CNN, talk shows, and morning shows; she's been dubbed the A.I. educator for the “non-nerds” by Vogue Magazine; and to date has educated over 200, 000 young entrepreneurs on the future of technology.

Sinead is a 8x United Nations speaker; she has given formal addresses to presidents, royalty and Fortune 500 leaders on topics ranging from cybersecurity to artificial intelligence, and currently serves as a strategic advisor to the United Nations International Telecommunication Union on digital inclusion.

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David Bickham, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, and a Research Scientist at the Digital Wellness Lab. His research explores media as an environmental factor that can influence children’s physical, psychological, social, and academic well-being. The content of his current work is broad and includes examining the pathways linking media use to obesity, investigating the effectiveness of in-school media reduction and education curricula, and exploring how young people’s media use may contribute to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Dr. Bickham is the author of numerous research articles and book chapters, has testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning the effects of violent video games, and is regularly invited to deliver keynote addresses and present his work at organizational and academic meetings.

Mindy is the General Manager for Google’s kids and family initiative. Mindy and her team work to create safe and enriching experiences for children, teens and their families globally. Responsible for creating Googlewide strategic agendas, Mindy has also been instrumental in launching many products such as Google Accounts for kids under 13, Family Link, the Teacher Approved program on Google Play, and Android’s first kid directed product, Google Kids Space.  

Prior to Google, Mindy worked at Netflix and Sesame Street, most recently as Director of Content and Innovation Research. Mindy holds a BA in Psychology and a MA in Applied Developmental and Educational psychology from New York University.

Chris leads the Futures Practice at Kantar in North America, helping clients make sense of emerging trends and consumer behaviours to identify innovation opportunities and feel more confident about their strategic decisions.

As a generalist, Chris has had the pleasure to design and lead studies on a wide range of topics during his career—from the future of personalized nutrition….to the long-term impacts of AI on business and society…to consumers’ evolving view of health and wellbeing as influenced by COVID. In every case, Chris’ focus is on helping clients understand change and practically apply insight and foresight to make better decisions today.

Chris is a native of the metro DC area and lives in Arlington with his wife and two children. He has an MBA from The Johns Hopkins University, and a BA in History from Gettysburg College.

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A writer and youth advocate, Anne Collier has been chronicling the public discussion about youth and digital media since 1997. She is founder and executive director of national nonprofit organization The Net Safety Collaborative (TNSC), which runs NetFamilyNews, and piloted a social media helpline for schools in California in 2016. The project was recognized by the National School Boards Association as one of 6 startups in its Education Technology Innovation Showcase. That year Anne also gave her TEDx talk, “The Heart of Digital Citizenship,” at the ITU’s World Summit on Information Technology in Geneva, Switzerland. She serves on the trust & safety advisory boards of Meta, Roblox and YouTube, based in the US, and Teleperformance and Yubo, based in France. She also advises investors in tech innovation that support youth mental health and wellbeing.

Anne has served on three national task forces on youth and Internet safety, including as co-chair of the Obama administration’s Online Safety & Technology Working Group, which delivered its report to Congress, “Youth Safety on a Living Internet,” in June 2010, and the national Internet Safety Technical Task Force of 2008 at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center. In 2013-’14 she served on the Aspen Institute Task Force on Learning & the Internet.In 2011 and ’12, she was a member of the curriculum working group that helped launch Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation at Harvard University. For the Foundation’s launch, Anne collaborated on several papers for the Foundation and Berkman Klein Center’s Kinder & Braver World Project. She also helped develop the foundation’s inaugural Youth Advisory Board.

Anne has collaborated with scholars on a number of academic journal articles, most recently “Leveraging Dignity Theory to Understand Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Children’s Rights,” led by researchers at Dublin’s Anti-Bullying Center. Books she has contributed to include Children’s Privacy and Safety (IAPP, 2022), Bullying: Perspectives, Practice and Insights (Council of Europe Publishing, 2017), Media and the Well-Being of Children and Adolescents (Oxford University Press, 2014) and Cyberbullying Prevention and Response: Expert Perspectives (Routledge, 2011). From 2017 to 2020, she worked with Google on its “Be Internet Awesome” safety and citizenship curriculum for elementary students worldwide. With tech journalist Larry Magid, she co-authored MySpace Unraveled (Peachpit Press, 2006), the first parents’ guide to teen social networking, and a number of guides for parents published by ConnectSafely, which she co-founded and co-directed with Magid for nearly a decade. In 2009, they co-authored and published “Online Safety 3.0: Empowering & Protecting Youth.”

Anne has spoken widely on Internet safety myth-busting and the literacies that afford true safety online as well as offline in a digital age. Between 2011 and ’14, she helped spearhead and facilitate workshops on digital-age citizenship for young people from many countries at Internet Governance Forums in Vilnius, Nairobi, Baku and Istanbul. She appeared on PBS Frontline’s “Growing Up Online” (2008); has been heard on public radio and nationally syndicated commercial radio in many states; and has been quoted in the New York Times, Business Week, the Associated Press, and many other publications.

In addition to her industry advisory work, she serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), the Advisory Board of the Young & Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University and the Global Advisory Board of youth-driven nonprofit Project Rockit in Melbourne. She has also worked closely with fellow youth-focused nonprofits the Family Online Safety Institute, Committee for Children, the International Bullying Prevention Association and the University of New Hampshire’s Family Research Lab and ServiceSpace.org. Prior to working in the Internet safety field, Anne worked on print, radio, TV, and Web editions of the Christian Science Monitor, having served as editor of its first Web site in the mid-’90s.A Massachusetts native, Anne holds B.A. and M.A. degrees and currently resides in Salt Lake City.

Julia Cooke (she/her) is an International Policy Manager at the UK’s regulator for online safety, Ofcom. Julia’s work focuses on international regulatory dialogue, promoting coherence and capability across international approaches. Ofcom aims to learn from, and share regulatory experiences with the global community that is developing online safety policy. As part of this work, Julia’s areas of expertise include the protection of children, the Video Sharing Platform (VSP) regime, age assurance technologies and media literacy.

Prior to joining Ofcom, Julia held a number of roles at the ICO (the UK’s data protection authority), most recently as a Principal Policy Adviser. At the ICO, Julia worked on policy issues at the intersections of data, children's rights and emerging technologies which included the UK Children’s code, the Commissioner’s Opinion on age assurance, the best interests of the child guidance, educating children about their data protection rights and cowriting the position paper on digital identity. Julia previously worked in UK central government on digitising services and change management

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As the CEO of ISTE / ASCD, Richard Culatta is focused on creating the next generation of innovative learning leaders. Richard has also served as the Chief Innovation Officer of the state of Rhode Island and was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the US Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology. His book, Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World (Harvard Business Publishing) aims to help create conditions for healthy tech use at home and school.

Pride David is a senior media communications major at the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. She is a teen fact-checker for MediaWise’s teen fact-checking network and creates social media content debunking misinformation online and teaching others how to doit too. She has also been on the WNET group’s “Take on Fake” series and Nickelodeon’s “Nick News” to discuss meme misinformation and an explainer for media literacy terminology. Pride hopes to make media literacy more accessible for everyone to learn and pursue a career in journalism and video production.

Dr. Jessica DiVento Dzuban is a licensed clinical psychologist, serving as Global Head of Mental Health at YouTube.  Prior to this role, she served as Chief Mental Health Advisor for employee mental health at YouTube.  Dr. DiVento Dzuban's clinical career was primarily in university health, where she provided direct clinical service for almost a decade and also served as a Director of Clinical Training. Working at several San Francisco Bay Area universities, she specialized in anxiety, grief, crisis stabilization, young adult identity development, and trauma.  She also worked for employee assistance where she oversaw Google's clinical services for the US as a vendor and provided workplace mental health and wellbeing consulting.

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Viraj Doshi is the Platform Safety Lead at Snap Inc., focusing on the safety and digital well-being of the Snapchat community. His work involves engaging with external audiences, advising on internal safety-related products and policies, and raising awareness of online risks through programs and initiatives. Prior to Snap, he worked at Meta leading proactive efforts on youth well-being and content moderation including the global outreach efforts for Meta’s oversight board. Before joining the tech industry, Viraj worked at 270 Strategies in Washington D.C. and Mumbai, helping international political and advocacy organizations, as well as companies, develop grassroots and digital campaigns. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, he spent a year on a Fulbright grant in Colombia researching the impact of education methodologies on civic participation.

Kelli Dunlap, MA, PsyD is the Community Director at Take This and, with a decade of community management experience, is responsible for the Streaming Ambassador Program, the Take This Discord, and other community-focused programs. Outside of Take This, Dr. Dunlap is a licensed clinical psychologist and holds a Masters in game design. She serves as an adjunct professor at American University’s Game Center where she teaches courses on the psychological, cultural, and social components of designing games. She is an award-winning game designer and has collaborated on game design projects with organizations including the National Institute of Mental Health, VOX Media, and McGraw Hill. Dr. Dunlap is an internationally recognized researcher and speaker on the intersection of games and mental health.

Kelli is a white, heterosexual, cisgender woman.

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Marissa Edmund is the Policy Specialist at the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), working with the policy team to monitor emerging issues in tech policy and contribute her policy and research expertise to ensure the online world is safer for children and families.

Prior to joining FOSI, Marissa spent two years at the Center for American Progress as the Sr. Policy Analyst for Gun Violence Prevention focusing heavily on gender-based and domestic violence. Before that, Marissa was the Policy Coordinator at the National Network to End Domestic Violence where she was able to actualize her passion for family safety by conducting research, engaging membership, and educating lawmakers on ways to support survivors of domestic violence. Marissa holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).

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* Denotes member of FOSI Board

Eric Ebenstein is a Senior Director of Public Policy at TikTok where he is responsible for US strategic policy initiatives and government affairs at the federal, state and international levels. He has more than a decade of experience working on regulatory and policy issues for technology companies.  

Prior to joining TikTok, Eric was Head of North America Public Policy at DJI–the world's leading civilian drone company. During his tenure, he led DJI's advocacy efforts for regulatory and legislative issues on the federal and state level as well as internationally for Mexico and Canada. Before this, Eric was at POET, a sustainable energy company where he built the state Government Affairs team and mandate. He also served as Chief of Staff for Government Relations at Hewlett Packard where he advised on the North American government affairs program.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Lehigh University, from which he graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa and a Juris Doctor degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He is based in TikTok’s Washington, DC office and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and two children.

She/Her/Hers

Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes, Ed.D., LPC, MCHES is the Director of Research + Evaluation at Born This Way Foundation, where she spearheads the Foundation’s research strategy and provides scientific expertise in the design and implementation of impactful programs and youth-led initiatives. She also holds a faculty appointment as an assistant clinical professor of the Child Study Center and in Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at the Yale School of Medicine.

With a career spanning over 20 years, Dr. Claudia has been instrumental in leading efforts toward mental health promotion and substance misuse prevention within educational settings. As a prevention scientist and licensed professional counselor (LPC), she brings a unique blend of academic knowledge and practical experience to her approach—strongly emphasizing evidence-based research to inform youth-centered programs, policies, and structures. A core focus of her work is amplifying youth perspectives and experiences, ensuring their voices are central to decision-making processes.

Dr. Claudia’s professional journey began as a public school teacher in Connecticut and a bilingual school counselor in New York City. She was part of the founding leadership team at Bard High School Early College in Newark, NJ. Observing the impact and reach of science, she transitioned to a 10-year career in applied research at the Yale School of Medicine where she was promoted to ladder-track faculty. Her research was funded by the prestigious Yale Center for Clinical Investigation Scholar Award and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Advancing Translational Science. With this funding, she led her team in the development and evaluation of a digital game targeting suicide prevention in young people who misuse substances. Dr. Claudia has disseminated her research widely through publications in peer-reviewed journals and national presentations.

Dr. Claudia holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Applied Psychology from New York University and a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Health and Behavior Studies from Columbia University Teachers College. She brings an unwavering commitment to improving youth well-being through her extensive research experience and ongoing work in the field of mental health promotion and prevention.

You can follow Dr. Claudia on Instagram @drclaudiaBTWF and on Twitter at @DrClaudiaSantiF.

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Megan Fromm, Ph.D., is a journalism and media education expert. She has taught at both the university and secondary levels and has spent more than a decade working with student journalists and journalism teachers to better improve their craft and serve their communities. Megan is a former journalist and was the 2019 National Media Literacy Teacher of the Year. She is the co-editor of Transformative Media Pedagogies (2021) and co-author of Student Journalism and Media Literacy (2014).

Megan began her media literacy career as a Ph.D. student in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland in 2006. As a teaching assistant for the college’s media literacy course and an educator at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., she experienced first-hand how transformative media literacy skills are for young people. After finishing her Ph.D.—which explored news framing of student First Amendment issues— Megan was lucky enough to teach students from around the world at various institutions as she and her husband moved often during his service with the U.S. Air Force.

In 2012, Megan joined the faculty of the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change, a summer study abroad program for students interested in using media to empower and achieve more just civic futures. From 2016-2019, Megan also served as the Academy’s curriculum lead. In 2014, she was elected to the Journalism Education Association’s board of directors, serving as the Educational Initiatives Director and leading the organization’s curriculum efforts until 2020. Her most memorable classroom experience thus far, however, was advising high school student media in Colorado, where her students won multiple awards for their journalistic work.

Megan and her husband recently relocated to Maryland, where she is a lecturer at the University of Maryland and can be found doting on her two nephews while eagerly awaiting her next Bruce Springsteen concert.

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Tamara is the US policy correspondent at The Economist. She earned a PhD in education from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in journalism from New York University. During the PhD, Tamara served as an education policy advisor for several organizations, including a presidential campaign. She was also a middle school science teacher for 5 years in New York City public schools.

Ben Golant has nearly a decade of experience working on law and policy issues affecting the video game industry, first as Chief Counsel at the Entertainment Software Association in Washington, DC, and now as Senior Director for Global Game Policy at Tencent. In both positions, he has worked extensively on player health and safety issues in addition to a wide range of matters focusing on the social and economic benefits of video games. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center where he teaches a highly popular class on video game law and policy. Ben had a long career working on communications policy and copyright law at three US agencies including: (1) the Federal Communications Commission, (2) the United States Copyright Office, and (3) the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where he focused on communications law, and his BA/BS in social psychology and advertising from Boston University.

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Colette Gregg is a sophomore at School Without Walls High School. She has a passion for law and women’s studies. During her educational career, she has won special mention, sixth, and first place in the Marion Barry Youth Essay Contest; including essays on inclusion in the census, anti-semitism, and eating disorders at the hands of social media. Ms. Gregg volunteers in her school’s literary tutoring program, where she helps students advance their reading comprehension skills in both French and English. She is a member of the SWW Debate Team, Feminist Literature Club, and more! Gregg is especially interested in working hands-on with her local government to promote resilient communities through efforts focused on gender, class, LGBTQ+, and racial equality throughout her beloved city.

Andrew Hasbun leads Safety Communications at Uber Technologies based in San Francisco. Uber has pioneered many of the safety features that are standard in the industry today. Andrew and his team are responsible for the public launches of Uber’s safety technology and the continued education of the public on how to use Uber’s various safety features. In this role, Andrew also advises Uber’s business and product development teams on key safety needs that address current trends. Before joining Uber, Andrew was an award-winning news reporter for various television stations across the country.

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Jennifer Huddleston is a technology policy research fellow at the Cato Institute. Her research focuses on the intersection of emerging technology and law with a particular interest in the interactions between technology and the administrative state. Huddleston’s work covers topics including antitrust, online content moderation, data privacy, and the benefits of technology and innovation. Her work has appeared in USA Today, National Review, the Chicago Tribune, Slate, RealClearPolicy, and U.S. News and World Report. She has published in law journals including the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, George Mason Law Review, Oklahoma Law Review, and Colorado Technology Law Journal. Huddleston has a JD from the University of Alabama School of Law and a BA in political science from Wellesley College.

Catherine Jensen is the Vice President of Global Consumer Experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment, where she leads the global customer care and engagement strategy with a focus on PlayStation products and services, including the highly popular game console, PS5.

As a strong advocate for the safety and well-being of PlayStation customers, Catherine founded the global SIE Online Safety team in 2019, collaborating with organizations like the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and other industry leaders to develop effective policies for safe and inclusive player experiences. Catherine's dedication extends to promoting wellness for players and moderators, leading to a transformative program nominated for the Great British Wellbeing Award for Workplace Wellbeing in 2023. She actively advocates for player and parental education, contributing articles and blogs to Sony Interactive Entertainment, and sponsors internal initiatives like the PlayStation Network Policy Against Hate Speech and the PlayStation Network Code of Conduct.

Catherine's collaboration with external organizations such as the Internet Commission, Internet Matters, and the Family Gaming Database has led to innovative solutions, including "Press Start for PlayStation Safety," an interactive quiz that gamifies understanding of PlayStation safety features.

With her recent appearance on FOX News on summertime online kids' safety and her widespread recognition as a leading advocate for online safety and gamer well-being, Catherine Jensen continues to create a secure and enjoyable gaming environment with her invaluable experiences and profound insights.

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Matthew Johnson is the Director of Education for MediaSmarts, Canada’s centre for digital media literacy. He is the architect of Access, Use, Understand, Create: Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian K-12 Schools and the author of many of MediaSmarts’ parent, youth and classroom resources including Break the Fake, which returned the beloved house hippo to Canadian screens. He is a member of the Canadian Pediatric Society's Digital Health Task Force and has served as on expert panels convened by the Sex Information & Education Council of Canada and the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario’s Strategic Priorities Advisory Committee, among others.

As Vice President of Worldwide Products, Anup Kaneri leads the Product Management team across Smith Micro. His expertise in product innovation and extensive experience building direct-to-consumer products play a key role in supporting Smith Micro to achieve its goals. Before joining Smith Micro in 2019, Anup worked for venture capital, where he managed enabling investments in emerging areas balancing strategic potential with technology and financial discipline. He formerly worked at Fortune 50 companies to lead the product innovation, development, and strategy to bring new technology solutions to the market. He also co-founded two successful startups focusing on building disruptive mobile platforms. Anup holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics &Telecommunication Engineering, a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing Management from Pune, India, and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Gohar Khan is an educational content creator and MIT grad on a mission to help students succeed inside and outside of school. Since mid-2021, he has been posting study tips, college application advice, and life hacks on his YouTube, leveraging playful storytelling to amass an audience of 3M+ subscribers. Drawing on his experiences as a first-generation student, he also co-founded Next Admit, an admissions consulting firm helping high school seniors apply to college. Ultimately, Gohar hopes his work can help alleviate the stress of school and empower students to achieve their goals.

Tovah P. Klein is Director, Barnard College Center for Toddler Development, Psychology professor, Barnard College; author of How Toddlers Thrive: What Parents Can Do Today for Children Ages 2-5 to Plant the Seeds of Lifelong Success (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 2014), available in 7 languages. She holds a doctorate in Psychology from Duke University and completed clinical training at Boston Children's Hospital.

Dr. Klein's three decades of work with parents and young children takes many forms. Her love of this age stems from a deep interest in the influence parents have on children's foundational development as well as their joy and curiosity. Her research looks at parenting challenges, children’s play and emotional development; the impact of parental emotions on child learning and memory; and child trauma, including the impact of 9/11 on young children and a qualitative study of Parenting During Covid. Her direct work with families focuses on separation, establishing security and resilience, children's emotional well being as well as intergenerational impacts and patterns.

Klein is frequently quoted in the media including the NY Times, CNBC, CNN, Washington Post and and numerous online venues. She appears on TV and radio including MSNBC, Today Show,  Nightline, NPR and Good Morning America who called her the ‘toddler whisperer’. She consults worldwide to programs for children and families, was a developmental advisor to Sesame Street, and is an advisor to Room to Grow, Ubuntu Pathways S. Africa, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, and Hunts Point Alliance for Children. She lives in New York City with her family.

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David Koehler was born and raised in South Dakota. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yankton College, in Yankton, South Dakota in 1971. Three years later, he received a Masters of Divinity from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. From 1972 to 1978, was a staff member of the National Farm Worker Ministry (NFWM), working on behalf of migrant farm workers. Upon moving to Peoria in 1978, became a community organizer, and later, the program manager for Peoria Friendship House.

In 1985 was hired as the first Executive Director of PALM, the Peoria Area Labor Management Council, a not-for-profit organization founded to foster cooperation and participation between labor unions and management for both public and private sector groups. In 1992, also became the President for Labor Management Cooperative Health Programs, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the PALM. LMC Health Programs is a purchasing cooperative organization dedicated to improving the quality and value of health care for its members and the community.

From 1982 to 1988, served on the Peoria County Board as a Democrat from District 5, and from 1989 to 1997, served on the Peoria City Council (non-partisan) from District 3, serving as Mayor Pro Tem from 1993 to 94. He also served on many boards and commissions with subjects ranging from labor-management relations to health care. He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 2006 and promoted to Majority Caucus Whip in 2018 and Assistant Majority Leader in 2019. He is married with three daughters, two sons-in-law, and one daughter-in-law. He is also the happy grandfather of three granddaughters and one grandson.

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Kim leads the Xbox Safety, Trust, and Responsibility team, combining 16 years of experience at Microsoft with a passion for ensuring gaming communities are safe and welcoming for all players. Amplified by a shared commitment to Privacy, Accessibility, the responsible application of AI, and a passion for the next generation of gamers (Family), the team also invests in digital health and wellness technologies that deliver world class content detection and moderation solutions for Xbox players, Microsoft services, and external partners and customers.

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Tom Le has been leading data security and privacy innovation for 30 years. As an early partitioner in artificial intelligence, Tom pioneered new detection methods by modeling human behavior using digital signal processing and deep learning. Tom was the Executive Director of Cyber at GE Digital, leading engineering teams defending high-value targets and critical infrastructure. Tom was also the CTO for Cognizant’s security practice and led the security portfolio at BT Global Services as the security CTO.

A technologist and engineer at heart, Tom is proud of his anomaly detection contributions, which played vital roles in cyber protection for the George W. Bush White House, London 2012 Olympics, and several entities within the US DOJ.

Tom is currently the CISO at Mattel, using his experience to protect people, data, intellectual property, and connected toys. Tom has a unique toy collection and loves competitive fun, including being previously ranked #1 in the world in the Esports league for Command & Conquer. Tom studied cognitive science at UC Berkeley, where he developed AI models to perform complex time-series predictions. Tom has authored several patents on cyber threat analysis, data anonymization, and anomaly detection.

Mr. Leza, an attorney, is a policy and regulatory specialist with expertise in the areas of competition law, regulation, and public policy in the information and communications technologies sector. He has substantial experience on regulatory reform initiatives, digital services, market analysis, infrastructure deployment and investment, spectrum assignment processes and licensing, anticompetitive conduct and mergers and acquisitions in the communications and digital technologies sector, and advises private and public sector clients on such matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to working at TMG, he was with the Legal Counsel’s Office of the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones of Venezuela. Mr. Leza obtained his Master of Laws at University of Chicago and his law degree at Catholic University in Venezuela. Mr. Leza is fluent in Spanish and English.

Nicodemus Madehdou is the CEO and Co-Founder of JumpButton Studio, a games and animation company focused on balancing out the inequity in the Gaming industry while showcasing the massive revenue opportunity for inclusive gaming companies. JumpButton’s goal is simple; to create and nurture a diverse workforce that allows its employees to create the original games and stories they wish to see in the world. Having grown the business from scratch with his Co-Founders, Nicodemus has been recognized in press outlets such as Technical.ly, The Root, CNN and more as a leader in his industry and a force to watch. Throughout his tenure in the industry, he has worked with partners such as Niantic, Paramount, Rovio, BET and more.

JumpButton Studio already boasts better diversity than that of the industry it exists in with a number of original titles set to launch in the near future. Nicodemus is building the next industry giant that will have inclusivity at its foundation and the games and careers available will be and feel even more accessible than ever before.

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Shreya Nallamothu is a junior at University High School in Illinois. She's interested in law, civic engagement, and social justice. This past year, she worked with Illinois State Senator David Koehler to introduce and pass the nation's first ever law protecting child influencers. She also started her community's first free mock trial program for middle schoolers, volunteers at a local legal nonprofit, and serves on her town's youth council. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing her viola, and competing on speech team. Shreya is excited to offer a new perspective on online safety and public policy!

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Gwen Oldham is Director for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). She directs digital literacy and K-12 education programs as part of AT&T Connected Learning and the company’s commitment to bridge the digital divide. This work includes the delivery of AT&T ScreenReady® and The Achievery.

Before joining the national CSR team, Gwen led AT&T social impact and sustainability initaitives in the State of California. In this role, she collaborated with regional External Affairs, Public Affairs and Community Engagement teams to advance impact across the state. 

Gwen holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern Calfiornia and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Mass Communication from the University of Oregon. She resides in San Francisco, California.

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Mike Pappas is the CEO/Co-founder of Modulate, which works with studios like Activision, Riot Games, and Rec Room to foster safer and more inclusive online voice chat. Mike’s work at Modulate ranges from developing new partnerships within the industry, monitoring trends and new opportunities for Modulate’s unique technology to have a positive impact, and reinforcing an internal and external culture of passion, respect, and personal growth. Outside of work, his passions include creating themed cocktail lists, long-distance running, and playing Nintendo games.

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Stanley Pierre-Louis is the President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the voice and advocate for the U.S. video game industry. With more than two decades of entertainment and media experience, Stan leads ESA’s efforts to showcase the dynamic impact the video game industry has on business, entertainment, and culture.

Prior to being named CEO in May 2019, Stan served as the ESA’s General Counsel, leading the legal, policy, and regulatory affairs function for the organization. His responsibilities included advocacy on First Amendment, technology and intellectual property issues as well as supervising the global content protection program. Mr. Pierre-Louis also oversaw all governance, compliance, and contractual matters and served as the Corporate Secretary to ESA’s Board of Directors.

Before joining the ESA in May 2015, Mr. Pierre-Louis was Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property at Viacom Inc. There, he was responsible for developing strategies to protect digital content, managing major intellectual property litigation, and revamping the cybersecurity governance program.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Pierre-Louis worked at law firms as outside counsel to several leading companies, then served as Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Recording Industry Association of America. There, he led several strategic copyright litigations, including the entertainment industry’s litigations against MP3.com, Napster, and Aimster as well as the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case MGM Studios v. Grokster, which resulted in a unanimous decision in favor of the film and music industries.

Mr. Pierre-Louis is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Clark University. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served on the University of Chicago Law Review Board of Editors. Following law school, he clerked for Judge David A. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Mr. Pierre-Louis has served on several nonprofit boards focused on the arts and education and also served as chair of the board of directors for GetSwift Limited, a publicly-traded technology company focused on delivery management software. He currently serves as a director of the National Symphony Orchestra (part of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) and as a director of Games for Change, a nonprofit that empowers video game creators and social innovators to drive real-world impact through immersive media.

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With almost 20 years experience in Trust and Safety, first as a Police Sergeant and Detective, then as tech innovator, Henry Platten is on a mission of empowering respectful communications. The international presenter and media commentator has engaged audiences in 6 continents (he hasn’t presented to Antarctica… yet). He recontributes to public policy as a safeguarding advisor, and as co founder of GoBubble leads the innovation and future vision of their patent-pending Emotion AI (which unlocks the emotions in communications, at scale).

Trisha Prabhu is the 23-year-old inventor and Founder and CEO of ReThink™, a patented app that stops cyberbullying before the damage is done.

The ReThink app detects offensive content and gives youth a chance to “ReThink” sending it, stopping cyberbullying before it happens. Today, in collaboration with schools and educational organizations, ReThink’s technology, educational materials, and anti-cyberbullying advocacy have been shared with youth worldwide. The app is also now available in 8 international languages on the Google Play Store (where it was named one of Google Play's Most Innovative Apps).

For her work with ReThink, Trisha is the humbled recipient of many awards, among them, the WebMD Health Hero Prodigy Award and the Princess Diana International Anti-Bullying Award; she was also selected to present ReThink at The White House. Trisha has also made waves as a contestant on ABC’s Shark Tank and as the winner of Harvard University's President's Innovation Challenge and the Elevate Prize. In 2021, she was the youngest honoree named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 Social Impact list.

Trisha is a TED speaker and has delivered 100+ talks in 30 cities about the power of “ReThinking." Her debut book, “ReThink the Internet,” the world’s first-ever “by-youth, for-youth” guide to the Internet, was released in May 2022 from Penguin Random House.

Trisha is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard University. She is now pursuing her postgraduate study at the University of Oxford as a United States Rhodes Scholar.

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Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D., ABPP is the Chief Science Officer of the American Psychological Association, and at the at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill he serves as the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Co-Director of the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development.  For over 25 years, and with continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health, Mitch’s research has examined interpersonal models of internalizing symptoms and health risk behaviors among adolescents, with a specific focus on the unique role of off- and on-line peer relationships in the developmental psychopathology of depression and self-injury.  At APA, Mitch is responsible for leading the association’s science agenda and advocating for the application of psychological research and knowledge in settings including academia, government, industry, and the law.  Prior to APA and UNC, Mitch served as the Director of Clinical Psychology at UNC and Yale University.  He is a board-certified clinical psychologist and scientist who has been studying child and adolescent mental health, publishing over 200 scientific manuscripts and 12 books.  He is regularly featured as an expert in psychological science in consultation to government agencies and non-profit associations, as a witness testifying before the US Senate, in two TedX talks, and within hundreds of media appearances around the world in outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, the Times (UK), and CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Anthony Robinson is the Founder and Principal Consultant for ARC Global Strategies. He is an experienced thought leader across diverse public and private organizations. Anthony is skilled in policy strategy, program development and implementation, team leadership, and strategic partnership building. Additionally, he lends his knowledge to several issue policy-based trainings, briefings, and programs for policymakers, military leaders, civic and political leaders, and global allied organizations on critical matters that impact security, technology, healthcare, and implementing DEIA strategy.

Anthony served as a White House appointee during the Obama Administration in several national security and foreign policy roles, including project manager and team lead on various programs within the Personnel and Readiness and Joint Staff portfolios at the Department of Defense as well as Aviation and International Affairs policy implementation at the Department of Transportation. During his time at the Department of Defense, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Seven Seals Award.

Anthony has previously served as the Political Director for the National Democratic Training Committee and the Director of Training and Public Engagement with the Truman National Security Project/Truman Center. He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a Distinguished Marshall Memorial Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He earned his B.A. degree from North Carolina A&T State University and an M.A. in Global Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

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Kate Ruane is the Director of CDT’s Free Expression Project. An attorney with a strong background in legal research, Kate is committed to the freedom of speech and to bringing focus to the ways in which strong protections for free expression benefit communities of color, religious minorities, LGBTQ+ communities, and other oft-censored groups. Kate’s expertise is expansive and her work spans many issues including the intersection of civil rights and free speech protections, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, online privacy and surveillance, harassment, protecting children online, and disinformation.

Most recently, Kate served as the Director of U.S. Free Expression Programs at PEN America, where she augmented PEN America’s free expression work in the states. She led advocacy to combat the spread of legislation seeking to restrict drag performance, collaborated on legislative efforts to end book bans in schools, and assisted in drafting amicus briefs arguing against the constitutionality of educational gag orders that prevent the discussion of race-related and other critical topics in classrooms. She also built a team focused on creating meaningful interventions to reduce the impact of disinformation in advance of the 2024 U.S. elections. Prior to joining PEN America, Kate led US policy at the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that hosts Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects, she served as Senior Advisor for the First Amendment and Consumer Privacy at the American Civil Liberties Union for 3 years, and she spent eleven years as a Legislative Attorney for the Congressional Research Service.

Kate received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her law degree from American University, Washington College of Law.

Abby Schmid is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Science, in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research is focused on data-driven modeling and uncertainty quantification for multiscale materials via laser ultrasonics. She is also an LGBT Tech PATHS Grant recipient and mentee. She received her B.S. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the University of Chicago. Outside of research, she enjoys skiing, hiking, and traveling.

Noam Schwartz is the CEO and co-founder of ActiveFence, a company that enables Trust & Safety teams to be proactive about keeping users safe from malicious online activities. ActiveFence supports tech platforms of all sizes as they work to stop online harms, including disinformation, hate, terror, and child abuse, across languages and content formats. Noam has over 15 years of experience in the fields of open source intelligence, security, and data science. Prior to ActiveFence, he founded and served as the CEO of Tapdog which was acquired by SimilarWeb, where he served as VP of Business & Corporate Development. Noam began his career as an intelligence officer in the fields of research and counter-terrorism in the Israeli military and holds an LL.B and an MBA from Bar Ilan University (BIU).

Jared Solomon started his career as a high school social studies teacher in Baltimore City through Teach for America and has worked as a senior policy advisor in the US Senate for Senator Bob Casey. He is a second term member of the Maryland House of Delegates representing District 18 and serves as the Deputy Speaker Pro Tem and sits on the Appropriations Committee. He serves as the Vice-chair of the Education & Economic Development Subcommittee.  In addition, he serves on the Capital Budget Subcommittee, and is House Chair of Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee and the House Chair of the MD Transit Caucus. As a legislator, Jared focuses on improving our education system, investing & expanding transit, pedestrian safety, labor rights, the environment, and college access for first generation students.

In his first term, Jared successfully passed many bills including:

• Establishing safe lead standards for drinking water in schools

• Expanding MARC commuter rail service through MD, DC, and VA

• Strengthening collective bargaining for state university employees

• Expanding family child care

• Expanding educational resources for teachers, students, and families

• Ensuring seamless transfers for community college students

• Encouraging clean energy in public schools

• Improving air quality in public schools

• Ensuring local governments have the education, technical assistance, and financial resources to improve the environment

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His legislative agenda this session includes:

• Protecting the safety of young people online
• Streamlining MD scholarships & improving college access for low-income students
• Making our communities safer for pedestrians and bicyclists
• Expanding community sustainability efforts
• Expanding rail service
• Expand funding for bus transit
• Expanding meal programs for students to address food insecurity

Last session, Jared worked with students, parents, and advocates from across Maryland and the country to pass legislation protecting our young people on-line. Modelled on legislation implemented in the UK and unanimously passed (with bi-partisan support) in CA, the bill requires companies redesign their services to better protect children, including disabling features that allow direct messaging of children by unknown adults, establishing default settings that automatically offer a higher bar of safety and data privacy for children’s profiles, and limiting information that identifies the geographical location of children online.

Melissa Stroebel is the Vice President of Research & Insights at Thorn, where she serves as a subject matter expert and drives strategic research examining emerging threats and trends in online sexual exploitation. Before joining Thorn in 2017, Melissa worked for nearly a decade with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children as a victim identification analyst, product manager, and researcher. Melissa graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in history and from George Washington University with a master’s degree in forensic science.

Kara Sundby is a Senior Director at Kantar in the Futures practice. She consults clients across industries, helping them understand the changes that will impact their businesses in the near- and long-term, and identifying opportunities and actions that will reset their strategies as a result.

Kara has fifteen years of experience working in strategy, communications and applied foresight. She has worked closely with global clients including Google, Mastercard, The Clorox Company, Kenvue and FOSI. She has a Master of International Economic Policy from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Victoria. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and two sons.

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Kelly Tallon is the Manager of Regulatory Strategy and Policy at the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner (eSafety). Her team is responsible for leading eSafety’s policy submissions, publishing position statements on emerging online safety issues such as immersive tech and gen AI, and developing a roadmap for age verification and complementary measures to prevent and address harm to children from online pornography.

Kelly joined eSafety in early 2019 as a Senior Legal and Policy Adviser, providing a broad range of support and advice with a focus on issues relating to children and young people, online terrorism, and transparency standards for the digital industry. Following a stint in eSafety’s Investigations Branch, where she worked to incorporate investigative insights into online harms policy, Kelly took on her current role within the Strategy, Engagement, and Research Branch. 

Prior to joining eSafety, Kelly held a variety of NGO and government roles working on issues at the intersection of technology, education, criminal justice and children’s rights. She holds law degrees from Harvard Law School, where she participated in the cyberlaw clinic at the Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society, and from the University of New South Wales, where she studied media and technology law with the support of a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship.

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Medha Tare is an experienced researcher in the learning sciences and technology area. Her work centers on addressing the needs of the whole child, including considering individual differences among learners, their environments, and the media through which they learn. Prior to the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, she was the Director of Research for the Learner Variability Project at Digital Promise, where she developed public resources on the cognitive, socio-emotional, and background factors that impact children and adults’ learning. This work involved research translation, science communication, and studies of educational efficacy with school districts and edtech product developers. She has also served as a Learning Sciences Exchange Fellow through New America, working across sectors to promote early learning and help young children and their families thrive. Medha earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan and her BA in Cognitive Science and English at Rutgers University. She has served as an advisor on national and international educational initiatives and has numerous peer-reviewed publications including in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Language Learning and Technology, and Journal of Cognition and Development.

Catherine Teitelbaum is the Head of Family Trust for Amazon Kids - working to ensure that digital and hardware products including Amazon Kids, Amazon Kids+, Parent Dashboard, Fire Kids Edition tables, and Echo Dot Kids Editions continue to earn the trust of families around the world. Catherine is a former educator, industry veteran and recognized pioneer in online safety, product policy, educational technology, and the business of developing trustworthy digital products.

Fiona Thornton is the VP of Platform Partnerships at Crisp, a Kroll Business. For nearly 2 decades, Crisp has been a real time risk intelligence company that protects brands, assets and people from reputational damage, security threats and online harm.

Fiona has 20 years of experience working in Partnerships and now dedicates her skills to working with a variety of major platforms trust and safety teams, supporting their efforts in keeping their platforms safe for users.

Bridget Todd is a frequently cited expert, trainer, and speaker on combating disinformation and extremism online, advocating for social media platform accountability, creating safer digital experiences for women and other marginalized people, and celebrating and amplifying marginalized people’s contributions to tech and the internet. 

She created her critically acclaimed podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet to explore how marginalized people show up online in response to the lack of inclusion in conversations around the internet. 

There Are No Girls The Internet earned “Best Technology Podcast” at the iHeart Radio Podcast Awards and a Shorty Award for “Best Podcast Miniseries” for DISINFORMED, a miniseries exploring how misinformation, and conspiracy theories around COVID, gender, and race hurt marginalized communities. 

She’s also the host of Mozilla’s multi award winning podcast about ethics in AI called IRL: Online Life is Real Life. 

Formerly, as Director of Communication for the national gender-justice advocacy organization Ultraviolet, Bridget regularly met with leadership from platforms like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok to advocate for and develop policy recommendations to make digital experiences safer and more inclusive. Bridget’s writing and work on technology, race, gender and culture have been featured at the Atlantic, Newsweek, the Nation, the Daily Show and several other outlets.

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Dr. Nicol Turner Lee is a senior fellow in Governance Studies, the director of the Center for Technology Innovation and serves as Co-Editor-In-Chief of the TechTank blog and podcast at the Brookings Institution, which is a global think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. Dr. Turner's research encompasses equitable access to technology across the U.S. and abroad. Her portfolio also includes leading Brookings institutional research and public policy work focused on the identification and mitigation of online biases in artificial intelligence systems. She has a forthcoming book on the U.S. digital divide titled Digitally Invisible: How the Internet is Creating the New Underclass (forthcoming 2024, Brookings Press). She has appeared throughout various news media, testified before Congress and international global governance bodies, and written extensively on tech and telecom issues. In 2022, she was recognized for distinguished career contributions by the American Sociological Association at the annual conference.  She has her B.A. from Colgate University, and her Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Arjun Venkataswamy, Product Manager for Alexa Kids, is a former educator and entrepreneur with over a decade of professional experience working at the intersection of technology and education. After starting his career as a high school math teacher for the Chicago Public Schools, Arjun worked as a web app developer and taught prototype software development to MBA students at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Most recently, Arjun served as CTO for a startup that that taught kids programming and design skills through online project-based learning.

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Jasmine Vega is a first-generation daughter of Mexican immigrants who own a small family restaurant north of Dallas. She began working there at the age of 13, learning the definition of hard work and perseverance before even attending high school. Throughout this time, she watched her mom work three jobs and dad work 70 hour weeks to keep their dream alive.

Because of this, Vega felt the need to help her family’s restaurant when it was on the brink of closure. She created a TikTok as a last-ditch attempt to save the business, hoping it would reach her local community. And much to her family’s surprise, the video resulted in millions of people from all across the world expressing their support and new customers visiting from all over the Dallas area. Vega continues to use TikTok to share the realities of owning a restaurant and grow the business her family has worked tirelessly for.

In addition to creating videos for her family’s restaurant, she is a 2nd year student at the University of Texas at Austin double majoring in Government and Race, Indigeneity, and Migration with minors in Italian and Rhetoric and Writing. She plans to attend law school and practice human rights law. Throughout her educational endeavors, she will continue to grow her family’s restaurant and help reach its fullest potential.

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Alexandra N. Veitch leads YouTube Government Affairs and Public Policy across the Americas. In this role, she advises the company on public policy issues facing the platform and liaises with government officials throughout the Western Hemisphere to develop and implement policy agendas on technology issues. She comes to Google after a long career in public service, including as senior staff to President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and experience leading government affairs for other large, multinational companies. 

As Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, she managed President Obama's relationships with Congress; as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, she led engagement with the House of Representatives on behalf of the government's third-largest agency. She served nearly eight years as senior staff to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and began her career in Washington working for Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. 

In 2023, Alexandra was named one of Washington D.C.’s 500 most influential people by Washingtonian Magazine. Alexandra's private sector experience also includes leading North American Government Affairs for Tesla, a company committed to helping transition the world to sustainable energy, and at CSRA, a Fortune 600 government technology contractor that was acquired by General Dynamics. Alexandra earned a Bachelor of Arts in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Sydney, Australia. She is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Corie Wright leads global public policy for Epic Games, a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology. Corie has spent nearly 20 years working at the intersection of technology, media and entertainment policy in both the private and non-profit sectors. Corie lives and works in Washington,D.C. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds law degrees from The American University and Georgetown University Law Center.

Stephanie Yates-Anyabwile is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who practices full-time in Atlanta, Georgia. She primarily serves communities with limited access to mental health and relational care through individual, couples, and family therapy. Stephanie also has a YouTube channel with over 10,000,000 views where she educates her audience on relational dynamics, mental wellness, and careers in the counseling field.