FOSI 2020 Annual Conference
Overview
Building Resilience
Building Resilience
On November 18th, FOSI hosted its live, virtual 2020 Annual Conference, entitled “Building Resilience.” This event convened leaders across industry, government, academia, and the nonprofit sector to discuss a wide variety of topics within the areas of best practices in technology policy, digital parenting, privacy, education, and innovation.
Patricia Vance, President of the Entertainment Software Rating Board and Chair of the FOSI Board, provided a welcome from FOSI, and andStephen Balkam, CEO, gave opening remarks.
The first presentation of the day was the launch of FOSI’s new research, Tools for Today’s Digital Parents, made possible in partnership with Verizon and conducted by Magid, a media research firm. Findings from the report were presented by researchers Molly Ludwig and Rich McGuire, who outlined the key takeaways from the report, specifically how online safety tools like parental controls serve parents and their children, and what can be done by industry to optimally support families navigating the online world.
These ideas sparked the first plenary panel discussion of the day, a further examination of Tools for Today’s Digital Parents, moderated by Elizabeth Milovidov from the Council of Europe & e-Enfance, and featuring Ethan Arenson from Verizon, Alexa Hasse of Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center, and Molly Ludwig from Magid. The panelists reflected on the takeaways from the report and analyzed how these findings might be integrated into consumer outreach to parents. They also compared how these findings may reflect in their own work within industry, research, and parenting.
Amy Joyce of The Washington Post moderated the ‘Building Resilience for our Kids’ panel, with Tessy Ojo from the Diana Award, Lenore Skanazy of Let Grow, Catherine Steiner- Adair a clinical psychologist and Patricia Vance from the Entertainment Software Rating Board.. The panelists explored ways in which parents and educators can appropriately support children in this unprecedented year by building and maintaining resilience, encouraging healthy media consumption, and being intentional with technology use for school, entertainment, and socializing.
Stephen Balkam conducted a one-on-one fireside chat with global public speaker and anti-bullying advocate Monica Lewinsky, entitled “Creating a More Compassionate Internet.” The discussion focused on Monica’s path to the field of online safety and digital citizenship advocacy work, the impacts of losing one’s digital reputation, and the urgent need to cultivate online compassion, especially during this tumultuous year.
The first set of breakout sessions explored a wide variety of topics. The privacy panel explored the current legislative landscape and potential advancements needed to keep users of all ages safe online. Panelists from the education space discussed how industry and educators have adapted to virtual learning, the importance of students having access to technology, and the ways in which education might be changed forever due to the pandemic. The International Trends and Policy panel assessed the different approaches taken to online safety in the UK, Australia, and the European Union. Finally, Streaming Quality Kids’ Content convened experts to share insights into the process behind developing content for kids that is both educational and engaging, as well as appealing to a wide variety of families. They also touched on the responsibility of networks and streaming platforms to instill healthy routines and media consumption habits for young viewers.
During the second fireside chat Facebook’s Antigone Davis spoke with Mary Madden, of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. The two discussed the ways in which young people and their parents can maintain and evaluate their own digital wellbeing in the time of COVID-19.
Afternoon breakout sessions featured a youth panel led by Tami Bhaumik of Roblox, in which a panel of young people discussed the ways in which kids can stay safe and have fun while gaming and using social media. Illegal Content: Prevention, Detection, and Enforcement considered the latest trends in online criminal activity and how global stakeholders can confront these challenges. Online Activism: Social Justice Meets Social Media brought together industry and youth activists to talk about how social media has created change through digital movements and taking organized activity from social platforms into the real world. Finally, Tech Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities brought together expert voices from leading companies to share their newest technical and strategic innovations that are informing industry best practice and keeping kids safe online.
The highlighted session of the afternoon was a conversation between leaders from Amazon Kids and Alexa. Karen Ressmeyer spoke with Miriam Daniel and Toni Reid to share insights into how families are using Alexa, Echo, and Amazon Kids during the pandemic. They also discussed Amazon’s approaches into designing thoughtful new Alexa features for kids and their parents.
Tech Policies in 2021 & Beyond was the final panel of the day. Sara Fischer of Axios moderated the discussion with Richard Downing of the US Department of Justice, Alexandra Givens from the Center for Democracy & Technology, and Nicol Turner-Lee from The Brookings Institution who shared their expertise and insights into areas of focus for the next US Administration and Congress.
The event closed with a conversation with Sonia Livingstone and John Palfrey who shared insights into ways that parents can adapt their parenting style to this new normal, and allow their children to participate online in healthy, helpful, and engaged ways. They also discussed the motivation behind their recently published books (Parenting for a Digital Future and The Connected Parent, respectively).
Full videos of all plenary and breakout sessions are available on FOSI’s YouTube channel.
Click to view our online commemorative photobook.
Speakers
Tony Anscombe
Tony Anscombe is the Chief Security Evangelist for ESET. With over 20 years of security industry experience, Anscombe is an established author, blogger and speaker on the current threat landscape, security technologies and products, data protection, privacy and trust, and Internet safety. His speaking portfolio includes industry conferences RSA, Black Hat, VB, CTIA, MEF, Gartner Risk and Security Summit and the Child Internet Safety Summit (CIS). He is regularly quoted in cybersecurity, technology and business media, including BBC, Dark Reading, the Guardian, the New York Times and USA Today, with broadcast appearances on Bloomberg, BBC, CTV, KRON and CBS. Anscombe is a current board member of the NCSA.
Ethan Arenson*
Ethan Arenson is the Head of Digital Safety at Verizon. In this role, Ethan leads Verizon's online safety efforts, including Verizon's work to fight online child exploitation and the company's work to promote internet safety through parental education and digital literacy. Ethan is also responsible for content standards across the company.
Stephen Balkam
For the past 30 years, Stephen Balkam has had a wide range of leadership roles in the nonprofit sector in the 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.
Taylor Barkley
Taylor Barkley is the Director of Technology and Innovation at the Center for Growth and Opportunity where he manages the research agenda, strategy, and represents the technology and innovation portfolio. His primary research and expertise are at the intersection of culture, technology, and innovation. He has extensive experience working with state-based technology policy projects and partners and most major federal technology policy topics. Previously he was the Director of Technology and Innovation at Stand Together Trust and Stand Together, the Government Affairs Manager at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Assistant Director of Outreach for Technology Policy at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Tami Bhaumik
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.
Alicia Blum-Ross
Alicia recently joined Twitch, a livestreaming platform owned by Amazon, as the Senior Director for Global Youth Policy. Prior to coming to Twitch she worked at YouTube where she helped create resources to support families like the YouTube parental supervised experience and Best Practices for family creators. Before working in the tech industry she was an academic and media literacy educator, and co-authored (with Sonia Livingstone) the book Parenting for a Digital Future: How Hopes and Fears About Technology Shape Children's Lives. She's given talks for parents and caregivers in outlets like NPR, the BBC and more PTA meetings than she'd care to admit. She is currently trying to put her own advice into practice raising 9 year old twins in the Bay Area.
Andrea Cook
Andrea Cook's skillset began with a passion for educating children and adults. As a Software Trainer, Andrea Cook taught teachers and district employees on the business side how to use district resources by integrating educational technology tools into her training. This skill catapulted Andrea into her current position as a Coordinator of Technology Integration and Implementation for the Kansas City Missouri Public School District. In her role, Andrea provides professional development to over 1,000 teachers within her school district along with many other educcators from across the country. Andrea has presented at ISTE, Googlepalooza, MORENET and has been published in ASCD on Flipped Model Professional Development. Feel free to follow her on Twitter @acooktweet or Instagram @edtechnext.
Julie Cordua
Julie helped create Thorn in 2012 as an organization focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Under Julie's leadership, Thorn has created products and programs that are deployed today in 55 countries, have reached more than 3 million people and have helped identify more than 16,000 victims of abuse. Julie came to Thorn from (RED) where she was VP of Marketing/Communications and helped establish the brand as one most successful cause marketing initiatives in history, delivering more than $160 million to fight AIDS in Africa. Prior to joining (RED), Julie spent nearly a decade in the wireless industry. Julie holds a B.A. in Communications from UCLA and an M.B.A. from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Ken Corish
Ken is Online Safety Director with South West Grid for Learning Trust and the UK Safer Internet Centre and a member of the Grid's senior management team.Ken is Online Safety Director and SMT member with South West Grid for Learning Trust drawing on twenty years as a teacher and school leader and ten years as a BECTA award-winning Education School Improvement Adviser with Plymouth's ICT Team.
Caroline Curtin
Caroline Curtin joined Microsoft in 2008 and is a Director within Microsoft's U.S. Government Affairs team, where she advocates on policy, regulatory and legislative matters related to gaming.
Miriam Daniel
Miriam Daniel is the Vice President of Alexa and Echo Devices. She is one of the creative minds behind Echo and Alexa, innovations that have changed the way we interact with the world around us. Miriam joined Amazon and the Alexa team in 2014. She is responsible for the innovative lineup of Echo products and Alexa experiences that delight our customers every day, as well as the developer technologies that skill builders use to bring Alexa experiences to life. Miriam has a background in computer engineering and previously held product and engineering leadership positions at Intel Corporation.
Antigone Davis
Antigone Davis is a Director and Global Head of Safety at Meta. As Meta's Global Head of Safety, Antigone works with internal teams, external safety organizations, and government bodies to ensure that Meta is a world leader in online safety.
Richard Downing
Richard W. Downing was selected to serve as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the Department of Justice in September 2015, where he oversees the work of the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. In this role, Mr. Downing supervises the prosecution of hacking, intellectual property theft, and child exploitation crimes, and he has worked to promote the international law enforcement cooperation necessary to respond to these criminal threats. Mr. Downing has participated in the development of Department policy on the collection of electronic evidence and related litigation. Mr. Downing joined the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section in 1999. Prior to that, he served for seven years as an Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia. He graduated with a J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1992 and received a B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from Yale University in 1989.
Iain Drennan
Iain has been the Executive Director of WeProtect Global Alliance since its launch as an independent international institution in April 2020. Previously, he led the UK Home Office's international response to child sexual abuse. Under Iain's leadership, the UK was assessed top out of 60 countries in the Economist Intelligence Unit's Out of the Shadows Index on response to child sexual abuse and ratified the Council of Europe's Lanzarote Convention against child sexual abuse. Prior to this, Iain worked in national security, foreign policy and counter terrorism roles in the UK civil service and diplomatic service, including a posting in Kabul where he managed the UK's multi-million dollar counter terrorism and anti-corruption justice programme
Lindsey Emerson
Lindsey Emerson is VP of Product Management at HBO Max and based in Los Angeles. She has over adecade of experience in product management building streaming platforms across educational andentertainment spaces. Since joining HBO Max as a founding team member, her team launched the Kids &Family experience, offering kids an autonomous and age-appropriate experience while giving parentstransparent controls they can trust.
Sara Fischer
Sara Fischer is a media reporter for Axios. She joined the company in 2016 as a founding staff member.
Julia Fossi
Julia Fossi is Director of International, Strategy and Futures at the eSafety Commissioner: Australia's independent regulator for online safety and the world's first government agency solely dedicated to tackling online abuse. Julia leads eSafety's Safety by Design initiative, provides advise on emerging online safety issues and challenges, carries out tech trends analysis and drives eSafety's international engagements and capacity building work. Prior to joining eSafety, Julia worked at the NSPCC, a child protection charity in the UK, where she was Associate Head of Child Online Safety. She has also worked in a variety of sensitive and high-profile policy and research roles within the UK Government, on issues such as human trafficking, homicide and prison reform. Julia holds a PhD from the University of Nottingham, and a BSc in Psychology.
Jerome Foster II
Jerome Foster II is an 18-year-old African-American climate justice activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technology developer. He is the Executive Director & Founder of OneMillionOfUs, which is mobilizing a new generation of young people to register and turnout to vote.
Kerry Gallagher
Kerry Gallagher, JD is an innovative teacher, school administrator, lawyer, TEDx speaker, keynote speaker, education consultant, downhill skier, hiker, mom, and wife. She has 23 years of experience as a professional educator. Kerry currently serves as Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning and classroom teacher at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts; and Director of Education at ConnectSafely, an internet safety non-profit in Palo Alto, California. Kerry is co-author of several ConnectSafely award-winning guidebooks for parents and teachers on topics that include social media, data privacy, education technology, copyright, and more. Accolades for her work include awards from the Family Online Safety Institute, St. Anselm College, MassCUE, SmartBrief, and Tech&Learning. She's been recognized as a FutureReady Schools Instructional Coach, ASCD Emerging Leader, Adobe Education Leader, PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovator, and EdSurge Columnist. Her passions include digital wellness, innovative professional learning, and effective integration of curriculum, pedagogy, and technology. She is on social media @KerryHawk02.
Carolina Giuga
Carolina is responsible for policy and regulatory issues management and public affairs across North and South America, In this role, she works internally and externally to mitigate commercial risks and create opportunities through dedicated stakeholder engagement to further support the LEGO brand reputation and corporate social responsibility efforts. Her policy focus involves responsible digital engagement, intellectual property rights, and international trade. She has a Masters in International Trade and Investment Policy from the George Washington University. Carolina is originally from Brazil, but lives in New York with her husband and son.
Alexandra Reeve Givens
Alexandra Reeve Givens is CDT's President & CEO, and an advocate for using technology to increase equality, amplify voices, and promote human rights. At CDT, Alex leads a diverse team that is putting democracy and individual rights at the center of the digital revolution.
Steve Grocki
Steven Grocki was selected to serve as Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in October 2015. Mr. Grocki first joined CEOS in 2004 and during his 15 years with the Section, has served as a Trial Attorney, Assistant Deputy Chief, Deputy Chief, and now Chief. CEOS and its High Technology Investigative Unit (HTIU) are the nation´s experts in prosecuting federal child exploitation cases, including online child exploitation crimes, extraterritorial offenders, and child sex trafficking. CEOS helps lead the Department of Justice´s efforts to continuously improve the enforcement of federal child exploitation laws by investigating and prosecuting defendants who have violated federal child exploitation laws and assisting the 94 United States Attorney Offices in investigations, trials, and appeals related to these offenses. CEOS also develops national and global policy seeking to eradicate the sexual exploitation of children, and builds national and global response capacity through training and outreach. During his tenure, Mr. Grocki has investigated and prosecuted numerous nationally and internationally significant child exploitation cases, receiving the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award on two occasions. Mr. Grocki began his legal career as a military prosecutor (Judge Advocate General (JAG)) in the United States Air Force in 1997. Despite leaving active duty in June 2004, Mr. Grocki continues to serve as a reserve officer and the Chief Reserve Military Judge for the Air Force.
Alexa Hasse
Alexa is a Research Associate on the Youth and Media team at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Brent Irvin
Brent joined Tencent in 2010. He currently oversees all legal matters, including intellectual property, litigation, privacy, compliance, and public policy. Prior to joining Tencent, he was an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, specializing in M&A and technology transactions, with a special emphasis on Internet companies. He received a JD from Stanford Law School, an MA in Asian Studies from Yale University, and a BA in History from Carleton College.
Emily Keaney
Emily Keaney is Director of Domestic Regulatory Strategy at the ICO, where she is responsible for leading the ICO's domestic strategy and policy development, including overseeing the implementation of the Age Appropriate Design Code. She was previously Director of the UK Regulators' Network, a vehicle for collaboration between thirteen regulators across the financial, utilities, transport, communications, data, legal and financial sectors. Emily has an extensive career in policy and research, including as Head of Media Literacy and Children's Research at Ofcom, the communications regulator, where she managed a large programme of insight into the ways in which adults and children use, create and understand media and the implications for policy, and in previous roles with the Communications Consumer Panel, The Arts Council and the Institute for Public Policy Research.
Josh Korn
* Denotes member of FOSI Board Josh Korn is the Director, Innovation & Technology Public Policy for Netflix, the world's leading Internet television network. Josh works with governments and industry around the world to promote policies that support a competitive, open and dynamic Internet ecosystem with vibrant choice for consumers. Josh is an expert on global protection of minors and ratings policy. His work includes leading efforts to receive approval from the Australian government to use a self-regulatory tool for classification of films and television series, a global first. Prior to joining Netflix, Mr. Korn investigated anticompetitive conduct and mergers as a part of the Telecommunications and Media Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.
Amanda Lenhart
Amanda Lenhart studies how technology affects human lives, with a special focus on families and children. A quantitative and qualitative researcher, Amanda is the Program Director, Health and Data at the Data & Society Research Institute.
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky is a social activist, a global public speaker, a Contributing Editor to Vanity Fair and producer. She advocates for a safer social media environment and addresses such topics as digital resilience, privacy, cultivating compassion, overcoming shame, and equality for women. In 2014, Lewinsky authored an essay, titled "Shame and Survival", for Vanity Fair in which she overlapped her personal experiences and cultural observations (June 2014). The piece was nominated for a National Magazine Award. In March 2015, she was a speaker at the annual TED Conference in Vancouver. Her speech, "The Price of Shame" has been viewed over 18 million times. She has also spoken at the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit and gave the Ogilvy + Inspire Lecture at Cannes Lions. For 2017's National Bullying Prevention Month, Monica created the #ClickWithCompassion campaign and released a now award-winning PSA in collaboration with BBDO New York which asked people to rethink their online behavior in an offline social experiment. "In Real Life" was trending on YouTube, has been viewed over 25 million times and was nominated for an Emmy in 2018. They collaborated again on the #DefyTheName campaign which urged people to take back control over the names with which they've been bullied. The third PSA collaboration in 2019, was "The Epidemic" – the first text interactive PSA putting the viewer in the bullying target's shoes. She is a founding board member of the Childhood Resilience Foundation and on the advisory board of Project Rockit. Monica is an Ambassador for The Diana Award's Anti-Bullying Program, as well as supporting numerous other organizations in the space.(photo credit: Damon Winter/The New York Times/Redux)
Sonia Livingstone
Sonia Livingstone DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA, is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
June Lowery
June Lowery is Head of Unit at the European Commission's Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (DG CONNECT). Her current responsibilities include policy and programme management for web accessibility, multilingualism/language technology and online safety for children. Originally from the North East of England, she has worked for the EU in Luxembourg for nearly 25 years.
Molly Ludwig
Throughout her career, Molly Ludwig has honed her qualitative research techniques and consultative capabilities to become a valued partner to her clients. In her more than twenty years with Magid, Ludwig's focus has been on the entertainment industry and she has developed relevant expertise in the areas of marketing and brand management, program development and execution, advertising effectiveness, user experience development, new media adoption and consumption, and kids. Ludwig has also conducted extensive CPG and shopper research in grocery, beverage, and apparel categories.Ludwig's breadth and depth of experience with a wide variety of audiences provides her clients with an invaluable perspective on consumerism that is applicable to any industry. Her understanding of how people from a variety of demographic backgrounds and psychographic profiles are making decisions in different areas of their lives, and how that is relevant to the question at hand, makes her research actionable.Ludwig holds a bachelor's degree from Tulane University, with honors in Communication and a minor in Psychology. As an alumna, Molly previously served on the Tulane Associate's Board of Directors and currently serves on the Tulane Dean's Council Advisory Board.
Mary Madden
Mary Madden is a veteran researcher, writer and nationally-recognized expert on privacy and technology, trends in social media use, and the impact of digital media on teens and parents.
Peder Magee
Peder Magee is a senior attorney in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection in the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection, and he works on a variety of privacy litigation and policy matters. Mr. Magee is the principal author of the March 2012 FTC Report, Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change, which sets forth the Commission's new privacy framework. He is also the principal author of the staff report on the FTC's self-regulatory principles for online behavioral 2 advertising. From September 2015 to November 2016, Peder was on detail with the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee. Peder received his J.D. from George Washington University and his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin.
Dewayne McClary
Dewayne comes to Digital Promise most recently as Director of Educational Technology and Library Programs at D.C. Public Schools, where he supervised DCPS's 1:1 pilot and roll-out and other innovation initiatives.
Julian McDougall
Julian McDougall is Professor in Media and Education, Head of the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He edits Media Practice and Education, runs the Professional Doctorate (Ed D) in Creative and Media Education at Bournemouth University and convenes the annual International Media Education Summit. In the field of media education, he is the author of a range of over 100 books, articles, chapters and research reports and has provided numerous research projects for external funders, charities and non-profit organisations including the European Union, Arts and Humanities Research Council, Samsung, the United Kingdom Literacy Association, UK Government and the US Embassy. He has given keynote speeches and joined invited expert panels on media education and media literacy in over 20 countries.
Rich McGuire
Rich McGuire has worked on a countless number of quantitative research activities in his twenty-plus years with Magid. His work has focused on branding and positioning, concept testing, ad testing, television network development, user testing, and game development.McGuire has served a diverse range of clients in cable, broadcasting, SVOD, entertainment, QSR, professional sports, gaming, and politics. Rich has extensive experience in entertainment research across all media. His work focuses on multiplatform media consumption, network branding and positioning, program evaluation and audience targeting.In addition to his research endeavors, Rich is a lead consultant for Adult Content Standards and consults in our network television practice. Rich also continues to explore generations through our work examining the Gen Z, Millennial, Generation X and Baby Boomer generations.Rich holds an M.S. in Marketing Research from the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a B.A. in Communications from Bowling Green State University.
Reggie McCrimmon
As a Senior Public Policy Associate at Twitter Reggie works directly with U.S. Congress, civil rights groups, and civil society on a variety of issues, including workforce diversity and inclusion, digital inclusion, online hate and abuse, and advertisement policy. He also supports Twitter's work on civic engagement and integrity. Previously, Reggie worked as a government relations and social impact consultant, representing clients in tech & financial services. Prior to, he spent time on Capitol Hill working for the Congressional Black Caucus and serving as president of the Congressional Black Associates.
Elizabeth Milovidov
Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov is a mom to two tech-savvy little boys, a lawyer, law professor and eSafety consultant. She is a member of the Working Group of experts on Digital Citizenship Education and an independent expert on Digital Parenting and Children and Internet for the Children's Rights Division of Council of Europe.
Julia Morgan-Canales
Hi! I'm Julia Morgan-Canales, a 16-year-old student from New York City. I am very passionate about activism and being an active ally; particularly supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, working to abolish ICE detention centers, and helping underrepresented communities in general. I interned this summer at Techonomy where I loved writing articles spreading information about activism and the power of technology and social media to enact important change.
Tessy Ojo CBE
Tessy Ojo CBE is an inspirational and creative Civil Society Leader experienced in driving change and redefining outcomes for children and young people. In 2020, Tessy was recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours with a CBE – Commander of The British Empire for her services to children and young people.
John Palfrey
John Palfrey is President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, one of the nation's largest philanthropies with assets of approximately $7 billion, and offices in Chicago, Mexico City, New Delhi, and Abuja, Nigeria.
Toni Reid
Toni Reid oversees the Alexa Experience organization. She focuses on driving feature awareness and engagement, building Alexa's personality, and maintaining customer trust, among other areas. Toni joined the Alexa team in 2014.Toni joined Amazon in 1998 as a recruiter, and has worked on several different Amazon teams, including Amazon Fresh, IMDb, and Amazon Media Group. Over the course of her career, she has helped launch several of Amazon's high-profile initiatives, such as Dash, X-ray on Amazon Video, and most recently Echo devices and Alexa. Named to Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women, Fast Company's list of Most Creative People, and the Recode 100, Toni is passionate about innovating on behalf of customers. Toni earned her bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of North Texas.
Karen Ressmeyer
Karen Ressmeyer is Director, Family Trust for Amazon Kids – the team that creates digital and hardware products for kids and families, including Amazon Kids, Amazon Kids+, Parent Dashboard, Fire Kids Edition tablets, and Echo Dot Kids Edition. Karen and her team bring decades of expertise in privacy and online trust & safety to Amazon Kids, where they work to ensure the products continue to earn the trust of families around the world. Before joining the Amazon Kids team, Karen was an associate general counsel in Amazon's legal department, where she specialized in privacy and consumer protection law. Karen has been with Amazon since 1998 and was the third attorney hired by the company. During her time as an Amazon lawyer, Karen worked as a digital pioneer in variety of areas, including children's privacy, user-generated content, third-party selling, marketing, copyright, trademarks, and domain names. Karen received her B.A. from Stanford University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Penny Richards
Penny Richards is the Managing Director of the Aspen Initiative in the UK. She has an exceptional track record of delivering change and meaningful results for international organisations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the BBC.
Stuart Rowson
Stuart is responsible for all digital platforms, including iPlayer and TV scheduling, social media and YouTube across the BBC's CBeebies and CBBC areas. It covers 30 different platforms, services and accounts for 0-6s and 6-12s. CBeebies and CBBC are the leading TV channels in the UK, while around one in four children use one of the CBeebies mobile phone apps each week, while the Newsround website is used more than a million children each week in the UK. Prior to joining Children's in 2018, Stuart was the Digital editor for BBC Sport, Europe's biggest sports website, overseeing record online and social growth across a six-year period, as well as delivering the London and Rio Olympics.
Lenore Skenazy
Lenore Skenazy is co-founder and president of Let Grow, a nonprofit promoting independence as a critical part of childhood.
Tim Sparapani
Tim Sparapani, Principal at SPQR Strategies, PLLC, is a legislative, legal and strategic consultant who helps companies understand and respond to the pressures created for businesses, consumers and governments by emerging technologies. Tim's specialties are privacy, cybersecurity, technology and constitutional law. Tim's clients are a diverse mix of industry leading companies, dynamic technology startups, and thought leading advocacy organizations.
Catherine Steiner-Adair
Catherine is a clinical psychologist and consultant, and author of the award-winning The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age. She is an expert in child development, education, and family relationships, and a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader for parents, educators, health professionals and industry leaders worldwide. She works with school leaders to develop initiatives that strengthen resilience and all the elements of wellbeing, adapting best practices in using technology while minimizing the risks it poses at school and home. Catherine was for 20+ years a Clinical Instructor and Research Associate at Harvard Medical School, and has been a resource for the media throughout her career.
Matt Stokes
Matt (he/him) is a Senior Policy Advisor at the UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). He leads the Department's work on the scope of the new online harms regulatory framework and user redress and advocacy. He joined DCMS in 2019 from global innovation foundation Nesta, where he led work on tech for good.
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee
Dr. Nicol Turner Lee writes at the intersection of technology, race, and social justice. She is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, and the founder of the AI Equity Lab. A tech policy expert and storyteller, her work has appeared in the Washington Post and New York Times, and on NBC, CNBC, NPR, and the PBS NewsHour. She has served as an adviser on technology policy issues for government agencies, including the National Academies of Sciences and the Federal Communications Commission. She received a PhD from Northwestern University, and resides in Alexandria, Virginia.
Amelia Vance
Amelia Vance is Vice President of Youth and Education Privacy at the Future of Privacy Forum. She advises policymakers, academics, companies, and schools on child and student privacy laws and best practices; oversees the website Student Privacy Compass; and convenes stakeholders to ensure the responsible use of child and student data. She is a regular speaker at education and privacy conferences in the U.S. and abroad, has testified before Congress and several state legislatures, and been invited to present for the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Trade Commission. Amelia is also an Adjunct Professor teaching privacy law at Penn State Law. At FPF, Amelia has published several resources on child and student privacy, including "Student Privacy's History of Unintended Consequences" (co-written with Casey Waughn) in the Seton Hall Legislative Journal; Teaching privacy and ethical guardrails for the AI imperative in education" (co-written with Evan Selinger) for the New South Wales Department of Education in Australia; "The Privacy and Equity Implications of Using Self-Harm Monitoring Technologies: Recommendations for Schools" (co-written with Sara Collins, Jasmine Park, Anisha Reddy, and Yasamin Sharifi) and "FAQs: Disclosing Student Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (co-written with Anisha Reddy). Amelia was previously part of the New York State Education Department Data Privacy Advisory Council and the Maryland Student Data Privacy Council, and currently serves in the OECD expert group currently drafting guidance for the new Recommendation on Children in the Digital Environment. She is regularly cited in the press, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Vice News, Marketplace, AP, NBC News, USA Today, Politico, The Atlantic, Slate, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Vox, The Tampa Bay Times, The 74 Million, and Education Week. Amelia came to FPF after serving as the Director of Education Data and Technology at the National Association of State Boards of Education. In that capacity, she provided technical assistance to over 30 states and wrote the reports "Policymaking on Education Data Privacy: Lessons Learned" and "School Surveillance: The Consequences for Equity and Privacy." Prior to that role, she was a legal fellow at the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Family Equality Council, an intern at the White House, the State Department, and the Office of Congressman Sander Levin, and a Field Organizer for the 2008 Obama campaign. Her research interests include the unintended consequences of privacy legislation; balancing child privacy with free expression and access to opportunities; how to communicate about privacy, data use, and data sharing in education; and how to build privacy guardrails around school safety measures and surveillance. Amelia is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Amelia received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School and her bachelor's degree from McDaniel College. Connect with her on Twitter @ameliaivance.
Patricia E. Vance
As president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), Pat leads the teams responsible for assigning age and content ratings to video games and apps, enforcing marketing guidelines adopted by the video game industry, and operating ESRB Privacy Certified, an FTC-approved COPPA Safe Harbor Privacy seal certification program. She also serves as founding chairperson of the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a non-profit organization that operates a ground-breaking global rating and age classification system for digitally delivered games and apps. Pat is a member of the Board of Directors for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of the interactive arts and a former Chair and long-standing Director of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI). Prior to joining the ESRB in 2002, Pat spent 18 years at Disney/ABC, with responsibility for the development of a broad range of new media and market initiatives, including the establishment of two video game joint ventures (Creative Wonders; OT Sports) and the management oversight of ABC.com, ABCNews.com, Oscar.com and Oprah.com in her capacity as Senior Vice President, General Manager of the ABC Internet Group.
Alexandria Villaseñor
At the age of 13, Alexandria Villaseñor co-founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike movement. Now, at the age of 15, Alexandria has become an internationally recognized environmental activist, public speaker, author and founder of several more initiatives, including the climate education focused non-profit, Earth Uprising International. She has addressed the Democratic National Convention, the United Nations and the World Economic Forum. She is a contributing author to All We Can Save, an anthology of women climate leaders. Alexandria is also a child petitioner for ground-breaking international complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, "Children vs. Climate Crisis" and serves on the advisory board the national climate policy think tank Evergreen Action. Recently, Alexandria was selected to the Civil Society and Youth Advisory Board for COP26 by the UNFCCC and COP26 Minister, Alok Sharma. For her work, Alexandria has received the Earth Day Network Youth Leadership Award, The Rachel Carson Environmental Justice Award, the Tribeca Film Festival "Disruptor" award and was included on Politico's top 100 people influential in climate change policy list.
Teri Weiss
Teri Weiss is EVP, Television Development for DreamWorks Animation reporting to Chief Creative Officer, Television, Peter Gal.
Gina G. Woodworth
Gina Grandinetti Woodworth is U.S. Public Policy Director for Snap Inc, a camera company that has reinvented the camera to improve the way people live and communicate. She is based in Snap's Washington DC office.
Roman
Hi I am Roman I am 12 years old. I live in Dorset in the UK with my mum, dad, younger brother and elder sister. In July and on August 24 this year I recorded, and presented a programme called My Name Is Roman, with Producer Kev Core from BBC Radio 4. With my family we talked about screen times and also I interviewed three behavioural scientists and what they think about screen times and how long children should use them for. Some of my interests include gaming, cycling and sailing.Agenda
NOVEMBER 18, 2020
8 AM
Networking & Virtual Exhibits
9 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
- Stephen Balkam, Family Online Safety Institute
- Patricia Vance, Entertainment Software Rating Board
9:15 AM
Launch of “Tools for Today’s Digital Parents” Research report
- Molly Ludwig, Magid
- Rich McGuire, Magid
9:45 AM
Plenary Panel: What the Research is Telling Us
Academic and industry experts will respond to the findings from the newest FOSI research and distill the top takeaways into a global context to inform all stakeholders. Panelists will share more details on the study, discuss how they will apply these results in their work, and consider how to integrate findings into consumer outreach to parents.
- Elizabeth Milovidov, Council of Europe; e-Enfance (Moderator)
- Ethan Arenson, Verizon
- Alexa Hasse, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University
- Molly Ludwig, Magid
10:30 AM
Break and Virtual Exhibits
10:45 AM
Plenary Panel: Building Resilience for our Kids
This year has required parents, teachers, and children to adapt their use of technology like never before. Increasingly the Internet is being used for remote working, online schooling and has become the way we’ve stayed connected socially when we must be distanced physically.This remarkable shift has underscored the importance of healthy media consumption, and building resilience in and alongside our children. Join us for this plenary panel of experts in the field.
- Amy Joyce, The Washington Post (Moderator)
- Tessy Ojo, Diana Award
- Lenore Skenazy, Let Grow
- Catherine Steiner-Adair, Clinical Psychologist
- Patricia Vance, Entertainment Software Rating Board
11:40 AM
“Creating a More Compassionate Internet” A Fireside Chat with Monica Lewinsky
NOON
Breakout Sessions
Privacy: Policy and Practice
2020 has seen intense activity in capitals around the world focused on developing privacy legislation to protect users of all ages. This year has also seen advancements in privacy practices of companies designed to give families more control over their data. This panel will discuss the current landscape of policy and practices, as well as look ahead to anticipate activities in the upcoming year.
- Tim Sparapani, SPQR Strategies (Moderator)
- Carolina Giuga, The LEGO Group
- Peder Magee, Federal Trade Commission
- Amelia Vance, Future of Privacy Forum
- Gina Woodworth, Snap Inc.
Ed Tech and Mixed Learning
Against the backdrop of an unprecedented school year, this panel will cover the challenges highlighted by distance learning, best practices in curating educational content, and the importance of creating balance when it comes to online and offline learning. Topics will include how industry and educators have adapted to virtual teaching, the importance of closing the homework gap, and programs and tools that have been most effective for educators.
- Ken Corish, South West Grid for Learning (Moderator)
- Andrea Cook, Kansas City Public Schools
- Kerry Gallagher, St. John’s Prep & ConnectSafely
- Dewayne McClary, Digital Promise
- Julian McDougall, Bournemouth University Centre for Excellence in Media Practice
International Trends and Policy
Countries around the world have taken very different approaches to confronting the challenges and opportunities presented by our ever more connected lives. This panel will invite global experts to share what has worked and what must be improved, as well best practices and plans for future activity.
- Penny Richards, Aspen UK (Moderator)
- Julia Fossi, Australian eSafety Commissioner’s Office
- Emily Keaney, UK Information Commissioner’s Office
- June Lowery-Kingston, European Commission
- Matt Stokes, UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Streaming Quality Kids’ Content
This panel will focus on the importance of producing quality content for children of all ages. Panelists will discuss the process that goes into creating content that is both engaging and educational. A key focus will be the current use of parental controls, as well as the need for innovation and adaptation of controls for streaming services. Other topics will include regulatory challenges, and the best way to develop content that appeals to a diverse group of families. ​
- Linda Simensky, PBS Kids (Moderator)
- Lindsey Emerson, HBO Max at WarnerMedia
- Josh Korn, Netflix
- Stuart Rowson, BBC Children’s
- Teri Weiss, DreamWorks Animation
1:00 PM
Break and Virtual Exhibits
1:15 PM
Antigone Davis, Facebook in Conversation with Mary Madden, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
1:45 PM
Breakout Sessions
Young People Online: Staying Safe and Having Fun
When it comes to creating policies and solutions for young people, it’s best to go straight to the source. With a group of panelists, we’ll be discussing safety and citizenship when it comes to gaming, social media, and real life.
- Tami Bhaumik, Roblox (Moderator)
- Aidan (16), Student
- Garvey (12), Student
- Roman (12), Student
Illegal Content: Prevention, Detection, and Enforcement
The challenges of investigating and apprehending criminal actors online has intensified during the pandemic. Experts will examine new trends in illegal activity, developments in investigations, and methods to engage all stakeholders in eradicating global criminal behavior.
- Julie Cordua, Thorn (Moderator)
- Iain Drennan, WeProtect
- David Gersten, US Department of Homeland Security
- Steve Grocki, US Department of Justice
- Yiota Souras, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
- Neil Walsh, UN Office on Drugs & Crime
Online Activism: Social Justice Meets Social Media
In 2020, social organizing happened online. This year in particular has seen the world change through digital movements and the power of a hashtag. This phenomenon has created a space for vast positive change, but also raises many questions around the social dynamics of our divided world which will be debated in this hour session.
- Amanda Lenhart, Data & Society (Moderator)
- Jerome Foster II, OneMillionOfUs
- Reggie McCrimmon, Twitter
- Julia Morgan-Canales, Student Activist
- Alexandria Villaseñor, Earth Uprising
Technology Innovation: Challenges and Opportunities
This panel will feature leaders from top companies as they address recent technical and strategic developments in their work to keep kids safe online. We will hear about the ways in which companies are creating and implementing their approaches to online safety and parental controls, and what they foresee as the major challenges and opportunities going forward.
- Taylor Barkley, Charles Koch Institute (Moderator)
- Tony Anscombe, ESET
- Alicia Blum-Ross, Google
- Caroline Curtin, Microsoft
- Brent Irvin, Tencent
- Lexi Peskin, The Meet Group
2:45 PM
Break and Virtual Exhibits
3:00 PM
A Conversation with Leaders from Amazon Kids and Alexa
This conversation among leaders from Amazon Kids and Alexa will share insights about how families are using Alexa, Echo, and Amazon Kids during the pandemic. The group will also discuss how Amazon approaches designing the new Alexa features for kids and parents.
- Miriam Daniel, Amazon
- Toni Reid, Amazon
- Karen Ressmeyer, Amazon
3:20 PM
Plenary Panel: Tech Policies in 2021 & Beyond
The final discussion of the day will look ahead to future policy trends and activity in the United States and around the world. What we should expect in 2021, how our new constantly online lives will be approached by policymakers and what their priorities should be.
- Sara Fischer, Axios (Moderator)
- Richard Downing, US Department of Justice
- Alexandra Givens, Center for Democracy & Technology
- Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, The Brookings Institution
4:20 PM
Preparing for Digital Parenthood: A Conversation with Sonia Livingstone and John Palfrey
- Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics & Political Science
- John Palfrey, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
4:50 PM
Closing Remarks
Stephen Balkam, Family Online Safety Institute
5:00 PM
Happy hour, networking, and exhibits
6:00 PM
Close