Will Gardner OBE

CEO, Childnet

Will Gardner is the CEO of Childnet International, a children’s charity working with others to help make the internet a great and safe place for children.

Will has worked at Childnet since 2000 and has been the CEO since 2009 and has led numerous regional, national and international projects and programmes promoting child online safety, developing many award-winning resources. For example, he led Project deSHAME, partnering with NGOs in Denmark and Hungary to focus on tackling online sexual harassment among young people. He is also a Director of the UK Safer Internet Centre, in which Childnet, working with partners the IWF and SWGfL, organises Safer Internet Day in the UK every year, a campaign that reaches over 50% of children and half of parents and carers.

He is also an Executive Board member of the UK Council for Internet Safety and founded and chairs the Early Warning Working Group of helplines, hotlines, law enforcement and government departments that meets regularly to keep up to speed with online risk and harm. He is a member of Meta’s Safety Advisory Council, Internet Matters’ Expert Group and the Advisory Board of the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

Will was awarded an OBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Year’s Honour List for his work in the field of children’s online safety.