Business and government action to end digital violence against women and girls

Please join us on Monday 24 November 5:00-6:30pm to mark the UN Women 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence campaign, which runs from 25 November to 10 December each year. The theme of this year's campaign is "UNiTE to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls". Our speakers will dive into the role of business and government in ending digital violence against women and girls.

This is a hybrid event. You can join us at Harvard Kennedy School in Littaeur 130 Bolton Classroom or on Zoom (Zoom link here).

Our guest speaker panel includes:

• Seyi Akiwowo: Seyi Akiwowo is an international award-winning leader in responsible technology, democracy, and digital citizenship. She is Managing Partner at 21/20 Studios, a strategy and innovation hub developing systemic approaches to online safety and digital democracy, and an equity partner at WeLivedIt.AI, where she helps build tools tackling online misogyny and harmful digital design.A former politician and founder of Glitch, the UK nonprofit combating online abuse, Seyi has advised global platforms and influenced major policy, including the UK’s Online Safety Act (2023). Her work bridges government, tech, and grassroots communities to build safer and more equitable digital spaces. Her leadership has been recognised by the UN, Amnesty International, WIRED, and the Government of Finland, and she has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and WIRED. 
• Bradley Myles: Bradley Myles is the Senior Advisor for Innovation at Panorama Global, where he leads partnerships and creative strategies addressing social impact challenges, including tech-facilitated gender-based violence through initiatives like The Reclaim Coalition working on image-based sexual violence. Previously, he was the founding CEO of Polaris, launching the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline and building one of the country’s leading anti-trafficking organizations. Bradley continues to advise global efforts to end human trafficking, child exploitation, and gender-based violence.
• Catherine Fitzpatrick: Catherine Fitzpatrick is a social entrepreneur and global pioneer of financial safety by design. A former bank executive, she led industry-wide reforms after exposing abuse in online banking transactions. Her Designed to Disrupt® reports and #respectandprotect campaign have mobilized 60+ Australian corporates across 12 sectors to take action on financial abuse. She advises financial institutions, governments and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, serves as Adjunct Associate Professor at UNSW, and co-founded the One Generation business alliance against domestic and family violence.
• Theodora Skeadas (MPP '16): Theodora Skeadas works as Community Policy Manager at DoorDash. In addition, Theodora is Head of Red Teaming at Humane Intelligence, a nonprofit committed to improving the safety of generative AI systems. She is also a Strategic Advisor for Technology Policy at All Tech Is Human and a member of the Board of Directors for Integrity Institute. Previously, Theodora worked on Twitter’s global Public Policy team, focusing on human rights, disinformation, content moderation, child exploitation, and managing the company’s Trust and Safety Council. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Applied Philosophy at King’s College London, exploring ethical responses to online harms and the governance of emerging technologies.

This event is student-led in collaboration by student organizations at Harvard Kennedy School including the Australia & New Zealand Caucus, AI & Tech Policy Caucus, Safety & Justice PIC, and the Child Protection Caucus. It is supported by the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School.

If you have any questions about the event, please don't hesitate to reach out over email to Carina Stone (carinastone@hks.harvard.edu).