ADVISOR | ACTIVIST | SPEAKER

Tackling the intersection of ethics, tech, and democracy.

 

Yaël is a thought leader, democracy activist and strategist working with governments, tech companies, and investors focused on the intersection of ethics, tech, democracy, and policy. She has spent 20 years working around the globe as a CIA officer, a White House advisor, the Global Head of Elections Integrity Operations for political advertising at Facebook, a diplomat, a corporate social responsibility strategist at ExxonMobil, and the head of a global risk firm. Currently, she is a Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech's Digital Life Initiative, where she explores technology's effects on civil discourse and democracy and teaches a multi-university course on Tech, Media and Democracy. She has become a key voice and public advocate for transparency and accountability in tech, particularly where real-world-consequences affect democracy and societies around the world.

 

Yaël delivered a TED talk in 2020 and travels internationally as a keynote speaker at any number of venues seeking informed, inspirational women to help make sense of our world's most difficult challenges. She can be booked through the Lavin Agency. 

 

Yaël was named to Forbes' 2017 list of “40 Women to Watch Over 40”. She is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU's Center for Global Affairs, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and she provides context and analysis on national security, elections integrity, political and foreign affairs in the media. She has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Brookings Techstream, TIME, WIRED, Quartz and The Huffington Post, has appeared on CNN, BBC World News, Bloomberg News, CBS News, PBS and C-SPAN, in policy forums, and on a number of podcasts. She earned an M.A. in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

 

More than anything, she is passionate about using her background and skills to help foster reasoned, civil discourse.

 

 

Photo: On stage at Tech Open Air Berlin, 2017