Tech Policy Expertise: Online safety

  • Louisa Bartolo

  • Kirsten Nelson-de Búrca

    Kirsten Nelson-de Búrca is a product policy manager at Mozilla, where she leads work on ads, age verification, and AI product launches globally – shaping how emerging technologies intersect with public interest and trust. With a background spanning global tech companies, startups, and the non-profit sector, she brings a rare blend of policy insight, operational know-how, and product expertise.

    Before joining Mozilla, she drove global digital policy engagement for a European scale-up, HelloFresh, and at Meta she launched trust & safety product lines and political advertising transparency tools in over 100 markets. She has also advised governments, political organisations, and civil society organisations (UN entities and EU institutions) on leveraging new technologies responsibly, and navigated the fast-moving fintech startup world from a regulatory risk perspective.

    A passionate advocate for responsible innovation, Kirsten speaks about the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of technology, policy, and society – with a focus on AI governance, online integrity (especially when it comes to elections, politics and social issues), and platform accountability.

  • Zoe Jay Hawkins

    Zoe is Co-Founder & Deputy Executive Director of the Tech Policy Design Institute (TPDi): Australia’s new independent non-partisan think tank dedicated to technology policy.

    Featured in the Australian Financial Review’s 2025 Women to Watch list, Zoe has experience leading international tech policy initiatives from government, big tech, academic and think tank perspectives. Zoe worked for the Australian government across communications, innovation, and foreign policy portfolios, as a ministerial adviser and in the public service. As a member of Amazon’s International Public Policy Team, Zoe drove whole of amazon digital policy initiatives and represented the company in international organisations.

    An engaging communicator, Zoe speaks internationally on tech policy issues and her work has been featured by The New York Times, TIME Magazine, The Economist, Forbes, POLITICO, and Vogue. Zoe is a Research Associate at the University of Oxford and an expert researcher for OECD.AI, having started her career at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

    Zoe is passionate about helping bring the next generation of women up behind her by role modelling confident authentic leadership and actively mentoring young women across international relations and responsible tech policy in Australia and around the world.

  • Umera Asmat Rana

    Involved in process of policy driven decisions and forming regulations at government level that shape telecom/Internet landscape in my country. I am also active on regional forums of Internet Governance including APrIGf, APSIG, ISOC islamabad Chapter and pkSIG.

    Involved in educating people on policies and reforms done to make Internet available for everyone as well as safe and protected use of Internet.

  • Varuna Mangtani

  • Verity Freeman

    Verity Freeman is an Associate in Global Counsel’s tech, media and telecoms (TMT) team. She works with clients to help shape their policy and engagement strategy across a range of issues including AI, digital competition, digital economy, online safety and public sector digitisation.

    She previously worked for political intelligence company DeHavilland where she focused on culture, media and sport policy.

  • Tayyaba Iftikhar

  • Sophie L Parker

    I’m a dual UK/US citizen with deep expertise at the intersection of technology, regulation, and public policy. I’m a strategic leader with a strong track record of advancing trust and safety initiatives, shaping digital governance, and driving global regulatory strategy. I work directly with some of the world’s largest tech platforms, giving me a clear understanding of their challenges and how they can improve online safety outcomes. I excel at building high-impact relationships across government, industry, and civil society to support safer, more accountable digital ecosystems.

    At Ofcom, the UK’s digital and communications regulator, I led the development of multi-year strategic roadmaps and external engagement strategies. I’m skilled at convening expert communities, translating complex regulatory insights into actionable frameworks, and managing high-performing, cross-functional teams. I bring a global perspective and a nuanced understanding of UK, US, and EU digital policy landscapes. I hold a Master’s in Government and Regulation and an MBA Essentials certificate from the London School of Economics.

  • Shruti Kakade

    Shruti Kakade is an Master of Data Science student at the Hertie School. Having a background in Computer engineering, she is interested in AI Ethics, Digital Governance, Responsible AI & related regulations.

  • Safyah Akhtar

    As Head of Paid Media, Safyah leads the department with a sharp focus on delivering performance-driven outcomes for our clients. With over 10 years of international experience across e-commerce, EdTech, FinTech, and non-profit sectors, she is passionate about building media strategies that maximise ROI, scale impact, and drive sustainable growth.

    Safyah brings deep expertise in paid media strategy, advanced audience targeting, and AI-driven performance marketing. She has led high-performing global teams and managed multi-million-pound budgets, with a proven track record of elevating campaign effectiveness through data-led insights, continuous optimisation, and rigorous performance measurement.

    A committed thought leader in the paid media space, Safyah closely tracks emerging trends in AI, attribution modelling, customer journey analytics, and platform innovations to ensure that her strategies are not only effective today but also future-ready.

    Outside of work, she enjoys travelling, exploring new cuisines, learning languages, and spending quality time with her children.