Joanna Hilde

Hilde is the Chairman of Tech City in London and the Chief Advisor to the UK Prime Minister for the Digital Economy. In October 2014, she was appointed as a lifelong aristocrat of the British House of Lords. She is a senior figure in the technology industry and a member of parliament, serving as Deputy Secretary of State and Internet Security Commissioner in the UK; Minister of National Security. Before serving as the chairman of the Tech City, she was the Vice President and General Manager of Facebook Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Prior to this, she served as the Managing Director of Google Europe, Russia, Middle East, and Africa. In the early stages of her career, she served as the president of AOL Public Network after acquiring Bebo website under Time Warner's AOL company. During his tenure at Bebo, Hilde served as the CEO, leading the company to grow to 50 million users and ultimately being acquired with a market value of $8.5 billion. As a representative of the UK Department of the Interior and the US Department of Justice, Hilde is currently responsible for the industry activities of the UK\/US task force to crack down on online sexual abuse of children. In 2014, she launched the WeProtect Forum to encourage the technology industry to develop innovative solutions to issues related to network abuse and exploitation. In 2013, Computer Weekly named Hilde the most influential woman in the UK IT industry, and in the same year, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK Interactive Media Association. She ranked first among the 2011 100 influencers selected by Wired Magazine and sixth among the 2012 100 influencers selected by The Guardian. In 2013, she was named one of the 100 most influential women in the UK by the BBC's Radio 4 Women's Time program. In 2014, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire on the Queen's New Year Honors List in recognition of her contributions to the digital industry and volunteering for young people. She served on the board of directors of the London Stock Exchange and was a director of the American School in London. She used to be a trustee for institutions such as the UK Save the Children Fund, the National Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse There4Me project, and the Women's Business Association established by British Prime Minister Theresa May. The WeProtect Forum is one of her important actions to bring together government, law enforcement, and industry forces to create groundbreaking solutions to protect children worldwide from cybersexual abuse and exploitation.