Expert Voices
Experts pointed out that it is often incorrectly assumed by parents/carers and educational professionals that because they cannot understand what young people are doing online they are unable to offer adequate support.
These videos provide expert advice for educational professionals, youth services, law enforcement agencies, policy makers, and parents/carers.
Natalie Foos
Director
Natalie Foos is the Director of VoiceBox, the international social enterprise run by young people, for young people. Through her work at VoiceBox, she wants to make sure young people have an equal seat at the table, creatively, politically and commercially. Through VoiceBox’s paid content platform, Ambassador programme and youth consultation, she is helping create spaces for young people to monetise their work and speak directly to decision-makers.
Lizzie Reeves
Senior Policy Manager
Lizzie is a Senior Policy Manager at Internet Matters where she leads on policy and research projects exploring children’s use of digital technologies. She uses insights from research to develop policy aimed at keeping children safe online.
Her experience spans policy, research and public affairs in children’s and digital policy. She joined Internet Matters from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner where she led digital and community policy, with a particular focus on violence against girls online.
Caroline Adams
Senior Project Manager
VKPP
Caroline is currently working for National policing within the Vulnerability Knowledge Practice Programme (VKPP) as a Senior Project Manager, with responsibility for leading work on the National Vulnerability Action Plan. Caroline also works with the National Policing Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce, where she leads on the police role in education.
Prior to joining the VKPP, Caroline was a police officer for 35 years, within Sussex Police. During that time she worked within neighbourhood policing, child protection, youth offending and was the head of schools policing.
Caroline then went onto to work with the NPCC lead for policing of children and young people, where she instigated a child centred policing approach which has been adopted by all forces.
Caroline was proud to receive her QPM in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services to policing.
Megan Hinton
Survivor Advocate
Megan is a survivor of Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse which she experienced aged 14. Her lived experience of abuse was met with a poor professional response which resulted in polyvictimisation and further trauma. Since 2016 has used her lived experience to raise awareness of online harms through campaigning for change to practice, policy and victim rights. She recently joined the Marie Collins Foundation as a Victim and Survivor Advocate after being an active member of their Lived Experience Group since 2021. Her work involves bringing together victims and survivors to share their firsthand knowledge of how to improve outcomes for children, young people and those on their journey to recovery.
2023 Videos
Vicki Shotbolt
Founder and CEO
Vicki Shotbolt is the founder and CEO of Parent Zone, an organisation that sits at the heart of digital family life. She set up Parent Zone in 2004 to support parents with their digital parenting. Vicki sits on the executive board of the UK Council for Internet Safety advising governments in the UK and internationally. She is the co-chair of the Digital Resilience Working Group and member of the DCMS, Media Literacy Taskforce. Vicki co-hosts Tech Shock, a podcast that looks at the impact of digital technologies on family life and unpicks the issues for parents, teachers, professionals and policymakers.
Rhiannon-Faye McDonald
Victim and Survivor Advocate
Rhiannon was the victim of a sexual predator who befriended her online when she was 13. After grooming Rhiannon online, the perpetrator went to her home to sexually abuse her and recorded the abuse with images and videos. Rhiannon was eventually able to move forward with her life and went on to study law at university and in 2019 qualified as a lawyer specialising in family law.
Since 2017 Rhiannon has been working with the Marie Collins Foundation. She shares her experience to inform children, parents and professionals, and speaks at conferences, events, training programmes and to the media.
Mark Bentley
Safeguarding and Cyber Security Lead
Mark was a secondary head of department who leads LGfL’s safeguarding and cybersecurity centres of excellence. He is passionate about keeping children safe and schools secure. He plays an active role nationally advising and developing policy in these areas and the emerging safetytech space.
Adrienne Katz
Director
Adrienne Katz, FRSA, is Director of Youthworks, focusing on young people’s digital lives and writing books, articles and reports. Adrienne developed the annual Cybersurvey, in 2008 to collect young people’s experiences of digital life. She is a member of the UKCIS Working Group on Vulnerable Children and PARTICIPATE, a multi-country research programme. Adrienne has helped develop government anti-bullying guidance in England and Wales. She is a CPD accredited trainer, currently managing the enable project: Fostering in a Digital Age, funded by Nominet. In 2018, she was awarded ‘Inspirational Individual of the Year’, by the Ben Cohen Stand Up Foundation.
Emma Hardy
Communications Director
As Communications Director for the Internet Watch Foundation, Emma directs all IWF’s communications functions with energy and enthusiasm, and ensures all communications are consistent, timely and in line with IWF’s values. She oversees reputation management, awareness raising, campaigns, media relations and the public affairs functions.
Emma started her career as a journalist, writing for a newspaper and magazine before taking internal communications and press office roles at a police force and in local government. She has a Multi-Media Journalism degree, is a qualified senior reporter and holds a Public Relations Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), where she is a Chatered Member. Emma joined IWF in April 2011.
Alan Earl
Retired Police Officer/Online Safety Consultant
Association of Adult and Child Online Safety
Spending 34 years Policing in the UK and Bermuda Alan Earl is now an Online safety specialist working (since 2004) with schools, agencies and police forces across the UK. After spending 6 years working on an Internet child abuse team, Alan was seconded to a nationally respected charity. This work included contributing to a number of leading and award winning tools such as www.360safe.org.uk created for schools and others to support online safety work. Alan was formerly a member of the Education board for CEOP (Child Exploitation Online Protection centre – NCA) for ten years and works with committees on Safeguarding Boards.