Governance Architect:

Seyi Akiwowo (pronounced Shay-yee Aki-wo-wo) is a globally recognised leader in technology governance, digital trust and safety, and democratic accountability.

Over the past decade, she has helped mainstream the global conversation on online gender-based violence, reframing digital harm not as an issue of individual resilience, but as a matter of institutional duty of care and systemic accountability. She is currently leading a global mission to train one million movement leaders in online safety by 2030 through a scalable train-the-trainer accelerator model, enabling trusted partners to embed protective systems within their own communities and networks.

Her leadership began in public service. In 2014, she became the youngest Black female Councillor in East London at age 23, shortly after graduating from the London School of Economics. After delivering a speech at the European Parliament that went viral, she was subjected to severe coordinated online abuse. In seeking redress, she encountered the structural and cultural barriers women, particularly Black women, face when reporting digital harm. Rather than retreat, she responded.

In 2017, she founded Glitch to hold technology companies and governments accountable for ending online abuse and to empower a generation of digital citizens. What began as a grassroots campaign, “Fix the Glitch,” grew into Europe’s leading nonprofit tackling online abuse. Under her leadership, Glitch mobilised sectors that had rarely collaborated :technology companies, policymakers, civil society and media, around a shared responsibility for online safety.

Beyond policy advocacy, Seyi prioritised practical capability-building. Through workshops, training programmes, digital self-care resources and institutional toolkits, she has trained and equipped thousands of women leaders, activists, educators, charity professionals and corporate teams around the world to navigate online harm, mitigate digital risk and strengthen organisational safeguarding. Her work bridges lived experience with practical systems design, ensuring safety is embedded in everyday practice – not treated as an afterthought.

Her influence helped shift the UK’s approach to digital harm by embedding a duty-of-care lens into national debate and contributing to policy conversations that informed the UK Online Safety Act 2023. She has advised global platforms including TikTok, Yoti and Pinterest, served on European Trust and Safety Councils, and contributed to cross-sector regulatory discussions on content moderation, platform accountability and safety-by-design. Her expertise translates emerging regulation into operational governance frameworks that institutions can implement.

Internationally, her thought leadership has informed trust and safety strategies, digital citizenship frameworks and governance conversations in more than 20 countries. She has spoken and advised at the United Nations, OECD, European Parliament, Google New York and national parliaments across Africa and Europe, and has partnered with institutions including the British Council, Westminster Foundation for Democracy and UNESCO. Across these engagements, she has consistently centred the protection of women leaders, marginalised communities and young people navigating increasingly complex digital ecosystems.

Today, Seyi operates as a strategic advisor and systems architect, building what she calls Standards of Care: governance frameworks, risk maps and capability programmes that help institutions move from reactive crisis response to proactive duty-of-care infrastructure. 

A TEDxLondon speaker, UN Goalkeeper and former Knight Fellow at George Washington University, Seyi has received international recognition including Amnesty International Human Rights Defender, Marie Claire Future Shaper, Digital Leader of the Year and WIRED Changemaker. Her work continues to bridge movements, influence governance systems and redefine what institutional responsibility looks like in a digital age.