Past Events

Wait, Who Decided I Was in Charge? – Leadership for T&S

Please join us for an engaging and honest conversation about leadership in and for trust and safety. Moderated by TSPA Executive Director Charlotte Willner and featuring Rolando Vega, Cathryn Weems, Paul Snyder, and Juliet Shen, this discussion will focus on the panelists’ leadership experiences in T&S across legal, operations, product, and policy as well as elicit their perspectives about current issues (for example, trauma-informed leadership) for T&S leaders. This virtual event is open to everyone; registration is required.

From NGOs to T&S: A Virtual Panel

Join us for a panel discussion about transitioning from working for a non-governmental organization (NGO) to trust and safety with guests Laura Randall, Child Safety Lead, Liz Hegarty, Teen Safety Policy Manager, and Paola Maggiorotto, Trust and Safety Process Director and host, TSPA Director of Organizational Development, Kaofeng Lee. In addition to sharing their career journeys, panelists will reflect on what they learned working with NGOs that prepared them for T&S roles. Panelists will also speak about when and how they collaborate with NGOs in their current roles and what we, as a community, can do to best facilitate continued collaborations between NGOs and T&S teams.

Austin, TX Meet & Greet

Calling all T&S professionals in the Austin, TX area! TSPA is hosting our next Meet and Greet in Austin, TX. at Tillery Kitchen and Bar (3201 E. Cesar Chavez, Austin, TX 78702) on Saturday, March 11 from 5:30-7:30 PM. Come for the networking and stay for the light refreshments and cocktails. 

This community event is for TSPA members who are T&S professionals and students only (this event is not for affiliate members), and registration is required to attend; please do not register others or bring guests. You can find the registration access code in the TSPA Member Portal or the TSPA Slack Community Workspace.

Washington, DC Meet & Greet

Calling all T&S professionals in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Northern Virginia) area! TSPA is hosting our next Meet and Greet in Washington, DC. at Bar Deco (717 6th St NW, Washington, DC 20001) on Wednesday, February 22 from 6-8 PM. Come for the networking and stay for the light refreshments and cocktails. 

This community event is for TSPA members who are T&S professionals and students only (this event is not for affiliate members), and registration is required to attend; please do not register others or bring guests. You can find the registration access code in the TSPA Member Portal or the TSPA Slack Community Workspace.

Careers in T&S AMA – February 2023

Join us for our special Valentine’s Day edition of the “Ask Me Anything” session about working in trust and safety. The T&S field is hot, and companies are hiring! But how do you know if you have the right experience or qualifications? What’s it like working in trust and safety, and actually—what does “trust and safety” even mean? This virtual event is open to everyone and features TSPA advisor Jerrel Petersen and TSPA community members Michelle Toborowski and Harsha Bhatlapenumarthy who will answer questions based on their years of experience as T&S professionals. Registration is required.

Jerrel Peterson has spent his career leveraging research and strategic partnerships to address complex social and political issues. He is currently a Director on the Trust & Safety team at Spotify and previously served as the Head of Safety Policy for Twitter. He worked cross-functionally to resolve dozens of high-profile cases weekly, drive the development of policies, processes, and tools, and communicate Twitter’s content policies clearly and objectively to internal and external stakeholders. Prior to Twitter, Jerrel worked in public policy at the state and federal level and also spent a few years providing direct services to various marginalized communities within the U.S.

Michelle Toborowski started her career with over a decade as an analyst in the U.S. government, doing geopolitical analysis and profiling global political leaders. She brought her dedication to serving the public to Trust and Safety by joining the YouTube Intelligence Desk in 2019, covering geopolitical cross-platform risks and online harms particularly in the harmful & dangerous and graphic violence topics. She currently works on Roblox’s Moderation Intelligence Team, which is focused on finding and removing dedicated malicious actors from the platform. She is passionate about building strong and communicative teams, developing rigorous analytic processes in T&S intelligence teams, and mentoring newer T&S professionals.

Harsha spent the majority of her career working in trust and safety in India, Ireland, and now in the US. She is currently working on the Governance team at Meta, leading programs focusing on the growth and efficiency of the Oversight Board. As a volunteer at TSPA, she is also leading the roadmap to develop and democratize the trust and safety curriculum. In the last ten years, she led multiple programs to operationalize policies and scale enforcement, developed strategies and influenced product and policy direction to ensure user safety and combat online harms such as adult sexual exploitation, fraud, scams, and misinformation.

That Escalated Quickly: What It’s Like to Work in Trust & Safety – January Conversation

Trust and Safety is a vast field, with various functions and responsibilities. A T&S professional could be moderating content, writing policy, building products, responding to government requests, measuring quality assurance, and doing so much more. Those who work in T&S also come from diverse backgrounds.

In this series, TSPA brings to you fireside chats with TSPA members about their careers. We’ll explore the diversity and breadth of those doing this work. We’ll talk about what they do, how they got into trust and safety, and what advice they would give to those wanting to do the same thing they do.

January host and guest: Dali Szostak & Chanell Daniels

That Escalated Quickly: What It’s Like to Work in Trust & Safety – December Conversation

Trust and Safety is a vast field, with various functions and responsibilities. A T&S professional could be moderating content, writing policy, building products, responding to government requests, measuring quality assurance, and doing so much more. Those who work in T&S also come from diverse backgrounds.

In this series, TSPA brings to you fireside chats with TSPA members about their careers. We’ll explore the diversity and breadth of those doing this work. We’ll talk about what they do, how they got into trust and safety, and what advice they would give to those wanting to do the same thing they do.

December host and guest: Pia Shah & Fadzai Madzingira

Los Angeles Meet & Greet

Calling all T&S professionals in the Los Angeles area! TSPA is hosting our first Meet and Greet in L.A. at Bar Bohemien (2nd floor at Citizen Public Market) in Culver City on Thursday, November 17 from 6-8 PM. Come for the networking and stay for the light refreshments and cocktails. Please note: This members-only event is for current T&S professionals and students interested in careers in T&S. Registration is required. The registration access code is available via the TSPA Member Portal and the TSPA Slack Workspace.

From Academia to T&S

Join us for a panel discussion about transitioning from academia to trust and safety with guests Lindsay Blackwell, Aaron Jiang, and Kat Lo. Lindsay is the Head of Trust & Safety at Sidechat, Aaron is a Quantitative Researcher on the Central Integrity team at Meta, and Kat is a Content Moderation Lead at Meedan. In addition to sharing their career journeys, panelists will reflect on myths, presumptions, or pitfalls that academics may have relating to T&S and what T&S professionals should know about academic research. Panelists will also speak to how they collaborate with academics and what we, as a community, can do to best facilitate continued collaborations. Open to everyone. Registration required.