Seyi Akiwowo

Seyi is the Founder and former CEO of Glitch, Europe’s leading and multi-award-winning nonprofit tackling online abuse, which she grew from a grassroots campaign into a medium-sized organisation shaping global policy and practice. Seyi played a pivotal role in influencing the UK Online Safety Act 2023, building rare cross-sector coalitions to ensure protections for women and marginalised communities were embedded in law.

A former elected politician and the youngest Black female Councillor in East London, Seyi’s leadership journey began in community organising and public service, shaped by lived experience and a deep commitment to building safer systems, online and offline. Today, her work spans advising boards, regulators, philanthropies and global brands on ethical technology, responsible media, digital citizenship and leadership under pressure.

Seyi is also the author of How to Stay Safe Online (Penguin, 2022) and a Vital Voices Global Leadership Award recipient, recognised for her global impact advancing women’s leadership and safety. Her research and thought leadership, including the landmark Digital Misogynoir Report, is cited internationally and used by institutions, universities and policymakers.

Seyi’s writing and commentary has featured in international publications such as; Glamour, Cosmopolitan, WIRED and national media, and she has delivered talks, workshops and keynotes for organisations including Lush, Ralph Lauren and global convenings across technology, culture and civil society. Seyi has served on influential advisory bodies including TikTok’s European Trust and Safety Council and Yoti’s Guardian Council, shaping safety and governance standards in digital spaces.

In 2025, Seyi made her debut keynote appearance at Cannes Lions, speaking on Responsible Media and Junk Food Metrics, and will deliver a keynote at the World Health Organization on leadership, care and digital harm. She is currently focused on reframing care as infrastructure, positioning safety, accountability and trust as core performance and leadership issues in an increasingly volatile digital world.

Seyi is available for keynotes, leadership talks and workshops across corporate, public sector, media and cultural contexts, including International Women’s Day and global leadership events.

Speaking Topics:

1. Standards of care: When online harm becomes organisational failure

Online harm is no longer a personal resilience issue – it is a governance and leadership responsibility.

In this keynote, Seyi introduces her “Risk Moments and Duty Chains” framework, helping organisations map how harm travels through systems, and where accountability, escalation and prevention must be embedded.

Audiences will leave with clear language, a practical lens for institutional responsibility, and a concrete next step for strengthening standards of care.

Ideal for: Boards, leadership teams, communications, HR, public affairs, regulators
Audience takeaway: A systems-based approach to embedding accountability and prevention into organisational practice.

2. Care as infrastructure: Why safety is a performance issue, not a wellbeing perk

This talk is to reframe care as risk management, trust-building and organisational resilience, especially in withinhigh-pressure, polarised or reputationally sensitive environments.

Ideal for: Senior leaders, people teams, insurers, professional services, public sector
Audience takeaway: Thought piece on how care protects talent, reputation and decision-making

3. Responsible media & junk food metrics: What we measure shapes what we become

Derived from click-driven outrage to AI-amplified misinformation, today’s media and marketing metrics are shaping behaviour which is often at the cost of trust and safety.
This keynote is to challenge leaders to rethink attention, accountability and responsibility, introducing “junk food metrics” and offering a healthier framework for media, platforms and brands.

Ideal for: Media, marketing, tech, brand, communications leaders
Audience takeaway: A future-facing lens on responsible influence and long-term value

4. East end London → World stages: Lessons in impactful, values-led leadership

An overview of Seyi’s personal leadership journey, from local council chambers to global policy rooms which offers a powerful blueprint for leading with integrity, courage and impact, without losing yourself to burnout or noise.

Ideal for: IWD events, leadership programmes, employee networks, education
Audience takeaway: Armed with confidence, clarity and permission to lead differently

5. Digital citizenship at work: What leaders need to know now

Seyi translates this concept into plain language, showing how everyday decisions about platforms, communication, data and behaviour shape culture, safety and democracy.

Ideal for: Cross-functional teams, education, NGOs, corporates
Audience takeaway: Practical protocols for safer, more accountable digital environments