Our International Team.
Kirra Pendergast
Founder and Chief Strategist Safe on Social & Ctrl+Shft.
Kirra Pendergast is globally recognised as a leading independent advisor on online safety, social media, and digital risk. For more than three decades, she has worked at the intersection of technology, human behaviour, and safety. She advises governments, law firms, education institutions, police and the corporate sector across Australia, the United States, and the European Union on the real-world impacts of the digital age.
An internationally in-demand public speaker, expert witness, and educator, Kirra speaks to hundreds of thousands of parents, students, educators, and professionals each year about online harms, digital culture, AI, exploitation, and safety. Her work has included supporting complex cross-jurisdictional matters involving image-based abuse, sexual extortion, cybercrime, and human trafficking, as well as contributing to national conversations around age verification, digital governance, and child safety online.
She has contributed to national conversations around age verification laws and digital governance, provided evidence at parliamentary inquiries, and supported schools and families through some of the most confronting online safety incidents imaginable. Importantly, her work is entirely independent, allowing her to speak openly and honestly about the systems, design choices, and online harms shaping childhood, education, relationships, and human wellbeing.
Long before online safety became a global conversation, Kirra was advising government and business leaders on the risks emerging from the internet and early social media. In 2009, she founded what is widely regarded as the world’s first consulting firm dedicated solely to social media safety and digital risk management. Through Safe on Social and Ctrl+Shft, her frameworks and education programs now support more than 1,200 organisations across eight countries.
Known for translating highly complex technology into calm, practical, and deeply human guidance, Kirra has become a trusted voice for parents and educators trying to raise and protect children in a world changing faster than most adults were ever prepared for.
She lives between Italy, Australia, and the United States.
Will Anstee
CEO & Expert Speaker.​
Will is first and foremost a Dad of 3 and is passionate about protecting every child’s online sovereignty. This stems from 20+ years working in the media and creative industry across Asia-Pacific where he has seen the industry challenges around data privacy and data collection, especially from Big Tech.
His most recent role as CEO/Executive Chairman of martech start-up TotallyAwesome - a Youth-first specialist marketing and media platform focused on connecting brands with youth in a safe, relevant and effective way – further heightened his ambition to be unapologetic about making the internet not only safer for kids, but for brands engaging them. To this end, he has been deeply involved in both GDPR-K and COPPA compliance certification, and would be one of the regions most knowledgable in children’s online data privacy protection and regulations.
Will plays an active role on the Singapore Advisory Board of SGTech, a thriving ecosystem that powers Singapore to be the most trusted, tech powerhouse, globally. His business style is outcome focused and entrepreneurial. Agile in his working methodology, he is both a strategic and creative progressive thinker. A global communication expert.
Angela Fowler
Executive Assistant , Workflow Optimisation.
Angela is an experienced Executive Assistant with over 19 years supporting senior leaders and ensuring complex operations run seamlessly. She excels at managing busy schedules, coordinating communications, and handling logistics with precision, allowing teams to focus on strategic priorities. Angela is passionate about streamlining processes, improving internal workflows, and enhancing client experiences.
She is driven by creating meaningful impact, which is why she has dedicated her skills to the field of online safety. Whether managing administrative tasks or leading special projects, Angela brings focus, dedication, and that extra 1% attention to detail that turns strong results into exceptional outcomes.
Dr Pinelopi Troullinou
AI Ethics, Governance & Education Lead.
Europe
Dr Pinelopi Troullinou is an AI ethics and digital society researcher whose work examines the meeting point of technology, power, and everyday life. She helps organisations move beyond polished principles into real practice, bringing a child-centred, rights-based lens to AI governance, digital systems, and responsible design.
With a PhD on everyday surveillance and years leading European research across AI, education, misinformation, and security, she is known for cutting through empty compliance language and asking the harder questions that should be at the heart of every system. Who does this serve? Who does it fail? and what would it take to do better?
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Pinelopi is trainer, speaker and consultant and works across Europe, The United Kingdom and the Middle East. She speaks English, Greek and Italian.
Pinelopi is based in our office in Florence Italy.
Nick Marino
President, North America.
Nick Marino leads Safe on Social's North American expansion - translating Human Online Behavioral Risk into institutional adoption across education, enterprise, and government sectors.
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A seasoned growth executive, Nick has repeatedly scaled organizations from early-stage to substantial enterprise value, including growing a company from $19M to $150M.
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He brings deep expertise across revenue architecture, operational scale, partnership strategy, and executive governance. Having overseen multi-division operations, national sales organizations, and complex P&L environments, Nick specializes in converting strategic vision into structured market penetration.
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His background spans commercial enterprises, publishing, media, and national advocacy organizations, giving him fluency across corporate, regulatory, and mission-driven environments.
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At Safe on Social, Nick is responsible for:
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US go-to-market architecture.
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Institutional and enterprise partnerships.
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Revenue scalability and sales leadership build-out.
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Government and regulatory engagement positioning.
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Strategic capital and network activation.
He ensures Safe on Social's US presence is not aspirational, but operational, credible, and durable.
Madeleine West
Speaker, Educator & Advisor.
One of Australia’s most courageous voices on child protection. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse who took her abuser to court and saw him convicted, she has turned personal trauma into public action and has never stopped fighting for children.
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Through her work on Predatory and her advocacy for a public child sex offender register, she has pushed the national conversation towards accountability, prevention and reform. Her work with Safe on Social places her on the frontline of modern child protection, educating schools, parents and communities about the realities of online harm — from social media misuse, group chats and digital footprints to sextortion, deepfakes and the evolving tactics predators use to target young people.
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She also works across media, education and policy, partnering with law enforcement, educators and policymakers to protect women and children, including in rural and regional communities.
A mother of seven, she brings lived truth, national reach and zero tolerance for systems that protect perpetrators over children.
Anna Hayes
Expert Educator & Facilitator, Research Lead.
Australia & New Zealand
With over a decade of experience across classroom teaching, school leadership and national program design, Anna has seen firsthand how rapidly technology has reshaped childhood, often without the systems, safeguards or shared understanding needed to navigate these spaces safely and effectively. Anna has worked across a range of educational settings and previously served as Education Director at Code Like a Girl, a leading social enterprise dedicated to advancing gender equity in technology. In this role, she led the development and delivery of education programs across Australia, partnering with schools, community organisations and corporate stakeholders. These experiences have enabled her to build strong, authentic connections with young people and meaningfully engage them in impactful learning experiences.
Anna's key areas of expertise include:
• Online safety and digital risk management
• Social media governance and responsible use
• Digital well-being and behavioural trends
• Emerging technologies and AI awareness
She has delivered professional learning and keynote presentations across both the education and corporate sectors. Through her work with Safe on Social/Ctrl+Shft, Anna has facilitated workshops for parents, educators and thousands of students nationwide. Anna is committed to equipping young people and communities with the knowledge, confidence and practical strategies required to navigate the online world safely, responsibly and with a strong sense of agency.
