Speaker #1:
Talia Cole, Founder + Chief Executive Officer
Media Savvy Teens
Talia Cole is a high school student, nonprofit founder, and emerging public policy researcher with a strong focus on media literacy, artificial intelligence, and civic engagement. She is the founder of Media Savvy Teens, a youth-led nonprofit dedicated to digital literacy and online safety, and the creator of Public Policy with Talia, a platform that makes complex policy issues and current events accessible to young audiences. Her academic interests include technology regulation, national security, and the ethical challenges posed by AI-driven misinformation. Actively involved in law, journalism, and advocacy, Talia is driven by a commitment to informed civic participation and hopes to pursue a future at the intersection of public policy, technology, and public service.
Speaker #2:
Imran Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer
Center for Countering Digital Hate
Imran Ahmed is the founding CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate. He is a recognized authority on the social and psychological dynamics of social media, as well as what goes wrong in those spaces, such as trolling, identity-based hate, misinformation, conspiracy theories, modern extremism and fake news. He regularly features in the media as an expert in online malignant behaviour and how bad actors use digital spaces to harm others and benefit themselves. Imran is a trustee of the UK charity, Victim Support. He advises politicians in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere on policy and legislation. Imran was raised in Manchester, England. He holds an MA in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge. Imran lives in Washington, DC.
Speaker #3:
Benjamin Cole, Mathematics major with a minor in Computer Science
Princeton University
Talia Cole is a high school student and nonprofit founder passionate about public policy, media literacy, and civic engagement. She is the founder of Media Savvy Teens, where she works to educate young people about misinformation and digital safety, and runs Public Policy with Talia, a platform focused on making policy issues accessible to students. Talia is involved in journalism, law, and research initiatives, and is especially interested in the intersection of technology, democracy, and youth engagement.
Speaker #4:
Steve Colman
Senior IT Professional & Cybersecurity Specialist
I’m a parent of three and originally from the UK, but I’ve been living in the U.S. for about 15 years. Over the past 25+ years, I’ve worked across a wide range of IT roles, gaining hands-on experience in hardware, software, networking, infrastructure, and systems architecture, which has given me a well-rounded and practical understanding of technology from the ground up. In recent years, I’ve shifted my focus toward cyber security and artificial intelligence, a transition I’ve found especially exciting, as it allows me to stay on the cutting edge, tackle complex and evolving challenges, and continually learn in fast-moving fields that I genuinely enjoy.
Media Savvy Teens 