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As a Trust and Safety practitioner specialising in child online safety and digital well-being, I’ve attended numerous conferences, but none have resonated with me as profoundly as the recent Shield Online Safety Conference. Over two exhilarating days, I connected with global experts, shared actionable insights, and left energised by the collective commitment to creating safer digital spaces for children and youth. Today, I’m thrilled to reflect on this experience—and how it reaffirmed the critical role organisations like Eveminet play in shaping healthier digital futures.  

Collaboration Jam: Turning Dialogue into Action

The highlight of my participation was co-hosting the Collaboration Jam: Healthier Digital Habits alongside the brilliant Sue Atkins. This interactive session embodied the conference’s spirit of unity and action. We posed a pivotal question: 

What can we do globally to support communities in guiding children and youth toward healthier digital habits?  

The Jam began with Sue and I sharing our perspectives on bridging generational divides. My contribution centered on empowering parents to engage authentically with their children’s digital lives. Too often, adults approach online safety with fear rather than curiosity. I emphasised the need for parents to “sit at the table” with their kids—not as enforcers, but as learners. By embracing their children’s digital fluency, parents can co-create solutions that resonate with young people’s realities.  

What followed was electrifying. Participants from 16 countries—educators, policymakers, technologists, and advocates—collaborated to draft actionable initiatives. Ideas included:  

• Global mentorship programs, pairing youth digital leaders with policymakers.  
• Cross-border toolkits to help schools integrate empathy-driven digital citizenship curriculum.  
• Parent-child co-design workshops to foster mutual understanding of online risks and opportunities.  

Shield’s commitment to advancing these ideas through year-round meetups and a post-conference live event ensures momentum. This Jam was not just talk—it was the start of scalable, inclusive action.  

Learning from Global Industry Leaders and Specialists 

The conference’s intellectual richness was staggering. Sessions like The Backbone of AI: Recognising the Role of Data Labelers challenged us to confront the human labor behind “automated” systems, while Navigating Ethical AI sparked debate on balancing innovation with accountability.  

I was particularly inspired by The Role of AI in Fostering Online Empathy and Digital Citizenship. As someone passionate about leveraging technology for good, the discussion on sentiment-aware chatbots, empathy-driven moderation tools, and gamified education platforms showcased AI’s potential to transform toxic digital spaces into arenas of respect. 

One takeaway? Technology alone is not the answer—it’s how we embed human values into its design.  

A Conference Beyond Borders 

With over 300 attendees spanning 16 countries, the event was a masterclass in global collaboration. From Kenya to Canada, Brazil to Singapore, the shared stories of challenges—cyberbullying, screen time debates, AI ethics—revealed universal truths. Yet, localised solutions emerged too. For instance, a delegate from India shared how rural communities use radio dramas to teach digital literacy—a model Eveminet could adapt for Kenya’s underserved regions.  

Why This Matters for Eveminet

As the founder of Eveminet, a leader in child online safety and digital well-being in Kenya and the East African region, this conference was invaluable. We showcased our work through conversations in developing culturally relevant educational programs and **partnering with schools to implement Online safety tools. Networking with global experts opened doors for partnerships that will amplify our impact.  

Our Expertise:

• Parent Unplugged (Child) Digital Workshops, bridging generational gaps through collaborative learning.  
• School Safety Audits, Identifying risks and co-designing solutions with students.  
• Policy Advocacy, advising governments on child-centric AI and data privacy frameworks.  
• Deploying contextual, language-sensitive systems to combat harmful content.  

The conference validated our approach on sustainable change requires values, empathy, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration.  

Final Thoughts and our  Call to Action

To every parent, educator, policymaker, or technologist reading this: The Shield Conference proved that online safety is not a solitary battle. It’s a global movement demanding shared responsibility. At Eveminet, we are proud to be at the forefront—transforming insights into action, one community at a time.  I thank Angeline Corvaglia for inviting me and organising such an amazing conference and to Andy for bringing specialists together. 

If you are  seeking a partner to navigate the complexities of digital well-being, let us collaborate. We can turn the lessons of Shield into lasting change—for Kenya, for the region, and for the world.  

Learn more about our work at our Eveminet Website or connect with us at kasina@eveminet.co.ke.

About Evelyn Kasina is the founder of Eveminet, a Trust and Safety consultancy, the founder of Eveminet I am dedicated to child online protection and digital well-being. With over 12 years of experience, I combine technical expertise with grassroots advocacy to create safer child digital ecosystems across Sub Saharan Africa.

Notably,  I am an associate lecturer at Riara University in the Faculty of Education. I run a digital parenting podcast as well as manage a digital parenting online community on Facebook with about 1.2K members. Here is my LinkedIn profile: