We’re excited to announce the lineup of speakers for the eighth annual INHOPE Summit, taking place at Google’s Washington, D.C. offices in 2025. This hybrid event will bring together experts from law enforcement, technology, academia, financial institutions, and child protection organisations to explore the hybridisation of digital crimes.

Get to know all speakers on day (hybrid) one below. Find out more about day two (in person only) here.

Speaker Biographies

Samantha Woolfe, INHOPE
Expanding the network of hotlines hand-in-hand with INHOPE's partners in industry, law enforcement, other civil society organisations and global institutions, in 2020 she has sometimes been at meetings on four continents in one week. At INHOPE for eight years and fighting for the online safety and protection of children for 15, she has worked at Insafe, EUN, ICMEC, advised various Ministries of Justice and FOSI, promoting digital citizenship and the protection of children from potentially harmful material online, prior to which she was a lobbyist for Political Intelligence's London office.


Emily Cashman-Kirstein, Google
Emily leads child safety public policy at Google, working to ensure that children have safer and more enriching online experiences. Before joining Google, she led the policy team at Thorn, a tech-focused nonprofit committed to ending online child sexual abuse, establishing the organisation as a sought-after policy partner and thought leader both in the United States and globally.


Professor Nuria Lorenzo-Dus, Swansea University
Nuria Lorenzo-Dus is a full Professor of Linguistics. A prolific author in the fields of digital communication and child protection, Nuria is passionate about translating rigorous, multi-disciplinary research into innovative, ethical technology that supports frontline practice against child sexual exploitation and abuse. She is the founding director of DRAGON (Developing Resistance Against Grooming ONline) and the HAPPY (Harm Prevention and Protection of Youth) Lab at, respectively, Swansea University (UK) and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain).


Leonardo Real, Tether
Leonardo Real is the Chief Compliance Officer for Tether. In this role, Leonardo is tasked with overseeing Tether’s Anti-money Laundering, Regulatory Compliance, and External Investigations programs. Leonardo previously held roles in consulting and AML compliance in Canada's Big 5 banks.


Bjorn Ihler, Revontulet
Bjørn Ihler is the co-founder and director of the Khalifa Ihler Institute and founder and CEO of Revontulet. Ihler is an internationally renowned researcher and expert in countering and preventing radicalisation into violent extremism by building healthier communities on and off-line. The key focus of his research and work in recent years has been on transnational extremist movements and their modes of communication. This work has been vital in developing a shared understanding of the global threat landscape and informing national and international policy and practice regulating technology, online content and harms while focusing on the impact this may have on human rights.


Staca Shehan, NCMEC
Staca joined the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in 1999 and is the Vice President of the Analytical Services Division. She is responsible for NCMEC's use of analysis to develop intel supporting law enforcement on cases involving missing and abducted children, attempted abductions of children, child sex trafficking, and noncompliant sex offenders. In 2011 Ms. Shehan spearheaded the creation of a dedicated Child Sex Trafficking Team at NCMEC, rising to meet the demands of this evolving threat.


Steve Grocki, DOJ
Steve Grocki was selected to serve as Chief of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in October 2015. In April 2023, Mr. Grocki was appointed as the Department’s National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Interdiction and Prevention. Mr. Grocki first joined CEOS in 2004 and during his 19 years with the Section, has served as a Trial Attorney, Assistant Deputy Chief, Deputy Chief, and now Chief.


Abby Roberts, INHOPE
Abby Roberts is a Project Manager at INHOPE, where she has spent six years advancing online safety through capacity building, advocacy, and legislative harmonisation. She leads hotline development under the Better Internet for Kids programme and manages the Global Standard Project. Previously, she worked in international law and advocacy with a pro-bono law firm, a refugee non-profit, and a litigation firm. She holds an LL.M. from VU Amsterdam and a B.A. from Carthage College.


Sean Litton, Technology Coalition
Sean Litton is the President and CEO of the Tech Coalition (TC), the organisation leading the tech industry's fight against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children with over 30 member tech companies committed to the fight. Sean has worked on the front line of child protection for over 20 years, serving as the Global President of the International Justice Mission before joining the TC in 2021. Passionately committed to protecting children, Sean focuses his and the Tech Coalition's efforts on achieving tangible results to reduce the prevalence of abuse and safeguard children looking to enjoy the same online tools and services we all use to connect, share, and learn.


Brian Herrick, Thorn
Brian joined Thorn in 2024 as their Vice President of Child Victim Identification. Thorn's mission is to transform how children are protected from sexual abuse and exploitation in the digital age. Prior to his role at Thorn, Brian was Senior Director of Information Security at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where he led cyber defense and investigative efforts. In 2022, Brian retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia field office. At FBIHQ, Brian led the FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking section, where he focused on the development and adoption of technology solutions to address critical threats to vulnerable populations.


Tyler Hand, Block Inc.
Tyler serves as the Chief Compliance Officer at Block Inc. Previously, he led compliance for Block's Cash App, overseeing critical programs in anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, economic sanctions, and consumer protection. Before joining Block, Hand was Chief Compliance Officer at Western Union, where he successfully managed the company's regulatory compliance remediation efforts. His experience also includes serving in the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), where he held positions as Assistant Chief Counsel for Designations and Enforcement and Acting Director for Enforcement.


Jun Young Ro, VRChat
Jun is the Director of Trust & Safety at VRChat and advisor for an AI startup Liner AI. Jun previously worked as the VP of Global Affairs at NAVER Z (ZEPETO), Trust and Safety leader at Google and TikTok, financial crime investigations manager at BNP Paribas & JPMorgan Chase, and intelligence analyst at the Department of Homeland Security. He received his master's in criminology, Law, and Society from the University of California Irvine, and bachelor's in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Maryland, College Park. Jun is serving as a board member for Selective Service System of the US, and served as a board chair for a non-profit, Safe from Online Sex Abuse.


Juliet Shen, Roost
Head of Product at ROOST and former Trust & Safety product leader at Snapchat, Grindr, and Google, Juliet has developed innovative child safety solutions across major platforms. Juliet co-chaired the Technology Coalition's Tech Innovation working group and was instrumental in launching Project Lantern, the first cross-platform child safety signal sharing program. She currently serves on leadership councils advancing trust and safety tools and methodologies and as the co-chair for the Tooling Research Committee for the Trust & Safety Foundation.


Frances McAuley, Resolver Trust & Safety
Frances is a Director of Product in Resolver's Trust & Safety Division. Resolver work globally to provide critical intelligence services to create safer online spaces. Frances drives the strategy of Resolver's intelligence capabilities and has extensive experience in delivering capabilities that fuse intelligence sources to enable actor and network centric operations within and across organisations. Before joining Resolver, Frances spent 15 years working in National Security in the UK and Middle East, and two years in Anti-Human Trafficking in Financial Services.


Mick Moran, Hotline.ie
Mick Moran is the CEO of the Irish Internet Hotline. He took this role after over 30 years in law enforcement at local, national and international level. He is also a teacher in Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) at the CSI University College Dublin.


Gavin Sather, Binance
Gavin Sather is the former lead Cryptocurrency Investigator with the Calgary Police Service, where he led complex cryptocurrency investigations and collaborated with agencies such as Homeland Security, the FBI, and Europol. He also trained law enforcement professionals nationwide in blockchain analytics and cryptocurrency investigations. Since March 2024, Gavin has been an Investigator at Binance, focusing on detecting and reporting suspicious financial activities related to child exploitation on the platform.


Joseph Mari, Scotiabank
As the Director at Scotiabank's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Joseph oversees investigatory operations for capital markets, major investigations, and transaction monitoring. Mr. Mari also serves as the Director of External Partnerships in the Financial Crimes Risk Management Division forging strategic alliances to advance sustainability initiatives. Mr. Mari leads industry-wide anti-sex trafficking and child exploitation partnerships, collaborating with esteemed organizations like the US State Department and the Vatican. Recipient of a 2019 Community Member Award, he's recognized as a subject matter expert by OSCE and featured in Forbes, CBC, and Coindesk.


Carolina Christofoletti, TRM Labs
Carolina is the CSAM Threat Intelligence Lead at TRM Labs, where she leads the development of intelligence frameworks to identify and disrupt the financial infrastructure behind CSAM networks. With over seven years of specialised experience in CSAM investigations, she focuses on offender behavior, cryptocurrency typologies, and hidden abuse ecosystems. She holds a master's degree in criminal Compliance from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, a master's degree in Cybercrime from the Universidad of Nebrija, and a Bachelor of Law with Honours from the University of São Paulo.


Carolina Piñeros, RedPapaz Colombia
Carolina is an Industrial engineer with a postgraduate degree in Personal and Family Development. She co-founded Red PaPaz in 2003 and has served as its Executive Director ever since. Under her leadership, Red PaPaz launched Te Protejo, the first Spanish-speaking hotline in Latin America to join INHOPE, and established Viguías, the region's first Safer Internet Center. Both initiatives strengthen child protection and are expanding across Latin America, enhancing adult and institutional capacities to safeguard children's rights.


Daniela Calvillo, Fundación PAS
Daniela has a degree in International Relations from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. She completed the PAS Foundation Diploma in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention and the Diploma in Human Rights for Children and Adolescents, taught by the Jalisco Human Rights Commission. For the past eight years, she has been the General Manager of International Relations at the PAS Foundation, and for the past five years, she has been the Director of the Te Protejo México Hotline.


Martyna Rozycka, NASK
Martyna Rozycka, has led the Dyżurnet.pl team at Polish CSIRT NASK since 2015. She serves on the board of INHOPE. Her work focuses on online child safety, awareness-raising, and the development of AI tools for detecting illegal content. She holds an MBA in Digital Transformation.


Lauren Coffren, NCMEC
Lauren Coffren serves as the Executive Director of the Exploited Children Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) in Alexandria, Virginia, and has been with NCMEC since 2006. Ms. Coffren oversees the daily operations of the CyberTipline, the Child Victim Identification Program and the Notice Tracking Program. In addition, Ms. Coffren started the CSAM Survivor Services Program working to improve the response to survivors of CSAM.


Commissioner Filipe Batiwale, Online Safety Commission, Fiji
Filipe Batiwale serves as Commissioner for Fiji's Online Safety Commission since February 2025. With eight years of specialized experience in commercial law, cyber law, and digital asset protection, he leads efforts to create a safer internet environment. Batiwale focuses on implementing the Online Safety Act through collaborative stakeholder engagement, promoting accountability, education, and responsible online interactions while protecting digital rights for all users across Fiji's online landscape.


Arda Gerkens, ATKM
Arda Gerkens’ political and professional career reflect a strong commitment to protecting fundamental rights while safeguarding citizens, especially minors, against online exploitation and radicalisation. Before her appointment at ATKM, she served as President of the Dutch Safer Internet Centre including the hotline for child sexual abuse material, where she worked closely with national and international partners to combat the proliferation of CSAM. From 2002 to 2010, she was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, where she focused on ICT, digital rights, and social policy. From 2013 to 2023 she was Vice President of the Senate.


Patrick Goodliffe, Coimisiún na Meán's
Patrick Goodliffe is a Senior Manager in Coimisiún na Meán's Online Safety and Illegal Harms team. As Ireland's media regulator, An Coimisiún's mission is to regulate, support and develop a media landscape which underpins fundamental rights and fosters an open, democratic and pluralistic society. Patrick is responsible for developing and implementing the Commission's strategy to reduce public safety harms, including Terrorism and CSAEM. Patrick has been responsible for the designation of video-sharing platforms based in Ireland and making the Commission’s Online Safety Code legally binding on those services.


Robbert Hoving, INHOPE/Offlimits
President of the Board of INHOPE, as well as the President of Offlimits, an organisation that not only includes the hotline and helpline of the Safer Internet Center in the Netherlands but also works to prevent child sexual abuse with Stop it Now. Before this, he worked for the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children, the Public Prosecutor's Service, and started his career in the international hospitality industry.


Don’t miss your chance to hear from our expert day one speakers by joining the hybrid sessions online from anywhere in the world. Register now to secure your virtual place. Want to join in person in Washington, D.C.? Act fast! Only a handful of spots are still available & they are filling up fast. Register to join in person. Explore all speakers on day two here.