Elissa Shevinsky facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elissa Shevinsky
Born	Elissa Beth Shevinsky New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Williams College, CUNY Baruch College School of Business,
Occupation	Author, entrepreneur, cybersecurity expert
Years active	1999–present

Elissa Shevinsky is an American expert in technology. She is an entrepreneur, which means she starts new businesses. She is also a cybersecurity expert, helping to keep computer systems safe. Elissa is a public speaker and an author. She believes it's important to have more women and different kinds of people in technology. This helps make the tech world fairer and more welcoming for everyone. She points out that women have always been important in computer and internet history.

Education and Learning

Elissa Shevinsky went to Benjamin Cardozo High School. After that, she studied Political Theory at Williams College. She also took classes in Computer Science there. She finished her studies in 2001.

What She Does

Elissa Shevinsky has helped start many companies. Not all of them became big successes.

In 2010, she had to defend her company, Neighborhoodies. This was because they used an old newspaper logo on T-shirts. Elissa argued that the logo's owner no longer used its trademark.

In 2012, she created two dating websites focused on New York City. These were called MakeOut Labs and JoinJspot.

Working with Secure Apps

In 2013, Elissa co-founded Glimpse. This was an app for sharing photos and videos securely. She was the chief executive, or CEO, of Glimpse. She later left the company.

In 2015, Elissa started JeKuDo Privacy Company. This company got funding from MACH37. She also helped organize SecretCon, a conference about information security. That same year, she edited a book called Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Start-up Culture.

In 2016, Elissa Shevinsky joined Brave. Brave is a web browser. She became the Head of Product there. By 2019, Elissa was the CEO of Faster Than Light. This is a company focused on cybersecurity.

Standing Up for Fairness

Elissa Shevinsky is also known for speaking out against unfair treatment in the tech world. In 2015, she wrote about mean comments and online bullying. She said, "I'd like to see less harassment. That's my position. Less harassment, for everyone. I do hope this isn't a controversial statement."

When someone was fired from Google, Elissa said that talking badly about people's skills based on their race or gender could be against the law. This law is called Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. It stops unfair treatment in jobs based on things like race or gender.

She also spoke about unfair treatment at Uber in 2017. This was after a woman named Susan Fowler shared her experiences there. In 2018, Elissa was a Press Lead for the HOPE conference in New York City. She asked for stronger rules to make sure everyone was treated well.

Awards and Recognition

The book Elissa edited, Lean Out: The Struggle for Gender Equality in Tech and Start-up Culture, was recognized. Inc. Magazine listed it as one of the 100 best business books of 2015.

In 2018, her old college, Williams College, named her "Woman of the Decade." In her speech, she said she wanted to help lead the way in protecting people's privacy for the next ten years.

What She Has Written

• Shevinsky, Elissa. "Why the US government must lose cryptowars 2.0." The Christian Science Monitor, July 23, 2015.

Movies She's Been In

Elissa Shevinsky appears in a documentary film called CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap. She is also in another documentary called Silenced.