Yael Eisenstat
Yael D. Eisenstat | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of California, Davis (B.A.); Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (M.A.) |
| Occupation(s) | Strategist and national security specialist |
| Organization(s) | Facebook (former); Cornell Tech (current) |
Yael Eisenstat is an American national security specialist and strategist. She was a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, a National Security Advisor to former Vice President Joe Biden, and diplomat. Since 2019, she has been a Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech, focusing on technology's effects on democracy where she teaches a course on tech, media and democracy.[1] From 2017 to 2019, she was an adjunct assistant professor at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University. From June - November 2018, she was the Global Head of Elections Integrity Ops for political advertising at Facebook.[2] She has become a vocal critic of the company since leaving. Currently, she specializes in ethics, technology and policy.[3]
Education
Eisenstat holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of California, Davis and an M.A. in International Affairs and African Studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.[4]
Career
As a former CIA analyst and Foreign Service Officer, Eisenstat has worked in many different government agencies, specializing particularly on national security issues in the Middle East and Africa.[5] For nearly a decade, she has worked in counterterrorism and intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency. From 2004 to 2006, she was a Foreign Service Officer in Nairobi, Kenya, and became Senior Intelligence Officer at the National Counterterrorism Center from 2006 to 2009. In 2009, she was appointed as Special Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden in national security affairs.[6][7] One year later, she worked as an embedded analyst for the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York. Eisenstat then spent two years working at ExxonMobil in Irving, Texas from 2013 to 2015.[8]
She founded political risk firm Kilele Global in 2016[9] and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[10]
In 2017, Yaël Eisenstat was included in Forbes' list of "40 Women to Watch Over 40."[11]
From June to November 2018, Yaël Eisenstat was the global head of elections integrity ops for political advertising at Facebook.[2] She has become a vocal critic of the company since leaving.[12][13]
Since 2019, she has been Policy Advisor for the Center for Humane Technology,[14] as well as Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech's Digital Life Initiative.[15]
Media
Eisenstat has written for many major newspapers and magazines, including for the New York Times[16] and Time.[17] She has also appeared on CNN,[18] BBC, and other televised news networks.[3] She has been publicly critical of some of Facebook's activities and written outspoken pieces on the company as well as given interviews on it,[19][20] including about online voter suppression.[21]
In her articles for the New York Times and the Huffington Post, Eisenstat has criticized President Donald Trump's January 2017 speech to the Central Intelligence Agency as disrespectful and self-serving.[16][22][23]
Her TED Talk "How Facebook Profits from Polarization" was published online in August 2020.[24]
On 25 September 2020, Eisenstat was named as one of the 25 members of the "Real Facebook Oversight Board", an independent monitoring group over Facebook.[25]
See also
References
- ^ "Tech Media Democracy".
- ^ a b "Yaël Eisenstat: 'Facebook is ripe for manipulation and viral misinformation'".
- ^ a b "Yael Eisenstat". Myriad. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ "Yael Eisenstat". Forty Over 40. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ ""All-Round Badass Woman" – Yaël Eisenstat, Former CIA Analyst & Founder of Kilele". iHeart Radio. December 13, 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ "Leading global tech thinkers land in Brisbane". Technology Decisions. May 14, 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ Shin, Youjin (August 20, 2018). "Trump revoked a former CIA director's security clearance: Here's who has spoken out". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ "Trump and the Intelligence Community: The View from a Former CIA Analyst". Carnegie Council. March 13, 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ https://www.kileleglobal.com/
- ^ https://www.cfr.org/membership/roster
- ^ https://fortyover40.com/2017-honorees/yael-eisenstat
- ^ "What This CIA Veteran Learned Helping Facebook With Elections".
- ^ "I worked on political ads at Facebook. They profit by manipulating us".
- ^ "Yaël Eisenstat". Data61. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ "Digital Life Initiative team". Cornell Tech. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ a b Eisenstat, Yaël (2017-01-24). "The Shocking Affront of Donald Trump's C.I.A. Stunt". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-24. |date= |work= |accessdate=2019-01-12}}
- ^ Eisenstat, Yaël (June 17, 2016). "Former Intel. Official: American Hate Is a Bigger Threat Than Foreign Terrorism". Time. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/05/31/is-facebook-like-a-chemical-factory-polluter.cnn
- ^ Perry, Douglas (November 5, 2019). "Former CIA officer quit Facebook 'Elections Integrity' job after only 6 months, says company 'exploits our data'". Oregon Live. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ "i-worked-political-ads-facebook-they-profit-by-manipulating-us".
- ^ "How to combat online voter suppression".
- ^ Date, S.V. (January 23, 2017). "Of Course The CIA Gave Trump Standing Ovations. He Never Let Them Sit". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ Ward, Chris (July 20, 2017). "What affect is tech having on society? An interview with Yael Eisenstat". The Next web. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
- ^ https://www.ted.com/talks/yael_eisenstat_how_facebook_profits_from_polarization
- ^ https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-real-oversight-board-n1240958