Our August 2016 Gyal Creating Change - Liz Lee, Co-Founder of Online SOS
/We are excited to bring you our next Gyal Creating Change Liz Lee!
Liz Lee, August 2016 Gyal Creating Change
About GCC: Gyals Creating Change is an initiative where we showcase female pioneers making an impact in their communities. Our goal is to support their work and empower you to support them too. Are you a Gyal Creating Change or know someone who is? If so, please visit our GCC page at www.gyalsnetwork.com and tell us more!
Liz is doing big things. She is currently building a nonprofit to address online harassment (www.onlineSOSnetwork.org) and recently quit her corporate job at Morgan Stanley to leverage her tech experience to broaden the conversation on online abuse while ensuring individuals experiencing harassment are able to get the help they need.
“I started Online SOS because I want people to have a professional, safe, central place to get help, after experiencing any form of online abuse - including harassment, stalking, threats of violence, impersonation hacking, and non-consensual pornography.”
Liz navigates her own experiences with online (and in-person / IRL) harassment and violence and bravely shares her experience as the greatest challenge in her personal and professional life: “Online harassment is also often misunderstood and trivialized or dismissed. But from personal experience, I deeply understand how online (and in-person) harassment and violence can have real life consequences, and how challenging it can be for anyone - even high functioning, strong-willed men and women - to return to normalcy.”
Online SOS provides crisis coaching, referrals to expert help, and donations to help pay for services. Doors are open, but the network is operating in stealth mode before their public launch this fall.
“There is an emotional and economic cost to online harassment, and unfortunately the burden falls under the person targeted. We don’t want money (or time) to be the reason people don’t seek or get the help they need.”
Online SOS has established three main initiatives:
- Online SOS Program - A pilot program to help anyone who has or is dealing with harassment with an online or digital component. The first step is to listen to the victim to determine ways to support including funding towards legal fees.
- Share your story - Online SOS iscommitted to learning about the needs of the victim no matter when the incident occured.
- Join this Online SOS Network - If you are concerned about the state of online communities, you can join the Online SOS network.
Email Liz at liz@onlineSOSnetwork.org to learn more and find ways you can help.