Fay Johnson
Fay Johnson on the Risks of Polarization
Fay Johnson
Keynote Speaker
Director of Product, Trust and Compliance at LinkedIn. Depolarization Expert; Former Trust and Safety Product Executive at Meta, Twitter, and Nextdoor; Fellow, Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center; Founder, Deliberate Discourse
In an age where online trust and safety are of paramount importance, Fay Johnson brings over 20 years of expertise in enhancing online trust, safety, and innovation at Meta, Twitter, and Nextdoor. From her roles as an executive at nearly every major tech company, Johnson has and continues to shape how billions of people engage online.
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Fay Johnson's speaking fee: $25K - $40K
Fay Johnson is a renowned expert in fostering civil discourse and bridging divides, committed to creating highly engaging spaces that promote safety and connection, reshaping how billions of people engage with one another, both online and off.
She combines deep expertise in behavioral science with hands-on experience in product development, content moderation, and online safety to build products and implement systems that promote civil discourse, fairness, high engagement, and community trust for leading technology companies, including Meta, Twitter, and Nextdoor. She is currently a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Institute for Internet and Society, where she is conducting applied research and developing products focused on depolarization and increasing civility in online discourse.
Fay Johnson is also the founder of Deliberate Discourse™ — a framework grounded in the cognitive science of behavior change — that enables participants to have meaningful and positive conversations about contentious topics. Johnson has worked with organizations like Google, Uber, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), leveraging her skill and expertise to teach teams powerful bridging skills that create inclusive and innovative environments rooted in trust.
Fay Johnson designs systems that promote respectful interactions, fairness, and community well-being that shape engagement and online behavior. Through her powerful and entertaining presentations, Johnson empowers leaders and teams with actionable strategies to navigate polarizing issues, build stronger connections, and create cultures of high engagement that spark transformative change — making her an invaluable asset for audiences across industries looking for a speaker who delivers immediate, measurable impact.
Featured Videos
Fay Johnson
Fay Johnson on the Role of Organizations in Civil Discourse
Fay Johnson
Fay Johnson on the Risks of Polarization
Fay Johnson’s Speech Topics
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Designing for Connection: Shaping Physical, Digital, and Experiential Spaces
In an increasingly divided world, the spaces we design play a profound role in how people connect, collaborate, and build trust with one another. Whether it’s a software product, store, workplace, or event, the way environments are architected has a significant influence on behavior—they can either foster division or cultivate meaningful engagement. Fay Johnson brings wisdom and real-world experience garnered from over two decades of leveraging human-centered design principles to positively impact behavior at scale for blue-chip technology companies and award-winning healthcare institutions. This keynote delves into how thoughtful design choices can transform interactions and reduce conflict. Through personal stories and specific, science-backed tips and recommendations, Johnson walks the audience through the critical importance of welcoming the right group into an experience, setting and enforcing norms, facilitating connection, and designing for the behaviors leaders want to foster. Participants will leave with actionable strategies for designing spaces and interactions—online, offline, and everywhere in between—that engage diverse perspectives, nurture trust, and unlock opportunities for collaboration across divides.
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Bridging the Divide: Mastering the Skills of Depolarization to Turn Conflict into Connection
Polarization isn’t just a societal issue — it’s an organizational one. Workplace conflicts, team divides, and customer disputes stem from an inability to bridge differences and welcome pluralism. This talk explores how depolarization isn’t about avoiding conflict — it’s about expecting it and navigating through it skillfully. Fay Johnson shares real-world insights from twenty years of experience leading Trust and Safety teams in charge of content moderation for billions of people around the globe, training support professionals who have faced high-stakes exchanges, and facilitating in-person conversations on complex topics like race and gender. Guiding the audience through the historical context of our growing societal divides, this session explores how we can collectively strengthen our social fabric—both at home and in the workplace. Attendees will gain practical skills and actionable strategies to bridge divides, foster greater understanding, and improve communication, empowering individuals and companies to perform at their best and innovate together.
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Future-Proofing Trust: Strategic Investments in Safety, Privacy, and Ethical Innovation
Trust is the cornerstone of any successful company regardless of industry, but in today’s rapidly evolving landscape, it’s also one of the most complex assets to protect. Data breaches, misinformation, and AI ethics challenges have heightened the stakes, making proactive investment in trust, safety, and data privacy essential — not just for regulatory compliance but for building enduring customer loyalty and global credibility. Fay Johnson brings two decades of experience leading Trust and Safety and regulatory compliance at publicly traded companies in this thought-provoking keynote. She explores real-world examples and actionable approaches to preventing harm before it happens, delving into topics including algorithmic fairness, designing systems that anticipate future risks like deepfakes and emerging AI technologies, and navigating the international regulatory environment in a scalable and sustainable way. Ideal for executives ready to transform trust from a challenge into a competitive advantage, this talk equips leaders with a useful framework for balancing innovation with responsibility, positioning their companies as ethical global citizens and forward-thinking market leaders.
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Building Trust into Consumer Products: How Companies Can Earn Trust & Keep it
Trust is fragile, and earning it is just the beginning. Sustaining it requires intentional effort, a clear strategy, and a commitment to building lasting customer loyalty from day one. In this talk, Fay Johnson explores how companies can maintain trust in a world where customer expectations — and scrutiny — are higher than ever through thoughtful design and strategy. Johnson leverages over a decade of experience working on complex systems investments at publicly traded companies to bring both context and actionable insights to the stage. In this talk, Johnson shares both the psychological principles behind creating and keeping trust and compelling tactics that companies can leverage to reduce risk and build better relationships with customers. Johnson walks through how mechanisms that empower users to report issues in real time, deliver consistent and fair support, and implement independent oversight can reinforce trust. Designed for executives, product leaders, and compliance professionals, this talk provides actionable strategies for establishing enduring trust that can weather challenges and fortify long-term loyalty.
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