First, sorry for the late post. I was confused between a post and a pulse. Better late then never.
James Steyer, CEO and Founder of Common Sense Media
“ Common Sense is the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. We empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives. “
One of the reasons why I investigated Common Sense Media (CSM) is because I have used their resources in my grade 1 classroom as a starting point of educating my first graders about online safety. Their material is thorough, on point, age appropriate and easily accessible. I endorse the use of CSM for educating children on how to navigate cyberspace in a responsible and safe manner.
In regards to the CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, James Steyer, he has a rich and extensive experience in the field educating children in the online arena. Apart from CSM, he is an author (Talking back to Facebook, 2012 and The Other Parent, The inside story of the media’s effect on our children) and was the chairman and CEO of a number of other organisations that deal with children and online media: JP Kids, Children Now.
I feel almost funny writing this, but James Steyer has (of course!) extensive experience in education since he taught at Stanford for 26 years on education, civil rights, and civil liberties issues as well as extensive experience working with disadvantaged children through his volunteer work in New York, East Palo Alto and Oakland. This type of experience allows him to be a national leader on issues that deal with how the online experience of children needs to be protected and how to better prepare students for this hostile environment.
I took at look at the COO and President, and Chief Education and Strategy Officer and Co-founder and the Chief Product and Technology Officer, all of whom graduated from Stanford (and hold degrees from Yale and Harvard!). Before joining CSM, Amy Guggenheim Shenkan, COO and President, was a marketing and sales executive that propeled Previewtravel.com to a stage to merge with travelocity. Her marketing experience is definitely a huge asset that has propelled CSM into three quarters of all US school (and my little international school in Hong Kong) and over 300,000 teacher members.
They boast a team of individuals with relevant experience heading each department and I am impressed by their investment to ensure that their program lines up with policy in the state of which they are focused such as the Vice President of California Policy, Vice President of Federal Policy. It now makes sense to me, have a better understanding of the leadership at Common Sense Media why their resources are so sound and well written!
