Shari Steele

Shari Steele
Shari Steele
Education	Widener University School of Law (J.D.); Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M.); West Chester University (M.S.);
Employers	Electronic Frontier Foundation (1992–2015); The Tor Project (2015–2019);
Known for	Digital rights activism
Spouse	Bill Vass

Shari Steele is a technologist, lawyer, and activist for digital freedom. She worked for the Electronic Frontier Foundation as the legal director and then executive director, as well as at The Tor Project as the executive director.^[1]

Career

Steele joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) as a staff attorney in 1992. She later became the legal director, a position she held for eight years before she became the EFF's executive director in 2000.^[2] Steele helped to grow the EFF from a small team of lawyers to a much larger organization known for its involvement in legal disputes involving digital rights, including challenges to broad digital surveillance practices by the National Security Agency (NSA) and to the United States government's use of National Security Letters.^[3]

Although she had intended to retire when she left the EFF, she instead decided to take a position as the executive director of the Tor Project in 2015, which she held until the end of 2019.^[4] She is known for her work at The Tor Project to make the organization more inclusive, as well as for guiding the organization through a major scandal involving accusations of sexual assault against Jacob Appelbaum, a Tor employee and activist.^[5]

Life and education

Steele earned her law degree from Widener University School of Law. She later earned an LL.M. degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where she also worked as a teaching fellow. Steele also has a master's degree in Instructional Media, which she earned from West Chester University.^[6]

Steele is married to Bill Vass, the vice president of engineering at Amazon Web Services.^[7]

References

^ Scoles, Sarah (January 22, 2019). "Before She Tackled How to Keep People Safe on the Web, Shari Steele Had to Tackle Harassment at Tor". Pacific Standard. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
^ "Shari Steele: A Legacy of Digital Rights". Electronic Frontier Foundation. April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
^ Zetter, Kim (December 11, 2015). "Tor Hires a New Leader to Help It Combat the War on Privacy". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
^ O'Neill, Patrick Howell (February 22, 2018). "Shari Steele, Tor executive director, to step down at end of year". CyberScoop. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
^ Brandom, Russell (February 2, 2018). "Tor director Shari Steele will step down at the end of the year". The Verge. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
^ "Shari Steele". Electronic Frontier Foundation. October 7, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
^ Turton, William (February 16, 2016). "How Shari Steele aims to take the Tor Project mainstream". The Daily Dot. Retrieved April 5, 2020.

[1] Scoles, Sarah (January 22, 2019). "Before She Tackled How to Keep People Safe on the Web, Shari Steele Had to Tackle Harassment at Tor". Pacific Standard. Retrieved March 31, 2020.

[2] "Shari Steele: A Legacy of Digital Rights". Electronic Frontier Foundation. April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2020.

[3] Zetter, Kim (December 11, 2015). "Tor Hires a New Leader to Help It Combat the War on Privacy". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 31, 2020.

[4] O'Neill, Patrick Howell (February 22, 2018). "Shari Steele, Tor executive director, to step down at end of year". CyberScoop. Retrieved March 31, 2020.

[5] Brandom, Russell (February 2, 2018). "Tor director Shari Steele will step down at the end of the year". The Verge. Retrieved March 31, 2020.

[6] "Shari Steele". Electronic Frontier Foundation. October 7, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2020.

[7] Turton, William (February 16, 2016). "How Shari Steele aims to take the Tor Project mainstream". The Daily Dot. Retrieved April 5, 2020.

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