TheBridge profile: Yael Eisenstat

Name: Yael Eisenstat

Current city: New York City

Current job: Visiting Fellow, Cornell Tech's Digital Life Initiative

Past job: Facebook (Elections Integrity Ops); White House (National Security); CIA Officer

Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? Any NYC coffee shop with space.

Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? Any NYC coffee shop with space.

Q. Describe how a skill you learned in a previous job helped you in your current job. Learning to work with people who are not like-minded was the most valuable skill from previous roles, and one that I am finding less and less opportunity to do these days. I find more and more work environments, particularly in tech, attract people with similar interests and world views. Much of my time in the national security world involved working with people with different political perspectives, educational backgrounds, life experiences, and world views. It made our work richer, more valuable, and frankly, more interesting. As I try to focus again on bridging divides and fostering civil discourse, I am consciously trying to tap into that skill as much as possible.

Q. Job advice in three words? Accept new adventures.

Q. How are you (or your company, org, nonprofit) currently bridging the gap between innovation and regulation? At the Digital Life Initiative, we explore societal perspectives surrounding the development and application of digital technology, focusing on ethics, policy, politics, and quality of life. My work focuses on technology's impacts on civil discourse and democracy.

 As someone who has worked in both government and tech, I help bridge gaps between two worlds that often do not understand each other. I work to help legislators and policymakers (globally) think through smarter ways to help ensure tech is better serving society, with a particular lens on civil discourse and democracy. And I work to help technologists think more critically about the potential unintended consequences of the things they are building.

 Ultimately, I believe we can find a way to help the tech industry and government work together to safeguard democracy.

Q. What can innovators learn from policymakers? How to think through the real-world consequences of the things they are building; to take into consideration the broader societal impacts; to think through all of the societal stakeholders, not just product users or advertisers.

 Most importantly, policymakers serve the public, as opposed to shareholders, so they think about implications and effects on real humans every day.

Q. What can policymakers learn from innovators? How to think through innovative ways to tackle our biggest challenges. Policymakers are risk-averse, for good reason. But they could learn how to become more comfortable with the idea of risk-taking by working more closely with innovators.

Q. Favorite book/podcast/long-form article you recommend? A few podcasts: The Daily (NY Times), Stay Tuned with Preet, Catch and Kill, Dolly Parton's America, First Contact with Laurie Segall.

Q. Everyday is probably different, but can you describe a "day in the life" of your job? This is the first year of my 20-year professional life where I am taking a step back from operational roles and focusing on thought leadership (as a fellow) and teaching. So my typical day involves digesting as much news and relevant research as possible, learning, thinking, working with my students to think through the future of tech, media and democracy, advising legislators and others working on tech policy, and using my voice and platform to help safeguard our democracy.

Q. What's one piece of advice you are still trying to master? Allowing myself to be vulnerable. 

Q. Most underrated virtue in an employee? Valuing being a team-player over being the leader; valuing the output over the credit.

 Q. Morning routine? Coffee and exercise.

 Q. How often do you work from home? Right now, under "social distancing" due to Coronavirus, I permanently work from home. Before this current reality, as a Fellow I was working 1-2 days a week from home.

Q. How do you unwind after work? (Again, when not "social distancing"): I unwind with friends, whether for dinner, drinks, live music, movies, lectures, etc. I try to prioritize friends and activities over work in the evenings.

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