ElsaMarie D’Silva (pronouns: she/her) is the Founder of Red Dot Foundation (India) and President of Red Dot Foundation Global (USA). She created the technology platform Safecity, which crowdsources personal experiences of sexual violence and abuse in public and private spaces globally. Since its launch in 2012, Safecity has become the largest crowd map on the issue in India and abroad.
ElsaMarie is also the cofounder of the Brave Movement, a coalition to end global childhood sexual abuse and the cofounder of Beyond Black, a social enterprise that leverages art for good.
ElsaMarie D’Silva has been recognized by various organizations and governments for her work, including the United Nations Secretary General, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Government of India’s Niti Aayog and MeiTY. She is a W7 advisor under the Italian G7 Presidency, a former W7 advisor under the German G7 Presidency and a Fellow with several organizations including the Yale World Fellow, Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellow, Rotary Peace, Aspen New Voices, Vital Voices and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. She co-founded the Gender Alliance, a cross-network initiative bringing together feminists from various German networks.
ElsaMarie is also an alumni of several prestigious programs including the Stanford Draper Hills Summer School, the US State Department’s Fortune Mentoring Program, Oxford Chevening Gurukul, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Leadership Program. These programs have provided opportunities for professional development, networking, and leadership training which have helped shape her career and contributions to the field of sexual violence prevention and advocacy.
She has penned articles for CNN, Huffington Post, WIP, among others and spoken at various events such as the Rotary International Assembly, Aspen Ideas Festival, TEDx MidAtlantic, and UN Women. She is a co-editor and author of books such as “The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth” (Anthem Press), “Decolonising Development in South Asia” (Aspen Institute) and a series “She Is” which highlights the leadership of women in various fields – sustainability, STEAM and water.
Prior to creating Safecity, she worked in the aviation industry for 20 years, where her last portfolio was as Vice President Network Planning & Charters.
Selected publications or texts
- Crime Prevention and Community Safety, Volume 19, Issue 3 – Springer – Women’s strategies addressing sexual harassment and assault on public buses: an analysis of crowdsourced data (with Suzanne Lea and Abhijith Asok)
- International Transport Federation – Stopping gender-based violence in transport (in the compendium – Women’s Safety and Security. A Public Transport Priority)
- Digital Technologies and Interventions Against Gender-Based Violence in Rural Areas – SAGE Publishing and International Criminal Justice Review
- The Ethics of Personal Data Collection in International Relations by Anthem Press – Ethical considerations around crowdsourcing stories of sexual abuse and harassment in public spaces: The Safecity India Story (with Suzanne Lea).
- UNRISD – Putting Women at the Centre of Sustainable Development: Rethinking the Eco-Social Contract
Selected speaking engagements
- Speaker at USAID USIP Women Peace and Security Symposium, Online, 6 September 2024
- Host, moderator, speaker at the Inclusive Diplomacy Lounge, Bled Strategic Forum, Bled, 3 September 2024
- Host and facilitator at the Urban Thinkers Campus on Safe and Inclusive Housing, Mumbai, 21 and 22 August 2024
- Speaker at a roundtable on Envisioning Inclusivity: Advancing Gender-Responsive Public Infrastructure in Mumbai Metro, Mumbai, 13 August 2024
- Speaker at the City of Mannheim’s SDG Taskforce with 20 European Cities, Online, 16 April 2024
- Host and Moderator at CSW68 – Civic Technology for Women Friendly Cities, New York, 20 March 2024
- Roundtable moderator on Inclusive Urban Infrastructure, Delhi, 6 March 2024
Awards and recognitions
- Recipient of the inaugural Vital Voices Collective Action award for Safecity.
- Recipient of the ‘Best App to Report Gender-based Violence’ award at the Women and Mental Health Summit & Awards by Bharat Dialogues
- Recipient of the India-UK Achievers Honours Awards 2024 in the ‘Society and Policy’ category.
- Recipient of The Anthem Awards 2024 – Human & Civil Rights, Category: ‘Best Use of Data’
- Recipient of Jury Appreciation Citation for the English Web Podcast category for Believe – Season 2
- Winner of the Equal Rights and Non-Discrimination award at the World Justice Challenge 2022
- Runner up at Trust Law Impact Awards 2022
- Winner of the Shree Shakti Award by UN Women India and Government of India (MeitY) 2022
- Winner at Dasra’s Data for Good Exchange 2021