Sarah Wynn-Williams is hired as a speaker because she has seen power operate up close and understands how policy decisions are shaped when technology, politics and global ambition collide. As former Director of Public Policy at Facebook, she worked at the heart of one of the most influential companies in modern history, advising on government relations, regulation and geopolitical risk. She joined the business in 2011, at a point when social platforms were rapidly becoming instruments of political influence. That experience gives her rare credibility with audiences grappling with the consequences of technology on democracy, sovereignty and public trust.
Her authority is grounded in a career that began well before Silicon Valley. Trained as a lawyer at Mallesons Stephen Jaques, she entered public service as a Policy Adviser in the diplomatic service of the New Zealand government in 2002. By 2007, she was managing New Zealand’s political affairs and government relations office at its embassy in Washington D.C., navigating US politics at the highest levels. Alongside this, she worked with Oxfam International, strengthening her understanding of global inequality, ethics and humanitarian responsibility.
Her impact widened dramatically with the publication of Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism, a New York Times No.1 bestseller. The book revealed what she describes as lethal carelessness in ethical decision-making, including allegations that Meta worked with the Chinese Communist Party to design censorship tools compatible with the Great Firewall. She also offered sharp insights into Mark Zuckerberg’s approach to international public policy. These disclosures turned her into a global reference point on corporate power, accountability and moral responsibility in tech leadership.
Today, Sarah is in demand for her work with policymakers and politicians worldwide on regulating AI, particularly its use in conflict and weaponry. She has testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and continues to advise on how rival powers negotiate, compete and cooperate in a fragmented world. As a speaker, she combines lived experience with strategic clarity, offering audiences practical insight into how decisions are really made, and why ethics must sit at the centre of technology, geopolitics and global leadership.
