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Donna Rice Hughes, President of Enough Is Enough
Donna Rice Hughes, President of Enough Is Enough (EIE), is an internationally
known Internet safety expert and advocate. As a respected leader of national
efforts to protect children from sexual predators and Internet pornography,
Donna has championed EIE’s mission to make the Internet safer for
children and families since the group’s formation in 1994. In September
2005, EIE, a non-profit educational organization (www.enough.org),
launched The National Internet Safety Awareness and Parental Empowerment
Program with the U.S. Department of Justice and other partners. The
Program educates and empowers parents and other adult caregivers
to protect the children in their care from Internet dangers. Donna also
created and developed the Internet safety website, www.protectkids.com.
Donna is frequently sought out by the media, educators, policy makers,
law enforcement officials, and industry leaders for her expertise on solutions
for ensuring that children have a safe and rewarding experience online.
Her book, Kids Online: Protecting Your Children In Cyberspace (Revell,
September 1998), was heralded by the media, parents’ groups, industry
leaders, and Congress as a "powerful tool for parents." In response
to the worldwide interest in the topic of Internet safety, the book has
been translated into Spanish and Korean. Steve Case, Founder of America
Online, applauds Donna as a "leader" and "effective advocate
on behalf of children's online safety." He credits her with helping
build the Internet into a "medium of which we can all be proud."
Donna has been interviewed on most of the leading national news broadcasts
as an acknowledged expert on Internet safety issues. She has given over
3,000 media interviews and is a regular commentator on Internet safety
issues on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. She has been a featured
guest on Dateline, The Today Show, Oprah and 20/20.
She co-wrote the story for the May 2000 season finale episode of Touched
By An Angel that brought the message of Internet dangers and online
safety to prime time television and won the Nielson ratings for it's time
slot during the May sweeps period. Her views have been featured in publications
including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington
Post, USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Jose Mercury News
and People Magazine. Additionally, she has authored numerous
articles and editorials that have been published in USA Today, The
Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and McCall's Magazine.
In August of 2006, Dateline NBC called upon Donna to provide
her expertise, via webcast, to viewer questions posed to Dateline
NBC in response to their “To Catch a Predator” series.
Donna has also spoken extensively on the subject of Internet safety in
educational and professional forums across the country, including Johns
Hopkins University, MIT, American University, University of Houston Law
School, The Freedom Forum, and The National Press Club. She has testified
numerous times before the United States Congress, both House and Senate,
on the issues surrounding Internet dangers and safety solutions. Her presentation
at the Federal Prosecutors’ Obscenity Symposium was applauded as
a “highlight” of the 2002 meeting by Andrew Oosterbaan, chief
of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, where Donna served as
the Department’s only non-lawyer/non-law enforcement instructor.
Donna was a member of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) Commission
formed to examine technological solutions to protect children online.
In July 2000, she served as co-chair of the COPA Hearings on filtering/ratings/labeling
technologies. In its final report the Commission recommended that Congress
and the nation take action to: “promote public awareness of technologies
and methods available to protect children online.” Additionally,
Donna assisted the Japanese Ministry of Education in developing child
safety online programs and provided expertise and resources for their
report, "Children and the Internet." In 2002, she received the
National Law Center for Children and Families Annual Appreciation Award
and the coveted "Protector of Children Award" from the National
Abstinence Clearinghouse. She was also the recipient of the 2004 Media
Impact Award from the National Abstinence Clearinghouse and the 2005 Lifetime
Child Protector Award from WiredSafety.org.
From 1994 until July of 1999, Donna served as Communications Director
and Vice President of Enough Is Enough where she played a pioneering role
in the national effort to make the Internet safer for children and families.
She became President of EIE in 2002. Under Donna’s leadership, EIE
pursues a three-pronged strategy that involves the public, the technology
industry and law enforcement sharing the responsibility to protect children
on the Internet. This approach has been adopted by many industry and government
leaders.
Donna is a member of the 2006 Virginia Attorney General’s Youth
Internet Safety Task Force. She currently serves on the advisory board
for the GetNetWise initiative and the National Cyber Security Alliance,
as well as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s
advisory committee addressing social networking issues.
Donna served on the steering committee for the Internet Online Summit:
Focus on Children in December of 1997 and American Links Up. She proposed
and led the Summit's adoption of an industry "ZERO Tolerance"
policy against child pornography, which was endorsed by the White House
and the Justice Department. She currently serves on the board of directors
for the National House of Hope.
Donna received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of South
Carolina and graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is married
to Jack Hughes and has two stepchildren, Sean and Mindy.
Click here to view additional information about Enough Is Enough
under the leadership of Donna Rice Hughes
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