Joanna Shields

Joanna Shields, Baroness Shields, OBE (born 12 July 1962) is an American-British technology executive and Conservative life peer in the House of Lords.¹ Over a career spanning more than three decades, Shields held senior roles at Google, Bebo, and Facebook before entering British government as the UK's first Minister for Internet Safety and Security.¹⁰ She founded the WeProtect Global Alliance, a partnership of over 100 countries working to combat online child sexual exploitation, and served as CEO of BenevolentAI, an AI-driven drug discovery company, from 2018 to 2023.¹²⁶ Her path from Bebo president to the House of Lords makes her the highest-profile alumnus of the company outside its founders, and a recurring figure in the Bebo tree.

Early life and education

Shields was born in 1962 in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, the second of five children.¹ She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University in 1984.¹⁵ She then completed an MBA at George Washington University, which awarded her an honorary doctorate in public service in May 2016.¹¹¹ After graduating, Shields began her career at Deloitte in Washington, D.C., before relocating to Silicon Valley in 1989.⁴¹

Silicon Valley career

In 1989, Shields joined Electronics for Imaging (EFI) as a product manager and rose to Vice President of Production Systems during an eight-year tenure.¹¹⁵ She left EFI in 1997 to become CEO of Veon, a tech startup she later sold to Philips.¹ After the Veon sale, she moved to London to run the European, Middle Eastern, and African division of RealNetworks.¹¹⁴

Shields joined Google in 2004 as Managing Director of strategic partnerships for Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Africa, a role in which she managed partnerships for Google Video, Google Books, Google Earth, and Google Maps.² She also brokered Google's partnership deal with BSkyB.² Her connection with Benchmark Capital, which had invested in both Google and Bebo, led to her next move.²

Bebo

In late 2006, Benchmark Capital approached Shields to lead Bebo, the social networking site founded by Michael and Xochi Birch.¹ She joined as president in January 2007, reporting directly to Michael Birch and overseeing the company's operations in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.² At the time, Bebo had roughly 4.9 million monthly unique users in the UK, making it the country's second-largest social network behind MySpace.²

At Bebo, Shields launched two initiatives that distinguished the platform from its competitors. The first was Open Media, introduced in November 2007, which opened Bebo's platform for media companies including the BBC and CBS to distribute and monetize video content directly to Bebo's user base.¹ The second was Bebo Originals, a series of original online shows; the first of these, KateModern, was nominated for two BAFTA awards.¹

Shields also oversaw the release of Bebo Timeline in 2009, which organized users' life events in a linear chronological format -- the first social network to do so.¹ Facebook adopted a similar Timeline feature three years later, in 2012.¹

She led the commercial process that resulted in AOL's acquisition of Bebo in March 2008 for $850 million in cash.⁸ After the deal closed in May 2008, Shields briefly relocated to New York to head AOL's newly created People Networks division, which combined Bebo with AOL's AIM and ICQ messaging products.¹⁸

Facebook

In 2009, Shields was recruited by former Google colleague Sheryl Sandberg to join Facebook as Vice President and Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.¹³ At the time, Facebook was still in the relatively early stages of its European expansion.⁶ Shields was responsible for building the company's revenue across the region and developing strategic partnerships.³ She held the role from 2010 to late 2012.⁴

UK government and the House of Lords

In October 2012, while still at Facebook, Shields was named the UK's Ambassador for Digital Industries by Prime Minister David Cameron.¹³ She left Facebook to become Chair and CEO of Tech City UK, the government body charged with supporting London's technology startup ecosystem, in January 2013.⁷¹ During her tenure, she helped create Future Fifty, a support programme for the UK's fastest-growing startups, which was launched by Chancellor George Osborne in April 2013.¹ She stepped down as CEO in February 2014 but remained as chair and unpaid ambassador.⁷

Shields was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to digital industries and voluntary service to young people.¹ In August 2014, she was nominated as a working peer, and on 16 September 2014 she was elevated to the peerage as Baroness Shields, of Maida Vale in the City of Westminster.¹ She sits on the Conservative benches.¹

In June 2014, Cameron appointed Shields as the Prime Minister's Adviser on the Digital Economy.⁵ Following the May 2015 general election, she was appointed Minister for Internet Safety and Security, serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State first at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and from December 2015 at the Home Office.⁵¹ She was reappointed to the ministerial role by Prime Minister Theresa May in July 2016 and served until June 2017.⁵ In December 2016, Shields was additionally appointed as the Prime Minister's Special Representative on Internet Crime and Harms, a position she held until February 2018.⁵

WeProtect Global Alliance

In 2014, Shields founded WeProtect, a global alliance of governments, technology companies, and civil society organizations dedicated to combating online child sexual exploitation.¹⁰¹² The organization grew into the WeProtect Global Alliance, which by 2026 counted over 100 member countries and numerous partners from industry, law enforcement, and NGOs.¹² Shields remains involved as founder and management board member.¹⁰

BenevolentAI

In May 2018, Shields was announced as Group CEO of BenevolentAI, a London-based drug discovery startup that applies artificial intelligence to identify novel drug compounds.⁶ At the time of her appointment, the company had recently raised $115 million from existing backers, including Woodford Investment Management, at a valuation of $2 billion.⁶ Shields told Business Insider that she would temporarily relinquish her duties in the House of Lords to take on the role, forgoing the daily allowance of up to 300 pounds.⁶

Under her leadership, BenevolentAI grew from roughly 70 employees to over 300 and expanded from its London headquarters to include a research facility in Cambridge and an office in New York.⁹⁶ The company's AI platform generated a pipeline of over 20 drug programmes spanning from target discovery to clinical studies, including collaborations with AstraZeneca.⁹ On 25 April 2022, Shields took the company public on Euronext Amsterdam through a business combination with Odyssey Acquisition S.A., raising gross proceeds of 225 million euros.⁹ She stepped down as CEO in September 2023.¹

Current work

Shields is the founder and CEO of Precognition, an advisory firm that works with government and business leaders on AI strategy.¹² She also serves as Executive Chair of the Responsible AI Future Foundation (RAIFF), which develops AI governance frameworks and sovereign infrastructure for countries in the Global South.¹² In November 2020, she was elected Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), an international initiative conceived by Canada and France during their G7 presidencies.¹² She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity.¹²

Personal life

Shields is married to Andy Stevenson, the Sporting Director of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team.¹ They have one child.¹