Profile
Yael is the former Director of Social Media for NYPD, and is now a digital strategist specialising in law enforcement, private and public sector communications. Having joined the Israeli army as press liaison at the age of 18, and served on the Gaza strip, the Lebanese border and in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, she went on to complete a BA in Government Studies with a major in Counterterrorism in Israel, before heading to the USA in 2007. Yael completed her Master’s in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, writing her thesis on a proposed social media use for the NYPD and interning at the NYPD office of Management, Analysis and Planning. In 2014 she joined the NYPD full-time, and in 2016 was promoted to Director of Social Media and Digital Strategy.
During her time with the Department, Yael built the digital communications strategy from the ground up, transforming the voice of the country’s largest police department. She also wrote the NYPD’s crisis communications strategy, initiated a new ‘Digital Communication Officer’ role in every command in the city, wrote a comprehensive training guide and education curriculum, and produced viral videos with millions of views.
Yael is an annual guest lecturer at the Harvard Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, and frequently talks and writes about social media, police, public safety and communications.