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I’m a product leader and privacy advocate who has worked on some of the most important…
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Sandy Parakilas reposted thisSandy Parakilas reposted thisThis weekend, I will celebrate another trip around the sun. As a birthday gift to myself, I am donating to Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA). Thirty years ago, IIBA Redwood City at Fair Oaks helped my mother with her citizenship process and guided our family through our immigration journey. Now, I live in an America where immigrant rights are constantly under attack. What’s needed is action, solidarity, and the commitment to fight for those with less privilege than mine. Organizations like IIBA are on the frontlines - providing legal support, protection, and hope to immigrant families who deserve safety and dignity. In these times, their work is more urgent than ever. If you can, for my birthday, please support their mission: 👉 Donate here: https://lnkd.in/gJ3T4Nwi IIBA helped my family once. Today, I stand with them - and with every immigrant family who deserves dignity and continues to fight for their place in this country.
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Sandy Parakilas reposted thisSandy Parakilas reposted thisThe Price of Pushing On: A Tumor, Allostatic Load, and the Cost of Chronic Stress When I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in my late 30s, my first reaction after a successful craniotomy was relief- I was alive! I had insurance, access to one of the top neurosurgeons in the country, and a supportive care team. But what followed was a deeper reckoning with how chronic stress had been silently wreaking havoc on my body and mind for years - my mental health took a toll. I had never heard of “allostatic load” - the cumulative wear and tear on our bodies from chronic stress and repeated activation of our stress response systems. I didn’t realize that years of pushing through, grinding, and “powering on” had quietly built up into a health crisis. The diagnosis forced me to confront some hard truths: - My systems were completely overwhelmed - My mental health had been steadily deteriorating - I had been living in a state of chronic stress for so long that it felt normal What I wish I had known then was the concept of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how early trauma can set the stage for chronic stress responses that persist into adulthood. The connection between our early experiences, our stress response systems, and our long-term health outcomes is profound - and often overlooked. Recovery wasn't just about treating the tumor. It was about understanding how my body had been keeping the score of years of unaddressed stress. It was about learning to recognize the signs of allostatic overload before they became life-threatening. I’m sharing this because I know I’m not the only one. Too many of us are living with our systems in constant overdrive - dysregulated, depleted, and disconnected from what our bodies are trying to tell us. The damage isn’t abstract. It accelerates in our 30s and infiltrates every part of our health - neurological, hormonal, emotional, cellular. And most of us don’t even see it coming. If you’re feeling constantly overwhelmed, as if your mind and your body feel like they’re aging faster than they should, unexplained pain, or more, these aren’t just passing symptoms. They’re signals. Warnings. Invitations. Your body is trying to tell you something essential: It’s time to stop surviving and start healing. I built Profunda Health because I’ve lived this. Because I know what it feels like to override every internal alarm until your body demands to be heard. Because the science of stress, trauma (childhood or adult), and allostatic load shouldn’t live in academic journals - it should live in the hands of the people it affects. Healing should be proactive, personalized, and rooted in the full truth of who we are, not just what’s on a chart. In a world that glorifies endurance, paying attention to yourself and your health is an act of radical strength. But no one should have to do that alone. If this resonates with you, I’d love to hear your story, and I hope you’ll follow along as I build Profunda Health.
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Sandy Parakilas reposted thisSandy Parakilas reposted thisHow can clinicians beyond "trauma-aware" to whole-person responsive care with AI and biological data? Context: Decades of evidence-based research have shown that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and childhood trauma leave biological imprints that shape health behaviors for decades. But it isn't enough to acknowledge trauma - it's using that understanding to guide health. 🔬 Reading the Body's Memory --> Science can "read" epigenetic markers, inflammatory patterns, and stress hormone dysregulation from early adversity and translate that into precision care. --> For clinicians, such biological data reveals how childhood trauma rewires stress response systems, explaining seemingly "difficult" patient behaviors. 💡 From Recognition to Action --> Instead of "Have you experienced trauma?" we ask "How can we work with your body's stress responses to optimize your health?" 🤖 How can AI help? --> AI translates biological trauma signatures into personalized care protocols that account for hypervigilance, medical mistrust, and dysregulated nervous systems 🎯 Behavior-Informed Interventions --> Elevated cortisol patterns guide timing of medical appointments and communication styles --> Heart rate variability data informs when patients need grounding techniques before procedures --> Inflammatory markers help predict when trauma survivors may struggle with treatment adherence 🔄 Closing the Loop --> Real-time biological feedback shows patients their healing progress, building trust in their body's capacity for recovery. --> AI tracks how trauma-responsive care approaches actually improve both biological markers and health outcomes. The goal isn't just trauma awareness - it's biological literacy that transforms "Why won't this patient comply?" into "How can we help this person's nervous system feel safe enough to heal?" At Profunda Health we are doing precisely that. Join us.
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Sandy Parakilas reposted thisSandy Parakilas reposted this▶️ How do we keep young people safe in the digital environment? Co-hosted by the TUM Think Tank, the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and UZH Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich, a group of leading researchers, designers, educators, child advocates, and policy experts met to explore innovative solutions. The resulting Frontiers in Digital Child Safety #report offers child-centered design strategies that promote digital safety, centering their rights, agency, and well-being. 💡 To learn more, join us for a webinar this Thursday, June 26, from 5:00-6:15pm CET (Munich time) where members of the international working group co-led by Sandra Cortesi and me will share key findings and innovative interventions from our new report. https://lnkd.in/eeFG8nH7 Technical University of Munich, Hochschule für Politik München Thanks to the members of the working group for an amazing team effort: Isobel Acquah, Stephen Balkam, Christopher Bavitz, Michael Best, Lionel Brossi, Ernesto Caffo, Anne Collier, Sebastian Diaz, Diana Freed, Nathan Freitas, Alexa Hasse, Sameer Hinduja, Chelsea Baltierra Johnson, Lisa M. Jones, Laura Jeanne D'arc Kagina, Daniel Kardefelt-Winther, Enkelejda Kasneci, Claudia Lampert, Amanda Lenhart, Larry Magid, Meg Marco, Latifah Mariza, Leith McCook, Andras Molnar, Riana Pfefferkorn, Leah Plunkett, Maria Jose Ravalli, Michael Rich, Fanny Rotino, Lara Schull, Fabio Senne, Elisabeth Sylvan, Rebecca Tabasky, Amanda Third, Andrew Zack. Special thanks for research support and much more to: Noha Lea Halim, Camila Hidalgo, Annabel Jones, Kirsten Müller-Daubermann, Anyu Jiang, Madeline McGee, and Markus B. Siewert
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Sandy Parakilas shared thisLa humanidad es innegociable. La dignidad no tiene fronteras.Sandy Parakilas shared thisWhile I may be a founder on this platform, I am first and always a proud immigrant - a child who came from México to this country with hopes, dreams, and ambition, and turned them into realities. Raised in the United States, I know that my humanity - and that of every immigrant child, parent, and neighbor - is nonnegotiable. Over the past week, heavily armed ICE agents in balaclavas have swept through Los Angeles and other cities, tearing people from their workplaces and even routine check-ins. Families have been detained without warning, their children left frightened and alone, while National Guard troops roll into the streets to silence those who dare to object. Yet across California, Chicago, San Francisco, and dozens of communities in between, we are refusing to be intimidated. Parents pushing strollers, students, elders, and allies are filling intersections and federal plazas to demand an end to raids that criminalize survival and separate families. Our protests are not ‘riots’- hey are expressions of collective care, resistance to the normalization of violence against immigrant communities, and a clear declaration that every human being deserves safety, dignity, and belonging—regardless of immigration status. ICE is a threat to the safety, dignity, and fundamental rights of America and its immigrant communities - and by extension, to the soul of a country that claims to value freedom, opportunity, and family. This is why. 1. A record of human rights abuses. From family separation and prolonged detention to in-custody deaths, ICE’s track record is one of systemic harm that history will never, ever, absolve. 2. Each new raid retraumatizes entire communities - trauma that research shows can ripple across generations. I know. I work in translating the science of trauma every day. 3. Militarized tactics targeting civilians - agents in masks abducting law-abiding immigrants in broad daylight, breaking into cars while children sit in the back seat, terrorizing student protesters, deploying flash-bangs, and transforming grocery store parking lots into war zones - make clear that this agency does not see these individuals as neighbors, but as enemies. This is a worldview shaped by dehumanization and driven by xenophobia. 4. Costly and ineffective. Billions of taxpayer dollars fund detention centers and chartered deportation flights, even though community-based case-management programs are cheaper and achieve higher compliance with immigration proceedings. We will not be cowed by authoritarian tactics. We will stand - arm in arm, soul to soul - until every family can live without fear. Our liberation is tied together. La humanidad es innegociable. La dignidad no tiene fronteras.
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Sandy Parakilas shared thisI'm excited to be advising the Opus 1 Foundation, an NGO working at the intersection of the arts and technology. On Weds, 5/14 they are hosting The Art of Impact: Where Philanthropy, Capital & Creativity Converge, starting at 1pm EST / 10 am PST. It will bring together leaders exploring how philanthropy, capital, and creativity can intersect to build systems of change. Join us! https://lnkd.in/gX_GWzB4
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Sandy Parakilas reposted this🔊 ANNOUNCEMENT. Cepanoa Health is out of stealth mode! What is Cepanoa (pronounced SEH-pah-noah)? It’s the culmination of my lived experiences and career, a platform that harnesses the power of community and responsible tech. By leveraging ethical innovation, AI, and digital health, Cepanoa ensures everyone can thrive, regardless of the health conditions rooted in childhood adversity. Background: For much of my adult life, I struggled with the effects of childhood adversity. Five years ago, I also faced the challenge of a large brain tumor that impacted my speech, leading to neurosurgery and several health challenges. Despite these obstacles, I fought for the care I needed and ultimately transformed my life. Although I still navigate some of these issues, my healing is centered, and I take pride in how far I’ve come. Reflecting on my own experiences and the privilege of accessing healthcare, I realized the urgent need for equitable access to health information and resources—especially for my family on Medi-Cal and the broader Medicaid community—when it comes to addressing ACEs. Physical health doesn't take into account the complex histories of our lived experiences - especially our childhood because mental health is often overlooked or treated as secondary to physical health. But the truth is, our emotional and mental well-being are deeply interconnected with our physical health. Trauma and stress don’t just affect our minds—they dysregulate our internal biological systems for days, years, and decades. This is the foundation of Cepanoa Health: to bridge the gap between mental and physical care, providing comprehensive support for those affected by childhood adversity. We believe that healing both the mind and body is key to long-term well-being. A huge thank you to our brilliant clinical advisors: Chethan Sarabu, MD, Pooja Mittal Laura Garcia, PhD Jhaimy Fernandez, MD Sophia Hurd, M.D. Geetika Sengupta Ludwing Salamanca, MD, PhD Jennifer Shannon M.D. Our strategic and legal advisors: Maria Clara Mesa Abad Jose Lopez Stephanie Hernandez And to our incredible partners, Dr. Brian Alman, who has over thirty years of experience in ACEs work and stress, and Greg Bourne, who leads the incredible nonprofit LEAD4TOMORROW. And last but never least, mi comunidad - the phenomenal people in health tech who have helped and supported me along the way Josh Golomb André B. Vanessa Villaverde Sahee Abdelmomin Senan Ebrahim, MD, PhD Dori M. Carlos R. Roberto Rodriguez A million gratitudes. 💙Sandy Parakilas reposted thisExciting update! We’re officially out of stealth mode and are now recruiting participants for our beta program. Discover more here.Cepanoa Health: Tackling Adverse Childhood Experiences Head OnCepanoa Health: Tackling Adverse Childhood Experiences Head On
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Sandy Parakilas shared thisWe’re #hiring a talented Privacy Product Manager at Apple to help lead the creation, development and launch of privacy features. If you know someone who is passionate about protecting privacy and who wants to join an amazing team, please send them my way!
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Sandy Parakilas shared thisWe’re #hiring a talented Privacy Product Manager at Apple to help lead the creation, development and launch of privacy features. If you know someone who is passionate about protecting privacy and who wants to join an amazing team, please send them my way!
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Sandy Parakilas reacted on thisMy heart is heavy for Om’s family. I met Om while I was a True founder a decade ago. His spirit, energy, and warmth are forever ingrained in my experience as a founder, and his legacy is one of deep kindness, creativity, and generosity that will be with everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. May you fly high, dearest Om.💙Sandy Parakilas reacted on thisIt is with profound sadness that we share the news of Om Malik’s passing. It’s difficult to state the impact that Om had on all of our lives at True. Om was the first Founder we funded when we started True. In our Presidio office, Om discussed his idea for a new type of media company. That idea would later become GigaOm. Om was a brilliant Founder, an amazing teammate and Partner at True, a prolific writer, a gifted photographer, and a sage and valuable advisor to so many in the technology ecosystem. Om was brilliant, thoughtful, humorous, profoundly kind, and deeply curious. He was also relentless when he had an idea or story. Om was brave - he never shied away from sharing his views or pushing for the truth. We were very, very lucky to call Om our Partner and friend at True for these last many years. For today, we simply encourage you to take a moment to remember this beautiful soul and great thinker who was in our midst. He would ask us to slow down a bit. Om would want us to think deeper, express our love for one another a lot more. Above all else, Om wanted us all to retain our humanity and care for each other in our brilliant quest to rebuild the world. We love you, Om. Team True
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisI grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Pride Month has always felt like a natural and deeply meaningful part of life and community. From celebrating my 21st birthday at Esta Noche—San Francisco’s iconic Latinx queer bar and drag space (now closed)—to making calls in support of LGBTQ+ rights at Dolores Park during the Prop 8 era, to witnessing Latine trans friends navigate their transitions, these experiences have shaped how I understand Pride as both personal and collective. Wishing everyone a joyful, vibrant, and deeply affirming Pride Month filled with celebration, visibility, and community. 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 💙
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisToday, I am grateful for connecting with my comunidad in person. Thank you Yolanda (Yolis) Ruiz for moderating the Latinas in Tech AI panel and leading such a thoughtful, grounded, and engaging panel with Kristyne Cardenas-Sanchez and Iliana Quinonez as my fellow panelists. As a Latina, it meant a lot to be surrounded by such incredible women building, leading, and creating space for others in this industry. I left feeling energized, connected, and genuinely grateful to have shared that space with these incredible mujeres! Really appreciate the care, perspective, and presence everyone brought to the conversation. Edited to add a shoutout to Uber ERGs and employees who made this event happen. Para muchas más! 💙
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisIn the early 2010s, when few were paying attention, Rev. Jesse Jackson was already sounding the alarm about diversity and inclusion in tech - the sector that would come to shape our world in ways we were only beginning to understand. While Silicon Valley was rapidly creating unprecedented wealth, Rev. Jackson understood what many chose to ignore: that technology's power meant its exclusions would echo across generations. He didn't just talk about civil rights in abstract terms - he demanded that the most transformative industry of our time live up to its ideals of innovation by innovating how it built teams, shared opportunity, and created wealth. I had the profound honor of speaking alongside him at Stanford Law School in 2014, and participating in several Bay Area Rainbow PUSH conferences in the years that followed. What struck me then -- and resonates even more deeply today - was his unwavering persistence. When doors closed, he knocked louder. When he was dismissed as being outside his lane, he reminded us that justice has no lanes. Rev. Jackson connected the dots between the lunch counter sit-ins and the boardroom, between voter registration drives and cap tables, between marching for dignity and demanding equity in the algorithms shaping our future. He understood that wealth creation without inclusion isn't progress - it's the perpetuation of old inequities in new code. His fight was not in vain. Every conversation we now have about representation in tech, every diversity report published, every commitment made - these exist because he refused to let Silicon Valley exist apart from the moral demands of our time. Today, I honor not just his legacy, but his persistence. The work continues, and the ground is more fertile because he tilled it when others wouldn't. I am honored to have known him. I am grateful for his vision. And today I hold his family in my heart and thoughts. Rest in power, Reverend.
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisRing's Super Bowl ad did something remarkable: it told the truth. They showed us exactly what they've built - a distributed surveillance network capable of tracking anyone, anywhere in a neighborhood, all under the disguise of a lost pet. The backlash wasn't about the dog. It was about people finally seeing the infrastructure they'd (knowingly?) helped construct. And look, I love dogs. I have two of them! But I'm not building a surveillance state for Fido. The "lost pet" framing is emotional disarmament - it makes extraordinary access feel reasonable. Today it's reuniting pets. Tomorrow it's "suspicious behavior." Next year it's insurance discounts for "good neighbors" who share footage. The slope isn't slippery; it's a waterslide. This is precisely why my husband and I refuse to ever purchase Ring. We chose Aqara devices with Apple TV as our HomeKit hub instead. The critical difference: our system processes everything locally. Motion detection, video analysis, automations - all handled on-device in our home. No footage leaves our network unless we explicitly choose encrypted iCloud storage, and even then, it's end-to-end encrypted with keys only we control. Cloud-dependent systems mean trusting corporate policies, government requests, and security practices you can't verify or control. That's not a trade-off we're willing to make. Privacy isn't negotiable, even for puppy eyes.Sandy Parakilas liked thisIt started, as many controversies now do, with a well-meaning Super Bowl ad. Ring aired a commercial showing how its cameras could help reunite people with lost pets. A neighbor reports a missing dog. Nearby cameras scan footage using AI. The dog gets home. Soft music, relief, gratitude. Then the internet revolted. The outrage wasn’t about the dog. It was about the realization that a system people thought of as a doorbell had quietly become neighborhood-wide surveillance infrastructure, without anyone explicitly consenting to that shift. It’s tempting to assume malice here, but the explanation is probably banal and familiar. Ring saw what the infrastructure could do, noticed users already coordinating informally to find lost pets, and productized it. That’s how tech usually works. So why the reaction? Because the ad made the capability legible. For many people, this was the first clear, public demonstration of what a neighborhood-scale computer vision network can do. Once that capability is visible, the question stops being “what is this for?” and becomes “who else will want access to it?” The same system that can find a dog could, with different defaults or pressures, be used to trace people. When that’s advertised so openly, it’s not just speaking to consumers. It’s signaling to institutions, governments, and insurers that this data exists and may be accessible. Proven infrastructure attracts requests. The deeper issue is not pets. It is precedent. Lost pets are emotionally disarming. They normalize extraordinary access under the banner of care. But surveillance systems rarely stay fixed to their original use case. This pattern will repeat with other edge cases such as missing people, suspicious behavior, or “safety concerns.” Each case feels reasonable in isolation. Collectively, they redefine the baseline. There is also an asymmetry baked in: camera owners opt in, everyone else is opted into being recorded. Consent becomes diffuse, abstract, and effectively unavailable. Supporters argue that this is simply neighbors helping neighbors. And often, that is true in spirit. Most people reviewing footage for a lost pet are acting out of empathy, not suspicion. But systems should be evaluated on what they enable at scale, not just on the intentions of their best users. The backlash comes from a collective moment of clarity. People realized, all at once, what the system can do. And more importantly, how much trust we are placing in the hands of the companies that run it.
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisContent policies are usually private, one-off efforts. You build yours, I build mine, we don't share much about what works or why. This makes sense given different products can (and should) set different policies based on their communities and needs, but it also leaves us reinventing the wheel over and over. We're hoping to change this by encouraging more public sharing of people's work. So, today, we're launching policy discovery and sharing on Zentropi. Browse featured policies, find more from authors you like, fork what fits, and adapt for your context. To start things off, I've built 7 policies - harassment, hate, violence, self-harm, sexual content, drugs, and toxicity. All created using Zentropi itself, with a touch of editing on my end. Examples of what's possible, starting points to adapt. Our goal here isn't to provide perfect policies or tell anyone what rules they should have. It's to provide examples of what actually works when writing content policies for LLM interpretation that anyone can then adapt to fit their own needs. Find these at zentropi.ai and on my profile at https://zentropi.ai/u/dave. As more folks write and publish policies, we'll be adding the best ones to the featured section to give people more options.
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisA Sunday reset at Fallingwater. An inspiring and restorative visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece - a true meditation on balance, flow, and vision. A place where architecture and nature can exist in harmony. The cantilever design feels remarkably modern, even decades later. It was the perfect fall day in Western PA to pause, reflect, and recharge surrounded by nature’s beauty. A ladybug even hitched a ride on my hand and stayed with me throughout the visit - a quiet reminder of presence and connection. Feeling re-energized and ready to take on the week ahead 🍂🍁
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisOn Mental Health Day - as the founder of Proyecto Sol and Profunda Health, two spaces born from both pain, healing, and purpose, I’m reminded that mental health is not a trend - especially for our Latinx communities, whose stories are too often reduced, misunderstood, or erased. 🌿 Generational We carry what came before us - for too long, our parents and grandparents had no space to name trauma; they only knew how to keep going. We are the generation choosing to feel what they could not, and that’s powerful healing. ⚖️ Systemic Mental health isn’t just personal - it’s political. When our communities are still being targeted, criminalized, and excluded from care, we can’t talk about healing without talking about justice. Access to care, culturally rooted support, and safety are health issues. 🤝 Relational Healing happens in community and in our families. Our wellbeing is collective — when one of us heals, we all move forward. 💫 Individual And yes, there’s also the inner work - the daily rebellions of rest, therapy, prayer, movement, saying “no,” and believing we are worthy of care. We carry so much, and we have to learn how to carry it differently. It’s how we remember who we are - and how we build what’s next. 💛 For every person doing the hard work of healing in a world that wants to erase us — remember...we are seeds. 🌱
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Sandy Parakilas liked thisSandy Parakilas liked thisOne of the very first biographies I read as a child was about Jane Goodall. Through her story, I didn’t just meet her - I learned English itself - words for conservation, primates, advocacy. In sixth grade, I dressed up as Goodall for career day - because I wanted to be the Jane Goodall… for pandas! 🐼 Throughout her life, as Goodall grew older and I became an adult, her commitment and conviction to conservation never wavered. It's hard not to admire someone like that. While I never studied pandas, my admiration for Goodall turned into other interests; my love for nature and animals endures because of her. Thank you, Jane. In another timeline, I'm living that little girl's dream.
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