Trust and Safety are core values at Carefully. Trust and Safety mean working diligently to create a secure environment where children and families can flourish.
This month, we are highlighting our work and the people behind it so our community can better understand how we are weaving Trust and Safety into our platform. (Learn more about Carefully's core values here.)
Trusted Advisors: Tracey Breeden & Michelle Pelton
Michelle and Tracey have been working with Carefully over the last six months to provide their expertise, advice, and guidance. These two trusted advisors have helped integrate trust and safety into the platform through Trust+ ID verification and Safety Screening while continuing to create an inclusive platform that supports communities that are too often underserved and marginalized.Â
Their support has been instrumental in helping our team learn about the deeper nuances of trust and safety while building out a critical feature that helps our members feel more confident connecting with new people to build relationships and trust.
Tracey Breeden: Thought Leader, Coach and Advisor
Tracey Breeden is a thought leader and queer activist, author, coach, advisor, speaker, and former corporate executive.
She has over two decades as a safety and inclusion expert working in public safety and leading efforts in the tech industry.
Known as a fearless people leader, she has led and created safe, inclusive, and empowering spaces for both, consumers and employees. Breeden has a vision of building authentic, equitable, and respectful communities, free from harm.
She is relentlessly committed to the expansion of that vision, empowering and igniting people to be better, more powerful versions of themselves, unleashing their inner superhero through self-development and activating collective power from the margin, all toward creating a better world.Â
A former law enforcement officer and Medal of valor recipient, Tracey led efforts in the tech industry as Uber's first Head of Women's Safety and Gender-Based Violence, creating Uber's first global team dedicated to the safety of women and other vulnerable populations.
She was the VP, Head of Safety and Social Advocacy at Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge. While there she was named one of the top 50 LGBTQ women and nonbinary innovators in business and tech. She’s now the CEO and founder of Disrupt the Landing, providing speaking, coaching, and advisory services for individuals and organizations.Â
Michelle Pelton: Consultant, Advisor and Multi-Media Artist
Michelle Pelton brings two decades of legal and employee relations experience to her consulting work, as both outside and in-house employment counsel supporting some of the most notable global and domestic brands in retail, transportation, and tech, leading teams with her values-based focus.Â
Most recently, as the Global Head of Labor and Employment at Match Group, she significantly impacted all aspects of the business that involved people by, for example, creating support programs providing employees access to reproductive healthcare and as well as trauma-informed resources and expanding employee policies and benefits to be more inclusive and compassionate.
In addition to consulting, Michelle is a dedicated mother to two awesome kids and a passionate multi-media artist, where she explores themes of the experience of being a woman and the divine feminine.
 | Tracey and Michelle host their podcast, ‘The Disruption Podcast,' where they talk about all types of disruption for positive social change with their guests, including discussing a broad range of important topics like the prevention of sexual harassment and assault, safety and inclusion, community building, and even parenting in a blended family. |
Tracey and Michelle took the time to share more about their work and family life.
We appreciate having them as part of our Carefully Community and are grateful for their knowledge, expertise, and support.
What do you love the most about being a parent? What’s your biggest struggle as a parent?Â
Tracey: What do you love most…the unexpected adventures and the opportunity to influence future changemakers!Â
Biggest struggle… My biggest struggle has been becoming a new parent and navigating the role of a stepparent.Â
Michelle: I think the best part, the part I love the most, about parenting is watching the kids grow into who they are. They are at this great age where I can really start to see not only their personalities emerge strongly, but also ways in which I can tell that we’ve impacted them. It’s getting that confirmation that what you are doing is making a difference - that they’re really listening!
For me, the biggest challenge is not interfering with their journey. Sure, I will support, encourage and guide, but I also try my best to remember that growth happens on a personal level and the kids need their personal growth to achieve who they are and what they choose to do.Â
"I also try my best to remember that growth happens on a personal level and the kids need their own personal growth to achieve who they are and what they choose to do."
Tracey and Michelle: Working together, we already connect and collaborate on pretty much everything so we find that this connectedness and collaboration pretty seamlessly extends to everything involving the kids.Â
Tell us a bit about how you worked with Carefully and why you chose to work with us. What’s one thing you love about the app?
Tracey and Michelle: We have the privilege of choosing who we work with, and it’s important that the companies we work with share our values.
We chose to work with Carefully because we believe in supporting women, parents of all types, and families, and we believe in the mission of Carefully.
"One thing we love about the app is it provides a platform to build community and safe spaces."
One thing we love about the app is it provides a platform to build community and safe spaces. It supports a solution for one of the single biggest impacts on women in their educational and professional pursuits.Â
What does community mean to you? How do you find and connect with new people in a new/unfamiliar place?
Tracey and Michelle:Â To us, community means a trusted network of people that empowers, inspires, and creates safe spaces for those in the community and beyond.
We find and connect with people in new spaces both, in person and online. We choose those spaces based on our shared values and interests.
We also have become much more intentional about choosing to only invest in businesses and platforms that are women- and marginalized-community-owned or that are genuinely supporting and elevating those groups. Â
Tell us more about ‘Disrupt the Landing.’ As parents, how has it been balancing your business with the demands of parenthood?
Tracey and Michelle: Finding the right balance between work
and family is never easy! It takes continual communication, grace, love and support.
We also leverage a relationship coach. We believe in proactively building a healthy relationship and seeking support along our journey rather than being reactive and waiting for something to go wrong.Â
You also host 'The Disruption Podcast'  together. Can you share a little more about the podcast?
Tracey and Michelle:Â We started The Disruption Podcast to share our stories and the stories of others creating big, bold changes. These changes were through the disruption of systems and institutions that cause harm to others and through disruption in your personal life, leading you to find pathways to your purpose, freedom, and power.
We believe that disruption in these spaces activates transformational impact across society.
One of the personal disruption journeys we share on our podcast is about our blended family and parenting journey. We’ve chosen to be authentic and vulnerable about what that journey has been like - and we’ve had the honor of being joined by friends who have been authentic about their journey.Â
We dive deep into our family journey and the journey of another queer couple and close friends of ours on Episode 23 and Episode 24, (Episode 24 is in two parts.)
Listen in to learn more about our story - and you may find a community you need too!
Tracey, You’ve worked with organizations to develop apps and tech for sexual violence prevention and safety. Do you have any tips and advice for parents and caregivers?
Tracey:Â There is no silver bullet in safety for preventing harm. I can give you lots of tips on online and in-person safety, and tell you to make sure you are using all the safety features platforms provide. But, you can do everything right and harm can still happen.
Just know, it's not your fault when it does and leverage the help and support that is out there.
"One area where I believe parents and caregivers can make a difference is in educating our youth. It is so important to teach physical boundaries and consent early, not when it is already too late."
Sexual violence continues to be a global epidemic. We all can play a role, and we all should be doing everything we can to prevent it, disrupt it, and respond with belief, empathy, and care when it happens.
 Tracey Breeden’s new book invites readers to discover the pathway to a more just world by recognizing personal power and unleashing the superhero within. ‘Match-Striking for Beginners: Activating Individual and Collective Power for a More Just World’ is available for pre-order on Amazon. |
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One area where I believe parents and caregivers can make a difference is in educating our youth. It is so important to teach physical boundaries and consent early, not when it is already too late. I’ve found working with youth and in research from dating apps, that young people often still have misunderstandings and misconceptions around consent and do not respect it. We can do our part to change that.
We have loved working with Leslie and Carefully, and we hope to continue to support their efforts at creating a safe and inclusive platform.Â
Of course, the feeling is mutual.
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