TrustCon marks the midpoint of the TSPA year. I sometimes joke that the week after TrustCon feels like the week after my wedding did – after so many months of planning, you wake up and find you have time to actually breathe and reflect. The past several months have been marked by broad changes across our industry, unexpected challenges, and evolving demands on our work and our lives. But through it all, one constant has sustained us: our community.
At a time when the unpredictable seems to be the only thing we can count on, we’ve leaned into each other more than ever. Whether it’s in our member Slack channels, TSPA-led workshops, or joyful reunions and quiet one-on-one conversations during our events, our community has shown up with honesty, vulnerability, insight, and strength. From job seekers finding new opportunities through our network, to practitioners navigating layoffs and reorgs and contemplating emerging technologies with honesty and care, our community has shown what it means to hold space for one another. These connections remind us that we don’t have to navigate uncertainty alone.
Here are some highlights from the year so far:
- Member Meetups in cities like Houston and Los Angeles helped practitioners build meaningful connections with their peers. Our meetups allow members to network in the local T&S space, or even finally meet a virtual colleague in-person.
- We welcomed 245+ practitioners to Dublin for our 3rd Annual EMEA Summit in May 2025, where participants tackled important conversations around AI and misinformation, the latest regulation, and mitigating emerging risks in child safety.
- Our Coffee Chats program continues to grow, connecting early-career professionals with 85 seasoned leaders who are generously sharing their time, experience, and wisdom.
- We’ve welcomed 544 new members from across the globe, expanding our collective expertise and perspectives at a time when cross-cultural understanding is more important than ever.
- Last week, we hosted nearly 1400 people at TrustCon 2025 in San Francisco. With nearly 300 speakers across three days of sessions, meetups, and our very first community 5K run, TrustCon 2025 was TSPA’s largest and most successful event yet.
- Last week, we also launched the analysis of our first-of-its-kind Global Compensation Survey to help T&S practitioners understand the value of their professional expertise, providing context for salary negotiations and career decisions. The full report is available for free on our website and in the member portal.
As we head into the second half of the year, we’re looking forward to our 2025 APAC Summit in Singapore, October 13-14. We’ll also be doing more virtual workshops and roundtable discussions throughout H2 – we’re beginning to schedule these into 2026, so if you’ve got a program suggestion you want to see, reach out soon with your ideas!
In difficult times, it sometimes feels easier to press pause on anything that’s non-essential. What I’ve witnessed this year is something remarkable: when it comes to TSPA, our members haven’t paused on anything. You’re traveling to meetups and summits even if your organizations are in upheaval. You’re volunteering your time and expertise for our programs while managing increased workloads and ambiguity in your day jobs. You just keep showing up. This illustrates something profound: through your actions, you’re demonstrating that community isn’t a “nice-to-have” that we can set aside when times get tough – it’s exactly what we need most when the path forward is unclear. The relationships you’re building, the knowledge you’re sharing, the support you offer to each other: these, too, are the work of trust and safety.
No matter what this year throws at us, we know we can weather it together. To everyone who has shown up, spoken up, lent support, or simply been present for each other: thank you. You are the reason we continue to grow, evolve, and face the future with determination.
In gratitude,
Charlotte Willner