Leading Through Change Without Losing Yourself w/ Cindy Cohn
Steve sits down with Cindy Cohn, former Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for a conversation about values, leadership, change, and knowing when it is time to make room for what comes next.
Cindy has spent decades fighting for digital rights, privacy, free speech, and a better internet for the people who use it. Her career is a powerful example of what it means to stay grounded in your values while remaining flexible enough to adapt as the world changes around you.
Cindy also shares a deeply personal look at her decision to step away from her leadership role at EFF. Not because the mission stopped mattering, but because she knew it was time to create space for the next chapter.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
- What it means to be “growth ready”
- Building a career around values instead of a fixed title
- Leading through constant change
- Why change should not be treated as a solo sport
- How to protect the work that gives you energy
- The importance of listening across an organization
- Cindy’s transition out of EFF and into what comes next
- Her book, Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance
Whether you are navigating transition, leading through uncertainty, or trying to reconnect with the work that fuels you, Cindy’s story offers a thoughtful reminder: staying true to your values does not mean staying still.
Listen now and ask yourself: What part of your work gives you energy right now?
About the Guest:
Cindy Cohn is a digital rights attorney and longtime leader in the fight for privacy, free expression, and civil liberties online.
She served as Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for a decade and spent 26 years helping shape the organization’s work as the internet evolved—from early battles over encryption to today’s questions around platform power, surveillance, and AI.
Cindy is also the author of Privacy’s Defender: My 30-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance (MIT Press). Proceeds support EFF.
Connect with Cindy:
EFF: https://www.eff.org
Cindy’s book page (via EFF): https://www.eff.org (search “Privacy’s Defender”)
Book retailers: available wherever books are sold (including audiobook)
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