Viktorya Vilk

Director, Digital Safety and Free Expression  New York, NY  +1 646-779-4823
    Viktorya Vilk headshot

    Viktorya Vilk (she/her/hers) is the director for digital safety and free expression at PEN America. She created and runs the organization’s programming on digital safety and online abuse defense, which aims to make online spaces safer, more equitable, and more free. In the human rights and press freedom sectors, she has put the issue of online hate and harassment on the map as a pressing threat to free expression, equity, and inclusion. Working with dozens of media organizations, publishers, nonprofits, and universities, Vilk has provided extensive training and resources to strengthen protections for staff and freelancers facing abuse and threats for their work. She has published five major reports on digital safety, online hate and harassment, and the local journalism crisis, as well as spearheading multiple advocacy initiatives to push the media, publishing, and tech industries to better protect and support people attacked for their identities and professions.

    Vilk has published op-eds and articles for The Washington Post, Slate, Ms. Magazine, and Harvard Business Review and she regularly provides commentary for news media, including PBS Newshour, NPR, The New York Times, AP, The Los Angeles Times, and TIME, among others. She has led hundreds of workshops, panels, and seminars across the United States and internationally to empower writers and journalists to protect themselves, online and off.  A sought after speaker at conferences on safety and press freedom, she has spoken at RightsCon, the International Journalism Festival, the Online News Association, Asian American Journalists Association, and MozFest, among others.

    With over fifteen years of experience in the nonprofit sector, her deep commitment to defending freedom of expression has been a through line in her work in human rights and in the arts. Prior to joining PEN America, she worked on organizational strategy and development at the Art & Global Health Center Africa, a Malawian NGO that advocates for human rights through the arts. She has developed public programming, organized exhibitions, managed a collection re-installation project, and created innovative digital platforms showcasing art and architecture at The Jewish Museum, the Clark Art Institute, The Frick Collection, and the Courtauld Gallery.  

    Vilk received her graduate degrees in art history and curating, as a Marshall Scholar, at the University of London and her undergraduate degree in art history, French literature, and studio art from Boston University.

    Media Appearances

    Op-eds & Articles

    Research & Reports

    Media Coverage

    •  
    •  

    Join PEN America Today

    Defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture.

    Support for the freedom to read with exclusive designs by Todd Parr, Mike Curato, Art Spiegelman, and more!

    SHOP

    Are you an artist at risk or know someone who is?

    CONTACT ARC