About Us | Tech Safe Kids

Tech Safe Kids

At Tech Safe Kids, we believe children deserve the same preparation for the digital world that they receive for every other important milestone in life. Yet most families are expected to navigate smartphones, social media, online safety, and digital well-being without a roadmap.

That's why we brought together experts in child development, education, family support, marketing, and game development to create a new approach to digital readiness. Led by parents who have experienced these challenges firsthand, our team is dedicated to helping young people build the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to use technology safely and responsibly.

We're not anti-technology. We're pro-preparation. And we're creating tools that empower kids and support the families raising them.

Joanne Ma

Co-Founder, Tech Safe Kids

Joanne is a Mom of three children, ages 7-14, who brings nearly two decades of experience helping children, families, and communities navigate challenges and build resilience. As a published clinician and Behavior Analyst, she has dedicated her career to developing evidence-based programs that support healthy development, emotional well-being, and positive outcomes for young people.

Throughout her career, Joanne has worked across education, healthcare, and community settings, designing and implementing programs that help children and families thrive. Her professional expertise is complemented by her firsthand experience as a parent, giving her a practical understanding of the challenges families face in today's increasingly digital world.

Highlights:

Published clinician with nearly 20 years of experience as a Behavior Analyst
Holds a graduate degree in Educational Psychology (Special Education)
Designed and implemented behavioral and mental health programs across school districts, healthcare systems, and community initiatives
Extensive experience supporting children with ASD, anxiety, and behavioral challenges

Inspired by her own daughter's experience of being "the only one without a phone," Joanne recognized the need for better tools to help families prepare for the digital world. That experience became a driving force behind the creation of DigiDefendr and Tech Safe Kids' mission to build confidence, readiness, and healthy digital habits in youth.

Tracy Parolin

Co-Founder, Tech Safe Kids

Tracy is a Mom of twin daughters, who brings extensive experience in marketing, brand strategy, and audience engagement, with a career focused on building meaningful connections between organizations and the people they serve. Her expertise in storytelling, digital marketing, and strategic growth has helped shape campaigns that reach and inspire audiences at scale.

As a former marketing leader, Tracy has overseen large-scale initiatives across digital, social, and experiential channels, developing brands and campaigns that drive both awareness and action. At Tech Safe Kids, she leads partnership development, strategic outreach, and long-term growth initiatives, helping expand the organization's impact while fostering collaboration with families, schools, and community partners.

Highlights:

Former Director of Marketing for a leading real estate development firm
Led multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns across web, social, digital, and experiential platforms
Deep expertise in consumer engagement, brand strategy, and storytelling
Drives brand partnerships, strategic outreach, and market positioning for future national and global growth

As a parent, Tracy witnessed firsthand the growing pressure families face around smartphone adoption and digital life. Wanting a better path forward than simply saying "yes" or "no" to technology, she became passionate about creating a modern-day "Driver's Ed for Smartphones"—a way to help kids build the skills, confidence, and readiness they need before navigating the digital world on their own. This vision ultimately helped inspire the creation of Tech Safe Kids and DigiDefendr.

Dan Scott

Co-Founder & Game Production Lead

Dan brings more than 30 years of experience in game development, product strategy, and digital innovation. Having led teams and launched products for some of the world's most recognized technology and gaming organizations, he combines deep industry expertise with a passion for creating engaging digital experiences that deliver meaningful impact.

Highlights:

Nearly a decade at EA, rising from engineer to Development Director, credited on NBA Showdown during the studio’s run building the NBA Live franchise
Director of Production at Digital Legends (Barcelona, Spain)
Senior Producer at Slant Six Games, leading production on the Galactic Reign engine for Xbox/DX11
As Global Head of Production at Nokia, led worldwide development, QA, and localization for all first-party games, over seeing 15+ global product launches
Most recently a Professor at SFU's Masters of Digital Media at the Centre for Digital Media , mentoring future industry leaders in digital product development
Leads DigiDefendr’s technical build end to end, directing in-house engineering, design and art teams.

Dan's extensive experience developing successful games and digital products helps ensure DigiDefendr delivers an experience that is not only educational, but genuinely fun to play. His leadership brings the production quality, scalability, and engagement strategies needed to create a game that can reach and positively impact families around the world.