Payton Iheme Bio
Payton Iheme is Bumble’s first Head of Public Policy for
North America and Latin America. With her hire, Iheme became one of the first African American women to hold a global policy leadership role of this kind at a consumer technology company.
At Bumble, Iheme lends her expertise to focus on issues across community building, online safety, diversity and equity, data privacy, the digital economy, small business, and public/private partnerships. She is working to pass legislation across the United States focused on improving the experience of woman online and spear heading efforts at the company to support policy makers workin to mitigate everything from unsolicited intimate images to "stealthing". She is based in the Washington, DC area.
Prior to joining Bumble, Iheme led aspects of public policy outreach at Facebook and also served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Communication Technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for the Obama Administration. She has also held various roles in the Dept. of Defense, the State Department, and in Congress as a legislative liaison with specialization in defense, intelligence, humanitarian assistance, and special access programs for Members on the Senate Intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Relations Committees.
Over her career, she has lent her expertise to issues ranging from technology, small business, terrorism, to responding to humanitarian or man-made disasters in the U.S. and abroad. She also happens to be a 20 -year military veteran in Army Special Operations. She is currently serving part time as a LTC in the D.C. National Guard.