Tomorrow is Not Today

[00:00:00] I had a sister who passed away in 2022 in a car accident. I could see that there was a lot of pain around me that hasn't been addressed properly. I saw the first cybersecurity attack to a childcare center in the UK, and around 8,000 photos were leaked. Take me into the mind of a perpetrator for a minute.

I would say somebody mani- that, that can manipulate situations very easily. But I would say one thing to all parents out there, do not trust anyone. And is it kids because they're an easy target? Children are being targeted because they are the most valuable asset that our society has

Why did you decide to go all in on this? I feel that this was not about me anymore. It was about the rest of us, and to use technology to serve humanity. [00:01:00] You know, I lost my sister. She was only 23 at the time. I know life is too short to be wasting my time on things that will never fulfill my soul. Of course, you know, there is these levels of, um, doubt and being uncomfortable at times, but I see on the other side the fruits of it.

I can't think of anything more purposeful in life than being able to do that and make a difference for other people. Whatever you start in life, you need to finish it and with excellence. Otherwise, don't start. Uh, that's one of the best speeches I've ever heard. How can you create the life you want and leave a legacy you're proud of?

I-

Well, welcome to the Tomorrow's Not Today podcast. So excited to have you with us here today because I have a podcast and a very special guest, uh, one that I wish we didn't have to have on, but I'm so excited that we do. Uh, but the [00:02:00] reality is that's what this podcast is all about, and how people make an incredible difference in the lives of so many other people.

Uh, taking their life, their journey, their pain, their hurts, and turning that into incredible things for other people. So, I wanna welcome Adriana Jones. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you so much for having me. Uh, and it's, it's really interesting how we've hooked up. Again, it's another social media connection, but once we connected on social media, we realize there's actually a much more in-depth connection that goes with that, which I love how that happens.

Absolutely. I completely agree. It's so exciting. So I want you to tell us, and you're doing a phenomenal job. Like, you gotta wait and hear the stories of what's going on with this and what Adriana's done. Uh, tell us what you are doing at the moment to make the world a better place. So just a little bit of a backstory.

I am being awarded with a couple of scholarships in cybersecurity, and I transitioned into cybersecurity in 2024. Uh, but I [00:03:00] guess at that point of time, I wanted my career to have a different impact. And I am the founder of the Innocent Souls Project, which is a company, and the Innocent Souls Foundation, which is a not-for-profit.

And I have been dedicating my life in the last close to two years to use technology to safeguard children and to fight against child sexual abuse. That's so cool. That is so cool. So tell us, obviously, there's a little accent peering through there. Um, where are you from? So I'm from Central America, um, a country called Guatemala, which is a small country, and I...

Obviously my first language is Spanish, so I'm sorry for the little accent there. No, I think you're doing great. I love having accents on here. It makes a podcast more exciting. I really do. Culture- 100%. It, it is, and culture's such an exciting thing. And right now you're actually traveling yourself. You're down in Tasmania.

That's exactly right. That's exactly right. I feel like, um, I'm obviously from Central America, but [00:04:00] I'm, I became so Aussie in a way. Like, I love Australia so much. And yeah, we're in Tasmania today, which is really, really cool. So how long have you been in Australia for? Close to 10 years now. So I came to Australia in 2017, so yeah, close to 10 years.

I am... You know, I did a, I d- mentioned this to you before, but I did a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. And right when I finished it, I wanted to have a little bit of an adventure and a time with God, and so I decided to come to Australia. I did three years in ministry, in leadership. I serve in a local church, and then I use as well my skills in civil engineering, redesigning buildings for the church around Australia, which was a, a privilege and an honor.

And one of my favorite parts of that was to serve in a detention center. I know it sounds different, but definitely was one of my favorite things to do. [00:05:00] Um, and yeah, just stayed in Australia, got married, and obviously, you know, end up in a new career, which is cybersecurity. That's awesome. So you, you've actually come across as one of those overachievers that make the rest of us just feel like we're not as good as the rest of you.

I think it's just one of those things that, you know, as a child my mom noticed. Uh, my mom, uh, she's, she's a general practitioner. She's been for over 25 years, I think close to 30 now. But when I was a child, I think I was the kind of child that wanted to do everything. And so my mom set up a couple of rules for me to make sure that whatever I was doing, it was the right thing.

But one of the things she always said to me was, uh, "Whatever you start in life, you need to finish it and with excellence. Otherwise, don't start." So having said that, obviously she, she encouraged me to do whatever I wanted, and she supported me to have different skills, whether it was art, [00:06:00] science, she would always be behind me.

So I think her, yeah, that's probably why I've achieved a couple of things in a very short period of time. And I think as we go through this podcast, people will understand where we sh- when we share later on your website and all that sort of thing, uh, they will see all of that come through. Uh, the professionalism, the excellence that you do, and the way that you do things, the awards that you've got, which we'll get into later on as well.

Uh, it, it's just phenomenal what, what you've done and what you're doing. And, and the fact is that you've come through, like, high-level, uh, achievements in so many ways, yet right now you're taking your gifts and talents and putting them out there to help other people. 100%. 100%, I think- There were a few, or there are a few reasons why I have decided to use all my skills, my time, um, everything that has been given in my hands, [00:07:00] not for my own, um, benefit, but the benefit of others.

I had a sister who passed away in 2022 in a car accident, and when she passed away, I, I realized that, you know, tomorrow doesn't exist. It's just today. And we don't have the time to procrastinate and think, "Oh, should I do this or not?" I just said, "Okay, I'm gonna do whatever is in my heart," and I believe that it's important to do and give it all to it.

And as I said, as you said, actually, um, you know, just I, I work with a lot of excellence and, and I think it's the least that you can do for, for the other people. Give your, give it all. You just said something there that I want you to expand on a little bit, that whatever's in your heart to do that. What do you mean by that exactly?

I think sometimes we wrestle with [00:08:00] the desires of, you know, doing things that will make us feel uncomfortable, things that will make us be more visible, but we know very deep inside of us it's the right thing to do. Those are the things that I'm mentioning. You know, it's not easy sometimes to take the lead on these sort of conversations, these sort of projects.

But if it's in your heart and you know that it's the right thing, you need to do it, and that's how I- I've seen it in my own life. Of course, you know, there is these levels of- Um, doubt and being uncomfortable at times, but I see on the other side the fruits of it, and it's, it's been wonderful so far. So I, I'm looking forward for what's, what's coming as well.

Yeah, and, and you definitely do. You definitely do. And I, what you just said I think is an incredibly important point that [00:09:00] I, I think sometimes we ignore that because, um, it might be too hard or we don't see how it can happen or, uh, you know, there's no road for to do it, or I've got too many responsibilities that I need to do so I'm not gonna worry about it.

And that's when we get down the track in life and go, "What have I done? What, what didn't I do that I should have done?" Which, you know, of all the people, um, in that book with the, the, the nurse, uh, did the interview of people on their deathbeds, one of the biggest things is, "I wish I'd taken more risks." And that's, that's the story of stepping in the unknown and stepping in the waters, right?

Like, um, we will never know what's, what's on the other side unless, unless we do it. And I think initially that was one of the many thoughts that came to my mind was, "Okay, should I do it or not?" And obviously we're gonna go more into more details about why I started these projects in, in my, um, cybersecurity [00:10:00] career.

Um, but, um, mainly was because I could see that there was a lot of pain around me that hasn't been addressed properly, and that there are so many tools that can help, um, not only mitigate, but act more responsibly. And I wanted to step up and, and, and do something about it. You know, like I, I don't have the 20, 30 years experience that other cybersecurity experts do have, but I have been blessed with grace and favor, and my voice has resonated in the cybersecurity industry.

So many cybersecurity experts that have 20, 30 years of experience have come along with me and said, "Okay, let's, let's do it together." And I think it's, it's, that's the power of deciding, "Yes, I'm gonna do it," you know? Maybe you might not feel that you're fully prepared for those things. But in terms of faith, I believe God, God is along the way, so I, uh, he's gonna bring the right people.

[00:11:00] I'm... It certainly is a exciting time for me and for my team and for the people that has been behind the scenes as well, supporting. Mm, absolutely. I love what you just said then. That was so, so incredibly powerful. Um, so obviously you've, you've taken on this role, you've started the company and the charity.

Tell us a little bit, take us back now and tell us a little bit about why this is important to you, why you have to do this. So a little bit of, again, backstory that supports my, my beginnings. Um, in 2025, I returned to Guatemala in the pursuit of justice, um, for the child sexual abuse that I had to endure.

So I'm a survivor. At the time, that was actually the first trip back that I made after the passing of my sister, so it was a lot of emotions. You know, I had to go back, and it was completely different [00:12:00] for me to visit my home and having no sister at all, and we were just the two of us. So we were very, very close.

And in terms of our faith, we, we, uh, grew up very close to each other because we went through a lot of, I guess, difficulties. And I think, uh, what, what actually brought us very close together was our, our faith in Christ. But having to go back in- into that was horrible, and it was really, really hard. And on top of that, I had decided, okay, I'm just gonna pursue justice because I believe that, um, we are empowered as well to, to face those things that sometimes are extremely difficult.

In my... When I returned in Australia, it was probably around February, March, and I got a call from my lawyer ex- to explain me that the case had, um, been dismissed And [00:13:00] that was a little bit of shock to my system. I questioned whether justice truly exist and whether justice is the right pursuit, if that makes sense.

I came to the conclusion that justice is certainly part of a process in the way that we live in our society, but shouldn't be the pursuit that I had to be more focused on. Rather, I started to think about prevention. And I did a course in university called In the Mind of a Hacker, and I had to see things from the perspective of a criminal mind and how they operate psychologically.

So when I was doing sort of the cybersecurity assessment and, and risks, uh, assessment, I decided to go for a childcare center, and I spotted so many [00:14:00] risks, internal threats, vulnerabilities, privacy issues, you name it. It was horrible. And as part of, I guess, my analysis, I tried to forecast as well what could happen in the future.

Based on the records, I noticed that there was a lot of cases of internal threats where predators were targeting childcare centers, and there were privacy issues because videos had been taken of that abuse and share... and on the dark web Um, in probably three months after that, uh, I saw the first cybersecurity attack to a childcare center in the UK, and around 8,000 photos were leaked, ch- photos of children.

Uh, that was the perfect storm of my personal journey and obviously my [00:15:00] cybersecurity career. And then we started... Or I started the Innocent Souls project, where I was using technology, open source intelligence, to try to find ways to prevent this from happening, and that has been my focus for a long time.

But along the way, I was able to connect with other survivors, people working in other industries that obviously are, uh, were trying to use their skills to protect children, lawyers, former CIA agents, FBI, people that works in the UK, and, um, as well the connections between child exploitation, again, sextortion, and any financial crime.

That's massive. Like, what you're doing is involving so many people in so many different areas. So obviously [00:16:00] what you've created, what you're doing is, is having a massive, massive impact. Well, otherwise, you're not gonna attract these people to, to get in and support it and help make a difference. I, I believe so.

Yeah. I think as well, you know, it's a mix of- My personal journey and my skills. I always bring a lot of information to the table, so I make sure that the conversation goes both ways so I can inform and as well get informed about the things that I just don't know about. And I have learned so much in the last year and a half.

And so that was my, the, as I said, that was the very beginning. So I started, like, having conversation even with educators in Australia, challenging the way that we do things in Australia. Why is privacy so important? Why child sexual abuse material is more than what we think it is. It's actually a currency in the dark web.

How can we stop it? Why are we not informing people, like, you know, the educators, uh, in Australia about the, the use of technology, the proper use of technology, and [00:17:00] h- as well, obviously, how this can be weaponized against us. Um, and as I said, you know, people in the cybersecurity industry started to put my, their eyes on me, and they just supported me in, in, in this journey.

And I am so thankful with the cybersecurity community because they actually been extremely supportive. Um, and from the Innocent Souls project, the Innocent Souls Foundation was born. We saw that there was this very massive gap in terms of, uh, cybersecurity awareness programs f- in, in very specific, uh, groups of our community, because cybersecurity is a, sounds like a very tech, uh, word.

People are not very at- attractive to learn about it. But we wanted to tailor the education to ensure that we can fill that gap and that we can protect children, have that mindset of, of protection, very proactive one. And on the other hand, we, w- I mean, I've been aware because I [00:18:00] am, you know, been so thankful that many parents have spoken to me as well, you know.

Um, incidents, uh, as I said, survivors equally, I notice the amount of, of victims, uh, it's, it's extremely high in Australia. It's just, it's hard to, to understand or to fathom the, the amount. Can you take us back? I wanna go a little bit dark here, because what I want i- is I want parents, caregivers, um, anybody that is around kids to recognize things, see things that maybe you may not be aware of or think to look at.

Tell us a little bit about How old you were, um, the people involved, and what, what could have been maybe some, um, giveaways [00:19:00] to other people that something wasn't right? Unfortunately, predators do not have an, a specific charac- characteristic, right? So it could be, you know, the neighbor, a family member, an educator, somebody in school, um, a very young person too.

So it's, it's hard to point, pinpoint a, a specific characteristic. But in my case, I was first, uh, abused, I think I, I was around three to four years old. I was a very young child. Um, and unfortunately was not just one person who committed those crimes against me. When I was around four or five years old, my stepdad as well became one of those perpetrators, up to I believe it was eight, 10 years old, and then I started to defend myself, but everything began a bit more, you know, violent against me.[00:20:00]

So I calculate probably all the abuse finish on the age of 12 And, um, one of the characteristics I no- I noticed in, in, at least in him, it was that he was the nicest person. He was the nicest person to all people around him. Uh, you wouldn't ever think one bad thing about him. And so it's really hard, right, to, to, to see if those test characteristics true to the perpetrator, but I think the child actually expresses even more than the perpetrator.

But I will, what I will say one thing to all parents out there is anyone that is placing too much attention in, to, to, to your chi- children and, and wanna spend more time with them, you just need to be cautious about it. I always say don't trust anyone. That's my, uh, advice. And I think the, the, the other thing with children is that a lot of children when they are, like, three or four years old, they, they lack the way of expressing what has happened to them.

But, um, [00:21:00] we need to teach children to, um, name their intimate parts so they can express what has occurred. In Australia, that's very important because if the ch- child cannot express that he's, um, abused or that their intimate parts have been touched in an in- inadequate way, the case will never end up in court, right?

Or if it do, it's just gonna, again, disappear, go fa- fall apart. So this is very important from, from the Australian perspective, right? So make sure that you teach your children the, the specific names of their body parts. It's very important. But yeah, I don't think there is a, a, any specific characteristic to, to perpetrators or predators.

I do believe that they definitely place a very particular attention to children in general that we wouldn't otherwise. So it, it's an interesting point that you mentioned, uh, and [00:22:00] you sort of reiterated it then, that it's like, um, someone who's overly interested in children or a child, that's something to, to be aware of.

Okay. Interesting. Is there anything else like that that people could sort of look at, obviously not specific people, but any other characteristics like that that might stand out? There is one thing that another survivor shared, and I think I'm gonna take it because it's, it's, she mentioned something that is really important.

I think the way that they will look at children will be slightly different as well. They might look at the child upside down, and they might stop specifically in their body parts at, even for a second or so. So if you can see that pattern, that's a way to recognize something might be going on. And just to be precautious because at, at the end of the day, you know, I, as I said, there is not any specific characteristic, but I do know that they tend to place [00:23:00] themselves in positions of trust Mm.

The perpetrators? Yeah, 100%. In positions of trust, positions where they can get access to children, and it would be very difficult to question it why. You can be the very nice uncle Um, the teacher that is really, really encouraging a child. So this is why it's very hard to tell, because you know that there's good people out there, too.

But based on the numbers, I would say do not trust anyone. So it's, it's interesting. So in that case, would you suggest that maybe, um, talking to your kids, you mentioned about naming the body parts, but having a chat with your kids about what is okay and what isn't okay from people in authority, from that sort of thing?

Yeah, and at a very [00:24:00] early age, you know. I, I have a young child. I, and we start teaching him as well, you know, where pa- w- the, the names of his body parts and, and it's very important to explain him what is appropriate and what is not, and when shall they raise the alarm or flag something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

Can be something very little as, you know, like the way that they've been, like if they touch their hand a certain way, "If that makes you feel uncomfortable, maybe let me know," right? Like it can be something very, very minuscule as that because obviously it's important still. It's not as, you know, it's not as minimal.

But we need to start at a very young age, keep our eyes open to see a wrong. And it's difficult for parents because we need to entrust our children in so many cases to, to be cared by someone else. So the other thing I'll say to parents is, please, if you are, you know, paying for piano classes, [00:25:00] ask for the Working with Children check.

I mean, it's not fully reliable, but it's still there for a reason. Okay. It, it's really interesting, like the... And, and I'm so glad you've gone into this because the amount of, um, security and like you said, the, the number in Australia is just ridiculous. Uh, absolutely ridiculous. So, uh, and I've had people on here before who are doing preventative sorts of things as well, which is fantastic.

Um, you're approaching it from a, a slightly different angle. Well, quite a very different angle really, as far as protecting people. You've got all sorts of other, um, support through authorities and different th- things like that as well in there. Um, one of the things I guess, and the podcast is really, is about talking to people like yourself who've been through like ugly, ugly things in life which never, ever happen.

Yet it does. And you've turned this around and now you're putting your whole life into helping other people. And I [00:26:00] think that is just phenomenal. The best, the best thing that people can do. And so I appreciate what you're doing and the way that you're helping people So what other, um, thoughts can you give to people about, like, from a kid's perspective?

Like, were you like, "I can't say anything," or what was it like for you when you go, could you tell anybody? Did you have to keep it to yourself? What were you feeling? All that sort of thing, because obviously any parent who's gonna be looking at their kid is gonna be noticing something if they're close to them, if they're holding back, if they're not talking or whatever.

You notice these things about your kids. What were the thoughts and feelings that you had, um, that may be good for parents to understand or may be able to see in their kids? Any, any behavior changes are important to never dismiss, and they vary- But a [00:27:00] very serious approach to them. So if, if a child changes their behavior, immediately you need to start to ask yourself why is that, right?

The second thing I notice is children, in vast majority of them, would try to express what has occurred. So to never dismissed any of those words that they might try to express, because I think culturally in, all around the world, this is a topic that became, I guess, a little bit of, is it a taboo, right?

Like, a lot of, uh, survivors actually have expressed what happened to them, but it was dismissed, you know, especially children. So I would say to never dismiss any of, of the way that they're trying to express. Um, and certainly create a spa- a safe space for them to have the conversations because child sexual abuse has evolved so much as well i- in terms of how technology is involved right now.

So you have obviously the, [00:28:00] the kind of like common abuse that happens, you know, face-to-face interactions, right? But now you have as well online interactions where a child might disclose more things that they should, like photos of themselves, and they get into that, uh, scenarios of sextortion. So I think there is more that, that is going on, but if there is a safe space for them to have the conversations, it will be more likely that they'll come to you and tell you exactly what had happened.

And would most of them, you would think this would be the case, that they would talk to their parents, but some, some parents obviously you can't tell the parents. Um, what, what would you suggest there? Like, what is, what is a... Is, is there a way where you can create or help the kids be able to, to know who's safe to talk to?

Yeah, and I think that's is, is, is, that's why it's important as well for many educators [00:29:00] out there, right? To ensure that they become that safe place too. Because so many of those children, if this is happening at home, they might open up with a, with a, you know, educator out there. Um, same with parents that, you know, they perhaps have contact with childrens that, that are not their own.

And sometimes those children might feel that that home is a safe home, and they might express, you know, what has occurred. I think that's, that's really important to know as an adult, obviously, that you have to take the, the actions that you must take. You know, call the, the, the police immediately and file a report.

But I think it's important for all of us to- that we all play a role because you never know when a child is gonna disclose, actually, to you. You can be working in a church. You can be working, as I said, in a school. It can be just a, a family friend, you know, that has disclosed this [00:30:00] information. And, you know, this is important to not only know exactly what to do in terms of reporting but what to do when it comes to their mental health and wellbeing.

How, how can we move from here to there, right? Because in th- th- for somebody to disclose actually takes a lot of courage. Imagine child, for a child to dis- uh, disclose this information, it takes a lot of courage, uh, because they don't know exactly what's gonna happen. Normally, a perpetrator will tell them that if they disclose that information, there are gonna be repercussions aga- against the child.

So we certainly need to appreciate when, when a victim is informing us or anyone about this incident. So let's say a, a kid comes to you, it might be your child or it might be one of your students or something like that, and they say they say something. What's the best way to talk to them? Um, because obviously you want to eliminate any fear or whatever.

Like you said, [00:31:00] they've often been told, "Don't tell anybody because of these consequences or whatever." How do you actually sort of make them feel safe to talk and I guess get information so you can actually do something about it? I will probably point, pinpoint, uh, Braveheart. I think Braveheart is a cr- great organization.

They've done a lot of work around this, uh, especially about how to approach these conversations too, um, and how to make them feel safe. I think one of the problems that we have, as you mentioned too, is that we, we might not be the parent of a child, and so we can't totally ensure that the child is not gonna go back to the same household, right?

And so the- there is a lot of repercussions around disclosing for a child. So one of the things that would potentially happen is that if the child is disclosing and it's a family member, that family will certainly be under a lot of, um, [00:32:00] pressure, and there might be some breaks. Like, you know, those relationships will definitely fall apart in, in the, in that time.

But, um, I think it's important to ensure that the child is taken care of psychologically and physically after disclosing. As I said, the first thing is to report to the right authorities, and secondly ensuring that the child is gonna be in, in the right care. Um, and hopefully from there, obviously they receive all the support.

But that being said, that's probably why the Innocent Souls Foundation is so important to, to us because we notice that even though there is, you know, mental health services out there, this is something that a, a person will need for the rest of their lives probably, you know, that support. And so we wanted to create a foundation where we can actually provide those, um, uh, low cost or free counseling, um, you know, [00:33:00] support with, with somebody that actually has all the skills to help the child, um, in those very moments.

That's phenomenal that you're putting all that together, and somewhere for kids to go and, you know, just that help and actually finding, uh, uh, preventing and then finding and help and answers as well. I'm gonna take a step a little bit sideways and I'm gonna go dark again for a minute. And I think with the study that you've done, um, and the way that you're helping people, you would probably have a good answer to this.

Um, and especially what you said earlier about getting into the mind of a hacker Take me into the mind of a perpetrator for a minute Um, I would say somebody manip- that, that can manipulate situations very easily and manipulate people. Very psychopathic, extremely psychopathic. Um, double personality, right?

I am... As I said, if, if you [00:34:00] go to, to the mind of a perpetrator, it's someone that will have two, three masks, wearing them, you know, in different times. I'm, I can s- you know, speak out of my or- own experience, and I think that's probably why for me it was so difficult to disclose because nobody would have a thought And that's why I think it's important, as I said to you at the very beginning, go back to if a child is mentioning something, let's take it very, very seriously.

Um, yeah, but it's, it's somebody cold that wouldn't care about harming the most beautiful creation that we have and the most important asset in our society, which are children and our youth. Um, so you're seeing to someone that's really, really different to most of us, and therefore for the rest of us, it's [00:35:00] really hard to fathom or understand how someone could actually act in this way.

Um, especially when we, we speak about the numbers as you mentioned. I mean, this is, it's just as the numbers are extremely high and it's, it's really, really hard to understand how Australia being such a beautiful place and a first-world country is allowing this to happen. I mean, when, when you talk about Australia, we talk about the land of the free.

I can't put that to- together anymore. When you have 27% of your population, um, that had gone through s- some sort of child sexual abuse, just that f- is not making any sense. No, y- you're right. I've never actually heard it put like that before where you look at the country and what's happening in it, and it doesn't make any sense, and you're 100% right.

That's [00:36:00] actually a really, really good way to, to view it, to put it that way. Um, i- is it often the case where maybe those particular people have had something happen to them earlier? Is that what it's from, or can be come some other issues? Really good question. The answer is yes and no. There is, there are studies that back this up.

So there are a lot of perpetrators that actually had gone through this, and so it's like, you know, it's a repeated cycle. In Christian terms, it's a chain, right? Um, but some others do not have to go through this. I think the o- one of the issues that we have, especially men nowadays, I think is men are being attacked.

Their identity are being like, a- actually all, all men and women, but m- more specifically I f- I see it in men because perpetrators in vast majority of, of them are actually, um, men. And I th- I think it comes down to pornography. You know, the, that in massive industry targeting men, [00:37:00] which, you know, is this from a very young, uh, age that you have a lot of men that are actually being The, the b- they're becoming very deprived in, in the way that they think, in the way that they see sexuality.

And so I think it's a combination now of those factors. Like one, yes, if something might had happened to them, of course. You know, the ... When you see the numbers right now, you wonder how long has this been happening for? Obviously, this, it's been for quite some time. But then you have very young offenders, and you ask yourself how that's h- is happening, and I think pornography, pornography actually has a, a

It has impacted the mind of many, including women. And is it kids because they're an easy target? I think so, and because they ... Look, I, I, I believe so, ab- absolutely. You know? Like, kids are easy to manipulate [00:38:00] in a way because they are just so fragile in the way that they, they are, and they are just developing, you know, so many things, their brains, their bodies, et cetera.

So there are so many ways to manipulate a child. Um, I see this as an e- w- the worst kind of evil that you can find because children actually represent more than just, uh, a, a comm- a population or a community of, um, you know, a, they are just so innocent and, but they're actually more valuable in your, your economy.

You're m- they are more valuable in the way that your, uh, community's gonna be formed in the future. So if you can attack the youth and your children, imagine how is that gonna look like in 10, 20 years, right? So I think my perspective is that children are being targeted because they are the most valuable asset that our, our society has, to be quite frank.

Um, and yes, they, absolutely, you're right. They are easy to manipulate. It, [00:39:00] there's so many words that come to mind, but I, probably the, the nicest way to put it would be cowards. Oh, 100%. The cowards. Yeah. And so they can't ... It, it, they've got to attack kids because they, the way they view themselves, uh, that's the only thing that they can do to, I guess- Uh, yeah, that's all they can, that's all they can do 'cause they, they're cowards.

So does that come through in their ... 'Cause I know you were saying that they wear masks. Does that come through sometimes in the way that they are? Or is it one of those the mask goes on, so you often can't see that in the- I think their mask goes on. It's really hard to, to see that swap, right? Like when they

I think, uh, th- they become very, very good at manipulating as well the situations around them, so they know when to act and when they can't, right? Um, I mean, you [00:40:00] hear so many cases of people saying, "I just never thought this person would be somebody doing this," right? And so they know how to manipulate people.

They know how to manipulate the situations, and they know exactly what, when they can act. Um, that being said, obviously, you know, there are so many moments where obviously we, we hear the news and they've been, they've been caught definitely. Like, you know, that this n- this is not gonna go forever. But by that time, this is my, my point, right?

With the Innocent Souls Project and the Innocent Souls Foundation, by that point, that, that's far too, too late because children have been harmed. So that we need to think more on a proactive, preventative way, whether it's with education and technology, how we can use open source intelligence to prevent certain, um, individuals from getting in, in close proximity to children.

But, you know, you have to think differently to resolve this because whatever has been done in the last five to 10 years, [00:41:00] uh, unfortunately at this point of times is, is not updated and it's quite behind and it keeps allowing these individuals to get in close proximity with, with the, these children. Tell me a little bit about you.

You, you sort of hit on it a little bit before, but why did you decide to go all in on this? Like, you could have had an amazing career doing all sorts of things with the skill set, uh, everything that you've got. But you've decided to go all in on this. 'Cause a lot of people push it behind. It's down there.

It's in the past. I'm gonna pretend nothing happened and move on with life. But you haven't done that. Why did you decide to go all in? When there was an incident in Melbourne This guy allegedly abused over 130 children. Um, and I saw the numbers [00:42:00] from Braveheart and the University of New South Wales of how many survivors are around me.

I realised that I was not alone. And, you know, uh, so many years ago, I remember hearing a very well-known preacher who survived the same sort of circumstance, and I felt so encouraged to hear somebody was so brave to, to speak about it To be quite frank with you, when I saw those numbers, when I saw th- th- when I watched the news about this case I just mentioned, I mourned for probably 30 years all of those children.

Um, and I feel that this was not about me anymore. It was about the rest of us. I can't tell you the amount of people have, that [00:43:00] had come to me in, in, you know, after events and meetings and business meetings too, and they just said to me, "You know what? I'm, I'm a survivor too." It just blows my mind. But I think it's important to To, to express, you know, that this is a reality.

And I, I am not feeling comfortable about obviously exposing myself, but it is not about being comfortable. It's about doing the right thing. And for me, it's doing the right thing for others, giving them the chance to s- to see that there are other people like them and that, you know, it's, your, your life is not defined by what happened to you, where you come from, the color of your skin is defined by, in, in my case, and I will say very clearly, is defined by God, or that it should be defined by God.

We're loved and, and we are accepted, and we are cared for, and that's [00:44:00] my message to any survivor out there. You know what's interesting is everyone who comes on to the podcast who's been through some ugly, ugly things in life like this, every one of them has said the same thing, "It's not about me. It's, it's what can I do to help other people?

What can I do with other people who've been through things?"

to help them or to prevent other people having to go through certain things. Um, and I

I can't think of anything more purposeful in life than being able to do that and make a difference for other people. The-

The, the people that come on this podcast, like yourself, they're just, their lives are dedicated to other people. Sure, they're doing their own thing, [00:45:00] but at the bottom of it, it's dedicated to other people, and that's... Not everybody can do that. Not everybody does that. And I, I guess part of the question is, and I see that it, it got you and you knew you had to do something, but what took you from going, "Look, I can just do a little bit here and, you know, help, help support people or whatever," to, "This is my life.

I have to make a difference"? You know, I was born in poverty, which I didn't know it was poverty. My mom was a very hardworking mom, a single mom Well, became a, a general practitioner, so my life changed from poverty to being privileged. I went to university. I represent probably 0.2% of our population in Guatemala that have high education.

Traveled to Australia, and I've been given so many opportunities. I would challenge anyone that thinks that with great power comes great responsibility, [00:46:00] and I would say with great opportunities comes great re- responsibility. I've been given so much that I can't just live for myself. I need to live for others.

You know, I've been given so much that I need to extend that love and grace to others too. And I've given, been given so much opportunity that I know that my voice in the places that I speak is, uh, there for a reason, right? Like, as I said too, you know, the cybersecurity community has been nothing but the most incredible community.

Very supportive of me. Because most, you know, all of them know I am sharing my own story. I'm being vulnerable, and I'm telling them from the very top of my lungs, "Hey, this matters. How can we use technology? How can we create things to prevent this?" We have too many children being sexually abused. We have too many children being sex-torted online.

We have too many children going through [00:47:00] mental health issues because we are not caring for them. Children and the youth are the biggest and most incredible asset we have. We need to care for them. We need to prioritize them. We need to invest on them, right? But as I said too, it comes down to what I've been given.

And, you know, I don't, uh, speak about this very likely. I, I am very, making my case very strong. I believe God gave me the opportunity to be here and to become a s- an Australian citizen for a reason too, you know. I've been given the opportunity. It's my responsibility to, to act in the way that I need to act.

And ultimately, the, the, the main goal for me is to be called good and faithful servant. Well done. I, I that's one of the best speeches I have ever heard. I just feel like sitting here and clapping right now- ... because that was inc- [00:48:00] that was an incredible, incredible speech. If people could grab half of what you said, uh, then they would just be blown away and know that they need to make a difference.

The, the bottom line of what you said is gratitude there. 100%. 100... And y- many people will think, "Oh, but you were, you know, sexually abused. You're, you're a survivor. How you can think about grace, love, and being grateful?" Well, look, I, I've learned that life is not only about suffering, but suffering makes us more resilient, and we act- it makes us actually more compassionate So in some way, I am somehow grateful with God that I've gone through the proc- processes that I've gone through, but that God has been by my side, right?

It's not my own strength, but God who is with me. And so, yeah, I'm grateful. I grateful, I'm grateful for the life I have. I have a beautiful marriage that is, [00:49:00] you know, one of those godly paintings in my life. I can see my marriage, and I see how good God has been, and, and I can see my child that I have broken so many chains.

But what about those children that n- do not have a mama or a dad like I am with my child or my husband is with my child? Those children matter to God, right? And I come from a third world country. I know what it is to, to live in a country where we have so many children that, you know, are being, um, sexually abused, or there's a lot of human trafficking going on.

Now, obviously, we don't have those, those sort of issues in Australia as much, but I, I think nevertheless, I... what I see with the Innocent Souls Project and the Innocent Souls Foundation is that if we can s- do something very good in Australia, we can move it forward. And my goal is for many to, to find a place where they can receive help, like the Innocent Souls [00:50:00] Foundation, for many to be prepared and, and, and skilled in, in ways that we haven't, you know, provided for those people before, and to use technology to serve humanity, which is ultimately one of my biggest goals.

But I do it because I'm grateful with what I've been given. Yes. Yes. And, and it's interesting you say that, and what you're grateful for and what you've been through and why you're grateful for that and how it all works. Because a lot of people could be listening to this podcast and go, "I don't get it.

How can you say that? How can you talk about grace? How can you talk about being grateful with what's happened and where you've been?" And it, it's not until you actually deal with some of those tough things in life, the ugly parts of life, that you understand, you get a real depth of what gratitude [00:51:00] is and what grace is.

And I so love the way you put that And how it all works Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think, um, you know, as I said, you know, I can't choose where I come from. I can't choose, you know, where, where I was born, but I, I trust that there is a plan for everything, including the bad things. And it's not about me, but I hope that, you know, out there there is somebody listening to this conversation and would think, "Wow," like, "if that person made it, and that person is achieving things, I can do it, too," right?

And that's the whole point. And that's the whole point, right? To be an example and not to elevate ourselves, but to elevate other, others in, in the process, for them to, to feel they can be lift up regardless of whatever transpired in the past. You've just, you've just defined this podcast perfectly, as a perfect definition of why you're here, what this is all about, and what we want people to [00:52:00] see, that it doesn't matter where you are.

You have, you have hope. There is a hope. There is an opportunity. You can make a change. Uh, and I w- really want people to get that. Really want people to get that. Um, and I, and I'm, I'm glad of the, the, the growth that you've had as a person and now what you're doing, uh, out there. So tell us a little bit more about what your, your business, your foundation is doing, uh, how it actually operates, I guess in a d- day-to-day level.

Yeah, so the Innocent Souls Project, uh, as is mentioned to you, was born out of the idea that technology could be used for the very purposes of prevention. And so there are so many tools that can be used, but more precisely s- uh, open source intelligence. So in Australia, we have a massive issue with the Working with Children Check because for a perpetrator to be detected in the Working with Children Check, the, the perpetrator should had gone [00:53:00] through the courts and found guilty.

In Australia, only around 2% of all cases actually become a sentence. So you can imagine the 98% of those, um, incidents are never gonna make it to the Working with Children Check. And some of them won't, but vast majority, you know, don't. And so we have an issue right there. Obviously, the Working with Children Check is a, is gonna, is, is right now is managed by each state, which means that if a perpetrator has committed a crime in New South Wales, they can move to Victoria and the, um, you know, institutions or in businesses as there that will require a Working with Children Check would ever know that actually this is a criminal, uh-huh.

And so that's in the process of changing apparently, um, but it's gonna take around three years. So we are quite behind. So the idea of the Innocent Souls, uh, project was to use, um, open source intelligence, [00:54:00] which I've been working on, and I am hoping to release very soon an app to, uh, help parents to be more aware of incidents around each state.

So it's centralized data, and as well the amount of traffic of child abuse material that is being trafficked around Australia, so you can actually know the magnitude of the problem. Because I think one of the, the reasons why people do not put that much attention to this is just three, they don't-- they can't see the numbers.

They can't see what's really going on. So that's one side of it, and the second thing is certainly find a way to, um, fix the problem with the working with children check, which is a big challenge which... within itself. But actually there are so many tools that not necessarily have been built in Australia, but outside of Australia that have served as an example for me to kind of migrate those ideas to Australia.

So that's my work at the moment there. And the Innocent [00:55:00] Souls Foundation, uh, has a two, two, two elements to it, I would say, but they actually work together. The one, the first one is, um, all the education, uh, elements, like, you know, providing cybersecurity awareness programs that include cybersecurity, e-safety, and physical safety to protect children that would be provided to childcare centers for free And the second part is obviously, as mentioned to you before, is providing those counseling sessions for survivors and, and, um, parents of those survivors.

But the awareness program actually works in two ways because apart from educating people about how to protect children online and offline, it helps us as well bringing that war out of that this is actually a problem and we need people to seek help, right? And we wanna provide that help, so come to us for that.

So yeah, which we [00:56:00] obviously, you know, everything is in the making. We started the foundation in April this year, and I am so grateful with my, uh, other two directors who have been working really hard behind the scenes. And we're obviously materializing everything at the moment, but really exciting times ahead because as well we have actually so many things that we have been working behind the scenes that we just wanna release them.

Um, but because obviously there is a component of, um, privacy in all of these elements, so we are trying to be very precautious about the information that we share and the information that we are collecting too. It's quite mind-boggling what you're actually doing, like the magnitude of it. Like, you're changing the, how the whole country works to start with.

Um, and you're either the things that you're putting in place for individuals, for daycare centers, for all of this sort of thing, and that's just part, that just sounds like you're only just starting there, and then you've got a whole bunch more things that you're looking at getting in [00:57:00] place as well. 100%.

This is just the very beginning, and I'm looking forward to what's, what's ahead. I, as I said to you, I've been graced and blessed to find so many people that have been coming for and willingly talk to me about ideas. I exposed, you know, what the problems are. I have spoken with many people, "Hey, I, I don't think the working with children check works.

What's the solution here?" And many, many, many have shared with me great ideas, and so, you know, putting all of them together, I, I don't doubt at all that, um, we're gonna find ways to prevent. Ultimately, my goal is Even if it's one child. I don't, I, I mean, do you ... Sometimes people wants to put numbers to, to their goals, but for me, the soul of one child matters, and we wanna protect them all.

But if one is protected, we achieved far beyond, you know, um, [00:58:00] what we were achieving before we started this. So, um, I wanna take the time just to thank my team, because obviously they've been behind me and they believed in what we're doing at the moment. That's phenomenal. I l- I'm loving what you're doing.

It's, uh, absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible. And it's not just, you're not just doing some little thing. Like, these are massive things that you're actually doing and making huge changes for. And the funny thing is that it's, it's easy to go, "Oh, yeah, that's a big goal that you're, you're going after."

But when you put it down to an individual soul, like you said, an individual life, an individual family, and then what are the repercussions from that, that, that you can actually put a stop in something and make a massive difference moving forward. Generational. It's a, it's a generation change, you know?

And I am hoping that Australia can become an example for n- the nations, because at the moment, we are the second-largest consumer of child sexual abuse material. I, I wanna change. Second-largest, yeah? [00:59:00] So I wanna change that. I wanna change that. And not because I can change individuals, but I think I can, I, we can put gates.

We can protect our children. You've just blown my mind a little bit right now as to the changes that you're, that you're making and what you're undertaking to actually make these changes. Um, they're bigger ... What you're actually doing is bigger than I think most of us actually ever dream of doing, and you're actually doing it.

I think it's just been God. I, I mentioned to you, though, when I watched the news about a case in Melbourne, I remember, 30, that was probably around 30 days. Every single night, my husband would put my, our son in bed, and I'll say to him, "Give me time, please. I need it." He would be like, "Okay, go for it." And it was, I was sat down for, for hours mourning those children, but equally f- trying to find a way.

And there was one night I remember so well, and I said, "Okay, God. I'm not the most excu- skillful, but here I am. Here I am. [01:00:00] Hire me. Here I am. Use me. I'm gonna take the, the initiative and You take the risk, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna work really hard for this to happen. And it did. Like, I, as soon as I started, like, I remember the f- very beginnings was for me, I was writing ar- articles about issues with the privacy and child protection, um, in my, in my LinkedIn.

And as I said, that's where a lot of professionals started to see what I was talking about. It was just opening that conversation. I was open to those conversations, so many call me, in, in fact, one of the directors was one of the first ones to, to get... She gave me a call and she's like, "How can I help? Tell me about your..."

Like, she knew about my story, but expressed a bit more like I'm sharing with you today, and she's like, "How can I help?" And she saw in me, um, I guess that, and she said this to me once, but I think she saw in me that I was very consistent with, with my goals, and that for me was about others [01:01:00] and how we can really, really m- make an impact that was far beyond ourselves.

We're just a small piece of the bigger picture, Fly. It's funny, I read a, a post, I think it was just yesterday, uh, that said, uh, "We're waiting on clarity, God's waiting on trust." And I think that sums up just what you've said there. It's like, "I'm just gonna have a go." That's right. I don't think you... Uh, w- you will never have perfect, per- per- perfect conditions for t- for anything, t- to do anything, right?

And you just go for it. You just have to go for it, and that's what, what you a- what you asked me at the very beginning, right? Like, I had to put myself last, leave my fears away, don't think too much about myself and how good or bad I was, because obviously we recognize our, our flaws and what we lack. At first, like, I was like, "You know what?

I just know I have to do this because it's the right [01:02:00] thing to do. I believe I am called to something because I can see the pain, I can feel the pain, and I cannot unsee what I have seen," right? And it would be very immature and very irresponsible for me to turn my face around from the problem and try to move on in my own personal life.

Um, and I think that was something that I challenged myself. I was like, "I know this is gonna be difficult, but here I am. I'll do it." And it's, it's not been easy, obviously. You know, you have to put a lot of effort in. You... I sometimes I, I guess some people like me would like to get things done a bit more quicker.

You ne- you know the urgency. But I... at the same time, I- I've noticed that things have worked so perfectly at the right time. You know, what you just said there can be really hard to hear because I think that some of us, we've got something that we want to do, but [01:03:00] there's no, "I have to do this" inside of us.

Or for other people, life hasn't been too bad, so, you know, "I'm all good," so there's no real drive. But I think inside every single one of us, there is a burning desire to make a change in some way, shape, or form. But it's very easy to go, "No, I'm just gonna slip back into my life and, and keep that going."

What would you say to people who have got something that's sitting there- And it's highly likely people that are watching or listening right now, that something has come to their mind, to their thoughts about maybe in their past or maybe something they've seen or heard or gone through or whatever, and they're like, "I'd really love to make a change in that, but I can't.

I've got too many responsibilities," or, "It's too hard and I don't wanna take a risk," or whatever. What would you say to them? I would say that if [01:04:00] we put our focus on ourselves too much, we will never get there. We will never get there because we will be distracted by our own abilities or lack of, you know, time or abilities, whatever that looks like.

I, uh, uh, responding to what you say, you know, sometimes people do not have to go through something truly traumatic to make the change. Um, I mean, I don't think that's necessary, you know, what this should be about. But I, I guess just going back to that gratefulness mindset, if you've been given an opportunity, you, you are responsible too, right?

And certainly conditions will never be perfect. Never. Like, even to start a business, it's never perfect, you know? Uh, people think, "Oh, I should be, um, better at this," or, "Have more of that," or, "The time is not..." I think look, when, when, when you have the will, the, the, you, you can, you can break through. And I think for many should be, don't think that [01:05:00] much about yourself for one second, just, you know, just focus about what you are called to do and do it from, from gratefulness.

Do it from that perspective of I've been given an opportunity or I, I have this thought that probably nobody's thinking about. Like, at the beginning I was thinking, "Why nobody's seeing this opportunity with open source intelligence, or why are we not informing people a bit more?" You know? And I could have thought there are other, you know, 150 other people that could be thinking about this.

They should be able to do it better than me, right? But it happened that it was probably placed in my mind and in my heart for a reason, and I think that's, that's what I'll encourage everyone to, to, to take action on the things that they been, you know, been given in, uh, in terms of opportunities, but as well whatever is in their mind and in their heart.

I love what you said there, which I think is a little harsh and I'm glad it's why you said it, not me. Uh, but no matter no matter who we are, we have a [01:06:00] responsibility to make a difference. We have a responsibility to think and make a change to other people. Yeah, we do. We do. Out of gratefulness, you know?

You don't need to go through the difficult things. I mean, it's not necessary. It's not like a Prerequisite, right? But it's not. No Exactly. It doesn't, doesn't have to be there. But we all see things that need to be fixed or changed or adjusted or whatever, and we do. We have a responsibility to make that.

Um, I love this so much. You just, I, it, I love how you're speaking from your heart and reality and making a change. So this, this girl that comes from very poor in Guatemala, comes to Australia through a bunch of circumstances, and ends up changing our country for the better. The whole place. I don't know about you, but to me, that is a massive, massive thing to do.

Well, I [01:07:00] hope, I hope those words completely materialize, but you know, at the end of the day, as I said to you, it's out of that responsibility that I carried. I remember when I got my citizenship recently, I said to my husband, "I'm bringing my Bible." I put my hand in my Bible. This is, I am responsible, you know?

I want God to, to, to see what I am gonna do with what I've been given. And I, I, look, I hope that my story can, can materialize in the way that you, you say it. I think I've been given a lot of opportunity in Australia. I am so grateful to, to be an Australian, and I wanna make the most out of it and make sure that the future of Australia moves in the right direction rather than being a, a society where we have a lot of abuse, specifically child sexual abuse.

For me, that, that's unacceptable, and I am making sure that something can be done. So given what you're doing and how hard it can be from time to time, 'cause no one's gonna pretend that [01:08:00] making change like this is ever gonna be easy, do you think if you kept in your nice, high-paying career, um, you would be as fulfilled as you are now?

No. 100% no. Like, I think, you know, if, if the, the main goal was to pursue, uh, position or wealth, um, the answer is simply no. I think, uh, uh, but perhaps I do see it differently because I come from a third-world country, and I, I can see what is to have it all and what apparently, and Jose all, and what is to have nothing.

And one of the things I said at the very beginning, I was born in poverty, but I didn't know. I was actually happy. Right. And so I think if we put our minds only on those things, uh, we lose focus on what really matters at the end. You know, I lost my sister. She was only 23 at the time. I know life is too short to be wasting my time on things that will never fulfill my [01:09:00] soul.

And I think at the moment I'm, I'm in the pursuit of doing what if it is right with my soul, rather what, what is comfortable and easier or what, you know, the rest of the world would think you should actually pursue it in this way. Um, of, and, and the rest will come. I, I am sure of that in my terrible will never, we will never like a piece of bread or a roof over, you know, our heads.

No, that, that was, yeah, I, I'm, I'm absolutely loving this. Um, and what you're saying, the wisdom you're bringing, uh, with everything that you're doing, everything that you're saying is, is way beyond I would imagine the normal years that you would have, uh, and what you're doing for people. Uh, how can people get in touch with you, support what you're doing, find out more about it?

You can find me on Instagram, on LinkedIn and Facebook, but [01:10:00] our LinkedIn page is the Innocent Souls Project and the Innocent Souls Foundation, um, in LinkedIn. So that's probably one of the, uh, you know, social media platforms that I use the most. On, um, Instagram, on Facebook, we're as TISP, which is the Innocent Souls Project, and TISF, which is the Innocent Souls Foundation.

And our website is tisf.org.au, and my website is the innocentsoulsproject.com.au, so you can get in contact with me directly. Uh, my email is listed in, in my website in the Innocent Souls Foundation too. No, that's great. And I know there will be a lot of people, uh, following this and, and I know that people do watch other podcasts and get in touch and, and get supporting.

So I'd encourage anybody, uh, if you're there to jump in and if this has grabbed your heart and you want to find out more about it or how you can support, jump on there without a doubt. Now, a question that I ask everybody at the end of the [01:11:00] podcast, it's sort of two questions in one. So how can you create the life you want and leave a legacy you're proud of?

Live by purpose, think about others, and dedicate your life to what really matters. I think that's, for me, um, the most important thing, living by purpose You know? Think about others and live what really matters, because I think we, we live in a society where we are told otherwise, that the o- the other side of this is what really matters, and people end up very unsatisfied, unfulfilled, unhappy, alone, and I think we need to change that certainly.

You've summed that up absolutely brilliantly, and you're definitely talking my language. Yeah. That's a brilliant summary. Brilliant summary. Adriana, thank you so much for coming on. I've loved this conversation. I [01:12:00] know a lot of other people are gonna get a lot out of it as well, and, um, thank you for what you're doing.

Thank you for the difference that you're making. Thank you for the difference you're gonna make generationally, as you mentioned earlier. It's been a pleasure and a privilege to have you on. Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be with you today. Thanks, Adriana.