Naomi Hija
Founder of EviSafe: A safety app and evidence platform for women
” We are a social impact technology company and for us, the mission comes first. ”
Naomi Hija is a social entrepreneur who transformed her professional background and personal experience into a digital lifeline for victims of sexual violence. As the founder of EviSafe, she combines healthcare insights with cybersecurity to build a world where safety is a right, not a privilege.
Meet Naomi
Naomi Hija is the founder of EviSafe, a technological platform born from her personal journey and professional background in social sciences.
She transitioned from a career in youth care, where she worked with high-risk children and trauma survivors, to the tech sector to create systemic change.
Her work is fueled by a drive to break patterns of domestic violence and to make legal evidence collection accessible to those who need it the most.
Sector
Social Impact Technology and Public Women’s Safety
- “I actually wanted to study economics,” Naomi admits, reflecting on her early interests in business and entrepreneurship. However, a deep-seated drive to contribute to society led her to social pedagogical work instead, where she began her career in youth care working with the most “unheard and unseen” young people facing domestic and sexual violence.
- Her path took a definitive turn when she integrated her frontline healthcare experience with the world of cybersecurity drawing on her husband’s expertise. Witnessing how technology could protect entire societies, Naomi saw a gap in how domestic violence cases were handled, and evidence was secured.
- Driven by her own past trauma and the systemic failures she witnessed firsthand, she founded EviSafe in 2023. Her mission was to move beyond traditional aid by providing a high-tech, privacy-safe platform that empowers victims to capture real-time evidence and break structural patterns of abuse.
Skills
Want to find out how Naomi landed the job?
- Naomi combined her “boots-on-the-ground” experience in youth care with her husband’s technical background in cybersecurity. She realized that while she understood the “human” side of trauma and victim patterns, she could use technology to solve the “practical” problem of evidence collection that she saw failing so many women in the justice system.
Coming from a healthcare background, Naomi didn’t have a degree in tech or business; instead, she learned communication, branding, and marketing. She proved that having the right mindset, specifically discipline, responsibility, and the ability to “think outside the box”, was more valuable for launching a startup than a traditional university education.
She used her own lived experience of sexual violence and trauma as a “unique selling point” to build a product that is truly victim-centric and unique.
Advice & Tips
- “Believe in yourself, in your own idea. You will face resistance, even from people who love you and want to protect you from the dangers and pitfalls… but you must dare to keep believing in your strength.”
- “I look purely at the mindset. Do you have discipline? Do you have a sense of responsibility? Are you creative? Can you think outside the box? And those aren’t things you learn at school.”
- “The power of communication and building relationships, including with the media, is my biggest tip. Use social media and the press to promote your mission.”
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Curriculum Viate
EviSafe, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, December 2023 – Present
Connect Management, Project Manager, March 2022 – Present
Full-time parenting, Career break, January 2019 – March 2022
Woonzorg Eindhoven
Quality Manager, March 2016 – November 2018
Outpatient youth care worker, March 2014 – February 2016
Koraal, Social Care Worker, September 2009 – March 2014