Lindsey Tonsager has been on the Mechanics' Institute Board of Trustees since 2016. She is currently the President of the Board of Trustees and previously served as Corporate Secretary and on the Program, Library, Governance, and Audit Committees. An attorney and partner at Covington and Burling LLC, Lindsey co-chairs the firm’s global data privacy and cybersecurity practice.
What attracted you to Mechanics' Institute and what do you enjoy most about the MI community?
My family moved to San Francisco from Washington, D.C. in 2014 so that I could expand the firm’s privacy and cybersecurity practice to the West Coast. Working with companies across the technology, entertainment, financial services, and life sciences industries, it was exhilarating to arrive in the Bay Area and be at the center of so much global innovation and technological progress. But at the same time I struggled to find a cultural and historical connection to the city.
When my colleague and fellow Trustee David Goodwin took me on a tour of the Mechanics’ Institute and recounted the organization’s fascinating history of helping miners retool their trade after the Gold Rush, holding fairs for inventors, acting as the precursor to the University of California education system, and serving as a chess, artistic, and cultural hub in the heart of downtown – I was hooked. I felt like I had finally found the soul of San Francisco.
It is the diversity and curiosity of the membership that I enjoy most. Outside on the sidewalk people walk by glued to the screens of their phones, but within the library, chess room, and our event spaces, our members are coming together to debate local issues, collaborate on their writing, launch startups, play chess, knit together, and enjoy one another’s company. That such a community can thrive in the middle of downtown is so special!
Online privacy is a topic of great interest to our members these days. Do you have any advice to help folks protect their privacy online?
Privacy is an inherently personal thing. Some people enjoy sharing their photos publicly with the world, while others prefer to share only with a small group of family and friends. Decide what information you care to keep private and seek out online services that provide you the controls and privacy settings you expect.
Do you like to read novels featuring lawyers (there are lots!) as protagonists? If not, what kinds of books and authors capture your attention?
The best thing about books is that you get to explore a bit of everything! I started an herb garden while stuck at home over the pandemic and have been wanting to plant some succulents as well, so I’ve been paging through a number of different gardening books. I also have started re-reading all the Nancy Drew books with my daughter. (Nancy Drew’s father is a lawyer, so I guess that counts as novels featuring lawyers.) I came across Patrick Henry’s Speech during the Virginia Convention clearing out some old textbooks recently, so now I’m re-reading some of The Federalist Papers. I’m also reading The Plague by Albert Camus because it seemed appropriate for the times, and I can’t put down This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends by Nicole Perlroth, who I’m interviewing for our Tech and the City event on July 8th. I guess you could say a little bit of everything captures my attention!
When you have a free moment, what activities do you enjoy outside of work?
Being outdoors or playing video games with my family.
