Case Study: Building the Internet Street Smarts Movement

Navigating the internet safely has become as crucial as staying alert in physical spaces. From identity theft to romance scams, the digital world is fraught with risks, exacerbated by biased algorithms, unregulated data practices, and a lack of accessible education about online safety. Traditional cybersecurity courses fail to address these issues through a relatable or community-centered lens, leaving many people vulnerable—especially marginalized communities.

Cyber Collective’s Internet Street Smarts program was designed to fill this gap by creating a community-driven, accessible, and impactful online safety course. With input from advocates across diverse backgrounds—including immigrants, women, and people of color—the course was built to resonate with lived experiences and prioritize empathy, connection, and practical solutions grounded in mutual aid and solidarity.

Hands-on, relatable lessons to develop "digital instincts" for spotting online threats.

Rooted in empathy, feminine design principles, and mutual aid theory making the material approachable and inclusive.

A focus on community learning, encouraging participants to share knowledge within their networks.

As a fractional executive to Cyber Collective, I orchestrated this program through:

Course Design: Helping to craft an educational framework that emphasizes practical skills and human-centered storytelling.

Community Activation: Facilitating feedback sessions with the global community of Cyber Collective Advocates to ensure the course speaks to real-life challenges.

Awareness Strategy: Creating messaging that frames online safety as a shared responsibility and movement vs. an individual problem

The Internet Street Smarts program has become more than just a course—it's a movement empowering individuals and communities to reclaim their digital agency.

Within the first 30 days of launch, we received:

Significant grant funding the program

10+ impact partnerships confirmed embedding our program in front of 100k+ new audience members

Early participant feedback highlighted increased confidence in navigating the digital world safely because of the racial and social impact context, behavior change and action to share the knowledge with family and friends

Community-Driven Impact: Collaborating with a diverse audience enriched the program and ensured accessibility.

Rooted in Empathy: Meeting people where they are—acknowledging lived experiences and shared human concerns—created greater engagement and trust.

Scalable Change: Empowering individuals to educate their networks multiplies the program’s reach exponentially.

Want to collaborate on impactful, mission-driven projects like this? Connect with me on Contra to explore how we can work together.