Case Study

Internet Street Smarts

Building a community-powered digital safety movement — and evolving it for the age of AI

Cyber Collective · 2021–Present · Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer

5M+

People reached through awareness campaigns

14+

Countries, zero paid acquisition

$600K+

Philanthropic funding secured

100K+

Youth targeted for direct programming in 2025

Strategy & Role

Internet Street Smarts reframes digital safety as a collective act of care – moving away from fear-based, technical instruction toward community-led, culturally grounded learning.

As Chief Strategy Officer at Cyber Collective, Callie Rojewski led the program's strategic development, shaping its narrative, growth model, and community infrastructure. Her work focused on translating research into accessible frameworks, building advocacy systems, securing philanthropic funding, and positioning the program as both a certification pathway and a global movement.

The Work

Where We Started

"In our most vulnerable moments, millions of search results won't support you the way your community will."

At the time of launch, most digital safety resources were designed for institutional or technical audiences, often prioritizing compliance, infrastructure, and risk mitigation over lived user experience. This created a gap for everyday internet users – particularly youth, elders, and communities navigating online environments without culturally relevant, accessible support.

Internet Street Smarts was created to address that gap.

The program reframed online safety not as a technical problem, but as a human and relational one, grounded in how people actually experience the internet in their daily lives. From there, Internet Street Smarts was built as a community-powered model, designed to meet people where they are – across language, culture, and trust.

Key Milestones

Launched as a community co-created curriculum, not top-down content
Developed one of the first community-driven online safety certifications
Established a global microgrants program, funding advocates to localize and lead programming
Secured $600K+ in philanthropic funding (Omidyar Network, Hewlett Foundation, Archewell Foundation)
Led 3 consecutive Cybersecurity Awareness Month campaigns
Grew to 15K+ community members organically
Built partnerships with organizations including Mozilla, Cisco, and AdoreMe

What's Next

Where It's Going

Internet Street Smarts is evolving into a community-powered digital safety platform for the age of AI, combining field research, community insight, and trauma-informed frameworks. This includes an AI-powered resource hub, expanded curriculum, and in-person programming for youth and elders.

Internet Street Smarts is more than just a program. It is a model for how digital systems can be designed with communities, not just for them.