Digital security Program ownership Global workforce Built from scratch

Global Nonprofit Technical & Security Training

I built and owned the technical and security training program at the National Democratic Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps people have a say in how they're governed. Working solo, I created a 50+ course program from scratch and trained a globally distributed workforce of 1,000+ staff, for both new hires and ongoing security.

U.S. Capitol — National Democratic Institute

Role

Senior Instructional Designer

Ownership

Built and owned the program end to end, solo

Scope

50+ ILT and eLearning courses · new hire and ongoing

Reach

1,000+ staff, U.S. and international

The stakes

NDI works at the meeting point of international politics, elections, and human rights, so its security risk runs far higher than a normal company's. Staff work with local activists, dissidents, and opposition parties living under authoritarian regimes. If NDI's systems are compromised, those people can face surveillance or imprisonment.

The threats aren't casual hackers. Staff face coordinated, state-sponsored attacks that use social engineering, deepfakes, and spear-phishing built to exploit human judgment. Firewalls can't stop a person from falling for a well-made scam, so the employee becomes the real perimeter.

The workforce made it harder. Programs spin up fast with local partners and temporary staff, often on personal devices the network doesn't manage. One compromised account in a field office can open a door into the wider global directory. Training was the thing that built a baseline of vigilance across a fluid, high-risk workforce.

The strategy

I owned this end to end and ran it solo. I learned a security-sensitive domain from the ground up, set the standard for what every staff member needed to know, and built a program that covered both day-one onboarding and ongoing reinforcement across a global and constantly changing workforce.

Learned the domain from the ground up

Came in without deep security expertise and got fluent enough to teach it, so the training reflected the real threats NDI faced.

Set the standard for every role

Defined what end users, system administrators, and help desk teams each needed to know, and built to that bar.

Built for global and local, new and ongoing

Created onboarding for new hires and ongoing training to keep a transient workforce current as the threats changed.

The solution

I designed and delivered 50+ instructor-led and eLearning courses covering technology policies, digital and mobile-device security, Google Apps, hardware and software, and social media. I also ran the operations behind it, managing LMS assignments, reporting, and troubleshooting for staff spread across the U.S. and the world.

Built with Google Apps · Captivate · Storyline · Adobe Connect · SnagIt · Audacity

How I measured success

I tracked completion, adoption, and security outcomes on a program that had to hold up in real field conditions.

100%

New-hire training completion

−40%

Security incidents

50%

Software adoption