$50 million toward cybersecurity education and protection

A gift of more than $50 million from Craig Newmark Philanthropies (CNP) will go towards supporting a series of organizations focused on educating and protecting Americans from cybersecurity threats. The supported organizations place an emphasis on civic infrastructure, policy frameworks, and digital tools to support America’s national and global security. The Cyber Civil Defence effort, as put by Newmark, will be managed by Aspen Digital, the digital and technology program at the Aspen Institute where Newmark is highly involved.

Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, makes this pledge amidst a long-established commitment to support digital security and efforts aimed at developing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce. CNP recently donated $30 million to organizations including Black Girls Hack, Girls Who Code, R Street’s Making Space Initiative, Shadowserver, the Stanford Internet Observatory, Harvard’s Kennedy School Technology and Social Change Project, Vetsintech, and Wikipedia. 

“American and western democracy are at risk,” said Newmark. “As individuals, we’re also under attack. We need to work together to protect each other and democratic ideals in the digital world.”