Menu
Google pledges $20 million to support
the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics
Cybersecurity
July, 2023
In June 2023, as the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics celebrated its two year anniversary, Google pledged $20 million to support the organization’s continued growth and success developing a cybersecurity workforce for the future.
University-based cybersecurity clinics train students from diverse backgrounds to strengthen the digital defenses of non-profits, hospitals, municipalities, small businesses, and other under-resourced organizations in local communities, while also developing a talent pipeline for cyber civil defense.
The Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics grew out of a PIT-UN project to align existing public interest cybersecurity clinics at the University of California, Berkeley, Indiana University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2021 these three universities partnered with the University of Alabama, University of Georgia, the Rochester Institute of Technology, R Street Institute and the Global Cyber Alliance to officially form the Consortium. It now features 10 active clinics, over 730 program alumni and more than 120 participating client organizations.
In the two years since its founding, the Consortium has developed a network of international universities and community colleges that collaborate to develop and share resources for creating a cybersecurity clinic and training future cybersecurity experts. These resources include a Clinic Development Toolkit, curriculum, case studies, and client resources. At the same time, member organizations share their individual achievements, expanding programmatic work and community partnerships.
With cybersecurity attacks increasingly globally, it’s more important than ever to recruit and train cybersecurity professionals, particularly those that bring with them a diverse range of lived experience and educational backgrounds.
As the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics looks toward the future, it aims to continue growing and developing resources for students, educators, and clients. Fueled by growing support and the recent $20 million pledged donation from Google, the Consortium is building momentum towards its goal of establishing a clinic in every state by 2030.
Ann Cleaveland is the Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity and co-chair of the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics. There, she helps anticipate and address tomorrow’s cybersecurity challenges in order to amplify the upside of the digital revolution.
Larry Susskind is a teacher, trainer, mediator, urban planner and co-chair of the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics. He is one of the founders of the field of public dispute mediation, and is the Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.