Team4Tech recently engaged 18 employees from 1Password in a Design for Impact Workshop in collaboration with our partner, Nicaraguan Education Resource Center (CREA) to support in protecting CREA’s data systems and digital platforms.
Serving Nicaraguan Learners with Educational Resources, Library Services, and Youth Development Programming
CREA is an NGO based in the US, that is legally registered in Nicaragua where they implement complimentary education projects in Nicaragua. CREA´s mission is to elevate Nicaraguans and their communities through literacy and learning. They began a partnership with Team4Tech in 2023, with goals to create and implement an all-ages Spanish-language computer literacy program, weave technology skills into the curricula for all programs, create a maker space, and systematically monitor and evaluate learner progress toward technology skill development. CREA provides critical support for more than 2,700 children and youth in rural Nicaragua through their three core programs: library services, academic success, and youth development.
Cybersecurity Professionals Embrace Design Thinking to Propose NGO Solutions
During the 4-hour virtual workshop, Team4Tech facilitators guided 1Password employee volunteers through the design thinking process to ideate and prototype potential solutions to CREA’s design challenge question, “How might CREA strengthen the security of its digital platforms and data systems in ways that build trust and maintain usability?”
Following recent digital breach incidents, CREA sought to collaborate with 1Password volunteers on addressing this pressing challenge at two levels:
- Digital Platform Security: Ensuring CREA’s website, communication tools, and fundraising channels are safe, secure, and resilient, and not vulnerable to hacking or misuse to maintain trust with learners, families, and donors.
- Data Protection and Usability: Keeping data collected from students, teachers, and families private and secure, while remaining accessible for staff to analyze, monitor progress, and use toward improving educational outcomes.
Volunteers collaborated live with CREA staff from the US and Nicaragua to learn more about their operations and local context, and asked questions to better understand opportunities and constraints in securing their digital systems.
Working in teams to ideate and prototype, volunteers delivered the following solutions and recommendations for CREA:
- Establishing policies and creating a guidance document for staff on security and privacy, including procedures for digital escalation
- Training staff on cybersecurity and implementing best practices
- Setting up a password manager, account owners, and safe login practices (single sign-on and multi-factor authentication) for key accounts, and updating shared credentials
- Leveraging existing platforms and resources to address security through file centralization and access management
- Assigning a “security champion” and using a WhatsApp community for quick communication and coordination among the CREA team
It was validating to hear the feedback from the CREA team when what we came up with resonated with them. Before this experience, I wondered how I would be able to help, but it seems like the ideas we came up with were really valuable to them, which is great because that’s what we were aiming for!”
—1Password volunteer
Skilled Volunteer Solutions Support NGO Impact
Deliverables from this workshop will contribute to strengthening CREA’s digital security across their multiple platforms, ensuring responsible management of sensitive data from learners, families, and staff, and greater trust and credibility with donors and partners. The technical expertise and insights from 1Password volunteers also equipped CREA’s team with knowledge and practices for maintaining security long-term, even in environments with limited resources.
This workshop contributed to closing gaps in security and other related areas.”
— Program Manager, CREA
Structure, organizational focus, and implementation of solutions. That’s how much this workshop will be helping us. It was great.”
— Executive Director, CREA
Team4Tech is proud to facilitate connections between volunteers and education-focused NGOs like CREA, improving education that ultimately prepares learners for better jobs. Our Design for Impact programming is just one example of how Team4Tech leverages skills-based volunteering to accelerate NGO impact globally.