Core Team Biographies
Micky is an activist hacker, industry organizer, public speaker, connector, and visionary, as well as a member of Agaric, a worker-owned cooperative of Web developers. She is connected to many networks and organizations representing Free Software and Cooperative business principles. Micky is active on the board of organizations such as May First Movement Technology, Solidarity Economy Network and SnowDrift which all seek to raise awareness and present practical solutions for protecting our privacy.
Stan is an IT industry insider since 1995 and a critic since about 2010. While earning a Harvard degree in 2007-2011, he realized that the industry took a wrong turn towards surveillance capitalism. To mitigate the impact of that corruption, he migrated away from proprietary software and committed to rebuilding his network of communications and providers of goods and services with the focus on ensuring confidentiality and autonomy from major data harvesters. In collaboration with Micky in 2021, a series of Privacy Workshops at CommunityBridge.com and ran, facilitated, or participated in these workshops since June. Currently exploring the tech cooperative landscape in search of trusted connections with like-minded people who are interested in avoiding, resisting, and eventually turning the tide of mass surveillance
Melissa is a movement technologist who is passionate about disrupting the status quo of existing popular technology offerings by helping people become conscious technology users and adopt more free and open source technologies and services. Melissa lives in Philadelphia, PA and recently exited cooperate after being in the Software testing and Quality Assurance area for 15+ years. She is launching her own business in data privacy and security while continuing to work on her passion projects as part of a nonprofit focused on farmer citizenship and wholistic wellness.
Chuck lives to bring more cooperation to the planet. He’s a passionate proponent of cooperative businesses and has been writing about them since 2014 when he left the corporate world. Transparency in the software we use is a significant part of the mission to create a more cooperative, just, and fair world. Technological autonomy, as described by May First Movement Technology, is as important as any other freedom for people. Chuck is also a marketing consultant who advocates for the integration of privacy into all of our business practices.
Elijah is a business technologist who is passionate about consulting, teaching, and training at the intersection of tech and liberation from a decolonized perspective. Elijah is based in the Bay Area and specializes in IT, Cybersecurity, and Management Consulting. After 20 years in the industry, Elijah exited Corporate America to build his own business, Everyday Security, that allows him to provide consulting services and training in a more accessible and humane way to Everyday People. He enjoys authentically connecting with people and looks forward to deepening community ties.
Shannon cares deeply about working with elderly groups, disabled groups, young folks, people who are trying to get their life on the path they deserve, and people that yearn to learn more. As someone who has worked in HIPAA compliant fields for over a decade—as a PCA for elderly and as a health professional—she is eager to help some of these commonly targeted demographics to build gratifying educational communities and learn to protect themselves in the digital realm.
