Digital Democracy

What Digital Democracy does

Digital Democracy is a United States–based nonprofit founded in 2008 and headquartered in Oakland, with a stated mission to empower marginalized communities to use technology to defend their rights. The organization is small, with 11-50 employees, and has recently rebranded to Awana Digital, as indicated by the company website URL and associated rebrand announcement page (awana.digital). Emily Jacobi is listed as founder & executive director, providing long-tenured leadership continuity since inception.

The source material does not disclose specific products, services, or technical platforms built by the organization; aggregated product, technology, integrations, and pricing fields are blank, and the public website surface captured is limited to a "Hello" rebrand landing page. As a result, there is no documented evidence of a proprietary technology stack, software platform, API, or content offering that could be analyzed for architecture or features. Any programmatic activity occurs outside the data captured here.

Commercial mechanics are similarly thin: there is no disclosed pricing model, no revenue or ARR figures, and no customer logos. The only documented inbound capital is a single $500,000 philanthropic investment from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation on 2023-12-20, with the foundation also acting as lead investor. The operating model therefore reads as grant-funded nonprofit activity rather than a transactional, productized, or fee-for-service business.

Name

Digital Democracy

Website

https://digital-democracy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Digital Democracy (rebranded to Awana Digital) is a US-based nonprofit founded in 2008, headquartered in Oakland, that works to empower marginalized communities to use technology to defend their rights.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Rights, Privacy & Free Expression Advocacy (BPAGAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Inclusion & Civic Tech (Connectivity, GovTech for Social Good) (BPAGALAK), Media Freedom, Access to Information & Digital Rights (BPADAGAE)

Keywords

• Digital rights advocacy
• Nonprofit technology services
• Community technology training
• Human rights empowerment
• Capacity building programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Core offering

Digital Democracy is a non-profit organization founded in 2008 that empowers marginalized communities to use technology to defend their rights. The organization provides technology training, digital advocacy tools, and capacity-building services focused on supporting indigenous and at-risk populations facing rights challenges globally. The organization is based in Oakland, California and has since rebranded to Awana Digital.

Product overview

Digital Democracy has rebranded to Awana Digital. The source data contains only a rebrand announcement page with no detailed product or service information available in the provided content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Technology Training Programs Training programs that equip marginalized communities with digital skills and tool literacy to defend their rights through online platforms and digital tools.
• Digital Advocacy Tools Digital tools and resources that enable communities to conduct online advocacy and document rights violations for awareness and accountability.
• Capacity-Building Services Long-term capacity-building services supporting indigenous and at-risk populations facing rights challenges, delivered through partnerships with community-based organizations.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Freedom House: Independent watchdog organization promoting democracy and digital freedom worldwide. Comparable mission focus on rights and democratic governance, but with broader thematic scope and significantly larger institutional footprint.
• Mozilla Foundation: Foundation working on internet health, digital rights, and inclusion through grants and advocacy. Comparable in mission but vastly larger in resources, brand recognition, and program scope.
• Frontline Defenders: International human rights organization protecting frontline defenders, including via digital security capacity-building. Comparable in defending at-risk activists with technology, but operating at larger global scale.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Long-established digital civil liberties organization advocating for privacy, free expression, and innovation. Comparable in mission domain but operates at significantly greater scale and with broader policy and litigation mandates than Awana Digital.

Others

• Open Technology Fund (OTF): Fund that supports projects advancing internet freedom and digital safety for high-risk users. Relevant peer as a likely funder, peer organization, or partner for Awana Digital's digital-rights capacity-building work.

Direct peers

• Access Now: International digital rights nonprofit defending and extending the digital rights of users at risk. Directly comparable mission of using technology to protect marginalized users, with broader global reach than Digital Democracy / Awana Digital.
• Article 19: Global freedom of expression organization working on digital rights and information access for at-risk communities. Directly overlaps with Awana Digital's mission of using technology to defend marginalized populations' rights.
• Witness: Human rights nonprofit that trains activists to use video and technology to document and defend rights. Closely comparable in leveraging technology for marginalized-community rights defense, with a similar operational scale.
• Tactical Tech: International nonprofit working at the intersection of technology and human rights, producing tools and trainings for civil society. Directly comparable civic-tech orientation and small-team operational profile.

Emerging players

• Code for America: Nonprofit that builds civic technology and partners with government to deliver digital services to underserved populations. Comparable civic-tech and digital-inclusion orientation, though focused more on domestic US government services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/digidem
• Facebookfacebook.com/digidemocracy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/-digital-democracy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Digital Democracy