🌱 Grass Roots Cyber: From the Dirt Up
(Or: How I’m Definitely Not Qualified, But We’re Doing It Anyway)
This post was written with the assistance of an AI language model — ChatGPT to be precise. I suck at basic stuff like spelling (just wait for “strawberry”) and keeping my thoughts linear, so here we are — building cyber things with word salad and emdashes galore.
What Even Is Grass Roots Cyber?
Grass Roots Cyber is a baby nonprofit — legally speaking, an Unincorporated Nonprofit Association — that’s currently emerging like a wonky sprout from the compost bin of my mind. It’s got dirt on its roots, a vision in its heart, and probably some typo-ridden HTML scattered across the web. But make no mistake — this is real work.
At its core, the organization is about bringing cybersecurity to people and places that get left behind — small towns, fire departments, schools, community orgs — anyone who doesn't have a million-dollar IT budget or even a full-time IT person. Think of it as cyber resilience for the rest of us.
We want to:
Teach phishing awareness to fourth graders and firefighters
Run tabletop incident simulations with volunteer cops and librarians
Build public trust in digital safety — one rural network at a time
We’re working toward a world where every community — no matter how under-resourced — can protect itself from cyber threats. All with transparency, inclusivity, and maybe a little bit of silliness.
Where It’s At: The Formation Stage
We’ve filed for an EIN, drafted our first bylaws (they’re still evolving — because we’re alive and adaptable, dammit), and started laying out a blueprint for growth. The current formation documents are emergent — living, breathing texts that will be published openly online. Our governance will operate transparently, and dissolution will require a full unanimous vote from members at an Open Space Technology-style summit. (Yes, really.)
Here’s who’s who:
Zack Fosdyck – Secretary, GNU/Linux nerd and full-time overthinker (hi, that’s me)
I'm currently running the org with sweat, love, caffeine, and whatever I can cobble together at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday.
The Domains — AKA Digital Garden Plots
Each domain is kinda like a raised bed in our weird cyber garden. They’re not all blooming yet — some are still metaphorical piles of dirt and broken permalinks — but here’s the lineup:
🌐 grassrootscyber.pro — The professional front porch. This will host membership info, org updates, and eventually a place for partners and volunteers to connect.
🆘 grassrootscyber.help — The public support hub. Think quick guides, awareness posters, phishing test kits, and cyber hygiene tips for everyday folks.
🫂 grassrootscyber.club — Community-focused, informal, and fun. Memes? Probably. Discord links? Yup. Learning through doing? Always.
📢 grassrootscyber.buzz — The experimental storytelling space. Blog posts, thought dumps, campaign info, livestream announcements — chaos in motion.
And yeah — they’re all in progress. Like, broken CSS, missing links, lorem ipsum on the About page — the whole messy digital stawbery patch.
What's Working (Kinda)
✅ Got the mission and vision down — local cybersecurity resilience for the people
✅ Core values established — accessibility, inclusivity, integrity, and collaboration
✅ EIN secured
✅ Domains registered
✅ Idea has not self-destructed yet
✅ I am still showing up — which counts for something
What’s Next
Publish our Statement of Organization in Markdown on the web — with signature support
Recruit a small volunteer team for pilot programs
Host our first public workshop or training (got ideas?)
Build out the digital tools, games, templates, and how-to kits
Launch the Backdoors & Breaches tournament to kickstart hands-on learning
We want to build slow and open, with input from the community, feedback from practitioners, and transparency in every damn commit. Because if we’re serious about trust and resilience, it starts here — with shared ownership and some public accountability.
Final Thoughts from the Steward Who Sucks at Everything
This ain’t slick. This ain’t polished. This ain’t funded (yet). But it’s real. We’re growing — roots down, code up — and inviting others to join in the dirt, the glitches, and the giggles. 🍓
If you're reading this — and you're feeling like maybe you belong in this messy cyber movement — then you do. Whether you’re a digital native or still figuring out where your router lives, we’ve got room for you.
— Zack Fosdyck
Steward of Grass Roots Cyber
Written with assistance from ChatGPT — a language model trained by OpenAI and wrangled by Zack.