The BJ Foundation Corp is a nonprofit working to close the cybersecurity skills gap. Our Cybersecurity Academy makes training in the NIST 800-53 controls free and open to anyone willing to learn.
The BJ Foundation Corp was formed to solve a problem we see every day in the field. The frameworks that keep organizations secure, including NIST SP 800-53, are detailed and demanding. The courses that teach them are often expensive, and many capable people never find an affordable way in.
We built the Academy to change that. It takes the same control catalog used across federal systems and turns each control into a guided lesson, a hands-on lab, and a quiz that anyone can complete for free. The goal is practical fluency: the ability to read a control, understand what it requires, and apply it.
The Foundation is led by working security professionals, including a practicing virtual CISO, so the training reflects what the job actually asks of people.
Good security depends on people who understand the controls. We want to raise the number of people who do.
Make hands-on cybersecurity training free and accessible, so that ability rather than budget decides who can enter the field.
Grow the number of people who can apply the NIST 800-53 controls, and give organizations a workforce that understands them.
Teach the current Rev 5 catalog through practical labs, check understanding with quizzes, and confirm results with verifiable certificates.
The training stays free. If a paywall would stop a learner, it has no place in the program.
People learn security by making decisions under realistic conditions, so that is how we teach it.
The curriculum maps to the actual control catalog, and the certificate reflects real understanding.
We are clear about who we are, who we serve, and how contributions are used.
Learners in high school and college exploring a path into cybersecurity.
Adults moving into security who need an affordable, credible starting point.
Teams that need to understand the controls without a consultant's budget.
Workforce and re-entry initiatives that want a ready-made curriculum.
These are placeholders. Send names, titles, and photos and they will be added.
Leads the Foundation's direction and the Academy curriculum.
Oversees how each control family becomes a lesson, lab, and quiz.
Connects the Academy with schools, nonprofits, and workforce programs.
There is a place here whether you want to learn or to support the people who are learning.