Hustle Marketer Alec Foster Named to Internet Society’s 25 Under 25 List
Internet leadership nonprofit names Student Net Alliance founder Alec Foster top online innovator
Hustle growth marketer Alec Foster has been named to the Internet Society’s inaugural 25 under 25 online innovators listing. The Internet Society, a non-profit organization that provides leadership in Internet-related standards, education, access, and policy, is honoring 25 individuals who use the Internet for social good in commemoration of ISOC’s 25th Anniversary. Alec, the only awardee representing the United States, was recognized for founding the Student Net Alliance and continuing his work evangelizing community-focused organizing at Hustle.
“We developed the Student Net Alliance under the same principles as the Internet itself: a neutral network which everyone can participate in equally,” said Foster. “I’m honored to have worked alongside countless young people who value meaningful community-driven organizing, and excited to continue this work of mobilizing and engaging people through Hustle’s incredible network of grassroots organizations.”
As a former NSA trainee and civil liberties activist, Alec Foster saw the promise of an open and secure Internet undermined by illegal dragnet surveillance and its chilling effect on speech and academic freedom. Realizing the need for student representation in internet policy decisions, he applied a new organizing model based on the decentralized structure of the Internet with his activism experience on college campuses, creating the Student Net Alliance.
The Student Net Alliance created and distributed templated, school-level actions such as event and hackathon resources, localized petitions and open letters, activist toolkits, and scorecards for students to deploy in their communities as part of global campaigns. Taking advantage of modern tools and a digitally fluent audience, Alec’s non-profit organization brought over 300,000 students and alumni into the political process with actions that span the ladder of engagement and target decision makers specific to their school or university.
The Net Alliance launched successful initiatives around government surveillance, computer crime laws, free speech, and internet access before passing the torch to EFF when they formed the Electronic Frontier Alliance in 2015. Today, Alec manages marketing and growth at Hustle, the communications platform used by organizations to build relationships through one-to-one SMS conversations.
Alec demonstrates that values-driven organizations succeed by using the open internet to not only automate tedious legwork, but to scale people-powered organizing.
Alec and the other awardees will be formally recognized at a special ceremony before participating in three days of leadership development.
You can read his profile on the Internet Society list here, and follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Medium.
