Development. Leadership. Community.

Unlock a full community build.

The first evidence-based, community built certification for the moderators, community managers, and guild leaders who hold digital communities together.

41

graduates & counting

WITH GRADUATES FROM…

WHAT IT IS

Community safety infrastructure starts with the people who lead it.

The DLC Leadership Program is the first evidence-based, peer-reviewed certification for digital community leaders. Built by practitioners. Grounded in research. Free to take.

PROGRAM GRADUATES

COUNTRIES REPRESENTED

COMMUNITY MEMBERS REACHED

1000

Players have raised the bar. They expect protection, clear rules, and leaders who keep learning. But the people doing this work were never trained to meet it.

The Infrastructure Gap

77%

of players expect protection from harassment

75%

of players expect clear rules from leadership

67%

of players say leaders need ongoing training

Most leaders have no formal training in the skills they need for their roles

The expectation is industry-wide. The infrastructure to meet it doesn’t exist yet.

The Cost of The Infrastructure Gap

When leaders are unsupported, the cost lands on the business. Turnover. Churn. Reputational damage. Untrained leaders burn out, communities fracture, and the safety work that protects players gets done reactively or not at all. This is a fixable problem. It requires infrastructure.

“This program can help decrease the significant financial, reputational, and personal costs associated with online harms by helping prevent these harms in the first place.”

— DLC Graduate, Spring 2026

The DLC Solution

Going in, most leaders rated themselves unconfident across the very skills the job demands. Coming out, confidence rose significantly across every competency we measured.

Change in Confidence: Pre- vs Post-Assessment

Pilot graduates’ confidence rose across all eight measured competencies (pre- vs. post-program, % rating 4–5 confidence).

But confidence alone doesn’t change communities — action does. 85% of graduates had already changed how they lead before the program ended: new moderation practices, restructured guidelines, different ways of handling conflict and safety. They moved from reactive crisis management to proactive leadership grounded in evidence-based frameworks.

100%

of graduates feel beter equipped to sustain themselves long term

98%

of graduates would recommend the program to other community leaders

85%

of graduates have already changed how they lead their communities

“Without programs like the DLC, community leaders are left to figure out how to ethically curate, support, and manage their communities based on guesswork. This program is vital as a baseline to healthy community leadership — for the leader AND the community.”

— DLC Graduate, Spring 2026