- THE VISION
Three prongs, one program.
Building an evidence-based program digital leaders can rely on.
A program that leaders can rely on has to do three things at once: train the leaders, convene the field, and build the evidence. These are the three prongs of the DLC: a place to learn, a community to belong to, and research that moves the whole field forward.
Cohort-Based Training
Train the Leaders
Evidence-based courses built around what leaders actually need.
Cross-Industry Collaboration
Convene the Field
Bringing the whole industry together and lifting the field, not just the leaders in it.
Field-Building Research
Build the Evidence
Advancing the field across ecosystems and building standards where none exist.
Train the leaders.
Our Program
The DLC Leadership Program is free, evidence-based training and certification built for anyone whose work puts them in direct contact with players or whose decisions shape how a community behaves: moderators, community managers, trust and safety practitioners, player support and customer service teams, and platform volunteers.
The curriculum is grounded in research across psychology, sociology, and community health, then translated into practical skills by consulting directly with the people doing the work. We also measure whether it works. Participants complete a structured assessment before and after the program, for every competency in the program.
The DLC program is modular, asynchronous, and embedded in a community of practice. The coursework is self-paced; weekly office hours and bi-weekly table talks bright the program together live. It runs for 8 weeks and takes 15 – 20 hours to complete (roughly 1–2 hours per week). It is designed to fit real lives, no matter where you live or where you are in your career.
What You Learn
Our 2025 needs assessment of community managers and moderators in games found that most have received no formal training in the core competencies their roles demand, and that 56% have faced situations in their communities they felt unprepared to handle.
The curriculum is built around what community leaders say they actually need: communicating clearly, building culture, and de-escalating conflict. Every course is built to be applied, not theoretical, so you leave each one with something you can put to use in your community right away.
“The frameworks and the concepts that are applicable to be used immediately.”
— DLC Graduate, Spring 2026
Playlist
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What You Gain
This program changes more than your skill set. It changes how you show up in your work and how long you can sustain it.
100%
feel more empowered to advocate for trust & safety
100%
feel better equipped to sustain themselves long-term
100%
more committed to continuing in their role
98%
believe their community will benefit
“I think my participation in DLC will help make me more attuned to both helping strengthen my abilities in being a community leader as well as taking care of myself at the same time.”
— DLC Graduate, Spring 2026
What You Walk Away With
You earn DLC Leadership Program Certification: evidence-based proof that you’ve completed rigorous, research-grounded training in the community management skills that community-facing work demands — how resilient digital communities are built, led, and protected.
93%
say certification increased their legitimacy & recognition
“This field requires extensive training, and nobody has really been given it till now. We are in large part, the informal social workers of the internet.”
— DLC Graduate, Spring 2026
Convene the field.
Our Community of Practice
When we asked our incoming cohort why they were enrolling, one answer came up almost as often as the training itself: they wanted each other. Connecting with peers was the second most common reason for joining (named by more than half of our pilot participants) and many described the isolation of doing demanding, high-stakes work with no one around them who truly understands it. They were asking for a community as much as a curriculum.
So we knew from the start that the DLC had to be more than a set of courses. If leaders were asking for each other, we had to build them somewhere to find each other. That somewhere is the DLC Leadership Circle, a professional network of more than 150 community leaders, experts, and partners who keep supporting each other long after certification, through peer learning, shared experience, and mentorship.
Not only do I have a new community of experienced and budding leaders to lean on for support, advice, and camaraderie.”
— DLC Graduate, Spring 2026
Our Research
Most research lives inside a single studio or platform, behind a single set of walls. Because the DLC convenes leaders from across the industry, we can generate cross-ecosystem research that no single company can: a view of what digital community leadership actually looks like, what works, and where the gaps remain, drawn from leaders everywhere rather than one corner of the map. We publish what we learn.
Each year, our Impact & Outlook Report turns the field’s collective experience into evidence the whole industry can use, alongside more focused Industry Insight reports on specific topics and cohorts throughout the year. And it’s one of the real benefits of partnership: if there’s a subject you know deeply and want to build content around, we can show you how real leaders learn and apply it, insight into how your work lands with the people doing the job.
three prongs, one program
Learning. Community. Evidence.
Free for leaders. Add your name and we’ll be in touch when the next cohort opens.