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Red Team Lab

Impact & Engagement Lab

The Lab helps technology-focused internet freedom projects effectively communicate about their work in order to contribute to audience adoption in the world’s most information-repressive contexts. We also share the knowledge created through projects so others can iterate and build on their work to advance internet freedom.

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What we do

We offer free communications support services to help technology-focused internet freedom projects effectively communicate updates and findings, educate users, tell their stories, and reach core audiences.

Do you need help communicating about your work with at-risk users, researchers, and/or other communities who could benefit from your project? Whether it’s an important update, a final research report, or a new user guide—the Impact & Engagement (IE) Lab matches you with experts to help you tell your story in a compelling and accessible way for your audience.

If you’re strapped for time, or communications isn’t your strong suit, the IE Lab can help!

We offer the following services:

Editorial Services to Tell Your Story, Explain Your Project, and/or Communicate Findings

Services include (but are not limited to):

  • Communications strategy
  • Written content such as blog posts, reports, social media messages, website copy, user guides, and other documentation
  • Editing and copy editing to improve written communications

Design Services to Tell Your Story, Explain Your Project, and/or Communicate Findings Visually

Services include (but are not limited to):

  • Branding and visual identity (can include rebranding support)
  • Data visualization 
  • Graphic design and visual content creation, such as instructive illustrations and infographics

Our Work

We help technology-focused internet freedom projects tell powerful, impactful stories so they can reach core audiences and increase user adoption. There are many privacy-enhancing and secure solutions that enable people to safely access and share information online. Ensuring the people who need these solutions the most are aware of them and understand how to use them can be challenging, though. This is where the IE Lab can help.

The Lab also shares lessons learned with the wider internet freedom community because the greatest ideas are iterative innovations supported by a healthy ecosystem that shares, uses, and builds openly and collaboratively.

Design Service Examples

Visual design and data visualization for reports and user guides:

Illustrations to communicate use cases & clarify content:

 Branding guidelines:

Editorial Service Examples

Blog posts:

Reports:

Helping internet freedom projects effectively communicate about their work

How to Apply

Complete our simple, online application form.

You don’t need to be an OTF-supported project to take advantage of the Lab’s services. As long as you can show that your project is aligned with OTF’s mission to advance internet freedom, then you may be eligible for support! For a more detailed overview of OTF’s mission and our funding focus, please check out the OTF Applicant Guidebook.

Process

  • Complete a short form online. We’ll ask you to introduce your project, explain how it aligns with OTF’s mission, and to indicate the kind of communications support you’re looking for.
  • Once we’ve received your application, the Lab manager will review it within five business days. If approved, we will match you with one of our partners. If you indicated a preferred partner, we will do our best to match you with them. 
  • You’ll then work with the Lab manager and Lab partner to develop a scope of work for the engagement. Once OTF approves this, the partner will guide you through the engagement process.
  • All costs associated with Lab engagements will be taken on by OTF, and there will be no cost to your project beyond the time you invest!

Am I eligible for support?

If you’re a current or recent OTF project, or your project falls within our funding remit, then we’d love to hear from you. OTF supports technology-focused projects that advance internet freedom. This includes the development of innovative tools, information controls research, efforts that improve the digital security ecosystem, and more.

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Our Partners

Global Voices

Global Voices’ mission is to foster a multilingual community of writers, journalists, translators and rights activists who work to build understanding across borders. We’re one of the few truly multilingual media projects in the world—publishing from 160 countries and translating the site into more than 35 languages. Our organization is uniquely positioned to bring to your project 1) the cultural knowledge and sensitivity to amplify stories from the internet freedom community, 2) the technical expertise required to take a holistic approach to the tools, applied research, and security efforts OTF supports, and 3) a commitment to the internet freedom community to ensure the impact of their stories is sustained beyond the task order or term of engagement. 

We have a long track record of supporting local community members in developing case studies and reports through storytelling approaches that align with their cultural practices, and shining a spotlight on stories for a wide spectrum of audiences. We write, research, and speak on subjects such as online censorship and control, surveillance, privacy, dis- and misinformation, algorithmic controls, and the challenges of building healthy media ecologies. Writers, editors, and translators in the Global Voices Community have made a concerted effort to minimize the use of technical jargon and to transform our site into a more accessible platform over time.

Services include:

  • Editorial services

Supported languages: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Kumquat

Kumquat is a women-led design consultancy based in Cape Town, South Africa, specializing in design thinking, branding, and communication/graphic design for purpose-driven organizations. Our work spans collaborations with international organizations and digital rights advocates, focusing on creating visually striking and relevant media that promotes autonomy and internet freedom. We approach each project with a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced in diverse regions, particularly across Africa and the Global South.

Kumquat operates with a dynamic, collaborative model that empowers our clients to become designers and strategists themselves. Our portfolio of work includes Ushahidi, The World Ethical Data Forum, DefendDefenders, IDEO.org, and The Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism. 

Services include:

  • Graphic design

Supported languages: Afrikaans, Cantonese, English, French, Mandarin, Swahili, Xhosa, Zulu

PE Eshieva

PE Eshieva specializes in creating impactful content that educates, informs, and empowers diverse audiences. With extensive experience in media production, digital security, and visual storytelling, our team develops high-quality multimedia resources for journalists, activists, educators, and the general public.

We provide graphic design and visual content creation, ensuring that complex topics are communicated effectively through engaging visuals.

Services include:

  • Graphic design, including:
    • Instructive Illustrations & Infographics: Clear, engaging visual aids to simplify complex information.
    • Report & Publication Design: Visually appealing layouts for reports, magazines, and guides. 
    • Social Media Graphics: Infographics and campaign visuals optimized for digital engagement. These services create visually appealing, accessible outputs for a range of primarily digital audiences.
    • Data Visualizations (graphs, charts, infographics, metrics dashboards) and technical support to ensure the smooth operation and updates of visualization platforms and tools.

Sample work:

  • Bayan Magazine (UNDP Kyrgyzstan) – A multilingual magazine covering sustainable development and human rights. Read issues here.
  • Visual materials by Marlis Esenakunov, including custom graphics, social media campaigns, and publication design. View portfolio.

Supported languages: English, Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, Uzbek

The Moon Tide Collective

The Moon Tide Collective is a fluid Global South ecosystem of feminist consultants bringing knowledge and expertise from local social justice movements to current organizational challenges and projects. The Collective comprises writers, researchers, strategists, illustrators, campaigners, embodied practitioners, and facilitators who are diverse in locality, perspective and professional strengths, and who share a common work ethic and enthusiasm for visualizing and manifesting social justice realities.

The Collective is managed by Christy Alves Nascimento, a South African feminist organiser with over a decade of experience supporting justice-driven organizations, funders, socially conscious companies, academic research departments, media houses, and feminist collectives and consortia to deepen their impact and engagement with the audience they serve.

Services include:

  • Editorial services

Sample Learning Lab projects:

Supported languages: English

Ura Design

Ura Design is a design collective based in Germany and Albania, focused on open source, secure, and privacy-preserving internet freedom projects. Since its inception in 2016, Ura has supported various organizations and software tools with accessibility support, UX design, user research and visual design services. Unlike a traditional design agency, they operate as a collective, with a shared workload transparent processes including various pro-bono projects. Some of Ura Design’s past partners include Mozilla, Tor Browser, Thunderbird, The Eclipse Foundation, University of Michigan, Georgia Tech University and the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Services include:

  • Design services
  • Communications coaching

Sample Learning Lab projects:

Supported languages: Albanian, English, German

Vaibhav Bhawsar

Vaibhav Bhawsar is a designer and technologist. His work stems from a desire to envision and facilitate powerful ways of knowing and engaging with the world through use of design, interactive media technologies, and data. He helps enterprises, non-profits, and think-tanks to design and build digital experiences that engender creativity and problem solving. He has 15+ years of experience in leveraging design and data visualization methods and practices across a range of public interest projects spanning advocacy, community engagement, infrastructure development, and impact assessment.

He previously co-founded Timescape—an interactive mapping and storytelling platform. He has led design & technology initiatives at organizations like Global Voices as a Ford/MDF Tech Fellow, Ushahidi, and Yahoo. His work has been presented at international venues including TEDxBangalore, Global Voices Summit, Ars Electronica, MediaLab Madrid, and The Centre for Contemporary Image in Geneva.

Services include:

  • Data Visualization

Supported languages: English, Hindi