It was a $1 million grant from Google that helped launch the Spartan Cyber Guardian Academy (SCGA) at UNC Greensboro in January 2025. And by the end of Spring semester, the clinic had already served 13 nonprofits, exceeding initial goals.
The first of its kind at a North Carolina university, this cybersecurity service and research hub is housed in the Bryan School of Business & Economics, and it’s quickly become a big hit with both the students and organizations it was designed to serve.
This service-learning model consists of both classroom and clinical components, and while UNCG students can and do participate, the clinic is open to students from other local universities, community colleges, and high schools as well.
UNCG students Taj Poole and Matthew O’Connor wax poetic about what they have learned at SCGA, and Forge Greensboro’s Executive Director Tiffany Jacobs shares what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the clinic’s service model.
Hands-On Cybersecurity Training for Students
Students gain weeks of cybersecurity training at the clinic and then offer their services free of charge to local organizations, including nonprofits, educational institutions, small- to medium-sized businesses, community and health care centers, and municipalities.
Pursuing a bachelor’s in information systems and supply chain management, Poole immediately knew this program was for him.
“Since I want to do this professionally, I knew this was the best chance to get hands-on cybersecurity experience – to go beyond the surface-level and see what cybersecurity professionals actually do,” he says.
Poole quickly credits Dr. Moez Farokhnia Hamedani with piquing his interest in the field during his first year at UNCG. Known fondly as “Dr. Moez,” he’s the principal investigator and SCGA clinic director.
Poole appreciates being able to participate in the academy for free, work with mentors from Google, and earn cybersecurity certifications in his field.
In the same program as Poole, O’Connor is set to graduate in Spring 2026.
A community college transfer student, a military member, and father of a 2-year-old son, O’Connor also appreciates his SCGA experience.
“The clinic was a blast,” he says. “I received insightful, individualized cybersecurity training from local leaders and Google mentors.”
Cybersecurity Clinics Help Nonprofits Strengthen Security
Poole describes how the SCGA student teams conduct cybersecurity-readiness audits for nonprofits.
The student team sent questionnaires to the nonprofits before conducting on-site interviews; the students then reviewed the questionnaires and scheduled the interviews.
“The questionnaire secures information on what the nonprofit has and what it needs,” says Poole. “We look at things like security policies, security posture, and use of two-factor authentication.”
The student team goes through the questionnaire checklist with each nonprofit and then prepares cybersecurity reports for them, including reasonable action items for improvement as needed.
“We talk to the clients and use the cybersecurity training we learned throughout the clinic to help them improve their infrastructure,” says O’Connor, who was the student who spearheaded Forge Greensboro’s cyber security analysis.
Forging Community Partnerships Through Cybersecurity
Forge Greensboro is a nonprofit community makerspace in downtown Greensboro, with three core and six part-time staff members. That’s a fairly slim team, considering they serve 400+ members.
Executive Director Tiffany Jacobs was, therefore, eager to participate when she learned about SCGA through Lakshmi Iyer, Ph.D., SCGA Clinic co-PI, and Forge Greensboro became a recipient of the clinic’s services.
“Participation with SCGA gave us an opportunity to peel back the layers and have a robust examination of the systems we have in place,” she says.
After meeting with Moez and a team of students and receiving a report, Forge Greensboro implemented the cybersecurity recommendations, one of which was cybersecurity insurance.
“To have this extra layer of protection, which makes us less vulnerable, was definitely a value-add for us,” says Jacobs, who acknowledges most small nonprofits do not have the budget for the work provided by SCGA.
Therefore, she highly recommends this program to other nonprofit organizations because to grow, organizations must be future-forward and future-ready.
“What I liked is they did not try to change our current systems – they just looked at what we had and made that system better,” says Jacob.
Cybersecurity Certifications and Career Impact
Both Poole and O’Connor see “hands-on learning” as the biggest benefit of the clinic. And both are thrilled about the certification voucher every student receives upon completion.
“I am working on Security+ certification, to understand the security infrastructure required to make a cyber environment secure,” says O’Connor. “The vouchers are worth their weight in gold.”
Both students are also clear about how this opportunity will impact their future careers. Poole seeks to become a consultant, possibly working with Google’s internal cybersecurity workforce or an IT help desk.
“I’m getting as much experience as I can during school, so I can seamlessly enter the workforce when I graduate,” says Poole.
O’Connor’s participation is already helping him advance in the field. He’s currently talking to the NC DOJ State Crime Lab about a potential internship in cyberforensics.
“I am extremely thankful to be part of this and to collaborate with local leaders and business owners in making something better than it was beforehand,” he says.
Written by Amy Burtch, AMBCopy
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications
