Background
3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic is a cornerstone of health and empowerment services for young people in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point. Under the visionary leadership of CEO Joi Jackson-Morgan, the organization has experienced remarkable growth—in its programming, staff, and budget. With this expansion came a heightened sense of responsibility, not just to deliver services, but to safeguard the trust of its youth, families, donors, and funders.
As 3rd Street Youth scaled, so did the complexity of its data. Health records, personal stories, donor details, and programmatic outcomes all live in digital systems. With these assets comes an increased accountability to the community they serve—including clients, constituents, donors, and funders—to be responsible stewards of the data entrusted to them.
The Challenge
The organization had already taken a significant step by engaging an outsourced IT partner to support its growing infrastructure. Yet, the leadership recognized that a more specialized review was needed to ensure its cloud systems were not only functional but secure, compliant, and worthy of the trust placed in them.
With limited internal capacity for cybersecurity, 3rd Street Youth sought a partner who could deliver a focused assessment of their Google Workspace environment—without disrupting daily operations.
The Solution
Enter Mission Secure, a nonprofit security partner dedicated to protecting mission-driven organizations. With the support of a volunteer cybersecurity engineer from Suitebriar, a Google Cloud Premier Partner, Mission Secure conducted a Google Workspace Security Audit tailored to 3rd Street Youth’s needs.
The engagement included:
- A review of account access, sharing, and permission settings
- Evaluation of email and phishing defenses
- Identification of administrative risk and over-permissioned accounts
- A custom action plan outlining next steps for tightening controls
- Hands-on knowledge transfer to internal staff for ongoing management
The audit was performed with a strong emphasis on confidentiality, ensuring that while individual findings remained private, the overall guidance was impactful and actionable.
Impact and Outcome
The audit delivered clarity, confidence, and a roadmap for next-stage cybersecurity maturity. It helped 3rd Street Youth align its systems with its values—ensuring data stewardship matched the integrity of its programs.
“We’ve always been committed to youth safety, and that includes digital safety,” said Joi Jackson-Morgan. “As we grow, we know our accountability grows too—to our clients, our funders, our donors, and our broader community. Mission Secure helped us take this responsibility seriously and proactively.”
The organization came away with:
- A clear understanding of where its systems were strong—and where they needed strengthening
- Immediate, no-cost changes that reduced risk exposure
- Greater organizational confidence around digital trust and compliance
A Safer, Stronger Foundation for Community Impact
Today, 3rd Street Youth is better equipped to serve its community securely—knowing that its data, systems, and people are protected. The project exemplifies how cross-sector partnerships—combining nonprofit values with tech sector expertise—can amplify impact and uphold community trust.
With every step forward in their growth, 3rd Street Youth is reaffirming its role not only as a service provider, but as a responsible steward of the digital and human trust placed in them.
Project Stakeholders
- Joi Jackson-Morgan, CEO, 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic
- Joanna Nero, Chief Operations Officer, 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic
- Claudia Cruz Lopez, Operations Coordinator, 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic
- Christopher Jones, Interim Executive Director, Mission Secure