Join Our Movement — Founding Membership 2026
When identity fails,
justice stops.
Eight hundred million people cannot prove who they are. The rule of law in cyberspace is not built yet. Civil society has the tools, the network, and the moment to build it. This is the invitation.
"Access to justice equals access to opportunity. The rule of law in cyberspace is not built yet — and this is the moment civil society builds it. IBO has spent more than 25 years preparing for this moment. The community, the governance frameworks, the credentialing standards — they are ready. What we need now are the people who will use them."
The Justice Layer
Building the stack one layer at a time
The Justice Layer is not a platform. It is an infrastructure of trust — built from human relationships, professional accountability, and verifiable credentials that travel anywhere.
How You Can Get Involved
We invite you to be part of the movement.
Check out the many ways to get involved and create impact for your community.
Join as a Member
Become a founding member of the IBO community. Support the work. Access training, tools, and a global network of practitioners building the Justice Layer.
See Membership OptionsBecome a Digital Penpal
Help one person build a trusted digital identity. 10 hours. 3 months. One credential. The first brick in the Justice Layer — and the first cohort needs only 10 people.
Learn About Digital PenpalsPartner with IBO
Reach out if you would like to learn more about any of our portfolio initiatives, consulting studio, or IBO Academy. Shaking hands can shake the world.
Make an InquirySpeak Out with Us
Always ready to raise awareness about aligned values. Connect with us about speaker opportunities — whether you are hosting or we are.
Connect with IBOThe Human Verification Layer
Become a Digital Penpal
The Justice Layer cannot be built by technology alone. Blockchain can protect records. Digital wallets can hold credentials. AI can organize information. But none of these tools can answer the first human question:
"Who is this person, and what can we responsibly say is true about them?"
A Digital Penpal is a trained IBO participant — a lawyer, mediator, educator, notary, technologist, student, or peacebuilder — who helps one person begin building a trusted digital identity. The person may be undocumented, displaced, stateless, or simply unable to prove what they know or what they have created.
For the first cohort, IBO is asking for 10 Digital Penpals. One person. One identity pathway. One trusted credential. One proof that the model works.
Each Digital Penpal commits to:
- Spend approximately 10 hours over 3 months
- Help one person gather identity and story evidence
- Follow IBO privacy and minimum-disclosure standards
- Work with a trained verifier or professional reviewer
- Help produce one trusted credential or identity record
- Help design the training pathway for the next 100 Digital Penpals and cyber notaries
The Digital Penpal is not a volunteer doing charity. The Digital Penpal is the first human verification layer of the Justice Layer.
Work in Motion
Join the community. Support the work.
IBO members support work that is already happening — in music studios in Africa, in communities affected by war, and in the governance frameworks that will make trusted identity real for millions of people.
PeaceTones® — Fair Trade Music & Justice
PeaceTones Change the World
Music is a credential. Chad Harper and Hip Hop Saves Lives are proving this across African communities right now. Young people create, perform, document, and earn — and IBO brings the governance framework that makes their credentials real and portable.
The Grammy-connected World Academy of Music and Peace is a partner. The work is live.
Ukraine — Humanitarian Aid & Documentary
Shoulder to Shoulder
Ordinary people delivering humanitarian aid to communities in Ukraine, with music woven throughout as a language of peace. A documentary tells their story. IBO is building the credentialing framework for displaced youth who need a trusted record of who they are and what they can do.
The Invisibles — Digital Identity for Stateless People
The IBO Passport
More than 800 million people are invisible to the systems that determine access to work, healthcare, and justice. The IBO Passport is the verifiable credential that begins with one trusted human relationship: the Digital Penpal. IBO has been building this since 2017.
Membership
Stand together. Build a fair justice layer of the internet.
IBO members are active partners in our work — not just financially, but as practitioners, credentialers, and community builders. Membership supports IBO's general operations and the projects we are building right now.
- Access to IBO community forum and member network
- Free webinars with justice and technology professionals
- IBO Academy courses — ODR, cyberlaw, mediation with ICT
- First notice on internship and volunteer opportunities
- Co-authoring and publishing opportunities with IBO network
- Digital Penpal eligibility
- Everything in student membership
- Trokt secure platform — 20 collaboration spaces ($108 value)
- Legal document templates and contract tools
- Cyber notary training and certification pathway
- IBO governance frameworks and credential standards
- Digital Penpal and Verifier eligibility
- Founding member recognition in IBO registry
Benefits of Membership
A community. A practice. A mission.
Make a Difference
Contribute to meaningful work in Ukraine, Cameroon, Jordan, and wherever civil society needs the Justice Layer most.
IBO Academy
Specialized training in online dispute resolution, global cyberlaw, and mediation using ICT.
Publications
Co-author and publish papers with network experts on technology, human rights, climate justice, global governance, and sustainable development.
Global Network
Lawyers, mediators, and peacebuilders across 100+ countries. The governance layer the digital identity ecosystem has been missing.
Trokt Platform
Secure cloud collaboration for contracts, mediation, arbitration, and document management. 20 spaces free — $108/year value included with professional membership.
Cyber Notary Pathway
Train as a certified credential issuer. New practice area. New economy. The role the global identity system has been waiting for.
Enough waiting. Let's write our own rules.
Join IBO as a founding member. Support the work that is already in motion. Go home and build it in your community.
InternetBar.org Institute® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — EIN 20-2683134
Have a project that belongs in the Justice Layer? Contact IBO.