Digital Trust Executive by Brown
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Govern digital risk like it's your fiduciary duty — because it is

Digital Trust Executive is the credential-grade program that equips C-suite leaders, board members, and senior executives to build enterprise-wide cybersecurity, privacy, and risk governance frameworks — and present them with authority at the highest levels of organizational accountability.

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Digital Trust Executive by Brown Tech Academy Industry

"Digital risk lands on the executive's desk whether they're prepared for it or not — this program makes sure they're prepared."Pauline Smith EdD

What you'll learn

What you'll be able to do

  • Design and communicate a enterprise-wide digital trust strategy aligned to board-level risk appetite and stakeholder expectations.
  • Build a privacy governance roadmap that covers data collection, retention, access controls, incident reporting, and regulatory compliance.
  • Construct a unified executive risk governance framework that integrates cybersecurity, operational, legal, reputational, and financial risk into a single decision-making structure.
  • Conduct rigorous third-party and supply chain risk assessments using standardized due diligence, contractual safeguards, and continuous vendor monitoring.
  • Develop and present a board-ready executive KPI dashboard and enterprise risk register that drives recurring governance review cycles.
  • Lead a phased digital trust initiative — including governance checkpoints, workforce readiness plans, budget assumptions, and continuous improvement metrics — from inception through evaluation.

How it works

A school that adapts to you

This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.

We learn your level

A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.

Lessons adapt as you go

Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.

Your AI coach keeps you moving

Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.

The curriculum

What's inside your school

6 modules · 29 lessons

1

Digital Trust: Strategy, Foundations, and Executive Accountability

Establishes the strategic and governance foundations of digital trust, equipping executives to design enterprise-wide trust strategies aligned to board risk appetite and stakeholder expectations.

  • 1.1What Digital Trust Means at the Executive LevelIncluded
  • 1.2The Five Pillars of Enterprise Digital TrustIncluded
  • 1.3Aligning Digital Trust Strategy to Board Risk AppetiteIncluded
  • 1.4Executive Communication and Accountability FrameworksIncluded
  • 1.5Designing the Enterprise Digital Trust StrategyIncluded
2

Privacy Governance: Policy, Compliance, and Roadmap Development

Builds a complete privacy governance capability — from data lifecycle policy to regulatory compliance — culminating in an actionable privacy governance roadmap.

  • 2.1Privacy Governance as an Executive DisciplineIncluded
  • 2.2Data Lifecycle Governance: Collection, Retention, and DisposalIncluded
  • 2.3Access Controls, Encryption, and Identity ManagementIncluded
  • 2.4Privacy Incident Reporting, Assessments, and Regulatory ComplianceIncluded
  • 2.5Building and Presenting the Privacy Governance RoadmapIncluded
3

Executive Risk Governance: Unified Frameworks and Board Decision-Making

Constructs a unified executive risk governance framework that integrates cybersecurity, operational, legal, reputational, and financial risk into a single recurring board-level decision structure.

  • 3.1The Unified Risk Governance Model for ExecutivesIncluded
  • 3.2Integrating Cybersecurity, Operational, and Financial RiskIncluded
  • 3.3Legal, Reputational, and Strategic Risk at the Executive LevelIncluded
  • 3.4Risk Indicators, Mitigation Plans, and Resilience ObjectivesIncluded
  • 3.5Governing Risk Through Recurring Board Review CyclesIncluded
4

Third-Party and Supply Chain Risk: Due Diligence, Contracts, and Continuous Monitoring

Equips executives to govern vendor, cloud provider, and strategic partner risk through standardized due diligence, contractual safeguards, monitoring, and contingency planning.

  • 4.1Why Third-Party Risk Is a Board-Level Digital Trust IssueIncluded
  • 4.2Standardized Vendor Due Diligence and Risk TieringIncluded
  • 4.3Contractual Safeguards and Security Assessment RequirementsIncluded
  • 4.4Continuous Vendor Monitoring and Contingency PlanningIncluded
  • 4.5Building the Third-Party Risk Management PlanIncluded
5

Executive KPI Dashboards, Risk Registers, and Board Reporting

Develops the measurement and reporting infrastructure — KPI dashboards and enterprise risk registers — that sustains board-level digital trust governance over time.

  • 5.1Measuring Digital Trust: KPIs, Metrics, and Performance IndicatorsIncluded
  • 5.2Designing the Executive KPI DashboardIncluded
  • 5.3Building and Maintaining the Enterprise Risk RegisterIncluded
  • 5.4Presenting Risk Intelligence to the BoardIncluded
6

Leading the Phased Digital Trust Initiative: From Inception to Continuous Improvement

Integrates all prior learning into a board-ready, phased digital trust initiative — covering governance checkpoints, workforce readiness, budget planning, and continuous improvement — and produces the full capstone portfolio.

  • 6.1Architecting a Phased Digital Trust InitiativeIncluded
  • 6.2Workforce Readiness and Digital Trust CultureIncluded
  • 6.3Budget Assumptions, Resource Planning, and Business Case DevelopmentIncluded
  • 6.4Evaluation Metrics, Continuous Improvement, and Governance IterationIncluded
  • 6.5Capstone: Executive Board Presentation and Digital Trust PortfolioIncluded

Who it's for

Is this you?

C-Suite Executives

CEOs, COOs, and CFOs who need a strategic governance fluency in digital risk to fulfill their fiduciary accountability to the board and stakeholders.

Board Directors

Board members who oversee enterprise risk and need structured frameworks to ask the right questions, challenge management, and govern digital trust with authority.

CISOs & CIOs

Technical leaders stepping into enterprise governance roles who need to translate cybersecurity and digital risk into board-level strategy and KPI dashboards.

General Counsel & Legal Leaders

GCs and senior legal officers who manage regulatory exposure, privacy compliance, and contractual risk and need a unified governance model to connect those domains.

Regulated-Industry Executives

Senior leaders in financial services, healthcare, energy, or defense who face heightened privacy and third-party risk obligations and need a compliance-grounded governance roadmap.

Aspiring Governance Leaders

Senior managers and rising executives building toward C-suite or board roles who want a credential-grade portfolio in digital trust governance before the seat opens.

Questions

Frequently asked

Your teacher

A note from your teacher

Pauline Smith EdD

Pauline Smith EdD

I want to start with something most programs won't say out loud: the gap between executives who are responsible for digital trust and executives who are equipped to govern it is enormous — and it is costing organizations dearly.

You already know this. You've sat in a board meeting where a cyber incident landed on the agenda and watched the conversation devolve into technical minutiae that left half the room behind. You've signed off on a vendor contract without a clear picture of what third-party risk you were actually accepting. You've been handed accountability for privacy compliance without a governance roadmap that connects data lifecycle policy to regulatory exposure to business continuity. That is not a failure of leadership. It's a failure of preparation — and it's exactly what this program exists to fix.

What I've built here is the program I wish existed for the senior leaders I've worked alongside: a rigorous, strategically grounded curriculum that treats digital trust as a board-level discipline, not a technology function. Every framework in this curriculum — from the Five Pillars of Enterprise Digital Trust to the unified executive risk model to the board-ready KPI dashboard — is designed to give you the structured thinking and governance artifacts that let you lead with clarity and authority, not just manage with caution.

The work in this program is real. You won't be filling in worksheets or watching theory lectures. You'll be designing an enterprise digital trust strategy aligned to board risk appetite. You'll be building a privacy governance roadmap that covers data collection through regulatory reporting. You'll be constructing a third-party risk management plan with due diligence standards and contractual safeguards. And you'll cap it all with a capstone board presentation that pulls every piece together into a governance portfolio you can immediately put to work — in your organization, on your board, or in your next executive role.

I designed this program for executives who understand that digital risk is fiduciary risk, and who want to govern it with the same rigor they'd apply to financial strategy or operational resilience. If that's where you are — or where you're headed — I built this for you. I'm glad you're here. Let's get to work.

Pauline Smith EdD

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  • 6 modules, 29 lessons
  • AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
  • Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
  • Your own AI learning coach
  • Learn on any device, at your pace
  • Full access for as long as you're subscribed