What is Blacksky?
Blacksky Algorithms is building the future of self-governable online communities with tools that make complex infrastructure simple to deploy.
Most social platforms control what users see, how communities operate, and who gets to feel safe online. Blacksky changes that by providing one-click infrastructure for independent, self-governed digital spaces. Our platform lets communities create safe spaces on their terms, pool resources democratically, and govern collectively—without needing technical expertise to deploy algorithms, moderation tools, or data servers.
Safe Spaces, Your Way
Build communities where people actually want to hang out. Set your own rules, moderate content together, and create spaces that work for your community.
Fund Things Together
Pool money for what matters to your community. Whether it’s covering server costs, paying creators, or funding local projects.
Decide Together
Make decisions as a community, not as subjects of a platform. Vote on changes, allocate resources democratically, and govern your space with decentralized tools built for collective decision-making.
Blacksky Architecture
Built on the AT PROTOCOL Blacksky provides everything communities need in one integrated platform: scalable hosting, custom algorithmic feeds, democratic governance tools, resource pooling systems, and personal data servers. Communities of all kinds—developers, activists, artists—can launch their own social networks with the click of a button, creating safe, independent spaces free from algorithmic suppression and corporate oversight.
We believe an internet where marginalized users are safe is an internet where all users are safe, and Blacksky’s infrastructure makes that possible through accessible technology that puts power back in community hands.
Want to run our infrastructure yourself? Check out some of our our key repositories below.
Our AT Protocol implementation prioritizing community safety and self-governance, written in Rust.
Client side web app for migrating accounts from one PDS to another.
Fork of Bluesky customized for community use
A real-time system for gathering, analyzing and understanding what your community thinks in their own words, enabled by advanced statistics and machine learning.
Collective moderation of AT Protocol custom feeds.
Core Team
Rudy Fraser
Founder & CEO
Rudy Fraser is a technologist, community organizer, and founder of Blacksky Algorithms, where he develops open-source infrastructure that lets communities shape their social media experience, govern their data, and fund collective needs. He is currently an independent Mozilla Fellow and was previously a fellow at Harvard University’s Applied Social Media Lab within the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
Dr. KáLyn Coghill
Head of Community & Research
Dr. KáLyn “Kay” Coghill is an accomplished educator, activist, and scholar specializing in the study and mitigation of online gender-based violence, with a focus on digital misogynoir. They serve as the Head of Community for Blacksky Algorithms, supporting initiatives related to community safety, member support, and relationship management.
JD Lauwerends
Head of Trust & Safety
JD Lauwerends (they/them) is a cultural strategist and Trust & Safety practitioner with a background in platform moderation, community integrity, and accessible systems design. They build safety frameworks rooted in care, accountability, and the lived experiences of vulnerable communities online.
Lanaé Evans
Head of Design
Lanaé brings more than 20 years of experience across product design, UX strategy, creative direction, and design systems. Throughout her career, she has combined design and narrative to simplify complexity and bring underrepresented perspectives to the forefront. As a former creative leader at Sinuous Magazine, she helped shine a light on issues affecting marginalized communities through art, music, fashion, and cultural storytelling. That same passion for using creativity to bring people together extends to her volunteer work with her local pétanque club, where she leads creative and marketing initiatives, introduces young people to the sport through school programs and coaching, and joins neighbors in playground cleanups and tree-planting initiatives. Whether through design, advocacy, or volunteering, Lanaé believes in creating opportunities for people to feel seen, connect with one another, and make a difference together.
Charles Iliya Krempeaux
Founding Engineer
Charles Iliya Krempeaux is a technologist, organizer, software engineer, and author with over three decades of industry experience. He has been a foundational figure in several prominent tech companies and startups, and is known for building core Internet, social media, and financial technologies. Charles is an active member of the open-source community, the broader Open Social Web developer communities, and the small-net community. He has a formal background in: computer science, mathematics, artificial intelligence (AI), cryptography, and human-computer interaction (HCI).
Rishi Balakrishnan
Founding Engineer
Rishi is a software engineer from the Bay Area with experience building privacy preserving software and backend infrastructure. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Computer Science and a minor in Global Poverty and Practice, and is dedicated to creating technology that supports care and democratic decision-making.
Marisa Rando
Head of Product
Marisa is an organizer, academic, and Founder/President of Pact Collective, a 501c3 that acts as a fiscal host to nearly 20 mutual aid organizations in NYC. Marisa has years of marketing and product experience in the tech world, and is currently doing her PhD in Sociology at the University of Cambridge researching tech/labor.