Introducing Ravenwood!
Our vision is simple: democratize intelligence and build resilience in the communities we serve.
Welcome to Ravenwood, an intelligence cooperative built, owned, and operated by three former FBI employees. Our vision is simple: democratize intelligence and build resilience in the communities we serve.
Ravenwood’s origin story began in 2025 when Jill, Philip, and Kayla left the FBI rather than compromise their oaths. Jill and Philip started the Forking Off podcast to preserve the stories of public servants who left federal service and to document the evolving landscape of American governance. That is how they met Kayla, who joined their journey to build a cooperative. Guided by their core values, they formed Ravenwood Intelligence Cooperative.
What is an Intelligence Cooperative? We’re glad you asked! After leaving the FBI, we watched thousands of colleagues struggle to navigate a private sector defined by relentless “restructuring” and “organizational flattening.” We realized if we wanted a workplace where the mission—and the people performing it—come first, we would have to build it ourselves.
Rather than trade a broken federal bureaucracy for cutthroat corporate culture, we chose to put the power back in the hands of experts. By organizing as a worker cooperative, we pool the talent of former public servants, ensuring Ravenwood remains objective, fiercely independent, and immune to outside influence.
Aren’t cooperatives just for farmers and community grocery stores? While Philip does have a questionable collection of belt buckles and open-toed footwear, the cooperative model is a perfect fit for intelligence. At its core, a cooperative is a functional democracy—and we happen to be big fans of those.
Beyond democratic control, cooperatives are guided by seven principles:
- Voluntary and open membership: We’re mission-oriented. If you share our vision and you’re here for the work, we’re here for you.
- Democratic member control: One member, one vote. Members are owners and decision-makers. Our expertise drives every decision.
- Members’ economic participation: Members contribute equitably. Surplus is shared based on who put in the work, not who negotiated the best stock deal.
- Autonomy and independence: We answer to no one else. This ensures our analysis remains free from outside political or financial influence.
- Education, training, and information: We don’t hoard tradecraft. Ravenwood is on a mission to inform the public and build community resilience.
- Cooperation among cooperatives: We aim to fill the gap for professional, independent intelligence services within the growing cooperative ecosystem.
- Concern for community: Ravenwood was born from a desire to protect our neighbors. Our policies focus on building up the communities we serve.
By now, you’ve probably realized this sounds different. We’re built that way.
When the FBI decided to paint over the core values at Quantico, we adopted them as our own: respect, integrity, accountability, leadership, diversity, compassion, and fairness. When the Bureau abandoned its guiding principles—people, partnerships, process, and innovation—we made them the foundation of our vision. When those mission priorities lost sight of the threats real communities face, we got to work.
What You Can Expect From Us
At Ravenwood, we view growth as a continuation of our service to the public. We develop specialized training for audiences who have traditionally been priced out or overlooked by the security industry. We equip small businesses, nonprofits, journalists, and law firms with the tools they need to stay safe and resilient.
Today, we’re launching with a series of educational articles we believe deserve more public attention. You’ll find reports describing how tech industry policies are impacting family safety, as well as how social media can impact your privacy. You’ll get expert advice on how to apply complex frameworks like the intelligence cycle and managed attribution, and a case study on how communities can build resilience against the risk of terrorist recidivism.
We deliver hands-on services—spanning online privacy, risk mitigation, and threat intelligence—designed to help clients navigate complex environments. We work with clients to identify vulnerabilities, secure home or business networks, and safeguard privacy. We use the same tradecraft that protected national interests to secure clients’ data and empower their decision-making.
In the coming weeks, we’ll share more insights into how individuals and businesses can defend themselves against a multitude of threats. We’ll expose risks like deceptive browser extensions and continue sharing the tradecraft required to protect your privacy in a digital world.
We’re taking a step further by bringing intelligence tradecraft and analysis directly to the public through our own reporting and insights. Ravenwood operates as both an intelligence cooperative and a media organization. We know how to recruit sources, validate information, and—crucially—protect the identities of those who confide in us.
We’re here to tell the stories that matter, with the rigor our profession demands. We’ll also write about the things we feel need to be said on behalf of current and former feds everywhere—providing a clear-eyed perspective for a community that is often seen but rarely heard.
If you’ve made it this far, we hope it’s because you believe in this mission as much as we do. For the first few weeks, all of our articles will be free to read. By joining our free tier, you’ll get access to community discussions and our monthly intelligence brief, The Sentry.
Subscription fatigue is real, but Ravenwood is entirely member-funded. We don’t run spammy ads, and we don’t answer to outside investors. Paid subscribers receive early access to premium content tailored to professional needs, along with exclusive webinars and AMAs. More importantly, you’re supporting a new model of service that answers only to the truth and civic virtues we all share.
We’re ready to get to work. We hope you’ll join us.
