Joel Rakow, Ed.D.
Third-generation Democrat who walked away.
A cybersecurity leader, educator, advocate, and storyteller writing the stories others will not touch. Author of Life in Woke America: A Family’s Story of Truth and Betrayal Under Fire and creator of the Liberty Scorecard concept.
Joel Rakow and his work
Joel Rakow, Ed.D., is the author of Life in Woke America: A Family’s Story of Truth and Betrayal Under Fire and the creator of the Liberty Scorecard concept. LifeInWokeAmerica.com is his official author and ideas hub, bringing together his book, articles and commentary, media resources and interviews, and civic initiatives.
Beyond the page
I am a third-generation Democrat who walked away in 2020 when the party I grew up with failed the values it once claimed to defend. That painful break inspired Life in Woke America — a gripping thriller about truth versus power, faith and family, and one man’s fight to protect sovereignty in a nation under siege.
With decades as a leading cybersecurity expert, founder of multiple successful businesses, and someone who has witnessed government systems from both inside and outside, I bring authentic weight to Xavier King’s high-stakes journey.
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Joel as a two-year-old -
College athlete and league MVP -
Educational software — three million licenses worldwide -
Dr. Joel Rakow -
In his fifties -
Recent portrait
Professional credentials & expertise
Accomplishments
- Leading cybersecurity expert (11,500+ followers)
- Creator of NeverCry Cyber Defense Systems
- Founded & sold businesses for $27 million
- 3 million software licenses sold worldwide
Awards & honors
- Microsoft Partner of the Year
- PC Magazine Best Product of the Year (3×)
- Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
Appointments
- Harvard Post-Doctoral Fellow
- Cybersecurity Faculty — LAPD
- FBI InfraGard Speaker & Member
- Professor, Boston University
Where I am from
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I am from a small dusty town 20 miles from the beaches and bottom of California. Born Jewish among migrant Okies, quieted Germans, and a black family doctor.
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Equipped with a strong left arm and quick bat, I gained acceptance where resistance might have waited. As a young boy I learned that delivering real value opens doors.
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3,000 books later — more Christian than not — the yellow brick road carried me from dirt fields in Arkansas to Harvard research and 3 million software users across 22 countries.
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I have loved
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and been loved
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facing down evil where it never should be
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I follow the love of my Texas wife — a rancher’s daughter, double DAR — who never fully left the ranch. And so today… this is also where I am from, spending ever more days in the Texas towns of Amarillo and Canadian.
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I am from south California, via Cambridge, Mass. I am also from a beautiful beach town south of LA…
Thanks to Mary Pipher for the poetic format.
More about Joel Rakow
Joel Rakow, Ed.D., grew up as a roofer’s son twenty miles above the Mexican border, with a black family doctor. A Harvard Postdoctoral Fellow, he advised the Secret Service and FBI InfraGard on cybersecurity and built successful software companies. He earned three PC World Magazine Product-of-the-Year awards and two Microsoft Partner-of-the-Year honors, and was League MVP for his college baseball team.
Rakow is no stranger to shaping minds. With more than three million educational products sold worldwide and translations in seven languages across 22 countries, he has spent decades educating, inspiring, and influencing audiences around the globe.
He currently serves as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care, and coaches CEOs as Co-Chair of the Vistage CEO Group in Amarillo, which he founded in 2021. With six grandchildren and more than fifty years of married life, family remains the heartbeat of his days.
Our Ticket to Mar-a-Lago
Witness the journey from the black “Welcome” carpet to the national stage.