One intern who I met on the Women in Cybersecurity Conference (WiCyS) will all the time stand out to me as a result of I had a entrance row seat to her profession journey from Cisco intern to an incredible workforce member: Anthea Gonzalez. I’ll admit to the bias of getting #latina, #latinaintech satisfaction, however I even have nostalgia and immense satisfaction for the brand new rent program I helped construct for the Cisco Security & Trust Organization. Over the years it has remained one of many packages the place I get to indicate up essentially the most authentically, and it’s typically a reminder that that is the simplest strategy to affect change. Being genuine about our identification and private dedication can kind a robust bridge to serving to us join with others.
Why WiCyS?
I join with the WiCyS mission on a deeply private stage. I think about myself many issues: a girl, Latina, immigrant, and extra. WiCyS’ mission to construct a powerful cybersecurity workforce with gender fairness provides me the house to indicate up as a extra genuine and more true model of myself. Balancing identities round being a girl and a girl of coloration in a male-dominated subject lends itself to forcing you to select and select which components of your self to focus on. WiCyS encourages us to interrupt these limiting limitations and is the safety business occasion the place I’m most real, and I merely take pleasure in being there.
What is your greatest takeaway from the Women in Cybersecurity Conference?
My greatest takeaway from WiCyS isn’t an merchandise of branded swag or a profound piece of business knowledge; it’s a particular person, Anthea Gonzalez. At the convention you meet and join with every kind of girls and allies, however Anthea stands out. With little introduction, she approached me and easily and earnestly acknowledged “thank you for existing.” In that second, she vocalized one thing I had not completely understood earlier than how necessary it’s to seek out one other Latina in cybersecurity and the way necessary it’s to undertake the mission of recruitment, retention, and development as a private endeavor.
As our dialog continued, Anthea displayed:
- A drive for cybersecurity – particularly how one can higher defend the world and the folks round her by forensics and superior safety tooling.
- The skill to advocate for her ardour properly, explaining the complexity of her pursuits in an attractive manner.
- Her willingness to discover progressive concepts and applied sciences and settle for the position of life-long learner.
From our first dialog on the Women in Cybersecurity Conference, it was clear to me that Anthea had the talents wanted to tackle the vastness of right now’s risk panorama. I dedicated to advocating for her wherever I may, and in return she supplied a perspective that impressed me to place a pointy give attention to the significance of constructing advocacy and development a private and ongoing endeavor for me.
What impression did which have?
The easy reply? After that WiCyS Conference, we employed her. Anthea joined Cisco as an intern in Cisco’s Security & Trust Organization the summer season after we met. Over the summer season, she was in a position to be taught, work with some extremely clever folks, and make many new mates. Her time at Cisco was so impactful that she was prolonged a suggestion and joined us as a full-time worker in 2022. Anthea’s journey in cybersecurity is simply starting, and I’m glad to focus on her worth and empower her at each alternative that I get.
Beyond Anthea’s success, the expertise actually cemented for me the significance that I present up greatest because the intersection of all my identities. I discovered that the simplest manner for me to affect change is thru authenticity and private dedication. Making it private is how we bridge alternatives from right now to tomorrow, on the WiCyS Conference and past.
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