I was first exposed to cybersecurity through a technology internship with General Electric. During the internship, I had the opportunity to work with the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) team to roll out a number of global security initiatives and explore behavior analytics products. I was fascinated by the scope of the work, and decided to learn more about information security afterwards.

I started my career as a security consultant, working with financial services institutions to audit and improve their security posture. Shortly after, I pivoted to a security engineering role, where I got to do more hands-on security tool development and operations work while juggling the roles of the team’s scrum master and product manager. My interest in building consumer products brought me to a software engineering role where I worked on a new FinTech digital product. Ultimately, I was drawn back into the world of information security when I started working as a security engineer and technical program manager at D.E. Shaw.

To me, education is one of the best equalizers out there. That belief is one of the reasons I decided to work very closely with organizations such as the Technology Access Foundation. To truly push forward the diversity and inclusion initiative, we have to start with across-the-board access to quality STEM education.

Some key qualities are an interest in technology, learning agility, and a willingness to adapt to fit the needs of the team or organization. It also helps to have excellent verbal and written communication, the ability to break down problems and execute in a structured manner, and to be detail-oriented.

It’s crucial to seek out best practices by connecting with other professionals in the field. It helps to always keep learning because the fields of information security and project management are ever evolving. In addition, being open to receiving feedback, and iterating based on that feedback, has been tremendous in helping me improve as a security professional. Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Sometimes it’s not about having all the answers, but knowing who does and seeking them out. There’s always a better way of doing things, so don’t be afraid to ask for help or guidance when you need it.