Joining us here in person and online. Big thank you to the opposite of National Cyber director team. Welcome to the launch of a Cyber Workforce and education strategy. I am a small part of this event. I want to share what we will be talking about, who will be talking to you at first say a thank you 2000 he wrote. This will not be a small conversation. We have a lot to get through. I direct the Cyber Initiative here at the Atlantic Council. One of the things that has been most striking about our work in the past five years is we often treat Cyber Security as a technology problem. One of the things i found striking and encouraging about the workforce strategy is its focus on Building Community and capacity to secure these systems, focusing on a human problem to address these technologies. It is linked to deeper issues about how we embed diversity in policy and confront challenges in education and workforce development. I am delighted to see this conversation led by the Deputy Director here who his works to expand cyber space factors. In partnership with kemba walden in the team, we are delighted to see the launch today. While the launch reaches back more than a year to the open summit at the white house, we are trying to engage with a wide number of stakeholders in the ecosystem and trying to reflect that ecosystem. With that, let me introduce kemba walden, acting National Cyber director who has now overseen the launch of the strategy, its Implementation Plan. I would like to bring her up for a few minutes to talk to you. For that, quick round of a pause for the work she had of applause for the work she has done with his team. [applause] kemba has been a dedicated public servant. Across both the public and private sector, she has been a depth of work on the challenges and in this office, which is an incredible accomplishment. Kemba, with that, the floor is yours. [applause] kemba what a difference a year makes. A year ago, july 19, 2022, the white house hosted a summit where we announced our intent to create the nations first Cyber Workforce and education strategy. I am thrilled to announce the publication of that strategy now. Thank you for inviting me today and thank you for your help over the course of the last year. The information from the Atlantic Council, other companies, academics, and ngos made this truly a National Strategy. I would not be a good leader unless i really put out the engine behind this, camille, director for tech and ecosystem. You can apply. [applause] and molly, our assistant National Cyber director, who brought his innovation. [applause] true fact, camille was one of the hosts at the white house before she became a deputy National Cyber director on july 19 and before sebu, he reviewed a lot of what you reacted to. The Biden Harris Administration took on this task because the world is changing. President biden recognized the strategy released earlier this year. The charged us to build the Digital Ecosystem together, making it more resilient and aligned with our values. This is a bold vision, but because cyberspace is composed of technology, people, and protocols, we must make each element of cyberspace defensible and aligned with our values. Today, the strategy focuses primarily on the people, identifying opportunities to better equip americans to benefit from this bold vision. We are at an Inflection Point where the u. S. Had an opportunity to do a do best. That is to lead and prepare ourselves for the age before us. Early on in the 20th century, the u. S. Underwent an Economic Transformation where the emergence of an industry might help supercharge the american economy. Amid insight relative to the Automotive Industry was at highly skilled machinists work necessary for relatively few functions in the production of a vehicle. Rather than competing against rivals for a small slice of the workforce, American Companies brought new people into the rock into the industrial revolution. Those who previously had not participated in the new economy became positioned to earn more and enhance their quality of life a noble vision then and one we can learn from today. With this expansion of the industrial workforce came in the Great American middleclass. The gains made by the middleclass unleashed an era of prosperity. We did it before in the Industrial Age and we are doing it now in the digital age. [applause] thank you. Today, the Biden Harris Administration seeks to strengthen the american middle class by bringing more of the workforce into this digital age to keep the country secure, to increase Economic Prosperity, and to ignite the next generation of american innovators. We must conclude every american with cyber scales and drastically scale up the cybersecurity workforce. Filling cyber vacancies is a National Security imperative. Achieving this goal also further reinforces our Economic Prosperity. One is not exclusive of the other. The strategy we are publishing today will generate new skills training. Historically, good paying jobs have been constrained to the relatively narrow sector of the workforce with advanced degrees in Computer Science and engineering but it is clear that this motion is outdated. Communities currently underrepresented in the Cyber Workforce have not been empowered to join this workforce or they simply have not always envisioned themselves holding jobs in cyber. That is why this strategy focuses on enabling allamericans to pursue Career Opportunities in cyber. Relatedly, many cyber jobs currently in high demand do not require specialized skills. Inherent Computer Scientist or engineer. As is reflected in my own career path. I am neither an engineer nor a scientist, yet i have the requisite cyber skills necessary to serve as your acting National Cyber director. This is also the case for most of my colleagues and most open cyber jobs across the country. Many are attainable with a skillsbased certificate or a Community College education. The National Strategy focuses on local communities, bringing more people from more places with a broader set of experiences in the digital economy. That will require meeting the workforce where they are. This is where the strategy focuses on driving three contemporaneous outcomes across the workforce. Shift toward a skillbased approach to hiring. Encouraging Lifelong Learning cyber skills development. And enhance and expand Cyber Workforce opportunities to allamericans. To that end, the middle class requires foundational resources broader than what has been traditionally offered. We need to recognize that no entity can do it alone, nor does any entity have a monopoly on the identification or creation of cyber talent. We need to evaluate candidates beyond those with bachelors degrees, that includes those suffering from active duty, parents wintering for us or retiring First Responders and others from varying backgrounds often have or could obtain the skills needed to fill cyber jobs. In many cases, they simply need a skillsbased credential to become soughtafter talent this means looking at skills people gain from apprenticeships, Community Colleges, coating boot camps, competition, gaming, and from online certifications as frequently as we look at Fouryear College educations. Building an economy from the bottom up, the middle out you have heard that it necessitates a lifelong commitment to developing cyber Skilled Workforce workers. A nimble workforce is securing a feature of cyberspace were allamericans thrive. All american strife. To deal with climate change, health care and end, we need an adaptable workforce that is not constrained to the technology as it stood when they left formal education. I am a lifelong learner. The strategy encourages the Cyber Workforce continually pursue learning act opportunities. There is a role for universities, but we also need employers, online academies, trade groups and others to continually retrain our workforce so we remain competitive into the next century. To take advantage of those learning opportunities, foundational cyber skills must be treated like a basic liberty. It is a baseline scale that enables future training. Once the workforce possesses digital literacy, then that workforce will be equipped to manage changes we expect in the coming 5, 10, 20 years. We need to also ensure that our Cyber Security workforce looks like america. Americas diversity is indeed our superpower. There is no country like ours. We have just begun to tap into the capabilities of our full population. Women and Underserved Community members are particularly underrepresented in cyber jobs. The untapped skill and potential for these groups acts like an anchor holding back the economy, removing barriers for these populations by prioritizing investments in these Diverse Communities will further advance americas middleclass lift the entire economy while strengthening National Security. Cyber jobs are also great for communities comprised of all backgrounds, abilities, and experiences. We have to invest in the disinvest it. Disinvested. To ensure that cyber jobs are available for all americans, implementing the National Cyber workforce and education strategy requires joint action by government of the industry, academia, and civil society. It is an ambitious task, to be sure. Yet we have stakes riding on our collective ability to act. The federal government is seeking to remove barriers that prevent cyber talent from getting that critical first job. This will benefit both early cyber talent new to the workforce and seasoned jobseekers to the cyber field. I challenge americas other sectors to reduce barriers to entry. Under this bold vision whereby Economic Prosperity flourishes, parents working in a single good paying job will have more time with their children. Communities will be stronger, quality of life will be position for steady improvement, and cyber space will be more secure for all participants. It is clear we must act. Fortunately, we do not have to wait for some faroff future date. The white house is leveraging the bold Action Congress took passing the bipartisan infrastructure law and the inflation reduction act. The Biden Harris Administration already has from the funding and pathways needed to turn the strategy into a reality. We are now coupling these bipartisan laws with this strategy to advance administrations vision of a robust Cyber Workforce equipped to build a safe, secure, and resilient cyberspace. I look forward to taking the next steps with you all. [applause] thank [applause] you. [applause] week will have remarks in a moment from rob shriver, Deputy Director of the office of personnel management. I want to introduce rob. I am excited he was able to join us. If we talk about strategy implementation, the next thing that comes to mind is this. Rob has a unique perspective to shed on changes that will be coming quickly. His role encompasses all recruiting, hiring, compensation, and a range of Management Issues for the federal work force. Rob is engaged in the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and has a unique perspective on how hiring changes and thinking around skillsbased credentials will impact us in the years to come. [applause] thanks for that introduction. Wonderful to be able to share the stage with this great panel and follow acting director walden. I think no more powerful visual of what she is talking about and what the stage look like when she was up here. It is great to help launch the National Cyber workforce in education strategy. I want to thank the Atlantic Council for bringing us together. Such an important forum. The most pressing issue of the day from when the 60 years. I am representing the largest employer in the country, the federal government. 2. 2 million civilian workers. I am fortunate to have the role i have where we have been focused on cyber talent come out from the beginning of the duration. I have jeans and with me, who has been focused on jason with me who has been focused on this. Cultivating tech talent is clearly a top issue for today and one of the top issues of our day. Consider that staff the consider this. We report to the president about all things cybersecurity. A White House Level agent, this is a brandnew thing and just a sign of how far we have come. It shows how deeply the Biden Harris Administration is committed to increasing and amplifying tech talent across the nation and in the federal workforce. In fact, it complements the president s management agenda which specifically identifies ip and Cyber Security is Mission Critical skill set that we are working on across agencies in the government. And for good redesign technology has played such a key role in enabling Government Services to continue through the pandemic. We have seen how Workplace Flexibility can be winwin, giving workers ready folks ability and worklife balance and giving employers access to talent, wherever that talent. That talent may live. We also recognize the power of data to measure progress on walls. The federal government, as an employer, needs not only to keep pace but to be a leader in this ongoing digital transformation. As we listen to the Panel Discussion coming up next, there are three things to keep in mind. First, the next generation of leaders is ready to make their mark on the world. They are fluent with technology in a way that my generation has not been they have never known a World Without the internet at they have maybe never seen a paper map or listen to a cassette. They have had coding and tax classes their entire lives. We want them on our teams. That is where opium comes in. Opm comes in. I appreciate that the leadership understands that implementation work is critical and requires cooperation across government. They have been such great partners in helping to facilitate that cooperation. We are charged at opm with facilitating an agencys efforts to bring top talent on board. In the cyberspace, some of our efforts are not new. For more than 20 years, there has been a Cyber Program that is offered scholarships for students in exchange for Public Service, but there are other things we are doing that are not new. There are special hiring authorities that allow agencies to bring postsecondary students and recent graduates under their teams with a starting salary of up to 72,000. We have also issued guidance for agencies to increase internships, specifically paid internships. If an internship cannot cover food and a place to stay, folks will be limited and will in turn elsewhere. We are in the process of updating regulations that govern the pathways program. Those include internships, fellowships, recent graduate hiring and also the president ial management fellowship program. As updates are going to make it easier to recruit top talent from diverse backgrounds, including people that have technical education, skills and certifications that the acting director mentioned, Community College graduates. All those folks will these pathways will make it easier to bring them into the federal government. That is point one. 2, these jobs do not necessarily require a college degree. We want to make sure we also continue to recruit college with which people with cultural beers, but we also want to focus on what an employee can do, no matter where they learned to do it that is why our guidance encourages skills based hiring. We are exploring ways to realign many of the tech, sabre, ai, and data rose to skills based hiring, eliminating the lead for previous Work Experience or integrate if you can demo straight that you that the skills to do the job. Not only does this expand talent for, but it also removes barriers that once held qualified people back from Public Service. And the last point is that these skills are incredibly valuable throughout the entire economy. We have seen over the last couple of months that the Tech Industry has been experiencing layoffs. That is tough from those companies and painful for workers. They message i want to deliver is the federal governments hiring, looking for tech workers. There is real stability to the federal government. Any job in cybersecurity excess in the federal government. We got to make sure that our agencies are able to compete with those workers. We are working on other things we can do administratively or legislatively. We have more transparency with our new dashboard that provides agencies access to workforce data. We also have been holding job fairs. We held one in january that connected nearly 2000 Technology Professionals from across the country was 41 federal agencies to export your options available to them. We got great results. Two thirds of participants said they were more interested in federal promoters as a result our we have had another event just a few weeks ago and are planning another in october. As we build federal capacity to higher tech talent, we also are making it easier for folks to find opportunities. We run usa jobs. Gov and have created special portals that help applicants find opportunities in the federal government. We will keep working to expand access to federal careers, whether this opportunity of the career talent to get their foot in the door, guidance that removes barriers to Public Service and creative ways of reaching out. Strategy launched today will take this work to the next level. We are excited to be a part of it. We will continue collaborating with our partners across the government post to bring new folks in an upscale our current workforce. Thanks for including me today. I am excited to pass the floor over to get the panel started. [applause] thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I am still on Mountain Time and getting adjusted. Thank you for joining us. I am Deputy Director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative here at the Atlantic Council. I am pleased to have you with us as we explore our strategy with experts from government, industry, and academia. We are joined by dr. Diana burley, vice provost of research and innovation and professor at american university. Ross hart, Vice President of walmart. Dr. Kathy brown, president of a Community College. And kamil stewart, deputy National Cyber director for technology and ecosystem securities. To get us started, camilla, let me turn to you we are here to learn more about the National Cyber workforce in education strategy. Can you share a highlevel overview and explain why this strategy exists and why it is most timely and urgent today . Thank you for having us. I am so excited we have made it to this milestone. [applause] so many of you feel similarly. This has been a collective effort across a number of federal agency and a number of different partners. I want to thank you for sharing your time and talent to help us make sure we understand the challenges you are facing in hiring tech and cyber talent, to make sure we understood the changing dynamics in the workforce. Quite frankly, especially postcovid. I do not know if it is postcovid, but you know. It is a National Security imperative, and economic imperative, a human imperative. We have developed a strategy that addresses that through three imperatives across four pillars. To address the challenges of tomorrow. The thing we heard from you all and saw in the research we did to get to this moment is that we not only need to address the open jobs today, but is the strategy works and as technology continues to evolve and we continue to innovate, we need to make sure that that workforce can allow it to train and educate itself to meet those needs and address the challenges we are facing. That means we have to bring everybody to the table. Imperative two is focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and how we get rural communities, veterans and minorities to the table working on these issues. A big part of that is imperative 3, which is leveraging cyber and starting with those on cyber skills we all must learn in order to operate in a Technology Enabled society. That focus on foundational cyber skills is integral, not only because no longer is it just reading, writing and arithmetic that you need to be a functioning member of society, quite frankly understand how when you turn on or off a teacher, how that impacts the safety and security of you and your family and the digital resilience to be able to adapt. [no audio] understand how the technology [no audio] that you use does that or you decide on a security career and get of skills. Get those skills. The federal workforce, the broader workforce, education and training to meet that demand through agility, and foundational cyber skills. But that skill pieces important. It is not just foundational cyber skills. It is the change in dynamics that allow us to have skills based not focusing only on college degrees. There is such a wide variety of pathways into cyber. The Strategy Enables but the thing i want to highlight most is that the federal government cannot do that alone. We must partner with state and local governments. We have you guys have shown up already. It just took this long. Now begins the role work. [applause] you talk about this ecosystem of stakeholders that we have to engage. That ties nicely into my next question. [no audio] what is the relationship in Cybersecurity Research and education . Where should we be focused in years to come . Thank you for having me. This is done a long time coming. As an educator, [no audio] adjusting educational structures and systems in a way that we are moving through how we can best incorporate the research that needs to happen, both in terms of educational research, what is the right way to teach different groups of people in the most efficient and effective way . There is Education Research that can help us implement other forms more tightly. The lessons that we learn, particularly in the context of innovation, tells Us Innovation occurs at the edges. In this context, we are talking about that takes us to what i think is so critical. We have to think on a micro level. And that is how do we incentivize the integration that will allow for the innovation to occur . It is so important what omc the did in bringing all the stakeholders to the table. One of the things i have found throughout my years in this phase i cannot imagine anything else anything was to focus on. Strangely, there are other priorities that people have. It is on us to make Space Available for them to tell us what will both resonate and incentivize them to participate. [no audio] keeping those things in mind. Innovation happens at the edges, which requires the integration across. In order to get people to participate, we have to think through how we are going to incentivize them in language that matters to them, not to us. Rob, i would like to turn to the issue of the talent gap in Cyber Security. Besides the potential of more qualified applicants, how could the strategy help you and walmart in addressing the shortage of fulltime Cybersecurity Talent . Thank you for having us. On behalf of 2 million plus walmart associates, we are rightful to be in the room and in all of your communities. This is a special room. I see people ive known for years, some government folks i have worked with. [no audio] there are many of us engaged. I am honored to be up here. Several of my partners could have been here as well. We need to be leaders here. Dr. Burley, youve made a point about many priorities across industry. Saber is becoming a business imperative for boards are being asked about it, our seniormost executives are being. What used to be a technical discipline with a bunch of nerds in the basement picking about it but it is no longer that. We are seeing these grow and transcend. The strategy is focused on bringing others into that transcendence so we can accurately reflect the problems we are trying to solve. We have a lot of definitions in our industry that i think are limited. I was a nontraditional learner, they nontraditional Cyber Security practitioner. Now here we are. I could do this removing College Education requirements for Cyber Security jobs, finding the geniuses in your backyard. They may not look or sound the way you think they do. Believe me, but they are geniuses and the key to success. I think being able to continue to expand the definition of what qualifications mean an opening that door to people who are traditionally ignored is the secret for our security success and ability to succeed as an industry. That is great. Kathy, the president s legislative agenda has put Community Colleges at the forefront. The strategy seems to complement that vision. Can you talk about how you see your role in adopting this strategy . Like my colleagues on stage, i am pleased to be here and honored to speak on behalf of my Community College. We are one of over 1000 Community Colleges across the nation. It seems as if the plan resonates well with the mission and the purpose of Community Colleges. We have our ecosystems are deeply rooted within our communities. We exist for our current and future students. It is our this is what we are trying to do here in cyberspace, trying to get those who may be interested, who have unseen talents and skills and to get them into careers and opportunities into cybersecurity education and training opportunities. I also think that the success of Community Colleges are dependent upon partnerships and collaboration with federal and state. We cannot do this work alone. Within academia, business and industry circles and government. It is only in that way that our students can thrive. I have seen a number of challenges in my long career. I urge all of you to begin to look to support our students and to empower Economic Development within our communities. That is great. Just a reminder for folks in the room and online, you can submit your questions i askac. Org. We also have a microphone in the room. Camille, we have heard this quote about cybersecurity. Can you talk about your efforts and the relationship to the strategy and how does it differ . We build upon those efforts. They were important, many targeted to a specific demographic. We are going to focus on the federal workforce. This plant talks about Stem Education and pieces and parts of the demographic we seek to address. We are addressing the entire National Cyber workforce. We know how ambitious it is, but it is important that we think about it holistically. The federal government has specific needs, but as an entire ecosystem, we all have to be responsive to those same things we talked about. This strategy is the first of its kind for those reasons and because the implementation recognizes how much the federal government needs as partners in the implementation of the work. You will hear me continue to say that. This is just the beginning. You will see by the end of this event that folks are already answering the call for there is still much that needs to be done to see the strategy implemented. That is great. And over the past year, my own team has been working valiantly to make sure those perspectives and input are being incorporated into this document. I would like to hear from each of you what action or change are you looking the most forward to . The one thing that is important and that i saw in the strategy is that there was an emphasis on understanding the educational space in depth. I think that is so important. Often, there is a push in that says industry, government, go into the academy and do these things but there is not the record is and that there is a structure inside and they need to decide how to come out. I was happy to see that. That is a wonderful opportunity for us to work across sectors to implement the kind of educational strategies that we need. I agree. I think the idea of Lifelong Learning and skillsbased approach is essential for an organization like ours. We have 2. 2 million plus associates. A key part of our strategy is how do we rescale . How do we take somebody who built a career as an operations leader, maybe a store manager, who wants to become a cyber professional, e them to get those skills, learn that this might and transition into the cyberspace arena . We have at walmart live Better University. I have a bunch of numbers, but it is a phenomenal certificate based education of our hourly associates. It positions them for potential jobs. [no audio] we care about our customer and are making a difference every day that want to become cybersecurity professionals. This is what i think the strategy is aiming for us to do. I challenge my Industry Partners to do the same. Our geniuses are in our own backyard. We just have to find them. Over 100,000 jobs in cyber is what really attracts me to personally commit, as well as commit our college resources, to join the challenge. It is exciting. It is a relevant workforce issue within our communities. That is what i am charged to do. To do a survey and this is one of them. Bringing national attention, which then brings various sectors together, to challenge the economy to help our people, our students to get engaged in solving a workforce issue is one of the more exciting things that has happened in my career in Community Colleges. Camilla, the i is a significant theme within the strategy. It focuses on this ecosystem of diverse users and stakeholders. How did your team try to keep that at the forefront . It is an imperative. We call it out early on in the strategy, a recognition that you must bring everyone to the table. But that recognition is underscored by the fact that [no audio] the National Security threat, how we better innovate around the solutions to our greatest challenges, whether they be cybersecurity rise to the occasion and really address the challenges ahead. That broad cybersecurity work was the resounding echo heard from our partners as we were talking to them about how we potentially meet this challenge and where opportunities and strength life. It had to be an imperative. And another question for all of our panelists. Is there a specific challenge which focuses on interdisciplinary skill sets . I wanted to give you this opportunity to highlight specific initiatives or programs. Anything you think has made a big difference in this space . We have an Initiative Funded by the National Science foundation. We had a Small Program at our college. A mediumsized Community College in the pacific northwest. We stumbled on an opportunity that we cannot resist. That was all about of course. And we were not ready to be beat out by california and the whole arena of Cyber Security education. We took it upon ourselves to get organized so we could become a Regional Center in Cyber Security, regionally on the west coast. Nobody had heard of Washington State but they certainly knew california. We tried to put ourselves in that arena. One of the things we felt proudest of is the acknowledgment of the National Science foundation to become a National Center of excellence in cybersecurity education and training. And we have been a resource to a number of institutions. It mustve been over 300 institutions that had dissipated and activities obtaining certifications. Fashion Curriculum Development so that we can prepare Higher Education to better respond to workforce needs, particularly in cyberspace. That model is a National Model that can be replicated regionally. That is a National Model that is extremely beneficial. We have had studies that also measure the impact on local Economic Growth within water whatcom county. We have used that model successfully to convince our government to make governor to make a greater investment in cybersecurity education in two year colleges. When you look at practices like that, you will find we are currently able to replicate them in many communities, using Community Colleges as a resource. Thank you, kathy. Rob . I mentioned our program earlier. It is a great internal program to invest in others. I would like to tell a story. We do not care what your job is. I just need a job. He cannot really speak english. Out of the back of trucks. Fully but surely he worked his way through the store. As the Better University program, he pursued a bachelors degree in cybersecurity. Two years later, he matriculated into our Cybersecurity Department and works in our offices. That is an example of how you contact the lives of ordinary people and transform their future with cybersecurity education. Camille mentioned how there are world communities across this country. Lots of walmarts in these communities. If you want to impact the lives of these people, these types of Education Programs are great. One that is external is a program called hiring our heroes, which focuses on veterans and their spouses. We are in our third year of participation. We have hired some incredible human beings who have the opportunity to intern with us with government support, before they transition. They get to choose which of our teams they are most interested in. Many of them enter into the higher ranks of our organization as leaders. It is a Phenomenal Program and a gift to us. More programs like that are necessary. It is exciting to hear what is happening the College Space and traditional College Space. Super inspirational and a good example of meeting talent where it is. I will give an example of the other end of the spectrum but very focused on how we can bring Technical Skills to nontechnical members of the cybersecurity workforce. At american university, we have a specialty in policy and international affairs. That is what we are known for. We have a security a certificate in cybersecurity. My colleague Sasha Oconnell the set program. It is designed to take people who are already engaged in Public Service or who want to move into that space in thinking about developing the policies we are taking advantage of the opportunity to provide an understanding of cyberspace, cybersecurity to those individuals who will be writing the rules of the road. We are doubling down on that effort. We launched an institute for cyber and Economic Security not long ago. The key piece of this is that within that institute, we have a cyber range. The exercises we are putting forward for the range are not the traditional technical exercises for our Computer Science students, but they are welcome to participate, but they are being designed as exercises to bring in our nontechnical students, known practical professionals whom we are partnering with companies and other types of institutions to bring those nontechnical people in two go through those opportunities so they can now see what this is all about. We might find that some actually want to move into the tactical space, which would be great. But that is the kind of work we are doing. And one other piece i want to mention. It ties into what we have been talking about on this notion of innovation and fouryear institutions. Sometimes people ask me when we engage in these conversations, do you feel a certain way . The emphasis is on Community Colleges. My answer is always no. I feel excited. I know that in order for them to advance and in order for them to outpace the automation of those positions, they have got to develop the Critical Thinking skills, the communication skills , the problemsolving skills, which is why degrees take four years. If we think more innovatively, which we are doing at american, about what it means to go through a fouryear degree program, it does not mean you have to go through in four years. It does not mean it has to follow the structure it has traditionally followed. It means we have to work with colleagues across the ecosystem to design Educational Opportunities that allow learners to truly be lifelong learners. We talk about that a lot, but do not often lay out exactly what that looks like. I am excited that american has embraced the notion of Lifelong Learning in developing relationships and different types of credentialing pathways so we can truly get people, meet them where they are and allow them to continue to advance. Anything you want to add . I am going to read a laundry list of amazing programs in just a few minutes, i love them all. [laughter] i love that. With that, we will transition to q monday, if you have any questions you can submit them in person or virtually. Or you can come up to the microphone. We have a question, how do you envision the role of peertopeer connection inspiration for students, by students and implementing the pillars of the strategy . So the other thing about kyla s she started her own Cybersecurity Company in high school. She is the embodiment of peertopeer connections. We want our partners to help us articulate how we best do that. Have a number of programs that are about students that bring them together as part of their program to have conversations, that bring them together with practitioners. We recognize that having community as part of the ecosystem is a big and important piece of the puzzle. That is why we have faithbased organizations and Community Centers a part of this. This needs to be a Kitchen Table conversation. How else to learn about what potential jobs you might get as an adult, as you evolve over your lifetime, even if it is a second or third career . So we recognize that. Innovation and creativity from organizations like the one kyla has started or any other that can help spark the conversation, spark that change in the conversation about cybersecurity are the things we want to hear from you in the months to come. Any additions . Very important. To the gentleman over here, speak into the microphone and quickly introduce yourself. Good afternoon, i am the president of thrive dx, we specialize in providing cybersecurity education to all americans. My question is most likely for camille, i welcome thoughts from anyone. It gets to the funding aspect of being able to fund these goals which we all applaud. It was noted that there were some funding ideas and strategies, but i would love to bring up one and see if you think it might be a fit or what other thoughts you have for funding. Prior to my role at thrive, i led the department of Homeland Security of arizona. We managed under the infrastructure bill of state and local cybersecurity programs that put 1 billion to state and locals for cybersecurity around the nation. That billion dollars is one year through the four years of the grant and there is more than likely going to be tens of millions of dollars unused due to a local jurisdiction not able to afford the mat or someone does not want to rent a cybersecurity tool, i cannot pay for in four years. What about using the unused grant dollars specifically obligated for cybersecurity education, especially those in under resourced communities, similar to the way grant has it set up for 80 of the grant has to go to a Rural Community . I wanted your thoughts on the funding aspect of this ambitious and amazing agenda that is out there. Also, the infrastructure bill unused dollars might be a good way to fund some of it. I was hoping youd stand up and say ive got money for you. [laughter] i have an answer to this 1, 2. One, too. The bipartisan infrastructure law, all of the infrastructure bills that have come out throughout this administration have money earmarked for workforce and Cyber Workforce is part of that. We encourage organizations seeking grant money to apply for that, to be creative and innovative, for states to use the money to expand not only access there is money out of commerce, on broadband and connectivity. The first step for us to get folks plugged in and educated and in the Cyber Workforce is for them to get online. We have to use those funds, there is Digital Equity money as part of that. Get online and we can use Infrastructure Investments to develop. That is a part of the strategy. Hello, i am angel johnson. I am a Business InformationSecurity Partner at walmart. My question is more centered as a parent, i have an Elementary School daughter. I am familiar with scratch, panda programming. But i wanted to see if there were any other initiatives. I have tried to keep her engaged and motivated around not just tech, but cyber. I would be curious, is there any Elementary School initiatives for young girls in black and brown communities . I cannot name them all in this moment, but black girls in cyber, women in cybersecurity has programming, black girls code. There are a number of programs. I am hoping one organization picks their hand up and decides to make a big database of all these things for people to find. I do not want it to be us, because i wanted to have the longevity to be responsive and keep up with the pace of different organizations popping up in the programs as they change. But there are a number of programs. There are some guidance sheets on the website that launched today, white house. Gov cyberworkforce that gives you places to start as a worker and a learner. Great question, thank you. Camille mentioned several organizations that are out there doing the right work to help drive the strategy. Many of us on the corporate side, if you are not alreadythee are having conversations with that i am sure other Industry Partners are speaking with. Meet with them, understand what their needs are and understand if your foundation has the ability to support it or if you as an organization can support it. It is worthwhile. Cyber. Org is developing great curriculum for k12 educators. Great panel today. I think there is a real opportunity to get the nation moving forward. Individually as corporates, we have had different discussions with other corporate organizations about engaging in this. I think we are at the precipice to push people over. If you think about corporate who has not been steeped in this, they are on the edge of thinking about doing something, what is the one either initiative or thing to think about you would tell them to get in the game . That guidance sheet i mentioned has a number of ideas. Some of the locales you are situated in, there are Community Colleges that are fouryear institutions. There are other Industry Partners already doing the work. Start to compare notes and see what the landscape looks like, talk to state and local government that are connected to these organizations and can help you get plugged in. Quite frankly, you could be the catalyst for a stronger Cyber Workforce ecosystem if there is not one already. Before we go to the next question, i want to highlight one more question coming in from online. We have a question from isabella, she is a student at uc berkeley. How do you envision implementing programs focused on cyber Career Exploration and cyber skills training for younger students in middle and high school . We have a number of cyber camps available on campuses, for and twoyear campuses, that are exploratory in nature. They have handson exercises as well as the ability to get together a group of people who share similar interests. I would encourage you to look at these camps that are held throughout the country. If you do not contact me i see nodding. We do have funding, we have scholarships available. Many of the opportunities are available and accessible to all 12 students, no matter what their ability is to pay. So we have a number of those present. I know a number of the corporations in the room have programs. Also the strategy targets how you build out k12 education with ageappropriate programming, whether it is robotics or something more complicated. The right age to get students engaged and excited on cyber topics. Theres lots to come on that topic. My question was about k12, so thank you for the panel and for the northstar you put up for the space. I am with luminary labs, we support the department of Education Programs. Thank you for the shout out, no surprise i am biased. We work with universities across the country to train middle and high school teachers, and i think the cyber teaching workforce is something we do not talk about enough and i appreciate you all dated. I would love to hear more about the role you think your organizations in your respective parts of the ecosystem can play, not just supporting filling hundreds of thousands of jobs now, but choosing a pipeline for millions of jobs that will come in 5, 10, 20 years and making sure the pipeline becomes more inclusive and gets more girls, more people of color into the pipeline and getting them early. I will start. I would say in terms of the fouryear institutions, one of the areas we need to focus in its schools of education, because that is where we are doing the training. Incorporating this content into our colleges of education allows us to infuse and integrate that into the school. In particular, our school of education at american has a Program Partnership with urban teachers where they focus on relationships with urban districts. We have a Strong Partnership with d. C. Ps. Getting into schools where we have such a diverse student body allows us to really begin to make a scalable impact. The other piece i will say that is not necessarily tied to universities is we have to be clearer in the messages we are sending home. We know that parents are the number one influencer for young people as they are thinking about Career Opportunities. Our messaging about what it means to be a cybersecurity professional is so complicated that people do not understand it, then it is difficult for them to begin to push their students toward this as a career path. We have got to do a better job of that. We do not want them to say just be a doctor. Doctors are important, do not get me wrong. Be a doctor. We want to make sure our parents understand messaging is clear. If i could add on, i think you make an incredible point about reaching into schools and getting the opportunity to expose children and parents to what it means to be a cyber professional. When i served in government, there were people like up to, they could say if you see it you could be it. There are a lot of people in the industry we are spending a lot of time fighting adversaries, which we should, but we are not taking time to go to the schools locally and have conversations and show them i am a cybersecurity leader, this is what that can look like. I said what do you want to be when you grow up, they said a youtuber. They wanted to be a football player. Some said soccer players, i said why . They said we can make a lot of money. I said that is probably true, but do you know where i used to work . Sometimes engineers make more than football players. What . They look like you . How do we find ways of drawing exposure and opportunity to people and meet them where they are . You made a phenomenal point. Emphasis in the strategy on good paying middleclass jobs is so important. There is an interview going around instagram right now, walking up to people on the street asking them how much they make and about their job. They found a cybersecurity practitioner this time, i was so happy. [laughter] yes. A black woman who got up there and talked about how much money she was making, the opportunities she has, the Stock Options she had on top of her job. That will not be everybodys story, but there are a number of good paying jobs. We talked about the multitude of different pathways into the career field. That is a big piece of the narrative on why we emphasize this demon economic plan as it is a cyber plan. Quite frankly, people will understanding at a base level there is opportunity and lucrative opportunity, efforts will not be in vain. They can provide for their families and bridge the economic challenges they are facing. It is an important piece of the conversation that must be part of the dialogue as we continue to talk about Cyber Workforce issues. I am smiling because i watched that video. [laughter] i loved it, it made me so happy. There plenty of opportunities around pr and cybersecurity. I think we have time for one more in person question and one more online question. Good afternoon. As a practitioner and mentor, i am curious to know about the skills gap. What are we going to do when we talk about the facilitators . The instructors at colleges . My mentees are not getting handson or the skills necessary. What do we do about that . We started this journey, nsf, do you need more money to get more schools, resources, to train students . Is that part of the solution set . They said no, we need more teachers to support the programming at the institution so there can be a robust Cyber Security and Cyber Program for students to attend. We need more teachers, we need more professors. We need folks like you who are adjuncts in the universities helping with these programs and being the backbone. The National Science foundation, the programs are here to help support that skill building. The department of labor has a Cybersecurity Apprenticeship Program to get you the handson opportunity to gain skills and work with practitioners. None of them are foolproof, but these are pathways where you can get hands on skills. We have to use those as we continue to figure out new ones. I hear often the challenge of getting the first internship, getting the degree then translating that into a job. The programs i mentioned, the opportunity for funding i mentioned are the ways we are able to expand entrylevel working opportunities to create opportunities in these jobs. The collaboration with universities and private sector organizations as we challenge them to think about skills based hiring rather than using archetypes of the past. The fouryear degree helped me achieve this much in cybersecurity thus far, i might as well create a bunch of job descriptions that have fouryear degrees. Can we think about the skills we need . That one background that can meet this need, what are some of the others . How about we list those out . We cannot fix it tomorrow, but the strategy outlines a number of pathways to get those teachers trained and supported, get more professors, mobilize all of you to be an adjunct or decided maybe the second career is to be a professor at a University Teaching cybersecurity so students can get hands on training. I would love to hear from her academic colleagues. [laughter] i have a masters program, i get turned down. I am trying to figure out what the barrier is in from an accreditation standpoint, there are issues there. Different states have different accreditation standards. At Community Colleges, we are looking at people grounded with skillsbased experiences and academic coursework. We have an academy that really promotes identifying i. T. Professionals, people who have an affinity toward that discipline. To become interested in teaching. We have academies to try to convince them that teaching is a worthwhile profession and a noble profession to be a part of. It may not bring in the box, but certainly the rewards are great. It is both kinds of initiatives, we want to expand and encourage you to look at others, because teaching is really at the heart of some of the issues we are talking about, really getting people interested. The other thing i wanted to add is when we are talking about using students the panel you should have a son with students. Because they all expect us to say the right things to convince you to jump on the wagon, students will tug it your heart. You will know this is the right thing to do and an initiative you might want to support. So thank you, i need your name and your card. Dont leave. [laughter] i will say two things very quickly, i started off by talking about incentives. I will tell you that universities are businesses and we care very much about those constituents who we want to hire , the students we educate. As corporations, members of industry going to the administrators at these institutions and helping them understand what it is you want and need in your students that you will ultimately employ makes a tremendous difference. I encourage you to engage with us at that level. You mentioned accreditation, just very quickly one of the things is something i talked about in the development of the strategy and something that is critically important is understanding the levers that control what goes in curriculum, regardless of the level we are talking about. Whethe about School Districts or state education, standards, higher ed commissions, there are accreditors that have a significant amount of control over what we can and cannot do. So it is important as we think about the ecosystem and all of the different stakeholders that we remember there is a whole other set of individuals who have tremendous power about what we do. Our ability to make adjustments. They are a very important piece of the puzzle. You come for the event and stick around for the job offers. I have one last question for camille. Can we expect an Implementation Plan document for the strategy . If so, when . [laughter] you want us to write more . Definitely more work ahead, this is just the beginning of how we will articulate what we will prioritize, when it will come out, but the agency believes. You will get a lot more, this one is a little different because we will have a lot of private sector nonfederal entities who are a big part of implementation. In the next segment, i will talk about the work that has already begun on implementation, but this will look different than strategies of the past. If i write down only the things the federal government is going to do, we will not get the outline in the strategy. We will be more creative with how we talk about implementation and how you see plans for moving forward. A good place to start is to wash the website, we will put updates and opportunities to make commitments better. There are a lot of organizations making commitments to the space. Talk us through that list of organizations working in the space. First of all, thank you to the panelists, you were amazing. I learned from all of you every time we engage. I want to thank everyone in the audience, because many of you have touched this in some way. I see partners from commerce and others, some many of you have shown up and shown out in addition to private sector partners. I am going to try to be respectful about it. Not read every commitment made, but i encourage her to go to that website encourage you to go to that website and look at the commitments. I want to give a scattering of what we have seen from stakeholders in terms of ending up to begin to implement the strategy and i want to emphasize this is just the beginning. You can make commitments, there will be a lot more work ahead. Part of the implementation is us coming to ecosystems to help understand, spark, drive the ecosystem model and support ecosystems and development or already in operation. Invite us to your ecosystem, but come with us as we convene in these places and we will continue to share the work happening on our website. I want to highlight a few of the commitments from our partners. Broaden pathways and careers in cyber, one of the things we talked a lot about was how do we get more students in the door, how do we get more new entrants to the market . Commit to hiring three hundred interns and 12 employees via the Hispanic Alliance for cyber enhancement . Crowd strike will fill 300 plus internship positions and fund scholarships. We want to make sure cyber is supported across sectors. Cyber is a cross Sector Initiative and one we have to think about. Infrastructure investments and a variety of sectors. Cyber Readiness Institute and the center for innovation is providing up to 200 small Water Utilities of basic Cyber Security training and promoting a culture of cyber readiness. There is free cyber training content for hr professionals, who are a key partner in the work. Mastercard will support access to free cyber Education Training and resources up to 10 million businesses in by 2025, you should go talk to ron. The v. A. Has made commitments, Task Force Movement will be awarding 50 cybersecurity scholarships to firstyear in the first year to transitioning Service Members military spouses to pursue Quality Certification courses in cyber. Women and girls with the skills to enter the Cyber Workforce, they will expand programming and permit new programs designed to act of 1500 new mentees, 1200 workforce fellows and 10 million u. S. You u. S. Learners. We will partner with organizations like women in Cyber Security, they are building an ecosystem through industry engagement of over 10,000 individuals. This Cyber Safe Foundation will develop a playbook specifically designed for the african continent that will create opportunities for womens and girls in cybersecurity. The whole Society Approach means learning from and partnering with international partners. To sip for educators who play an integral role in k12 education, there will be online trainings for educators reaching 400 educators each month over the next year. They will continue programming for positive impacts our education institutions create, they are enabling highs go students in south dakota to take as many 30 credit units of University LevelComputer Science courses and dual credit through the cyber Governors Academy program. Nsf, nsa have all made commitments in a similar vein. The work from philanthropies is critical to the development and growth of ecosystemscraig newma, committing 5 million to support and expand cybersecurity and opensource security ecosystems including work to ensure the next generation is informed and activated to engage across these technologies. The department of labor is investing in the apprenticeship program. Opm has job fairs. Department of housing and urban Development Joint of the Cyber Talent Initiative in july of 2023. Partnering to fill one million entrylevel jobs in the next decade by providing a robust cybersecurity platform. Nca will be kicking off its second year of its hbcu accredited colleges and universities in nevada, minnesota, louisiana and virginia. Encouraging skillbased hiring that is empowered. Ecosystem development, microsoft has made commitments. Google. Org has made commitments in collaboration with the consortium of cyber clinics, over 20 million to help thousands of students receive handson experience. Nist will award 3. 6 million for regional alliances and multistate partnerships to stimulate cybersecurity education. [laughter] weve got Aspen Institute making commitments. Information Technology Senior management forum. Isc squared. Counsel usa. Check Point Software technologies. Microsoft announced a longterm alliance for the historic Greenwood Community in the neighborhood of tulsa. Given the moniker of black wall street to expand Cyber Workforce in their community. There is a lot, a lot of work going on to start the implementation. Even that is not enough. There is still more to be done. Please partner with us. Reach out to our partners at nsf. There are a number of partners in the room. Please reach out. I would be remiss if i did not thank the Atlantic Council leadership, troy, rose, sasha for your partnership in this event. Aunt to thank the cyber resource team. The Cyber Workforce team has worked really hard. Sitting in the first row. [applause] raise your hand if you are on this team, please. Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication. This effort would be nothing without all of you. More work is ahead. Thank you all. [applause] thank you so much for that. Thank you to all of our panelists for their expertise and insights. This would not have been possible without you. I would like to thank our in person and virtual attendees. If you want to fight it, it is on the white house website. We also haves have some of the action sheets outside, so please take a few copies with you. Thank you for joining us. [applause]