CISA Partners With Girls Who Code to Promote Equal Opportunities in Cyber Profession

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency announced that it has formed a partnership with Girls Who Code to develop opportunities for young women to pursue careers in cybersecurity and technology. In a statement, the agency said that its partnership with the non-profit organization addresses diversity disparities by working to open cybersecurity and technology careers to women of varied ethnic and social backgrounds.

CISA Director Jen Easterly said the gender gap that exists in the cybersecurity workforce contributes to the overall cyber workforce shortage in the U.S., making it less prepared to deal with threats. The joint initiative seeks to bridge that gap by working with employers to build “tangible pathways for young women, especially young women of color, to get hands-on experience in the private sector, the non-profit sector, or government.”

Easterly said that one of her top priorities at CISA is to inspire more women and girls to pursue careers in cybersecurity and technology. She added that the agency’s partnership with Girls Who Code promises to help build the next generation of cyber talent by encouraging young women to “see themselves in cyber.”

For her part. Dr. Tarika Barrett, CEO of Girls Who Code, said her organization imagines a world where computer science classrooms are “as diverse as America’s communities; where women in computing careers have a sisterhood to lean on; and where that sisterhood creates real change for communities everywhere.”

Meanwhile, Girls Who Code has announced that it will establish a micro credentialing program for historically excluded groups in technology and make scholarships and early career opportunities more accessible to underrepresented groups. The program dovetails with President Joe Biden’s whole-of-nation push to address cybersecurity threats, CISA said Thursday.