There’s been quite a lot of speak over the previous few years a couple of shortage of skilled cybersecurity talent, however from the place we sit on the NYC DOE Division of Data and Tutorial Know-how (DIIT), we see budding safety execs throughout us. As cybersecurity leaders of the DIIT, we work with 1,800 faculties and roughly 1 million college students throughout NYC to make sure safe web entry and supply revolutionary options in schooling know-how.
As a part of our efforts to empower educators and college students to thrive in our digital age, we companion with know-how distributors and authorities businesses to coach and mentor college students for careers in cybersecurity. In 2022, the NYC DOE formalized these efforts to help career-connected studying alternatives so that every one college students in metropolitan New York can attain long-term financial safety and job satisfaction. It’s been our privilege to foster the following era of cybersecurity professionals. Based mostly on the progress we’ve made in such a short while, we will say with certainty that the longer term appears shiny.
Paving the best way for the following era of cybersecurity execs
In 50 years, the classroom hasn’t modified a lot. In most faculty districts, the main focus is strictly on teachers, and college students are not often given the possibility to realize the abilities they should enter the office. At NYC DOE, we do issues otherwise. Whereas college students are nonetheless in highschool, we expose them to many alternative profession pathways—together with cybersecurity—and supply alternatives for hands-on experiences.
There are 4 packages that comprise the NYC DOE’s career-connected learning initiative, every serving a selected section of the coed inhabitants:
- Profession Readiness and Fashionable Youth Apprenticeship (CRMYA)
- New York Metropolis’s Grades 9-14 Early Faculty and Profession Colleges (P-TECH Colleges)
- FutureReadyNYC (FRNYC)
- CUNY Fellows
The Profession Readiness and Fashionable Youth Apprenticeship (CRMYA) is a three-year internship program college students can apply for within the eleventh grade. The DOE cybersecurity staff hosted its first cohort of eight college students, 5 assigned to the CISO staff and three assigned to the CTO staff. Throughout this time, they work on cybersecurity initiatives akin to community safety, endpoint safety, incident response, and information validation. Interns full a curriculum for at least three technical certifications in areas of their alternative and construct relationships with know-how distributors like Zscaler. Upon graduating from this system, college students obtain help in job placement or increased education schemes.
P-TECH faculties are a part of the NYC DOE and are supported by the Profession and Technical Schooling (CTE) staff and the CUNY Early Faculty Initiative. The six-year highschool program is designed for college students who don’t have a transparent path to varsity, usually for monetary causes. CUNY works along side the NYC DOE to supply them free tuition for a two-year Affiliate diploma as soon as they’re permitted. Thus far, 100% of members have been in a position to go to varsity. The grades 9–14 faculties additionally work with trade companions to help college students in exploring careers and attaining expertise in science, know-how, engineering, and arithmetic (STEM) industries.
CUNY Fellows is geared toward first- and second-year faculty college students who’ve efficiently accomplished their coursework. After they’re screened via an interview and background verify, they work as much as 34 hours per week with our staff on numerous assignments with particular completion timelines and have the chance to supply suggestions on how they understand their progress.
Know-how partnerships put together college students for future work
The scholars are extremely wanting to be taught and apply their data. Early on within the apprenticeship program, we had a handful of highschool college students be a part of us for a six-week session. We brainstormed what they may obtain throughout that point and launched them to the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange.
Once we noticed that our apprentices had been involved in studying extra, we reached out to Brian Wong, a buyer success supervisor at Zscaler, and requested him to assist us outline a curriculum for a Zscaler certification. At his suggestion, we enrolled our college students within the Zscaler Academy Zero Belief Profession Program. They earned certifications, developed practitioner-level expertise in zero belief, and got the chance to get recommendation and inspiration from cybersecurity professionals in Zscaler’s Profession Growth discussion board on Zenith Community—all for gratis. Brian even shared code that the scholars may use to follow their expertise. Now, when interns are available for apprenticeship periods with the NYC DOE safety staff, they learn to work with numerous instruments and sit in on calls with our distributors to troubleshoot and handle these merchandise. Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) is one such instance. Since we launched this system, we’ve had 9 college students earn a Zscaler certification that they’ll use within the office.
Pupil successes sign the power of coaching packages
These packages assist college students acquire real-world expertise within the type of internships. In addition they earn faculty credit whereas exploring areas of curiosity to which they could in any other case not be uncovered. We have now one scholar working with us who had a healthcare background however was pursuing an IT diploma. We observed her ardour for studying and eagerness to work, so we gave her a possibility to work on content material filtering and she or he ran with it. Now she’s doing information loss prevention and is considered one of our greatest CUNY interns.
In her personal phrases, Franchesca Fargas Rios describes her journey:
“Initially, I didn’t intend to go to varsity, however on a whim, I made a decision to enroll. Though I started my profession within the medical discipline, my rising curiosity in know-how and my aspiration to make a constructive affect led me to pursue a profession in know-how. The CUNY program has performed an important function on this transition, providing internships that present real-world expertise together with tutorial credit, which has allowed me to discover numerous areas. Regardless of my healthcare background, I selected to pursue an IT diploma. My dedication and eagerness to be taught had been rapidly acknowledged, resulting in my involvement in tasks associated to content material filtering and information loss prevention, areas the place I’ve excelled as one of many prime interns at CUNY.
Balancing motherhood, full-time research, and a full-time job has certainly been difficult. The unwavering help and encouragement from my supervisor have been pivotal. His steering has not solely supported my profession aspirations in IT but additionally geared up me with the required sources to succeed. I’m eagerly anticipating graduating with a Bachelor’s diploma in Data Methods and Informatics. Moreover, I’m planning to pursue a Grasp’s in Cybersecurity and obtain a number of skilled certifications. The hands-on coaching and real-life experiences offered by this program have been instrumental in defining my path in IT, a discipline I initially knew little about.”
One other avenue for college students to construct sensible know-how expertise is thru the Profession and Technical Schooling program, which acts as a catch-all for college students who’re undecided about their profession path or faculty schooling. We had six college students be a part of us as interns this previous semester. One, specifically, had no plans to go to varsity on account of monetary constraints. We helped him navigate a scholarship as a part of a two-year affiliate’s program at CUNY. We’re proud to say that every one six college students have gone on to pursue schooling past highschool.
Ibrahim Sawadogo shares his success story:
“Earlier than being accepted into an internship function at NYCPS, DIIT Workplace of the CISO, I used to be a part of the COOP Tech Program, my objective was to achieve trade certifications, akin to Cisco CCNA, CompTIA Community+. My profession aspiration was to only get into know-how. I had no intention of attending faculty to get a level. Whereas there, I had conversations with my supervisor/mentor, who inspired me to use for neighborhood faculty. I used to be a bit skeptical, as I didn’t need to accumulate any scholar mortgage money owed. My supervisor shared some very important info, which then led me to enroll at Borough of Manhattan Neighborhood Faculty (BMCC).
I used to be accepted into B.M.C.C., after being enrolled in faculty lessons that summer time of 2023. I additionally utilized to the CUNY internship program. I used to be lucky to be supplied a place on the NYCPS as an identification and entry administration analyst. Throughout my time as an intern, I used to be additionally in a position to acquire two trade certifications (CompTIA Safety and ISC2 Licensed in Cyber Safety).
This program has given me hope as a younger grownup African-American male dwelling within the inside metropolis of New York. I’m very grateful for this chance. I’m scheduled to graduate with an Associates Utilized Science (A.A.S) diploma in Pc Networking Know-how on the finish of the spring 2025 semester. I then plan to pursue my Bachelor of Know-how diploma at New York Metropolis Faculty of Know-how. The mentorship, hands-on technical expertise, and smooth expertise had been game-changers as I’m now in a position to sit up for a promising profession in info safety.”
Private {and professional} mentorship makes an enduring affect
Everyone wants somebody to imagine in them. By our dedication to variety and inclusion, we create a way of belonging and encourage college students from all backgrounds—no matter gender, race, or ethnicity—to carve out fulfilling careers as cybersecurity professionals. We additionally act as mentors to our college students, equipping them with expertise and help as they navigate life’s challenges. In the end, our objective is for college students to know that they too have a proper to develop and thrive: within the know-how sector and past.
Demond Waters—CISO at NYC DOE, a graduate of this faculty system, and co-author of this weblog—lately had a full circle second when a younger man stopped him at a convention and defined the rationale he received into know-how. The younger man recalled seeing Demond come into his classroom, dressed like a scholar in sneakers and informal apparel, to repair a pc. With out even realizing it, Demond impressed the younger man to pursue a profession in know-how.
We each know what it’s wish to dwell and develop up in New York Metropolis. To have the ability to present our college students that they’ll think about a distinct future for themselves than what they could see each day—that’s what motivates us to provide again.
Study extra about how NYC DOE deployed Zscaler zero belief at an enormous scale, securing over a million college students and workers members mixed. Learn the case study.
