Founder Talya Parker and board members discuss navigating and diversifying cybersecurity
In celebration of Black History Month, NSA’s African American Employee Resource Group (AAERG) welcomed Talya Parker, founder and executive director of Black Girls in Cyber (BGiC), to discuss navigating cybersecurity and BGiC’s efforts to diversify the field.
The event was hosted by the Agency’s Cybersecurity Director Rob Joyce four months after he
shared his Twitter account with Ms. Parker as part of the #ShareTheMicInCyber campaign in October.
“The U.S. has approximately 300,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs right now… if we get equal representation in this field, a lot of those jobs will be filled,” Mr. Joyce said. “We want to amplify minority voices, and we want people to recognize that they have opportunities to be in these jobs.”
Founded by Ms. Parker in 2020 to address the lack of diversity on the cybersecurity field, BGiC is dedicated to creating industry awareness and highlighting paths to entry for women of color seeking opportunities in cybersecurity, privacy, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
“We don’t want to just fill a diversity number, we want to build top-tier talent,” Ms. Parker said.
Joined by members of the BGiC advisory board — Akilah Tunsill, Diedra Phyall, and Tashya Denose — Ms. Parker underscored the significance of recruiting and retaining minorities in the workplace and noted how we can combat a diverse set of adversaries with a diverse workforce. She described the experience of many Black women entering the cybersecurity field.
“I didn’t really see anyone who looked like me,” she said. “I wasn’t aware of how to speak up and advocate for myself.”
The three board members all echoed Ms. Parker’s statement, noting how they were the only Black women in their workplaces when they joined the cyber field, and how support from allies enabled them to grow personally and professionally.
“Allyship and sponsorship is so important,” Ms. Denose said. “Having someone saying ‘Her words matter and she has a right to be here’ is what transformed my career.”
The BGiC representatives also emphasized the importance of increasing representation and the impact that it has on a person’s growth in a field as vast as cybersecurity.
“Representation is empowerment,” Ms. Parker said. “When you see people who look like you in these spaces, it empowers you to show up as the full version of yourself.”