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What is Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week?

Goals | Objectives Key MessagingCall for Commitments | Get Involved | Planning Committee

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Inspiring and promoting awareness & exploration of cybersecurity careers.

Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week is a week-long campaign to promote the discovery of cybersecurity careers and multiple career pathways. During this week, academia, industry, non-profit organizations, and government will work to build awareness about the wide range of cybersecurity job opportunities, educate interested individuals on how to develop capabilities to qualify for cybersecurity roles, and showcase how building an international cybersecurity workforce enhances each nation’s security and promotes economic prosperity.

Download an overview of Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week for more details and additional ideas of how to support the week-long campaign.

Download PPT

Goals 

  • Inspire, Engage, and Inform Society 
    • Inspire, engage, and inform the public about the demand, opportunities, and multiple career options available within the area of cybersecurity.
  • Demystify Careers in Cybersecurity
    • Raise awareness about pathways to prepare a highly skilled and diverse workforce for careers in cybersecurity to include expansion of knowledge and application of the NICE Framework.
  • Develop a Highly Skilled and Diverse Workforce
    • Support successful programs and showcase effective resources, especially those that increase participation of women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented populations.

OBJECTIVES

  • Raise public awareness and increase engagement in building a strong cybersecurity workforce.

  • Emphasize the demand and opportunities in cybersecurity.

  • Increase awareness around the multiple career options within the field of cybersecurity.

  • Highlight the multiple pathways to enter the cybersecurity career field.

  • Showcase resources and programs, including those that increase participation of women, minorities, veterans, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented populations in the cybersecurity workforce.

Key Messaging

  • Cybersecurity has something for everyone! Skills are needed from a diverse range of backgrounds.
  • Cybersecurity is a dynamic field so you will never be bored. Cybersecurity evolves quickly so you will always be learning and developing new skills.
  • There is a high demand for a talented cybersecurity workforce. The Department of Labor predicts that IT and cybersecurity will be among the fastest growing and best paying jobs over the next decade
  • Cybersecurity plays a vital role in the lives of all and the cybersecurity workforce makes a difference in our world.
    Building a national cybersecurity workforce enhances national security and promotes economic prosperity.

 CALL FOR COMMITMENTS

CCAW Call for Commitments

We invite you to join us in observing Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week, an effort to inspire, educate, and engage children through adults to pursue careers in cybersecurity. Commitments come in all sizes and don’t always require financial investment. You can host an event, distribute career awareness materials, or engage through social media. Be creative!

Make a Commitment

Get Involved

There are many ways to participate in the Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week movement. Examples include:

 

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2022 Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week
Planning Committee Members

The Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week Planning Committee helps establish an annual theme and messaging; plan in-person and virtual competitions, open houses and field trips, and other networking activities; develop resources and materials; facilitate mentoring connections; promote Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week messages as well as events; and serve as ambassadors in promoting career opportunities in cybersecurity.

Academia

Industry

Government

Terrance Campbell
Tennessee State University


Maureen Lawrence-Kuether
Virginia Polytechnic University


Amy McKearney
Corpus Christi School


David Raymond
Virginia Polytechnic University


Kristi Rice
Spotsylvania High School


Donna Woods
Canyon Springs High School/Moreno Valley College

James Baker
Arrow Electronics


Connie Bragg
AT&T


Kieth Davis
Camden Dream Center


Callie Dean
CYBER.org


Lemi-Ola Erinkitola
Critical Thinking Child


Mari Galloway
Cortex


Tara Nattrass
Dell

Susana Barraza
NICE


Ashley Greeley
US Department of Defense


Albert Palacios
US Department of Education


Davina Pruitt-Mentle
NICE


Danielle Santos
NICE

Interested in joining the planning committee?
Email us at ccaw [at] nist.gov

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Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week Toolkit
Click here for more resources!

Created September 11, 2019, Updated November 1, 2022