Meet Our Team
The people who design and run our program are dedicated to making cybersecurity more diverse, and helping more people in the Bay Area build financially-rewarding careers.
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Every year, cyberattacks cost businesses millions of dollars, while also damaging customer trust. Solving these kinds of challenges requires the ability to adapt fast, think creatively, and collaborate with others — skills that can be found in people from richly varied backgrounds.
Our mission is to provide a dynamic, people-centered cybersecurity program that invites students to bring their whole selves to a career that will help make the world a safer place. With training from industry experts and guidance on how to enter the field, people are able to create economic stability for themselves, help their families, and give back to their communities.
In 2014, a group of Bay Area cybersecurity professionals recognized that the growth of malicious attempts to compromise computer systems and data was outpacing the number of trained professionals to detect and stop them. At the same time, the Bay Area was full of people who wanted to get into technical fields, but couldn’t afford the high cost of many boot camps and four-year universities.
To tackle both problems, the Consortium of Information Systems Executives (CISE) developed a partnership with Merritt College, creating an affordable way for people to learn the necessary skills to launch a highly rewarding career in cybersecurity. Industry professionals from more than 50 Bay Area companies worked together to develop a program that would set a new standard. As one of the first community colleges to offer a cybersecurity degree accredited by the state of California, our program continues to lead the way in both quality and results.
The people who design and run our program are dedicated to making cybersecurity more diverse, and helping more people in the Bay Area build financially-rewarding careers.
See Our Team Members
Our partners help make the program more accessible to more people, and provide our students with great opportunities upon graduation.
This local nonprofit envisions a digitally-connected Bay Area where everyone has the technology resources they need to thrive. As our partner, they offer refurbished computers to students who don’t have one.
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This Berkeley-based nonprofit supports veterans in securing the training and services they need to build a new career. As our partner, they help veterans take the appropriate steps to enroll in the program and apply for financial aid.
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Inspired by what our program is doing? Get involved by teaching, mentoring, donating – and more.
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