 Second, RISE feature of Security Matters. Once again, thank you to Andrew Lanning for putting us, you know, in the driver's seat on the third Tuesday of every month. We're going to be taking over and talking to you guys more about the RISE community. So today I have Aaron Mann, Amanda Potos, and Matt Finan, who are co-members of the RISE Steering Committee with me. And we're going to talk more about different initiatives that we didn't really touch upon last episode in detail, such as diversity and inclusion and the Accelerate Conference. We had to postpone our scholarship winner highlight episode to February and March, but we're really happy to be here today with you guys. So without further ado, I'm going to let everyone introduce themselves. I'm going to talk a little bit about, you know, your background with the RISE community and whatnot, what you do. And without further ado, I'll hand it off to Aaron. Awesome. Thanks, Jake, and thanks for Security Matters for letting us take the reins and host a couple episodes of this awesome industry podcast. My name is Aaron Mann. I'm the current chair of the Steering Committee. I'm a marketing manager for Allegiant Canada based out of Toronto. And I've been involved with RISE for a little over a year and a half, almost two years now. But this is a pretty exciting opportunity to actually get the chance to converse with fellow members of the committee and have guests on throughout the year. So pretty excited to be here. Thank you, Aaron. Amanda. I'm really glad to be here. I'm Amanda Potis. I am a marketing manager over at BCD International, based out of the Chicagoland area. And I have been on the RISE committee for almost a year now. And I'm just really excited to talk with you all. Thank you, Amanda. And last but not least, our chair, Meredith, Matt Finan. Yeah, thanks for everyone. My name is Matt Finan. I'm a marketing specialist at Access Communications. And I was the former RISE chair before Aaron took over the reins at the beginning of this year from 2019 to 2020. And then I was involved with RISE for a year before that as well. So really just looking forward to talking with some of the, with some of you today about the different things that we have to talk about from Accelerize and diversity inclusion. Looking forward to it. Awesome. And once again, my name is Jake Brown. I'm out here in Long Island, New York. I work for a company called Secure Access and Digital Systems, where I mainly oversee business development and operations. I've been on the RISE steering committee for about a year now. And like I said last episode, it's been a phenomenal experience so far, not only with the committee, but in the community itself. I have so much working for 2021. It's truly amazing how much, you know, we've grown both as a committee and all in all in the community. So first I want to touch on kind of diversity, equity and inclusion. So Amanda or Matt, what is the goal of the committee itself, the diversity, equity and inclusion committee? And how does that kind of translate to the RISE community? Yeah, I can take that. So the goal of the diversity and inclusion subcommittee, which was formed almost a year ago now is really just to help the security industry become more of an inclusive environment that really, you know, respects and celebrates everyone within the industry and wants everyone to share their experiences and stories and really in a respectful environment. And so the subcommittee really is accomplishing this through one of the initiatives of the time mentorship program, which we recently launched. So we just finished up accepting applications for mentors, and soon we'll be accepting applications for mentees. And this program really encourages diversity within the security industry itself and is really geared toward early and mid-career professionals and connecting with maybe a more seasoned professional within the security industry. And we're just really excited for this program and to see where it takes it. Thanks Amanda. Yeah, it's really important. You know, you know, the ultimate goal of the RISE community is to kind of foster and, you know, and groom and attract young professionals in the industry. So all in all, by creating a more diverse, you know, culture in the industry, we're doing our job and we're really trying to shape the future of the industry because we are the future. And that's, you know, that that's really the main goal of the diversity and inclusion initiative. So Matt, if you have any comments about this subcommittee and what we can really expect with the time program or Aaron, what we can expect with the time program going forward, the floor is yours. Yeah, absolutely. And I think you hit the nail on the head there Jake that the purpose of this committee in general really aligns with that subcommittee for diversity inclusion. Considering RISE is completely based around young professionals developing themselves, the career opportunities they can be presented with and connecting with each other. That's pretty much also one of the main goals of the diversity inclusion subcommittee so it doesn't only involve the mentorship side of things there's plenty of other things that that group's been involved in so far between working on an application for the RISE committee that has its inclusion into account and even collaborating with other committees like CIA's Women's Security Forum Committee or the HR committee at CIA and just finding ways to collaborate with each other to really foster that diversity and inclusion across a number of demographics whether it be ages RISE is focused on or gender or race or ethnicity or any other things that we could potentially work on. That's really what that subcommittee focuses on but I'll pass it over to Aaron since I know she's been very involved in the development of time to kind of give a background on what that is and what the mentorship program means. So time has been one of the I think coolest programs initiatives that I've ever had the chance to work on but it started from kind of just a genuine idea that mentorship is really valuable in the security industry. And the experiences that we all have are really relevant to the growth that the industry can achieve in the next couple of years so not only is the goal of the mentorship program to help young professionals build up a network connect them with someone who might be tenured or who has a little bit more experience or a more diverse kind of portfolio of experience within the industry but the goal is also to create kind of a reoccurring community of individuals who want to consistently give back to the industry by helping guide younger individuals or earlier career individuals. But then also kind of share experiences share expectations help learn you know how to have difficult conversations how to have really empowering conversations and just kind of have a little bit of career guidance that then when you're kind of a mentor and they give back in that way and so the time program is really something that I think I'm personally hoping will continue to see as an output of rise but something that really takes the industry by storm in the next couple of years so we're really looking forward to this year we just closed out our mentor application like Amanda said so we're going to be opening up mentee applications and just seeing the breath of kind of who applied to be a mentor and the genuine authenticity of their willingness to contribute to the industry has been really fantastic so I can only expect the same from whoever is going to apply to be a mentee and it's it's going to be a really fun contribution that that rise gets to give back this year. Absolutely. No, it's just so awesome you know and I think I speak on behalf of Amanda as well. We've kind of been on the committee for the same amount of time I think we both joined in like February of 2020, which feels like yesterday but at the same time feels like years ago. It's, it's amazing to see, you know, this initiative kind of come to fruition over the past few months. And that's all thanks to, you know, the amazing people on the committee. And I really look forward to seeing how everything pans out, because it has such an excellent foundation. So, going off of, you know, the, the diversity and inclusion initiative kind of being built in and everything. We've seen this kind of shift from, you know, in person networking events and whatnot to a whole virtual landscape. And a big part of that virtual landscape for us this upcoming year is Accelerize. Our Accelerize event was virtual this past summer in July. It's going to be virtual again in August of this upcoming summer. Matt or Aaron, if you guys want to talk, you know, about what we have planned for Accelerize kind of if anyone knew is watching this. What is Accelerize? What can you expect out of Accelerize and, you know, anything that's important to hit about Accelerize? Yeah, absolutely. I can take that. So, Accelerize is such a unique event, not only to this industry but in general. What it really seeks to do is bring together young professionals within the security industry to network, share and learn together for a few days. And as you said, it originally was an in-person event and will likely be an in-person event in the coming years, but both with COVID in 2020 as well as going forward for August in 2021, it's expected to be a virtual event. Basically, this is an event filled with a few days of speaking sessions focused on both soft skills and some more tangible things specific to the security industry from a technical standpoint that young professionals might want to learn about. And then there's also a number of interactive events meant to connect a number of different young professionals to each other because stop me if you've heard this before. So, a lot of young professionals can hear the same story of showing up to a trade show or some other event, and they're one of the only people that are under 30 or just in their general age demographics. So, this event is really meant to bring all those different people together in one place and say, hey, here are the future leaders, the leaders of tomorrow, the people who are driving the industry from a young professional standpoint and connect them there. So, there's a lot to look forward to with this event. It's going to be in August, as we said, from August 23rd to 25th, so it's not something that we've opened registration just yet, correct me if I'm wrong, Jake and Aaron, but I think it's something that we will open registration within the next month or two. So, if you want to follow the Rise LinkedIn page or sign up for email notifications from us, feel free to do that and you'll be the first to hear about it. Thanks, Matt. And yeah, you know, kind of echoing off that my first Accelerize was this past summer. You know, in the virtual landscape, but I have to say I've been to events like IC West, I've been to events like as is. When I shut my laptop on that last day that Friday after you know the speakers, it really felt like I just, you know, left like an actual trade show or something like it had that impact on me. But I really do think it was a mix of, you know, the speaking sessions, not only is it industry related but there's a lot of motivational stuff, which everyone needs we're all human, especially in times like now. When it can be a little confusing at times and stuff, but the networking events, you know, I really besides like the people on the committee I really only knew a handful of young professionals in the industry. I'm 24 years old, I'm fairly young to be in this industry. But like I said, after after that week, I felt like I knew all these people, you know, just from like an hour of schmoozing on zoom. It was just a really impactful week for me. And I'm really excited because we have some really exciting things in the pipeline for the 2021 event. So we're going to take a quick one minute break. And we will be back in a minute to talk more about the rice community. Hi again everybody. Security matters rise feature number two. We're going to resume right away and I have a question for Amanda. In your first year in the right community, what has been your favorite part of being in the community and being on the committee? Yeah, so, like I said, I've been on the committee for almost a year now. And when I first joined, I wasn't really sure what to expect or kind of what the personalities of the committee would be but I think, you know, first and foremost, just being able to get to know everyone on the committee. We're all from different parts of the country working for different companies and have different experiences so I think the most thing that I really do like about being on the committee is just really getting to know everyone. And secondly, I really have been enjoying being on the diversity inclusion subcommittee. I really had, you know, great conversations with not just the subcommittee but maybe industry veterans and just being able to hear their experiences and being able to help promote the time mentorship program has really just been a really great experience that I wouldn't have anticipated. And then also just kind of going back to Accelerize, being able to participate in that virtual event, being the first time participating, it was an incredible experience. Just being able to listen to everyone speak and to learn and to network with, you know, people, like I said, all across the country. And overall, it's been, you know, a really great experience and I'm looking forward to this year and seeing what it all brings. Yeah, those are great points. I would definitely echo all of them, you know, we've been on the committee for the same time in the community. It's just, it's crazy to say how like, I have all these new friends, virtually, you know, we've never met in person. I know Matt and Aaron and some of the other committee members have met in the past. But we haven't met, you know, I haven't met anyone in the rice community, even before I joined and was active in the security industry. This is the first year that I've gotten to know you guys and I feel like we're all really, really close now. And once again, we have not met in person like that's crazy to say to me, because you know, pre 2019, if you told me that I would be like, you know, so Aaron and Matt, I kind of want to shift, you know, Amanda and I have been on for a year. And you guys have been on for a lot longer than that, a couple years. Where have you, you know, when you first joined to now, talk about some, you know, I'm trying to find the right words, like ways that both the community and the committee have grown together, if that makes sense. I can absolutely touch on that. So as I mentioned in my introduction, I joined Rise initially in 2018 and at the time it was more an idea than a community, although a community was certainly what they wanted it to be in the pipeline. So, what that amounted to was saying, it would be great that we can give young professionals a number of different training materials and basic things from an industry perspective rather than just specific to their company that they might find really useful. As we started to create those training materials and we started to gain new members and start events like Accelerize and start communities in the process and other subcommittees like the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and starting scholarships and things like that. You really started to understand how much both the community aspect of being a young professional in the security industry mattered, as well as how much those young professionals really needed a program like this to lean back on. I mean, through those things I just mentioned the scholarship, the events, the different networking opportunities that the attendance and the participation and the want to connect with each other is so so so strong. And the difference with that is really the sheer literal size of the community and how much it's been grown over those past few years. Again, when I joined in 2018 is a little over 100 people and now less or about three years later, it's close to a thousand. So it's the sheer size and the exponential growth of the community, I think is a testament to the fact that those young professionals not only wanted those resources to be able to fall back on, but wanted each other and the networking opportunities and the ability to connect in a way that they hadn't before. Matt, and yeah, Aaron. To add to that, I think one of my, I think favorite parts about being on rise has been a like just being able to be privy to the conversations about how much this group has grown and how much bigger the impact that we're able to make is when I got involved with rise in I mean, it was kind of accidental. I applied for the rise scholarship and was one of the winners for it and that kind of kickstarted my involvement with rise but prior to knowing about the scholarship I didn't really know much about the group. And to be here, you know, guest hosting a podcast with this group, two and a half years later is pretty wild, and it's pretty exciting. And I think that's kind of the sentiment about all of the activities that we do where we're really committed group and we're really fun group, but we're also really hard working group of young professionals who really want to make an impact in the industry kind of like what Matt said the sheer size of the community has grown exponentially like that's that's growth I could never have imagined. That's also 800 or more individuals that are around our age or our time and in our jobs who are in a similar spot that we are who we really can build relationships with and I think it goes without saying that the industry is very relationship dominated and so to be able to provide a platform for connection has been really really neat and to see the way that that connection grows from webinars and kind of just professional development to, you know, we talked on our last guest hosting of the fact that we have happy hours now and we have trivia nights and we have book clubs. And, but then there's there's other avenues like technical writing micro series and things like that. And so just to see the multifaceted growth of the group has been so neat and I'm pretty excited to figure out what the group looks like in a couple years when I'm probably not going to be part of it anymore just out of sheer time in the industry and age, and to look back and know that we were all part of whatever it becomes is going to be probably the most rewarding experience I think of a lot of our careers. And I love how you said a platform for connection. That's like the perfect description of the community itself, especially right now. So, question for you Aaron following up on that. Where do you want to see the community go within the next few years doesn't have to be specific, you know, amount of time but like, you know, in the medium term, let's say, I have a lot of goals. But I think one of the goals that I'd love to see is broader engagement from a broader group of people. I think the industry like any industry has kind of the people who are consistently involved constantly engaging in their, you know, absolute powerhouses. And while we absolutely love having them to be part of our community and they're really the foundation and strength of of our community being able to make an impact. We definitely want to bring people who do not necessarily fit that bill into our group engaging with us consistently so that we can help them find their niche in the industry. And that's my biggest goal for this group is I found meaning in my career when I found rise in the industry. And I don't think that that's something that I've experienced alone. I think that rise has really been a conduit for finding your passion or your people or the people who are going to be in the corner or exploring a new area of security. Making a jump from being an integrator to cybersecurity or making a jump from, I don't know, property technology to manufacturing or something like that. And so I think that that's, that's my goal for the community this year, but also moving forward is that we are a place where people can go to build meaningful connection, find themselves a little bit more especially on those early years of their career and really begin to believe that they as an individual can make a big impact on the future of this industry and the fact that the security industry touches everyone every single day no matter where you are in the world is a pretty cool impact to make. And so to be able to really hit that home with our community and with people who support us and the different groups we partner with, I think is the biggest goal for this year. I'll put Aaron. I know I kind of put you on the spot with that question. That was the perfect answer. You really hit it on the head. Matt, if you have anything to kind of echo off of what Aaron said, you know, I know you're no longer chair, but you definitely have have the knowledge behind you and the experience in the rise community. The communities in awesome hands with Aaron, first of all, I couldn't be more excited about passing the baton off to her she's got a lot of awesome ideas as you can tell. And there isn't enough time in the world for her to explain all the really cool ideas and goals that she has for this so. So I'm sure she could talk on and on about that but I mean in relation to some of the things that we started this conversation about there's a lot of different individual tactical things that you could really see rise growing in towards. For example, mentorship becoming a more accessible part of the industry where it didn't used to be especially for underrepresented demographics who typically found it tough to find a mentor who was anything like them or could provide them with tangible benefits as a mentor. For other things like rise had all the educational materials we've created over the years becoming the go to resource for different HR departments and managers as an extension of their onboarding process to be able to say, beyond what our own company does here's some great materials on both what the industry as a whole does and what you should know from a soft skills development perspective as a young professional, and even simple things that could go a long way like there's more interest from students for for the industry I know that's something that rise has done some of from the different activities we're doing, but from both high school and college students. A lot of them aren't as aware of the security industry as they as we might like them to be so I think a lot of these different things that we're creating now down the pipeline could definitely be something that we collaborate with through other members of the industry association to generate that interest that didn't exist before and attract some top talent into an industry that typically a lot of students might not know enough about. Great. Once again, awesome points. We only have a minute left. So I'm going to say thank you, Amanda. Thank you, Aaron. Thank you, Matt. Thank you, security matters. Thank you, Andrew landing for having us. And we look forward to coming back on the airwaves next month, February 16, where we will have some scholarship winners that we will be highlighting. So, once again, on behalf of the rise steering committee, Aloha, and have a great day. Mahalo.