 Hey, hello everybody and welcome back to the Think Tech Hawaii studio for another episode of security matters. I have four amazing guests with me today. Aaron man is with us from a lead John she'll be talking on behalf of the Security Industry Association's rise organization. Linda said from GSA schedules is with me she will be talking from see a board of directors as well as our women's committee. Malcolm Reed is with us from Bryson LLC. He brings the perspective from the board of directors of as is, and Dave Corbin is with us from the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard, and he will be bringing us as his connects perspective and some of the other work from the as is diversity equity and inclusivity committee. Please go to their LinkedIn. I'm not going to give them the time today to go sort of introduce and give their history like I normally do since we've got a major discussion with us and not a lot of time. With that, we're going to get it started and Aaron I'll let you start off with, let's talk about rise. Let's look talk about diversity and sort of what role do you believe rise can play in helping the industry focus and become one of the more diverse industry so we can attract new talent. I am really excited to be here representing rise today and just to kind of talk about some of our initiatives we are really excited just about the trajectory that our group has had in the last five six years since it's been around. I've been involved for the past year and a half, and I've seen the group grow astronomically so in the last year we actually expanded our user base by 200% so we have over 800 young professionals who are in the security industry globally who are part of our rise community. And so knowing that we have such a broad reach we are actively working on a lot of initiatives to help empower these individuals build their network full of cheerleaders and dynamic other leaders in the industry to really promote the security industry as a place where young talent can go to not only grow their careers but be developed foster their careers up skill and kind of grow on that really awesome trajectory that the security industry has. And so we've got some really awesome initiatives happening right now. We have a scholarship that we're actually will be announcing winners in the next couple weeks or so. In 2018 for that scholarship we had six applicants in 2019 for the scholarship we had 19 this year we had 46 applicants from six countries. And so we're seeing a lot more representation from the global security industry really kind of getting interested in how young professionals can play into what the industry is going to look like a year from now five years from now and 10 years from now. And so we are actively kind of promoting different webinars and content. We have a diversity and inclusion subcommittee that's about to announce a really amazing opportunity for industry professionals at every level. And we're just looking at the ways that we can bring young talents into the industry faster than make them feel like they belong they have the experience and learning and the right to be at the table that they're at. And give them the tools to build their network and really kind of empower them to take on these issues as we continue because diversity and inclusion is an ongoing initiative not going to be solved in a year. And so the work that we're starting today is hopefully going to be some of the work that we're capitalizing capitalizing on when we're leaders tomorrow. That's awesome. Thanks. Thanks for the leadership and thanks for you know promoting this within rise I mean we're going to need all of these voices from every angle come at it so it's awesome that rises so engaged and I think I think when they've outgrown our WISF group if they've got 800 already but what do you what's the perspective of the sea aboard I know that they put together this joint effort along with as is it's going to happen on Thursday December 10. But you know from an industry perspective you know what do you think see as role can be and you know what can our women's security form do to help promote diversity and inclusivity through the industry. Well you know obviously diversity equity and inclusivity is a big issue and I'm really proud of the collaboration that she is doing with as is and all of our groups. You know within the organizations you see that you know we spread out it's touching the various groups within our organizations that focus on this. I'm really proud of see a different from most industry you know we have 40% females on our board of directors. And so that's you know that's like six of 15 voting members and even our executive committee is two thirds female. So you know we're really reaching out there to make that effort and again with our committee groups you know and this is something for other organizations to think of our committee chairs are many women committee chairs you know in our organization. So you know within the various committees course rise Aaron has just explained that to you but you know the women and security forum has been very active. And one of the initiatives that we put out there you know to include you know our young people we've created an adopt a college program where members and other see a staff will reach out to colleges and participate. In virtual days where you know for educational opportunities and job opportunities and we've already begun engaging even though we just launched it with Penn State UVA local community colleges. Historically black colleges including Bowie State which is near Annapolis where where I am. And in addition to that we launched a scholarship program this year which you know about Andrew this was very successful. It was amazing the way industry contributed and supported this. We were able to provide scholarships to 12 individuals from various backgrounds in work. So that that was absolutely amazing that we got that together this year. And then of course one of the more recent things that the women in security form announced was the formation of a see a speakers bureau. And so you know the women in security form have put this forward we're looking for people to sign up to help cultivate women in industry and in the role of leadership of course and and you know many other aspects of diversity and inclusivity. That we are reaching out to do with our organizations. It's awesome. Yeah I I was an early proponent of I was talking to the event organizers about these mammals you know every every conference I would go to every speakers a guy I'm like really can we just make it mandatory you have to have you know equal numbers of men and women are or you know let's let's create like if people see it different it'll become different right anyway. Welcome from the from the board chair at as is I mean this is a major initiative I know you're very active with the diversity inclusive initiative there. Let's talk about diversity from as his perspective you know they've got such a global influence in the industry you know what what do they look into competition how can we how can we support it. But first of all Andrew thank you very much for having me on your on your program. It's a pleasure to be here as well to contribute to the other professionals as well from the ASIS perspective. ASIS is a global organization. So we have just what 34,000 plus members across the globe. And by that very definition is very diverse. You have people from different countries, male, female different nationalities as well. ASIS is looking to expand that diversity. There's an opportunity right now in this space to expand the whole thought process behind what what is the ENI what is diversity equity and inclusion and what it means to the industry, the security industry is something that is continually growing as more as the world gets involved with more risk is more risk involved in technology is more risk involved in natural and man made disasters. The security professionals role is much more important as we move forward in today's world. And that's why we need different perspectives. From from our perspective at that ASIS, we have a woman in security council, we have a young professional council, but we wanted to to tap into that and grow further into embracing the ENI which is even a bigger conversation and just those two groups only was incorporating those two groups and reaching much more underrepresented communities. I always tell people, if you had someone on your board of directors who grew up in a single parent home and or who had less resources than the average person, and they were able to get to sit next to you in a board room. You want that person on your team, because that person can work with less resources and accomplish much, much more. So the ENI is it's a no brainer, you know, it's a no brainer to the many organizations but for us at ASIS, it's an opportunity to reach more members to incorporate their views and to keep the world. We want to keep the world a safer place, essentially. Yeah, and I think I do agree, you know, more voices is is how we do that right we don't want to exclude a voice that could have a solution to save the life I've been a been a proponent of that sort of idea. So, David, you're you're heading the DNI committee I suppose for for as is as well as I think running the connects program or contributing to the content there. What from your perspective, you know what's what's the role as this can play and what what sort of sort of leadership are we looking to accomplish, you know, with with the DNI program you know what can we, how do we engage our industry partners to help us you know the manufacturers and integrators. To clarify I'm not leading the DNI group that's being led at the very top levels of ASIS with the president ASIS and the and also the CEO of ASIS and one thing I will say is that ASIS has done a great job in backing up their, you know, initial statement that they made around diversity equity inclusion and their commitment to that. And, you know, shortly after that statement came out in support of the community in support of diversity equity inclusion within the organization. They did form the diversity equity inclusion task force which I mentioned is is headed by the top levels of ASIS and includes people from both ASIS headquarters and you know the membership in the board. Welcome and I have both on that task force. So, it's going to be a long term strategy. And I know that there is a long term commitment from ASIS to the diversity equity inclusion work, but it's not something that's going to, you know, get resolved in the next year it's something that has to be an ongoing conversation and ongoing work. And I think that the program coming up on Thursday is really a big first step in that in engaging the community the security community in this, this discussion around diversity equity inclusion and getting the different perspectives and hearing about people's challenges. And that takes me to that to the connects platform which is ASIS connects and that is you know anybody who's a member has access to that community and there is a new diversity equity inclusion community. You can go into the connects link which is right at the top of the membership screen, and you search out that community and right now there's about 105 people signed up from 21 different nations so it's not just you know if you're in the US. It's not just talking to people from the US if you're in, you know, wherever you are you're getting the perspective of people from 21 different nations which is very unique and, you know, Malcolm and I were talking yesterday about if you went on LinkedIn, and you had that conversation you might not have that level of diversity and I would say that level of safety around knowing that your, your conversation is is probably going to be more supportive and less likely to have, you know, some issues with the people who you're interacting with It's a safe space to talk about this, this topic, and to start getting as I like to say getting comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations, but if you go on there right now people are posting different resources asking questions. Everybody is struggling with the same issue so it's a great place to get on there and speak with your fellow colleagues about this issue and to get ideas and into exchange ideas and start conversations. And my understanding is that's open to everyone in our community it's not limited to current as his membership. Oh, you're right. You're correct. Yeah. Okay. That's awesome. So, so definitely check that out as is what connects website and you know join that community and get engaged with the conversation. So let's get into this. This one's a little interesting to me this discussion of equity, you know, equity equity to me obviously means that the opportunities are there for the same sort of earnings the opportunity there for the same types of appointments within an organization. And there's obviously a massive lack of equity across not just the security industry but globally and a lot of companies right there they're working on this. So I know you've talked a bit about some of these metrics and some some experiences that you've actually had yourself. You want to kick us off with a little bit of little understanding of the, maybe the inequity that's out there that we're going to try to mount an effort against. Thank you Andrew. And there's so much data on this information and it's, it's a tremendous amount of information to support what we're seeing here. So what we've seen from like the Department of Labor statistics from the government. We've seen that the inequity in terms of gender and and for race as well. So, for example, and that leads into the topics such as intersectionality, where someone can, can be both female and a person of color. And we've seen that they that person would make much less significantly less and then someone from a majority. And that's where organizations such as, you know, McKinsey and company and they're looking at ways in which diversity can really help companies become more profitable. And that's, that's the connection there. So now it's not just looking at, you know, salary ranges and that there is great inequity there, but how can, how can we tap into that rich diverse workforce that's out there. I'll say this because this in the public domain. A lot of a major company recently said, hey, I can't find talent from a particular group to get into the management. And there was a blowback on what he said, a big company here in the huge company. And I can't find any, but, but that's incorrect. There's so many talented people, but somehow that there's inequity in that recruitment and selection system as well. Because people are not being able to, to capture these opportunities, these opportunities are set cause you know people seem to communicate they feel comfortable with people who are like them. And that's in the turns that implicit, implicit bias and all these other things in the, and I, these things really affect person earning potential. And there's a ceiling that sort of caps off individuals of underrepresented communities from becoming. And you can do the research yourself how many CEOs on the 14500 are people of color. How many CEOs are women? Not many. And there's a reason for that. It's because we need to start shifting our mindset and start embracing our differences and realizing that as, as the, the team for 2020 for ASIS against what we are stronger together. And I think that team goes into our, the ENI team as well, but there is salary, there's a huge difference and you can go across, goes across race and gender and when I run race and gender intersects the effect and the effect on that is much greater on the individuals that would make, for example, I believe a black female makes 58 cents on the dollar for, you know, against a white male. So that, that's a significant, it affects their earning potentials affects what they can do for their families as well. Yeah, so hopefully we'll be able to teach our companies Lynn, you work with a lot of companies from our industry are what's your perspective on that, you know, the folks that you tend to deal with at the tops of these organizations are they open to promote in are they are they comfortable sitting and doing the things they've always done. And you're a woman owned, you know, a president of your own company, which is a rarity in our industry as well. It's rare and when I started, you know, I was among very few women in a totally male dominated industry, but I think awareness is crucial. You know, as I've worked with individuals and, you know, speaking to what Malcolm was talking about, you know, I was a single mother with two children. Okay. And I was working for different companies that were struggling during a time, you know, where there was some economic issues. I kept getting laid off so I started my own company. And fortunately for me I started it in the security industry, where my male allies lifted me up and supported me recognizing that I was a good multitasker and I could get it done. And so, you know, in my role on the sea of board of directors and in working with women in security form. I have found so many people who are really willing to embrace this and encourage it. And I'm amazed at the growth. We've had in this area just in the last year. You know, it's, it's, it's really, gosh, I wish it would have happened 30 years ago, but still really thrilled to be part of it and very encouraged by the young professionals in the ASIS group, and as well as rise and see it because it's we have to do it. I think we're really taking a leadership role here with the security industry, and it's got to go beyond this. You know, we really need to, you know, all these steps that we're taking are so important to get the word out, you know, and other people step up. Many of our male allies have like you, Andrew, and the other gentlemen here, and so many more people, you know, sometimes just have to ask. There you go. That's, that's what we're doing today. This is our ask out there people if you're watching, we want your help. Hey Aaron in the rise community. What's the feeling, you know, equity? Is it, is there an equitable opportunity for young professionals to move in our industry? Do they feel, you know, motivated? Do they feel that they'll be rewarded? Is there work to do there? I think, so based on my experience, I think it's gotten better in the four and a half years that I've been part of the industry. I think that young professionals are consistently proving themselves to be mature leaders who actually can be trusted with business responsibilities and they're being hired and trusted and being able to economically do their job. What I don't see yet is a ton of young people in major leadership positions within their organization, but I think that there's the trajectory in place for that to happen. And I think that's why groups like RISE or the ASIS Young Professionals Group are so important and impactful because there's a lot of learning and growth to happen as you're going through your career. And we want to earn that feat at the table. We want to diminish the fears of a young person who might have the merit to move into that position, but doesn't necessarily have the tenure or the experience. And I think that's where talent development and professional development really comes into play because we have this unique opportunity to connect people with industry professionals who have been in the industry for 30 plus years. And in some cases, that's longer than some of us have been alive, which is such a unique opportunity because, you know, why would you stay in an industry for that long if it didn't offer you incredible opportunities? It didn't give you a network. It didn't give you a job that was fulfilling and rewarding. And so to be able to help kind of foster that sense of community, give young professionals a place to kind of forge their own path, connect them with individuals who have done that, who have built the industry, who are the foundation of the industry, and then really empower ourselves to go and push the industry into the next few years is really crucial to diversity and inclusion. And especially, I think the status something like 55% of millennials are always looking for a new job. And if their companies or their organizations or their industry doesn't offer them professional development opportunities it doesn't offer them growth and and kind of networking opportunities. That's a pillar of what they look for in their ideal organization. So we're going to start having a talent problem. If we don't tackle these issues, if we don't give everyone trust in autonomy, if we don't have diversity and inclusion strategies, we're going to start losing candidates who have skills that we need. And it's really, really fascinating because suddenly the security industry isn't sourcing talent just from security vocational kind of programs. We're sourcing talent from a plethora of different pawns where that talent can easily go to a different industry. We're sourcing cyber security and tech and innovation and design and storytelling and marketing, and these skills are so applicable elsewhere as well. So if we don't have kind of a really amazing trajectory for young talent, if we don't have the right programs in place, if we're not empowering people if we're giving them that the table that they're at is where they deserve to be. They have the right and the experience and the knowledge to be there and giving them decision making power and giving them the opportunity to mentor other individuals and giving them the opportunity to be mentored by individuals. The security industry is going to face them hard times, but that's why it's so fun to be part of a group like rise and kind of participate in some of these broader industry initiatives. We really are being given a voice and kind of like what Lynn said, the security industry is a leader in that. And we're just really excited to have a seat at the table and play a role and really kind of help promote this as a pillar of the foundation of the industry. That's awesome. Yeah, I 100% agree. You know that we're going to have to have it coming from all angles. Dave, is there a perspective out of the task force to build a playbook or to get some instruction for companies that are maybe struggling with doing this type of work internally? Are there some models out there that people can sort of look at? Or is there thoughts of building some models? I mean, as this has been a great trainer of industry for probably since its inception, you know, is there that kind of speaking there? Or are there questions like that that maybe come up in Connect like from owners who's like, I don't know how to build this program. I don't know what to do. How do we help those folks get engaged? Well, there's certainly in Connects I've seen a lot of conversations, people asking for help building the diversity equity inclusion programs, but also giving some examples of what they've done so there's some resources in that regard. So conversations in the task force, it's certainly one of the products I think that the task force would like to deliver some point. I don't know when or what that would look like, but I think ultimately the goal, one of the goals is to provide resources to the membership in order to really tackle this issue. So I can't say that there'll be a guide coming out in the next six months, but I think that certainly that'll be one of the things that comes out at some point down the line in some form. The task force is in its infancy still and we're really gathering, we're in the information gathering process and trying to understand how we can best serve membership in this regard. So like I said, we're playing the long game and but I think you'll see some great resources coming out many different types of resources coming out of the task force and in the months and years to come. Yeah, I love it that we have a global community to draw from that should give us ideas that can appeal to everyone you know at whatever level they're at. We're, we've got a couple of minutes left so I want to get to inclusivity our good industry friend who left our industry actually Chelsea render told me once that you know diversity was getting invited to the dance hall but inclusivity was getting invited out onto the floor to dance right and that always sort of stuck with me. So maybe we'll go around again and then we'll start with you. Just your perspective on on inclusivity and how can we open ourselves 360 degrees to be as inclusive as possible. Well, one thing that I wanted to mention was an initiative that she has related to addressing technical papers. Okay, and rewriting some of the language in there that refers to gender, you know, etc. And this is initiative that Joe Gittens from see is working on but obviously this, you know, other companies have done this I think this is something that we should encourage in the industry from our leadership from our manufacturers etc. You know as we put together these things we need to rethink this a little bit and change our language. So that's something that we could do. We have to get the bias out of the language. Malcolm your thoughts. So, yeah, for me. Essentially, the research has shown like for example Harvard Business Review. They did a study and it said that essentially that diversity by itself does not increase organizational effectiveness. Right, but it's how organizations harness that diversity, and by harnessing that diversity, we're listening to the voices and bringing the differences of people together to the table. And that's where you're making it inclusive. And by and when that happens, you get leadership. You don't have, you don't have inclusivity unless there is leadership, you know, from different groups and stuff like that. So if you have people in your company is diverse. That's not that you have to have leaders in your company at your board level at your executive level management level, who are diverse. And that's when you start bringing that voice to make a decision, a decision making voice, then you're being inclusive. I'm listening to you. You're not just standing in the room. I'm actually listening to you. When I listen to you and your voice is heard, you know, so that's so important. And I think moving forward in our industry, that's what we need to tap into bringing those voices young people, women, people of color, other groups as well. When they're represented, represented groups, bring them to the table, listen to their voice and get them to affect strategic decision in a company or organization. Perfect Dave final thoughts, inclusivity. Yeah, I'll echo it Malcolm said to a point in that you know you can have diversity without inclusion, and it's important that you know you have the right people have have a seat at the table. And also, you know, having a way to not only mentor people but to sponsor them and sponsorship is different than mentorship sponsorship is helping open doors for people sponsorship is is more than just hey this is how I did it it's it's, I'm going to open doors for you I'm going to introduce you to the right people. But to Malcolm's point, you know, if, if the top of your organization if if you're, you know, a member of the BIPOC community if you're, you know, if you're a female in the security industry, and you look to the top of your organization, and nobody there looks like you what message does that send to you. Right. So, you know organizations have to look from the top down. This is not a flash in the pan issue this is a long term issue. And it's not new. It's been around for a while and people's eyes are just opening to it some people's eyes are just opening to it. And people are having those difficult conversations but I think that having the conversations is a huge first step, even when they're really uncomfortable which they are. But having those conversations is was one of the first steps in, in, in, you know, looking under the surface and identifying the issues that that are in the way of diversity and inclusion. Awesome Aaron I'll let you close this out with your thoughts are the young professionals included. Are you getting enough time on the podium and at the table. We're pretty fortunate at least from the rise perspective and a lot of my peers who are young professionals in the industry share the fact that we are being given a seat at the table and it's, it's really wonderful to be invited, and, and kind of acknowledged as a voice and a perspective that that is important to building this strategy. And I think that that that is kind of what inclusivity and really is when it comes down to it it's, you know, every person has unique experiences has unique perspective. They were brought up in different environments and those perspectives and experiences shape the way that they see the world and security is one of those universal experiences that we hope everyone has, but we don't have all those experiences to know what's needed to shape their spaces to deliver technology that can be used by every person. And so to be able to be part of the conversation, have our, have our kind of our perspectives heard. And like the rest of the guest said really look up and down our organizations and see individuals who look like us or who have similar backgrounds to us. The presentation really matters when people are considering what they want to do long term. And in some cases breaking glass ceiling is really phenomenal, but it would be even better and even safer if there weren't any more glass ceilings to break. And so I think that we are being given a seat at the table. But we'd like the table to expand and we'd like to pull up a couple more people and we'd like to have sit down and have a meal together because I think that I think that's what's next and I think the event on Thursday is a really awesome step in that direction. Awesome. Thank you. Aaron Dave Malcolm and thank you all very much for joining me today. The big event we're talking about as is here co sponsoring a diversity equity inclusivity event on Thursday just Google that up, sign up, be a part of the conversation. This is our ask. If you're listening today, we need your voice and we appreciate it. Thanks everybody. I appreciate you again for being here today. Aloha and take care.