Remarks: National Cyber Director Coker Remarks at Glendale Community College

Glendale, Arizona

July 25, 2024

Remarks As Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon!

Thank you, Dr. Tiffany Hernandez, for the introduction and for inviting me to campus today. Your and your staff’s leadership are truly inspiring.

To students, faculty, and other partners, it’s a pleasure to spend time with you today. I’ve enjoyed meeting so many of you here at Glendale Community College.

I’ve particularly enjoyed meeting with students – high school students and students from community colleges like GCC. I am more encouraged about our future after meeting each of you.

As Dr. Hernandez alluded to, there are many partners here worth thanking. I want to say that I’m pleased to be joined by those present who are here on behalf of our Congressional partners. I’m also pleased to be joined by our interagency partners from CISA and the FBI.

It’s great to be visiting the Phoenix area to see how GCC and the Maricopa Community College system is championing cyber workforce and education. Last month, I was in Arizona to visit Pima Community College. It may be something to do with the Arizona heat, but there is clearly something good happening here in Arizona.

This is an endeavor near and dear to my heart and a critical component to America’s preparedness and prosperity. This is a perfect place to come as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America tour because jobs are being created and we need to learn and develop the talent to fill them.

As the National Cyber Director, one of my foremost priorities is implementing the President’s National Cybersecurity Strategy, which was published nearly a year-and-a-half ago. The strategy sets an affirmative vision for a digitally-enabled future.

And that’s why we must take advantage of all the opportunities that advanced technology offers us, while also navigating new and emerging challenges and disruptions.

However, none of this can be achieved without people who are up to the task.

I’m grateful for the commitment each of you have demonstrated to growing and developing our cyber workforce, whether you’re an educator, an employer, are enrolled in a cyber program, or are new to discovering the opportunities in our field. You all are instrumental to the ecosystem.

Right here in Arizona, just over 21,000 people are employed in cyber careers. Still, last year, there were 9,200 open cybersecurity jobs in the state – and almost 6,800 of those open jobs are here in the Phoenix region.

In order to protect the Nation and the critical digital systems that underpin our way of life, we must have a large, robust cybersecurity workforce.

I mentioned the 6,800 vacant cybersecurity jobs here in the Phoenix area. Across the Nation, that figure is nearly 500,000. So we have work to do.

We need more people seeing themselves in our community. We need more people being trained in cyber-related fields. We need more ways for them to join our ranks.

In order to achieve the best mission outcomes, we need the best possible team.

The only way we can defend the digital systems that lay the foundation for our modern way of life is to be sure that every American and people from every community have a pathway into a cyber-based career.

I want to applaud the approach being undertaken here at GCC. You all are stepping up by creating innovative ways to grow the cyber pipeline and open up pathways to good-paying jobs that can lead to purposeful careers. And that’s starting with high schoolers.

One of the first things I did this morning when I arrived on campus was check out the Gaucho Security Operations Center.

I also met with 20 high school students who have been demonstrating their skills and just advanced to the second round of summer cyber bootcamp. That’s quite the achievement.

I want to ask Donovan and C.J. to stand and be recognized. They are the instructors I met and after they explained what they’re doing in class, I wanted to sign up! I appreciate their leadership.

This high school cyber bootcamp is just one element of the happenings at the Gaucho SOC.

GCC has also committed to paying 19 community college-level interns to work at the Gaucho SOC and monitor, detect, and inform partnering rural municipalities at no cost.

By the end of the year, GSOC interns will earn over 300 hours of competency-based experience as either a SOC Analyst or SOC Engineer. This is exposing them to invaluable hands-on experience that is unique to Glendale Community College – it’s what sets you all apart.

I really want to emphasize that for a moment: here in Maricopa County, students are getting hands-on experience, acquiring the most necessary cybersecurity skills, earning college credit and income, and contributing today to protecting your local critical infrastructure.

You know, I travel around the country looking for best practices and today I found one.

The work your students are doing matters and it matters to folks that need it the most – like rural municipalities.

Today I met Sarah, a former music teacher who came to GCC to launch a second career as a cyber professional.

While taking classes, she is supporting the town of Wickenberg’s water utilities and K-12 schools by helping them improve their cybersecurity posture and defend against malicious activity.

Sarah knows that what she does matters. In talking with her today, her passion to serve her community was clear.

She told us that she almost didn’t apply for an internship because she was worried that she didn’t have enough experience.

But she did it anyway.

Now, she credits the opportunities she had in the Gaucho SOC, for developing the skills and confidence she needs to prepare for the next step on her journey.

Sarah – thank you for taking the leap of faith and joining our cybersecurity community. I’m excited to see what you do next and where your career takes you.

We need more people like Sarah on the front lines protecting our Nation from cyber threats – and when I say protecting our Nation, that doesn’t only mean working for the Federal Government.

Make no mistake, her work – the work many of you do – to protect water systems, school districts, state and local Government groups and so on – is protecting our Nation.

And the GSOC demonstrates just how we can continue to support Americans by reducing barriers to good-paying jobs by providing students with hands-on experience.

This partnership between GCC, the broader Maricopa Community College system, and your neighbors has made Arizona more cyber resilient in the face of increased threats.

We recognize that in order to prepare for threats in our increasingly digital world, we need investments.

That’s why it’s so notable that the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda has been delivering for Arizona.

To date, $15.9 billion in Federal funding has been provided to Arizona through the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.

That is a once-in-a-generation investment toward our Nation’s most critical infrastructure. For example:

• We’ve invested in statewide cybersecurity planning activities: specifically with $6.7 million going to the state of Arizona to help them with the necessary planning to prepare for, respond to, and prevent cyber attacks.
• We’ve invested in building out the digital infrastructure across the state: specifically $2.1 billion to provide affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet access across all of Arizona; and
• We’ve invested in cyber readiness: specifically $10 million for the Arizona Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Readiness Program, which provides cyber resources for rural school districts, local Governments, and tribes throughout the state.
• And even closer to home, right here at GCC, the college received a five year grant for $4 million from the Department of Education to ensure Hispanic and Latino students succeed in STEM.

While I’ve been the U.S. National Cyber Director, I’ve spent a lot of time talking with leaders across critical infrastructure and I repeatedly hear two things: they need resources and they need more people ready to join the cyber workforce. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, we are making sure more resources become available.

And GCC is doing its part by fostering an environment of faculty, educators, students, and prospective students that are well-equipped to meet the growing need for cyber.

The connective tissue between the area high schools, the broader Maricopa Community College network, and the neighboring communities is something we need to see in more places across the country.

I have been so impressed by my visit today to witness first-hand the ecosystem model you all have built.

And now, I’m excited that we’ll all hear more about it with our upcoming roundtable.

Thank you again for the invitation and the opportunity to meet and learn from you. I look forward to continuing to grow the cyber workforce together.