Remarks: National Cyber Director Coker at Howard Community College

Columbia, Maryland

September 30, 2024

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Jarrett [Carter], for that introduction.

Thank you to President Willis, and to Interim Chair Lawyer and the entire board of trustees, for hosting me here today.

It has been a fantastic afternoon so far at the Community College Cyber Workforce Forum, and there is more celebration to come.

Thank you Secretary Wu for joining me earlier at the forum to highlight the fantastic work being done by community colleges across Maryland to train the next generation of the cyber workforce.

And – last but certainly not least – thank you to all of the state, county, and local officials who helped make this day – and this center – a reality.

I’m honored to be here today to celebrate the groundbreaking of Howard Community College’s Workforce Development and Trades Center.

Today’s groundbreaking is the result of a collaboration between HCC, local and state government, alumni, community leaders, and other supporters working together to meet Howard County’s workforce training needs.

This kind of collaboration is encouraging to see, and it is indeed a major accomplishment for this institution, this community, America’s cyber workforce, and for the many students and jobseekers who will benefit from this new facility.

I live just up the road in Baltimore.

In the past nine months as National Cyber Director, I’ve been on the road quite a bit. Our ONCD team has traveled around the country, visiting seventeen schools and cyber centers in thirteen states to learn from the good work being done in communities across the Nation.

I’ve spoken with veterans and military families in Fayetteville, North Carolina who are continuing to live out their commitment to service by entering into cyber careers.

I met with Black Tech Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma to hear about how they are creating opportunities for the Black community to get into tech jobs.

I heard from teachers in Reno, Nevada who were spending their summers learning to bring cyber into their middle and high school classrooms, inspiring students early to consider a path in cyber.

And today I met with a group of community colleges here at HCC to hear about how they are building strong partnerships with local employers and other stakeholders to create opportunities right here in Maryland.

After all of the travel, after speaking to hundreds of students and thousands of stakeholders – this is our first groundbreaking. So I’m delighted to join you in celebrating the beginning of a new chapter of leadership here in Howard County.

In all of the places I’ve visited I keep finding “best practices.” And our team is always looking to learn and spread these lessons around the country.

So let me tell you what I’ve been particularly impressed by today: Here at Howard Community College, you are designing this new center to support bringing cybersecurity into all training, teaching students how to identify and respond to potential threats within their trades.

Students studying in fields such as automotive technology, manufacturing, mechatronics, logistics, and green technology– and students pursuing skilled trades training in welding, electrical, forklift and heavy equipment, plumbing, and HVAC– will all learn important cyber principles as part of their training. 

And here’s why that’s important: for too long, cybersecurity was considered a tech issue – something the CIO or CISO or IT staff would handle. But cybersecurity is in everything we do.

Every employee, every leader, every student needs an awareness and an understanding of how cybersecurity affects their job, their organization, and frankly their own safety online.

So, since tomorrow is the beginning of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I applaud the approach here at Howard Community College to bring the lessons and critical thinking of cybersecurity across disciplines. You all are doing it right.

I want to applaud the State of Maryland and Howard County – and their many representatives here today – for providing funding for this center. You all understand the incredible investment you’re making in this community, in these forward-looking faculty, and – most importantly – in these students.

You appreciate that this center will create the space for collaboration, learning, and training that prepares students from across Howard County for good-paying jobs in cyber – and meaningful careers.

At the Federal level, we understand that too. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in Maryland’s cyber workforce.

Today I’m pleased to announce that Howard Community College is receiving a $200,000 grant from U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.

This funding will fund more registered apprenticeships and will support the establishment of a cyber clinic to provide cybersecurity services to nonprofits in Howard County.

Registered apprenticeships and cyber clinics are both valuable tools to provide students with hands-on, work-based learning. These experiences turn students into strong job candidates that are ready to go on day one after they graduate.

This builds on more great news from last month. In August, the state of Maryland received almost $23 million from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Building America Initiative.

This funding will help connect more than 7,000 job seekers with new registered apprenticeship opportunities, including in tech and cyber jobs.

Like so many of us gathered here today, I am proud to say to the students, to the faculty, to the cyber leaders in this community – we are proud to invest in you.

I’ve talked to many of the students here today and they understand that a career in cybersecurity is one with purpose, one that allows you to keep your community safe, one that contributes to not only our Nation’s security – but also protects our economic prosperity and allows our great Nation to continue our journey as the greatest innovator of technology in history.

And, quite frankly, we need you. The need for cyber talent is great. Down the road in Washington, D.C., we are working every day on the challenge our Nation faces in defending cyberspace.

Today, there are nearly 500,000 open cyber jobs – that’s almost half a million open roles – all of which contribute to our national security.

Cyber touches every sector and industry, and in an increasingly digital, interconnected, and competitive world, the security of these systems has an immense impact on the security of our communities.

Schools, hospitals, manufacturing, banking, transportation, and utilities all depend on digital systems every day. And we need talent who can help secure them.

Filling these roles is a challenge, but for all of you looking to contribute, it’s also an opportunity – an opportunity for a good-paying job and a meaningful career.

This Nation is full of motivated, talented individuals who can be part of the solution. Just like the show, “America’s Got Talent,” our job is to help broaden pathways, remove barriers, and make sure more students, more Americans, know that they can find their way to a cyber career.

In July 2023, President Biden released the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy. It lays out a whole-of-nation approach to inspiring, recruiting, and training the next generation of the cyber workforce.

In the fourteen months since its release, we have been working hard to implement best practices that can help connect more Americans to training programs to develop their cyber skills, and then to jobs where they can put those skills to use.

Here’s a key part of the strategy that we – rightfully – talk about often: a skills-based approach to hiring.

Instead of employers relying solely on a degree, consider the individual’s ability to do the job – do they have the skills, the aptitude, the training?

HCC is an innovator in this space. This new center will provide incredible opportunities for hands-on learning, allowing students to gain real-world experience, putting their learning into practice and allowing them to be job-ready on day one after they graduate.

And this isn’t HCC’s first innovation in this space. In 2020, HCC launched the Catapult Registered Apprenticeship Program with AT&T, providing students with an earn-while-you-learn alternative to a degree.

This was a first-of-its-kind apprenticeship for the state of Maryland, pioneering an approach that prepared students for IT careers while allowing students to apply for security clearances during the program. This expands the types of experiences students can have in their work-based training and allows them to transition seamlessly into full-time roles.

The Federal Government is doing its part, too. This past April, the Biden-Harris Administration, led by our partners at OPM, announced that we are moving towards skills-based approaches for cyber, tech, AI positions in the Federal Government, beginning with IT professionals. And we’re doing the same for Federal contractors too.

This action will lower barriers so all Americans with the passion and skills to serve have an opportunity to do so. Our hope for the future is that students who learn in this center see a path to service in the Federal Government. Because we need you. And I hope that the value of your skills is recognized by public and private sector employers in all parts of the Nation.

Earlier this month, our office, in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management, announced Service for America, a recruiting, hiring, and engagement campaign aimed at getting the word out and encouraging more Americans to join us in good-paying, meaningful jobs in cyber, technology, and artificial intelligence. Whether folks join us in the Federal Government, or in State or local government, or working for one of the many institutions that provide critical services to your community, we need more folks joining us in the work to prepare our country for a digitally-enabled future.

The work to make this happen can’t just be something we talk about in Washington. It has to happen in communities across the country, just like the important steps you’re taking today, right here in Howard County, Maryland.

We rely on our partners, including community colleges, four-year institutions, K through 12 schools, State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments, non-profits, and private sector employers to help us do the hard work in our communities every day to create these opportunities.

We call this an “ecosystem approach.” It relies on collaboration between these critical partners to implement best practices and create pipelines that support potential cyber workers from the beginning of their journey all the way through to their eventual employment.

And, from my first days as National Cyber Director when I was up at the Community College of Baltimore County – CCBC – and even earlier as a member of this community myself, I know that we are standing in a strong, vibrant, forward-looking, diverse, and capable ecosystem, preparing our students to help us tackle the evolving challenges we meet every day in cyber.

As I’ve mentioned, our team has been traveling a lot, connecting with the employers, students and educational institutions helping build our Nation’s cyber workforce. Through these trips and countless conversations in Washington, we have received over 100 commitments from private sector and non-profit partners to:

• Provide more than $110 million of direct funding to support workforce and education ecosystems;

• Hire over 31,500 Americans, including for entry-level roles, registered apprenticeships, and paid internships; and

• Train millions more through bootcamps, certification programs, upskilling opportunities, and other hands-on learning pathways.

This is all amazing progress. And we continue to see innovation.  

We are just over a year into implementing the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy, and we know we still have work to do. We need more Americans to see cyber careers as attainable to them, whatever their background or circumstances.  

Today, we’re taking an important step with this groundbreaking, this convening, this dedication to the students and the future in Howard County.

Thank you, HCC, for your leadership in helping to build America’s cyber workforce.

I can hardly wait to come back and see the Workforce Development and Trades Center in action in the future.