Readout: National Cyber Director Harry Coker and Congressman Bennie Thompson visit Mississippi to Highlight Best Practices Building the Nation’s Cyber Workforce and Work Done to Bring Good-Paying Cyber Jobs to Mississippi

ONCD announces new toolkit to help build and strengthen their cybersecurity ecosystems to better connect students with good-paying cyber jobs.

December 2, 2024

Today, in Raymond, Mississippi, White House National Cyber Director Harry Coker, Jr. joined House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (MS-02) to spotlight best practices in Mississippi that are bringing good-paying cyber jobs to students across the area. They also highlighted investments by the Biden-Harris Administration that are contributing to more Mississippians being able to participate and thrive in the digital economy.

Director Coker and Congressman Thompson spoke at Hinds Community College to celebrate the success of three academic institutions in the Jackson, Mississippi area: Hinds Community College (Hinds), Jackson State University (JSU), and Tougaloo College, which have all built strong programs and offerings to expand students’ interests in cyber and provide hands-on learning to prepare them for a cyber career.  

In line with the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES) released in July 2023, Director Coker and Congressman Thompson heard about how a focus on work-based, experiential learning opportunities gives students a significant advantage when entering the workforce, allowing them to attain good-paying, meaningful jobs in cybersecurity that benefits their communities.

In Mississippi, as in other parts of the Nation, there is a strong demand for cyber talent. Over 5,000 Mississippians are currently employed in cyber careers, yet there are still almost 2,290 open cybersecurity jobs in the state, including about 950 open jobs in the Jackson area.

Director Coker and Congressman Thompson toured Hinds Community College’s facilities, spoke with students and alumni and met with administrators from Hinds, JSU, and Tougaloo College to learn about best practices at each of their institutions and how they can work together to inspire and train the next generation of cyber leaders. The day concluded with a roundtable of local employers all of whom are part of a growing cyber ecosystem. The group discussed ways they could further partner to increase access to cyber careers for students from all backgrounds, create competitive job opportunities, and keep cyber talent in the local community.

“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. And in order to achieve the best mission outcomes, we need the best possible team,” said Director Coker. “I consider Mississippi to be an untapped talent pool, which America has to leverage to be as good as we need to be and as secure as we deserve.”

Director Coker’s full remarks are available here.

The NCWES emphasizes the importance of locally-driven ecosystems, like the one in and around Jackson, which help equip cyber talent with the skills needed to meet the community’s needs and provide good-paying jobs to support local and national economic prosperity.

Today, Director Coker announced the release of a new Cyber Workforce and Education Ecosystem Toolkit, a resource designed to help communities develop or expand their ecosystems. This Toolkit provides targeted recommendations for how to forge connections between employers, academia, non-profits, Government, and other stakeholders to foster strong cyber talent pipelines.

“Today, I am proud to announce the publication of the Office of the National Cyber Director’s Cyber Workforce and Education Ecosystem Toolkit, which features what we have learned from these trips and best practices we hope to see be adopted in ecosystems all around the country,” said Director Coker. “This cyber ecosystem toolkit will help communities that are earlier in their journey of building the connections and best practices that set their students up become cyber workers so they are able to have good-paying, meaningful jobs at home, including here in Mississippi.”

In his remarks, Director Coker stressed the importance of HBCUs in growing a robust cyber workforce. HBCUs like JSU, Tougaloo College, and Hinds Community College’s Utica campus foster academic excellence around the country and play an important role in developing talent by creating pathways into cyber careers for Black Americans, who have traditionally been underrepresented in the cyber workforce. To help broaden pathways into cyber for Black Americans, the Office of the National Cyber Director has been working to expand the number of HBCUs with a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) designation, the gold standard of cyber education. Through outreach efforts over the last year, ONCD has helped seven HBCUs begin the NCAE-C designation process.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, with support from advocates like Congressman Thompson, is ensuring that more resources are available for Mississippi, including the $1.7 billion that has been provided for affordable, reliable high-speed Internet. These investments include:

• Investing in expanding access to high-speed Internet across Mississippi with over $1.2 billion to build high-speed internet infrastructure, provide equipment, and teach skills so everyone can use the Internet;
• Investing in efforts to promote digital inclusion and advance equity with $11.6 million through Digital Equity Act programs in the state; and
• Investing in ensuring lowered costs of high-speed Internet services to unserved and underserved communities with almost $13.6 million from the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program.

Beyond access to the Internet, $270 million was awarded to Mississippi community colleges through the American Rescue Plan, including $87 million to Hinds Community College. Congressman Thompson has been a strong advocate in Washington, helping the Jackson community prepare for the future, with $4 million allocated through congressional direct spending for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) projects. This spending included $1.2 million for information technology (IT) training and $2.8 million for the development of a STEM Training Academy.

In addition to Government support and academic offerings, employers, non-profits, and other partners also play a critical role in meeting the demand for skilled cyber talent. Today, Director Coker announced the following new commitments from private sector partners, each devoted to strengthening the local and national cyber workforce.

These four new commitments build on over 180 commitments to date from employers, academia, non-profits, and Governments at all levels. They include $110 million in direct funding to expand cyber workforce and education ecosystems, pledges to hire over 35,000 people into the cyber workforce, and commitments to train millions more through hands-on learning pathways.

Today’s new commitments include:

ClearanceJobs
ClearanceJobs is committed to highlighting skills-based hiring for cleared technical roles through new resources and increased outreach to both candidates and hiring managers, including a video and article series to highlight the over 250 skills-based positions currently posted on the website, regular articles, and livestreams for candidates about how to apply to skills-based roles, and an article series for recruiters and hiring managers on writing positions descriptions for skills-based roles.

Hack The Box
Hack The Box commits to train and introduce more than 20,000 individuals to cyber job roles aligned with the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework by 2026 through a gamified platform. In addition, Hack The Box pledges to host 50 Capture The Flag (CTF) events, emphasizing outreach to high schools and universities, while collaborating with Government agencies to expand the cybersecurity workforce and enhance national resilience by focusing on increasing the representation of women, underrepresented groups, veterans, transitioning service members, and individuals from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in cybersecurity.

SkillStorm
SkillStorm is committed to training over 400 registered apprentices in 2025 to provide in-demand skills and boost economic mobility for individuals and organizations while accelerating the digital transformation in key sectors including cybersecurity, AI/ML, software development, and Cloud.

STEMatch
STEMatch commits to expanding the COMPETE program to 40 students in 2025 with a total of 130 by 2026, using a grant provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and funding from partner companies. The COMPETE program commitment provides skills training, company partnerships, mentorship, and paid internships to community college students who enter cybersecurity, IT support, software development, or EE/Electronics careers.