The Cybersecurity 202: Cybersecurity experts say elevating and supporting Black professionals is key to workforce shortage

#ShareTheMicInCyber has also partnered with the nonprofit think tank R Street Institute for a project called “Making Space.” The initiative started as a pledge to get organizations to commit to including women and minorities on panels they hosted or sponsored. It now boasts more than 40 partners and has expanded to other work, including a new effort to launch an online database for organizations and companies to connect with Black professionals.

“What I didn’t want to do is publish a pledge and get people signed on board without giving them the resources to make that pledge actionable,” said Tatyana Bolton, policy director for R Street’s Cybersecurity & Emerging Threats team. “Part of the problem is that people always say, ‘I love diversity and we absolutely want women and people of color on our panels and events. We want to hire them. But I don’t know of any.’ I wanted to take away that excuse.”