“I identify as a queer woman in cybersecurity, and I must work hard to prove myself to my peers and professors. My dream is to help secure my country from cyber-attacks. In hopes of completing my dream, my career plan is to work for the federal government in digital forensics and pen testing. This scholarship will help me achieve my dream, and I’m really excited to take advantage of the mentor program!”

“As a female Cybersecurity professional, I will use my diversity to face adversity head-on and be a role model for young girls as they look to achieve their dreams. I intend to aid and inspire young girls and women in the field by cooperating with schools and clubs throughout the nation. The STEM fields desperately need greater diversity in order to encourage growth and change to keep up with our ever-advancing world, and I plan to help facilitate that with my knowledge, drive, and compassion for cybersecurity.”

“I am a First-Generation, Hispanic, non-traditional college student. I am currently a Junior majoring in Information Systems with a minor in accounting. I returned to school a few years ago after finding that working in entry-level administration jobs was not yielding me the quality of life I wanted. I am currently trying to start an ISACA Student Chapter at UNLV. My hopes are that once we have a student chapter established, it’ll open more doors for those of us who are interested in this field.”

“I was born in DR Congo but due to the war outbreak, I spent over 20 years, most of my childhood, in the refugee camp in Uganda. During that time, it was not easy to get an education, especially in cybersecurity. After graduating, I hope to work as a cybersecurity analyst or security engineer. This scholarship will have a positive impact on my future by empowering me to reach my career goals.”

“I aspire to contribute to a team where my perspective as a woman is considered a valuable addition rather than a burden or obstacle. As a young girl, I was told that mathematics and any computer work beyond business applications “just wasn’t for people like me”. It is only through being surrounded by educated and empowered women in my current position have I come to understand that I was holding off on my passions due to my gender. I can only hope my work will inspire a younger generation of women. It will enable me to be on my path to a full-time cybersecurity career in the non-profit sector in which my values will be aligned with my work.”

“I am a black woman in the technology industry; a double minority. As a result, I am continuously pushing myself twice as hard to be considered “average” while overlooking the microaggressions and steady thoughts that I may just not belong. I am an African American woman in the technology industry; underrepresentation is a part of the beginning, and middle, but not the ending of my career journey. With this open door, I’d expect to gain another standpoint for my future in network protection. I desire to acquire one more voice of reason and gain a feeling of shrewdness in my field from this mentorship and the association related to it.”

“As a first-generation ESL student, I knew nothing about higher education and lacked the financial means to continue my studies. ESL students frequently do not receive the necessary guidance to continue their education. This scholarship would help me complete my BS degree in Cybersecurity with excellent grades and knowledge. Furthermore, it allows me to achieve my life goal to become a pen tester who has experience and knowledge in other branches of Cybersecurity and complete other projects. It would also allow me to set an example for my two younger siblings. To demonstrate to them that nothing in this world is impossible and that they can achieve the goals they set for themselves.”

“I am a first-generation Mexican American son and am the only person to have attended college in my family. A lot of my role models were Hispanic and when I discovered my love for technology I was surprised by the underrepresentation of my community. It was discouraging but I did not let that stop me from pursuing a degree in cybersecurity. Over the course of my educational journey, I have yet to meet another Latino in the college setting or professional workplace. I want to be the person that other people who come from similar Latino backgrounds can look up to. My long-term ambition is to gain as much knowledge as I can about cybersecurity and then apply for a government job. As technology gains popularity so does hackers’ interest in completing cyber-attacks, and it would be very rewarding to be a part of defending our nation when these attacks occur.”

“Throughout my life, I have strived to achieve my goals solely through hard work and determination. This scholarship is a precious opportunity for me to achieve both my life and career goals in the field of cybersecurity. My career plan during school is to build a professional network with the industry through conference networking. This scholarship will enable me to spread my newfound insight and knowledge to further educate my peers around me.”

“This scholarship will open doors for underrepresented community members like me and is a special recognition of my professors, family, and the community’s collective effort to encourage me to conclude my studies.”

“My achievements can be attributed to great mentors along the way, and this scholarship is no different. I would love to leverage the resources from this scholarship to start an ISACA student chapter at my school to help benefit a lot of students, especially students of color.”

“When I saw the scholarship contents included – ISACA membership, training courses, and mentoring – I immediately saw value in these for assisting me with additional formalized training that will move me toward my envisioned career path.”

“I have enjoyed failures and successes throughout my journey, and I do not plan to look back on any of them. The knowledge and experience I will attain through this scholarship are most valuable to me as I continue to learn and grow within this industry.”

“This scholarship would profoundly impact my future in a lot of ways: I am a single parent who has a lot of expenses, and the scholarship will help with the cost of tuition; I constantly have imposter syndrome and the scholarship will help me gain more confidence related to cybersecurity; and I will get recognized at work helping my career growth and performance reviews.”

“Within the next 10 years, I hope to be working in incident response. This scholarship gives me the opportunity to take ISACA’s IT Audit Fundamentals course, which will significantly help me in that goal and allow me to further explore the cybersecurity field.”

“I’m a Latino male, veteran, and the first in my family to attend college. My ambition is to be a threat intelligence analyst and a role model. I know that the connections this scholarship offers through ISACA membership and mentoring program will impact my career path.”

“As a woman of color from an Afro-Caribbean culture I rarely find someone like me when I enter a room. When faced with this type of environment I seek out mentorship and ally-ship. The benefit of this scholarship is the community I gain from having access to the ISACA career-building bundle.”

“At the age of 48, I decided to refocus my skills, interest, and passion into Cybersecurity and set my sights on obtaining a degree. I find myself today, following my first NCL Individual Game where I exceeded my personal expectations, knowing that I made the right choices to pursue Cybersecurity.”

“My Filipino parents taught me, “an education opens doors, and with enough hard work and dedication, anything becomes possible.” Computer science and cybersecurity were certainly not on the list of fields my parents expected me to take up as a child – I would be the first in my family to take up a technology career. Over the next few years, my main goal is to find a career in digital forensics.”

“Being a part of my school’s cybersecurity club exposed me to CTFs and I fell in love with solving challenges. I would like to help raise the gender gap and encourage other females to give cybersecurity a try if they like Computer Science and rewarding challenges like me.”

“I hope to gain more financial flexibility from this scholarship, which will allow me more time to pursue my passions for diversity and equity in cybersecurity and working on a medical device security project.”

“This scholarship will push me ahead on accomplishing my career goals meaning I will have more time to do exactly what I want to do, like start my own company developing solutions in data investigation, hunting, and threat detection.”

“Cybersecurity is my passion and I strive to be able to contribute to the industry at large and instill in my children a sense of drive and determination that will enable them to aim for their dreams as well.”

“I support myself and my family, alone, since my husband had a stroke, and this scholarship will go a long way in covering school expenses.”

“The courses offered through One in Tech will sharpen my technical skills and bring me a step closer to my goals.”

“For my professional career, I am planning to be a devotee of the cybersecurity industry. By working towards shaping future government policies on pertinent issues such as data security and sim swaps in Kenya. I believe in, not only gaining knowledge but also in its application to make a difference to society, by adding a voice to shape some of the global and national cybersecurity challenges. This scholarship affords me an opportunity to engage in cyber security research during my study, which will ignite a chapter in my cyber career musings. It will be a reincarnation to being limitless and developing mastery of cyber security concepts.”

“The Cybersecurity industry and Tech industry, in general, have had a stereotype attached to them. The stereotype is that only men can work in Tech or can be Hackers or penetration testers. However, as a black woman from Nigeria, West Africa, I represent that these stereotypes are false, and anyone can work in Cybersecurity. Irrespective of your gender, race, or ethnicity. This scholarship would significantly impact my future by allowing me to focus on my schoolwork, improve my skills, and gain relevant experiences while inspiring other young black women who someday hope to get good quality education and work in Cyber.”

“As a beginner cybersecurity professional in Sri Lanka, there are fewer opportunities to get training in this field in our country, so this scholarship will help me get exposure to the world of IT audit. My goal is to become a cyber forensic investigator. This scholarship will give me an opportunity to help the people in my country to bring justice to people by protecting privacy in the cloud and digital devices.”

“The scholarship offered by ISACA and One in Technology will push me toward my Cybersecurity master’s degree and my perennial dream to help others against adversity. My passion for learning, making an impact in the community, and embracing my Hispanic heritage through the positive use of technology all represent the purpose and promise that ISACA also embodies. ISACA’s financial relief combined with my dedication and drive would be a great fuel and support for myself, the association, and the Hispanic community.”

“My journey in technology has been my childhood dream, coming from one of the largest slums, Kasarani in Kenya. After high school, my university enrollment was in the medical field, but my passion was in computer science. I forfeited my subsidized course for a bachelor’s in I.T. I hope to gain knowledge, networking, and understanding of my career path. The ISACA community has the best professional programs, and this will be considered by job recruiters.”

“Being young, Middle Eastern, and female is tough in this field. In my degree, I am by far the only young woman studying for my post-graduate degree. I am excited about the student membership given – while I am completing the formalized study, I always seek to learn more in between my semesters. I’d love the opportunity to have access to a whole host of new resources to teach me more about cybersecurity.”

“I am excited to be in a no-judgment space with people who will support my personal career goal.”

“The training offered by OIT will connect me to the right people, enhance my business skills, and help me gain and strengthen skills that will enable me to achieve my career goals.”

“As a woman and mom in this role as a Senior IT Auditor, I recognize that it is still rare to be in my position in this field. I hope to gain from this scholarship a long-term mentor and become a role model to other aspiring young women in the field of IT.”

“This scholarship will accelerate my lifelong quest to be the proud LGBT woman who is a STEM graduate I have always wanted to be. It will allow me to become a valuable member of the cybersecurity workforce.”