Glendale Community College represented at White House for jobs in cyber event

PHOENIX — Members from Glendale Community College’s Guacho Security Operations Center (GSOC) will visit the White House on Monday for an event focusing on high-paying jobs in the cyber industry.

The event is called “White House Convening On Good-Paying Jobs in Cyber,” and it hopes to expand access to those high-paying jobs.

The Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) established the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy (NCWES) at the request of President Joe Biden in 2023, hoping to increase the diversity and accessibility of the cyber workforce.

GCC’s Program Director of Cybersecurity, Rachelle Hall, was invited to be one of five panelists at the event to talk about the college’s efforts to smooth the transition from training to workforce in cyber.

The GSOC utilizes a collaborative model that offers cybersecurity back to the community, the first in Arizona to do so. Rural jurisdictions can enlist student interns for monitoring services at no cost.

“The STEM grant for the West Valley Information Technology and Advancing Technologies provided the funding needed to get this program started,” Hall explained in a press release. “The GSOC provides students with the workplace-ready experience that is desperately needed.

“Students are in an endless loop — they need experience to get a position but cannot get experience without securing a position. This program provides students experience working in a live security operations center, giving them workplace-ready knowledge and skills as they move into the cybersecurity industry or transfer on to a four-year program.”

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