By Selena Templeton, host of DiverseIT
It has become an ITSPmagazine tradition to start our RSA Conference coverage with what we call Chats On The Road To RSA Conference. We connect with conference speakers, presenters, panelists and organizers to start the conversation way before anyone else does.
During these conversations, we get a sneak peek into what they are planning to share at the conference as well as a glimpse into their backgrounds and some additional insight on the topics they will discuss.
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Kicking off conference week is “Solving Our Cybersecurity Talent Shortage,” an inaugural seminar from creators Karen Worstell, CEO of W Risk Group and founder of MOJO Maker for Women in Tech, and Elaine Marino, CEO of Equili and founder of LadyCoders. It’s at:
Moscone Center on Monday, March 4, from 8am to 12 noon.
This is a 4-hour seminar that’s divided into 4 different panels with an incredible line-up of panelists from major companies who will share their success stories around diversity and the cybersecurity talent shortage.
On today’s podcast, our guest is Jim Gordon, GM of Security Ecosystem Strategy & Development at Intel. He will be on two panels — The Why: The DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) Dividend, and The Who: Is This Responsibility Yours, Mine or Ours?
Jim joins me, Selena Templeton, and my co-host Marco Ciappelli to give us a sneak peek into what he’ll be bringing to the table in these discussions, including his 3 “Be This” rules to D&I success, why this issue is important to him, a white male, and who should attend these panels.
In this conversation we touch on:
The DEI (Diversity, Equality & Inclusion) groups of men that Jim leads to help them understand why they’re doing the things they’re doing, why they should participate, and how they should participate.
Why focusing solely on diversity – i.e. getting a workforce that represents the outside world of our customers – but not inclusion will not improve the workplace.
Have we progressed at all in the last 5 or so years when it comes to equal representation?
Jim’s 3 “Be This” rules: Be all in, be your customer, be an ally
Why putting the responsibility of DEI just on the shoulders of those who are historically affected by non-inclusionary, non-diverse workplaces can only go so far – groups need to provide allyship to each other for lasting success.
If you’re seeking to contribute in a positive fashion to an effort like this, what does that mean for you? How do you define it? How are you going to contribute? What’s the language you’re going to use? All of these things need to be considered.
“It’s clear that any objective that a company or organization makes, be it a business objective or workplace culture, that excludes or minimalizes more than half of the workforce is going to be very difficult to achieve.”
More info about the seminar:
Join us to listen to our chat with Jim and remember: We’re better together.
About Jim Gordon
Jim Gordon is an Intel veteran of 20+ years and has held a variety of roles over this time. He has held leadership positions in Intel’s channel product, influencer, and software & services groups. Most notably he served 3.5 years as Chief of Staff and Technical Assistant to Intel’s then President Renée James. He currently is GM of the Ecosystem & Business Development Intel’s Platform Security Group. He holds a BS in economics from the University of California at Davis as well as an MBA from Purdue University.
Jim is also a self-motivated and very active contributor to diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts at Intel specifically and in general across tech – even though he does not work and has never worked in HR. For Intel in D&I he has served as a top leader in its internal “Inclusive Leaders” program – a program dedicated to engaging, training, activating and supporting those influential “male majority” business leaders to take responsibility for and take proactive actions towards full inclusion. Beyond that, he is an active speaker, blogger and social media activist on the same subject.
He contributes significant amounts of his time to this topic not because he is compelled to do so but, rather, because he (1) views it as the right thing to do, (2) believes he can make a difference and (3) wants to leave the tech corporate workplace overall a better environment for his young daughters than it was for his female peers during his time. His contributions are evident in many ways – from the way he leads, to where he allocates the investment of his time, to how he hires, what he says.
