Free TU workshop to discuss career opportunities in cybersecurity

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Thomas University’s Center for Military Life will present the free workshop “See Yourself in Cyber” that will feature speakers from state and federal government as well as industry discussing career opportunities in the field of cybersecurity. The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Flowers Foods Executive Classroom inside Smith-Bonvillian Hall on TU’s Forbes Campus.

Speakers for the workshop will include Master Sergeant Frank Estrada with the U.S. Army; Lori Battle, an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Thomas University; Lisa Cochran, Chief Information Officer with VyStar Credit Union; and Kevin A. McGrail, Principal Evangelist for Dito.

Estrada served in multiple overseas assignments in support of combat operations. His assignments included Cyber Protection Brigade, the Army Cyber Training Battalion and the Army Cyber School, where he was the Technical College Assistant Director, Senior Instructor, and Cyber Training and Education Enlisted Advisor. Estrada currently serves as the Senior Enlisted Advisor of Special Projects. His military education includes Cyber Network Defender Course and Joint Cyber Operations Planner Course. Estrada is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Cyber Security.

Battle holds a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Justice Administration, a master’s degree in Management and Organizational Leadership, and a master’s degree in Rehabilitative Counseling. She also holds certifications in Lean Six Sigma (Black Belt) and EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigation. Battle served 30 years as a law enforcement officer working with the Georgia Department of Corrections. During her career, she served as the Director of the Southwest Georgia Corrections Academy. In 1995, Battle led the State Olympic Law Enforcement Command, which trained more than 10,000 officers for the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta.

As Chief Information Officer at VyStar Credit Union, Cochran is responsible for all aspects of digital, technology and information security.  She has more than 28 years of experience at companies including Humana, Softcard, Bank of America, and Lockheed Martin. Prior to joining VyStar CU, she was a Managing Director and the Chief Operations Officer for the Global Consumer Technology organization at Citi, where she managed a global team of 2,500 resources responsible for operations technology, including systems that supported fraud, collections and ATMs across three regions and 17 countries. Cochran holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.  She volunteers on the Board at several organizations, including the CIO Council Partnership and Northeast Florida Regional STEM2 Hub.

At Dito, McGrail helps organizations securely migrate and maximize their use of the cloud. He specializes in network, e-mail, and business privacy and security. He is a Google Workspace Top Contributor and Developer Expert, and a member expert in the U.S. Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary. As the VP emeritus of the Apache SpamAssassin project, McGrail has battled spammers for years. His work is incorporated into numerous commercial platforms. McGrail is a Center for Innovative Technology MACH37 Cyber Security Incubator graduate.

“See Yourself in Cyber” is free of charge thanks to a grant from the Singletary Foundation, but registration is required by emailing enrollment@thomasu.edu. The public is invited to attend. For more information, email sbackofen@thomasu.edu.

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