Deloitte puts women in cyber in the spotlight

NEW YORK, NY, 13 May 2021—Deloitte Cyber introduced today a new global awareness and recruitment campaign to attract more women with diverse skill sets and backgrounds into the cyber profession and celebrate the small group of women who have a disproportionately positive impact on society…Deloitte’s Women in Cyber.

Watch Deloitte’s Women in Cyber campaign video

Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that women will hold 25% of cybersecurity jobs globally by the end of 2021.1  Deloitte’s women in cyber population globally is about the same as that global average. The cyber talent gap is real and a challenge for organizations globally, and it does not just lack gender diversity. According to an (ISC)2 study, the global cyber workforce would need to grow more than 145% to meet the job market’s demand. There may not be enough qualified individuals to fill millions of open positions globally. Global security will suffer if greater diversity is not brought to solving the complex cyber challenges ahead.

“We have to expand the vernacular used today around careers so that when asked, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ the answers include roles like ethical hacker, data privacy professional and cyber strategist. We have to break down the common misconceptions about the type of work that exists for cyber professionals and the type of experience you have to have to do that work,” says Emily Mossburg, Deloitte Global Cyber Leader. “Cyber is connected; it is ultimately about people understanding and trusting those connections and empowering our society to innovate and move forward safely. That seems to describe a career many people would want to have.”

The campaign concept developed with ACNE, a Deloitte UK creative agency, features 14 Deloitte professionals who hold a myriad of cyber roles across the globe. The women were selected based on the intention to represent the broadest spectrum of age, role, professional level and background among Deloitte professionals in cyber roles. They were photographed in February of this year.

We took inspiration from refined and authentic portrayals of women. The campaign has a bold yet elevated appeal and is warm and inviting. By design, the campaign allows the women’s personalities to shine through with minimal influence and styling. Not only was it created for women but by women as well, with all teams being predominantly women, from creative development and oversight to the stellar catalog of photographers and agency teams.

The campaign was brought to life by renowned female photographers:

• Olivia Malone - US Photographer
• Kee & Kee - Amsterdam photography duo Kiki Rigters and Karen van Duijvenbode
• May Truong - Toronto photographer
• Hosanna Swee -Singapore photographer

“There is a lot of work that needs to happen by women and community at large where women give permission to themselves to own their accomplishments. That strength from within sometimes comes out by seeing others who have gone before you or are in it with you,” says Beth Dewitt, partner and Board member, Deloitte Canada and Women in Cyber Leader. “There’s comfort in knowing you are a part of a community of women with similar objectives and goals and there is a power and strength in a shared identity even if what brings you in are for different reasons. This campaign intends to put a spotlight on some of those women hoping that maybe some more women can begin to see themselves working in cyber.”

Media planning and buying for the campaign were done by Mike WorldWide (MWW). The Deloitte Women in Cyber campaign will focus on digital and video media. Marketing efforts will be rolled out across the Deloitte network and customized and leveraged by each Deloitte firm’s location. The campaign embodies the spirit of Deloitte Cyber’s tagline, “Empowering your people for the future.”

The Deloitte Women in Cyber organization comprises female cyber professionals from around the globe who regularly connect to support each other in career development, celebrate accomplishments, share professional experiences, and attract and retain more women into the industry.

Through its WorldClass initiative, Deloitte aims to make a meaningful impact in society by using the skills and experience of its professionals to develop job skills, improve educational outcomes, and access opportunities. To address social inequality, Deloitte is helping individuals from underrepresented and marginalized groups, including women and girls, around the world realize success. Stories of Deloitte’s work around the world comprised Deloitte Global’s first-ever Global Gender Impact Report. The report’s theme—the “Butterfly Effect”— illustrated how small actions could have a widespread and lasting impact. The report was released on International Women’s Day 2020. The release of the Women in Cyber campaign reinforces Deloitte’s commitment to improving diversity, equity and inclusion across Deloitte and the organizations it serves.

With more than 22,000 cyber professionals globally, working across 20 industry sectors, Deloitte Cyber offers the world’s largest cyber consultancy services. Deloitte Cyber empowers organizations with understanding, connection and trust for a cyber-powered future. Deloitte Cyber connects cyber everywhere, with a human approach leveraging the breadth and depth of experience - from regulation, deep technology, product innovation and more. This unique approach, taken together with Deloitte clients, creates a shared culture in safety and trust and is shaping smarter process, empathetic platforms with greater insight, agility, and resilience to threats. Deloitte Cyber empowers diverse teams for collective innovation and secure and sustainable growth, to move the entire business, with cyber-created consistency and confidence, further forward.

End notes

1 https://cybersecurityventures.com/women-in-cybersecurity/