Deborah’s Bio
Deborah (Deb) Golden is Deloitte’s US Cyber & Strategic Risk leader—helping both government and commercial organizations become more innovative and more resilient in the face of persistent and ever-changing cyber threats. She leads a rapidly growing practice of 4,000+ cyber professionals and has decades of information technology experience spanning numerous industries, with an in-depth focus on government and public services, life sciences and health care, and financial services. Deborah has distinguished herself inside Deloitte and in the broader professional services industry by applying her authentic, empathetic, and values-driven leadership style to inspire her people. She speaks openly about the importance of mental health, and is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive practice, and is passionate about achieving equity as it pertains to race, gender, and inequity, and expanding representation among women, LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented groups in the cyber field.
She received a bachelor’s degree in Finance at Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in Information Technology at George Washington University. She serves on Virginia Tech’s Business Information Technology and Masters in Information Technology Advisory Boards, is a self-proclaimed fitness junky and avid traveler, and trains service dogs with the Guide Dog Foundation!
WITH GROUPS CREATING PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE FEMALES TO CONSIDER STEM, WHAT IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ENTRY THAT IS STILL PREVALENT TODAY?
Certainly pipeline is not the true barrier — provided the overall portion of women in our population, but rather, perhaps we need to consider a shift in mindset which includes addressing conscious and unconscious gender bias, as well as updating our approach to recruiting and retaining our workforce to reflect more modern day opportunities. Perhaps it’s this bias that continues to impact women in STEM, as well as the continued advancement of women within the workplace and ultimately into leadership positions. We need to more broadly adopt a deeply human approach that rewards growth mindsets, creativity, and perseverance – including diversity in said situations – over rote skills—which will require us to rethink our methods to better identify opportunities for growth in ways we haven’t had to think about before.
WHAT OR WHO INSPIRES YOU?
I’m inspired by the ability to create transformational change – both personally and professionally. By leveraging our unique life journeys to connect authentically and learn together, we are able tackle the most difficult and uncomfortable issues. Tackling difficult and uncomfortable issues, particularly as we are thrown inevitable curveballs, enables us to become more comfortable with uncomfortable conversations which leads to choices that create lasting and genuine change—when we rise up together, we can accomplish more than we can imagine.
WHAT IS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT/ACCOMPLISHMENT?
My first Guide-Dog-In-Training, Cedar! As with each of the service dogs who have come since that point, I trained Cedar from seven weeks old until he was fourteen months old, at which point he “graduated” and was ultimately placed with a client – a veteran with PTSD suffering from seizures and nightmares. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to provide an individual with increased independence and enhanced mobility – and equally as humbled that this experience continues to teach me, as I learn so much from these puppies, our experiences across the globe, and the people in their lives. Saying goodbye to Cedar was not easy, but I’m fully committed to this program, as well as their clients – and the impact – as I know that Cedar (and all of the puppies) have a mission in life to help other people – and to know that I was able to help change a life, well that’s an incredibly amazing experience (which has changed my life for the better!)