CIS Introduces IDEA Alliance to Drive Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y., Jan. 25, 2021 – The Center for Internet Security Inc. (CIS®) is expanding its efforts to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are key strengths of the organization’s culture and operation. Recently, CIS established a cross-company team called the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Awareness (IDEA) Alliance; the team is made up of over 30 employee volunteers, including two designated Champions and an Executive Sponsor who are helping CIS identify and implement programs that will strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion. The IDEA Alliance has already identified recommendations in three areas: diversity in recruitment; inclusion through engagement, and communications and marketing. Initial recommendations will be implemented in 2021.

“At CIS we realize that diverse viewpoints and perspectives as well as making every employee feel that they are welcomed, treated equally, and are able to contribute to the success of the organization is a top priority,” said CIS President, CEO, and IDEA Alliance Executive Sponsor, John Gilligan. “This is the foundation of our company culture and is key for us to achieve our best results.”

Building on one of the core strengths of CIS – collaboration – the IDEA Alliance, in coordination with the entire CIS workforce, developed a philosophy statement for their efforts.

Security through diverse and inclusive communities: At CIS, we are committed to providing an inclusive environment in which the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and views of our employees, members, and customers are valued and respected. It is through this commitment that we are able to work together towards our common mission: to make the connected world a safer place.

Recognizing that CIS’s Leadership Principles are the organization’s core values, serving to influence and measure the actions of CIS employees, the IDEA Alliance developed an additional Leadership Principle.

Cultivate Diversity through Inclusion: Leaders foster an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to maximize the potential of our most precious resource—our people. They understand that producing exceptional results requires experiences and perspectives from diverse backgrounds. Leaders value, leverage, and honor these differences, while uniting people around common mission goals.

The philosophy statement and leadership principle will be incorporated into CIS’s business strategies, employee programs, and workforce development efforts going forward.

About CIS:
The Center for Internet Security, Inc. (CIS®) makes the connected world a safer place for people, businesses, and governments. We are a community-driven nonprofit, responsible for the CIS Controls® and CIS Benchmarks™, globally recognized best practices for securing IT systems and data. We lead a global community of IT professionals to continuously refine these standards to proactively safeguard against emerging threats. Our CIS Hardened Images® provide secure, on-demand, scalable computing environments in the cloud. CIS is home to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center® (MS-ISAC®), the trusted resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for U.S. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) government entities, and the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center® (EI-ISAC®), which supports the cybersecurity needs of U.S. elections offices. To learn more, visit CISecurity.org or follow us on Twitter: @CISecurity.

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