What is a typical day for you like at Concentric?
The Global Security Operations Center (GSOC) is a very dynamic team, supporting aspects of our global intelligence work, security operations around the globe, conducting investigations, and fielding any ad hoc requests that come in. Since we are a 24/7 operations center, my day starts with orienting myself to what happened overnight, and honing in on my priorities for the day. While most days are unpredictable, I can always count on supporting clients through monitoring and collection of open source and deep and dark web intelligence, keeping tabs on critical news events around the world, and supporting the members of the GSOC team in their day to day. A large part of managing the team is being on call to answer questions and assist with emergency and time sensitive matters that pop up at all hours of the day and night, so a typical day also includes a good cup of coffee!
How long have you been at Concentric and what part of your job do you find most fulfilling?
I started at Concentric in January 2020 as a GSOC Specialist, and worked on the team for about a year and a half before moving into the manager role. I’m most fulfilled when I’m learning, which happens every day here! I’m constantly learning from my incredible colleagues, who share knowledge generously and have such an impressive and vast array of backgrounds. Each day I find myself navigating new security situations and problem solving. Additionally, it is particularly rewarding when we get to apply our security expertise and resources to humanitarian work, and work on projects for nonprofits.
What is your educational and professional background before joining Concentric?
I have Bachelor’s degrees in both mathematics and political science from Gonzaga University. After graduating college I joined AmeriCorps, working at a refugee resettlement agency in the Seattle area where I focused on economic empowerment, including significant work on a community garden for newly arrived refugee and immigrant families, and a women’s sewing class. After my AmeriCorps service term ended, I worked on a congressional campaign before heading out into the world of long-term employment and landing a role assessing risk for payment processors. While I was honing my risk analysis skills, I knew I wanted to put my political science degree and passion for reading way too much news to use in my career, which led me to find my place in the GSOC at Concentric.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
After work you can find me with a good book and a scoop of Half Baked Ben & Jerrys ice cream. On my days off I enjoy spending time with family and friends, road tripping around the Pacific Northwest with my partner, and taking care of my house plants. I am constantly reading (and adding to my ever-growing collection of books), love to bake and watch Gonzaga basketball. Pre-pandemic I taught an Irish dance class and was on a just-for-fun-not-serious-at-all-competition team.
What are you most looking forward to over the next year?
Professionally I am thrilled about the GSOC team that I get to work with, and am looking forward to growing with them over the next year. Personally, I am looking forward to a few trips this summer, to Seaside, OR, Leavenworth, WA, Bend, OR, and a bit of camping in between.
