FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SkillSmart and ICMCP Announce Partnership to Address Cybersecurity Issues Through Increased Diversity Hiring
JOINT RELEASE WITH
The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is working with SkillSmart, a skills-based platform, to increase efforts to address the gross underrepresentation of women and minorities in the Cybersecurity industry. Cybersecurity is a serious economic and national security challenge, yet tens of thousands of critical jobs in this field are unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. This new partnership will allow qualified women and minority candidates to more readily display their skills to get hired today and will help to create a pipeline of prospective candidates to fill the backlog of open jobs.
Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need. Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, particularly for technical and STEM positions, this platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce: employers, job seekers and educators – creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.
Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.
“We are very excited to work with ICMCP during this growth phase of their organization,” said Mike Knapp CEO of SkillSmart. “As ICMCP develops, it’s being recognized as leading voice and destination for issues related to Cybersecurity career and industry developments impacting minority Cybersecurity professionals. We are ecstatic about this engagement, and are looking forward to working with the ICMCP team!”
SkillSmart’s user-friendly interface enables candidates to build a skills profile identifying the proficiencies and qualifications they have, regardless of where they were developed. SkillSmart’s proprietary algorithm then calculates a fit score for each candidate, and the skills profile then helps an organization filter a candidate pool down to the top qualified candidates and demonstrates which are the best fit.
“ICMCP’s mission is to promote public awareness of cybersecurity and opportunities for minorities within the profession. Our partnership with SkillSmart provides a strong foundation to gather and disseminate job openings within the cybersecurity industry,” says Aric K. Perminter, President at ICMCP. “This partnership directly supports ICMCP’s expressed purpose of “Bridging The Great Minority Cybersecurity Divide.” Launched in 2014, ICMCP is based in North Haledon, NJ. The mission of ICMCP targets minority cyber security professionals worldwide and promotes academic and technical excellence in the industry.
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About SkillSmart
SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles.
About ICMCP
The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It began official operations in September 2014 and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes, to provide members with educational/technical scholarships, mentoring opportunities, professional development and networking opportunities. For more information or to become a sponsor, please visit https://icmcp.org, follow @ICMCP_ORG on Twitter or visit the ICMCP LinkedIn page.
For Media Queries:
| SkillSmart | ICMCP |
| Edda Collins Coleman Director, Community Outreach Tel: 703-896-7629 Email: edda@skillsmart.us |
Doug Yarabinetz Manager, Global Strategy/Communications Tel: 412-477-1615 Email: doug.yarabinetz@icmcp.org |
