Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative

Collaboration with the private sector is at the heart of CISA’s cybersecurity mission. Every day, CISA works with industry partners across the country to understand risks, exchange information, and mitigate threats. We launched the Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative to take this partnership to a new level by bringing private sector experts into the agency on a short term, part-time basis to lend their expertise to some of our most critical teams.

The constantly shifting cyber risk landscape requires CISA to stay on the leading edge of key areas, from cloud security to threat intelligence. The Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative allows some of the nation’s most skilled and experienced practitioners and experts to bring their perspectives to CISA on a short-term basis to advance our national mission to reduce cyber risk at scale. Participants are helping to innovate the agency’s approach to cybersecurity, while also gaining awareness of CISA’s mission that will enhance the participant’s own skills and knowledge.

CISA Cyber Innovation Fellows

In May 2023, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) started onboarding the first two of six individuals selected for the CISA Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative.

Chris Hughes, Aquia

Chris brings nearly 20 years of IT and cybersecurity experience to his role as co-founder and chief information security officer at Aquia. As a United States Air Force veteran and former civil servant in the U.S. Navy and the General Services Administration’s FedRAMP program, Chris is passionate about making a lasting impact on his country and our global cyber community at large.

He holds a B.S. in Information Systems, a M.S. in Cybersecurity, and an MBA. He regularly consults with IT and cybersecurity leaders from various industries to assist their organizations with their digital transformation journeys, while keeping security a core component of that transformation.

Role at CISA

Chris is joining our CISA Cybersecurity Division. He will act as a Cloud and Application Security expert, assessing and maturing CISA’s current capabilities by focusing on the delivery of cloud services and shared cloud infrastructure based on existing commercial and government cloud services.

Michelle Hook, CLS International Bank

Michelle Hook is an accomplished cybersecurity leader with a track record of building and supporting global cyber threat intelligence and threat management programs. With 9 years of experience in the private sector, she brings a wealth of expertise to CISA and is eager to collaborate with the team.

Role at CISA

During her time at CISA, Michelle is joining our Capacity Building Subdivision as a senior threat advisor. Here, she will advise us on the development of CISA’s cyber threat intelligence strategy, vision, roadmap, and implementation plan, while providing us with formal and information recommendations for the agency to consider. She will also help facilitate community partnerships and inform and support outreach and engagement efforts to better understand the cyber threat intelligence needs of the community. Additionally, she will work to build key alliances to address longstanding issues, challenges, and barriers and help validate CISA’s current approach. Finally, she will advise the agency on the development of its cyber threat intelligence strategies, operational models, frameworks, and technical plans to move the cybersecurity community collectively towards cyber threat intelligence automation and enhanced cyber domain awareness

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. What is the Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative?

A. The CISA Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative offers technical experts from across the private sector the chance to embed on CISA’s cybersecurity teams and contribute to CISA’s critical national mission while also enhancing their own professional development and experience.

Q. Why is CISA undertaking this initiative?

A. The rapidly evolving cyber risk landscape requires that CISA find new, innovative ways to engage new perspectives outside of the federal government. The Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative marks an important milestone in CISA’s engagement with a broader community of experts whose training and expertise, creativity around solutions, and desire to make a difference in improving global cybersecurity will make for dynamic, additive, and valuable contributions within the CISA mission space.

Q. What types of activities are participants conducting?

A. Through consultation, Fellows help design, the implementation of CISA’s cybersecurity programs and services, as well as strategies to scale new approaches to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, post-compromise containment, initiative evaluation and analysis, cloud security, in addition to CISA’s legacy initiatives supporting federal cybersecurity.

Q. Where do the Fellows work?

A.  Participants are given the option to work remotely, according to preference. They also have onsite access if/when needed.  

Q. Why should a company support an employee participating in the CISA Cyber Innovation Fellows?

A: Employees are always looking for professional development and career advancement opportunities, many of which are unavailable within their company. CISA’s Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative allows companies to take advantage of an opportunity to do both.

Additionally, participants will bring new insight back to their company as they learn how the federal government responds to a cyber incident on a national scale and come to understand CISA’s role as the lead federal agency responsible for protecting civilian and federal government networks.

Q. Does participating give a company any special status?

A. Allowing an employee to participate in the CISA Cyber Innovation Fellows offers development benefits for the Fellow, which in turn benefits their home company, but participation in the initiative does not confer on a private sector organization any direct benefit or special status with CISA.

Q. How many Fellows does CISA plan to take this year?

A. CISA offered 7 Fellows the opportunity to be part of the first cohort for 2023.

Q. How long is the stay for each Fellow?

A. These positions are on a part-time basis of two days per week for a period up to four months. Experts may have the option to extend their time with CISA but are limited to serving only 130 days within a 365-day period. Appointments under this initiative cannot be made in anticipation of seeking permanent employment with CISA..

Q. Are security clearances required?

A. All federal jobs are subject to basic public trust/suitability checks. Additional requirements depend on the position.

Q: Are the Fellows compensated by CISA?

A. Fellows are compensated solely by their private sector company and must sign a written acknowledgement that the initiative will be uncompensated.

Q: How many applied to the inaugural offering?

A. Twenty-six individuals applied to the Initiative during the initial offering.  

Q: Why should candidates participate in this initiative? What are they getting out of it?

A: The initiative is intended to advance the essential partnership between CISA and the private sector by ensuring that the agency benefits from deep expertise across critical disciplines.  

Fellows will gain professional development and bring new insight back to their home organization as they learn how the federal government manages cyber risks on a global scale and CISA’s role as the nation’s cyber defense agency.

Q: What’s it like to work at CISA?

A. As the nation’s cyber defense agency, we were designed to be something different, not another government bureaucracy, but something much more akin to a public/private collaborative. Additionally, CISA has a culture that embraces diversity and puts people first. CISA’s Core Values represent the fundamental tenets of the organization that guide all of our actions: Collaboration, Innovation, Service, Accountability.

Q: Are there any other onboarding requirements?

A. All Fellows are required to submit a Confidential Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450), as well as attend an Ethics briefing before onboarding. A signed non-disclosure agreement is required. Drug testing is required for all CISA employees.

Q: When does CISA plan on reopening the application period for the next cohort?

A: The agency is still assessing the possibility of renewing this program next year. Once this first cohort is completely onboarded, CISA will evaluate the progress of the Initiative and incorporate any feedback from the Fellows into the decision-making process.