As a Cybersecurity Analyst for the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, I assist in maintaining our judiciary’s cybersecurity. Throughout my day-to-day, I communicate with judges, lawyers, clerks, and administrative staff who ensure that our judiciary can serve its mission about the importance of cybersecurity and the critical role each one of us has in it. I also participate in our incident response and in projects that can reduce our cyber risk and improve our stance against threats. 

One of my favorite projects, which I have found incredibly engaging, is an audit. I wouldn’t have ever expected to say that I was excited about audits! What I find exciting about this audit is how it came about through a conversation. I spoke with someone from the Networking team, and we identified a security risk that could be mitigated through an audit. After discussing the risk and learning how to address it, I obtained my supervisor’s approval to pursue this audit. It’s incredibly exciting that, through a conversation, I found a project that could significantly improve our cybersecurity stance. 

Through my work, I have learned more about our judiciary and the public servants that support it. This has significantly shaped how I understand and view public service. So many of us who are in public service genuinely want to improve our government functions. Whether it be improving our cybersecurity stance through an audit, improving workflows, hiring, and onboarding practices, these things all have a common goal: to enhance government efficiency so that we may better serve our mission. 

Learning that everyone wants to make the judiciary a place where we can more effectively serve justice within our communities has been incredible. Notably, as a NobleReach Scholar and someone new within the judiciary, I have many new perspectives and ideas, and those ideas have received outstanding support. I’m excited to say that through the support I’ve received, we’ve had the chance to build and enhance our relationships within our communities. For example, I will be collaborating with different teams within our Judicial Information Division to see how we might pilot an internship program in our department. I am working on the initial phase of building out this program, and I am hopeful to see it come to fruition. 

If I were to speak to someone who was considering applying to the NobleReach Scholars Program, I would want them to know how rewarding being a part of the NobleReach Scholars program is. Through the bootcamp, I learned new ideas and perspectives every single day! I’ve also had the opportunity to connect with like-minded Scholars who want to serve our communities and have incredible goals. This program has allowed me to believe, and it has also shown me that anything is possible! We serve at all levels of government, collaborate and work with the private sector, and make impactful change that influences the lives of thousands, and sometimes millions of people. I continue to learn new things every single day, collaborate with wonderful people to better serve our communities, and enhance my career, all thanks to the NobleReach Scholars Program. This is truly an incredible opportunity that I would easily recommend to anyone interested.