I first became interested in volunteering at ISACA in 1999 when then-London Chapter President Gerry Penfold asked me to update and run the chapter website. Having been to many chapter meetings before that, I was inspired by how events were run regularly and successfully by only a small bunch of volunteers and how these volunteers, in full-time employment, were prepared to give up their evenings to arrange and run these events. I felt I wanted to be part of such a group and jumped at the opportunity when it presented itself. In retrospect, that was one of the best decisions I have made.
I have been very fortunate to volunteer for ISACA at the chapter and global levels for more than 20 years, including on international boards, committees and working groups. This experience has had a significant positive influence on me both professionally and personally. The proudest moment of all my time at ISACA is undoubtedly receiving the ISACA Eugene M. Frank Award for Meritorious Performance in 2019. One of my most proud experiences as a chapter volunteer was when the ISACA London Chapter was awarded the K. Wayne Snipes Award for Best Chapter in the Very Large Category Worldwide in 2006, the second year into my president role at the chapter. I had a great team around me at the chapter board and am incredibly proud of what we achieved.
When I think about what being an ISACA volunteer is all about, I think about Paul Williams, who was a mentor and friend for many years. I can think of no better role model and inspiration in volunteering at ISACA than Paul, who was always so approachable and open to providing feedback. He understood chapters very well, having been one of the founders of the London Chapter, back in 1981, but it was his leadership and strategic direction at the international level that really resonated with me, and I was very lucky to be vice president and then president of the London Chapter at a time when Paul was on the international board, serving as international president, and then chairing the Strategic Advisory Council. It was a very proud moment when I presented the London Chapter President’s award to Paul at the chapter’s annual one-day conference in 2006. Paul is greatly missed but will always be remembered as exemplifying volunteering at ISACA.
My passion for volunteering extends beyond ISACA. I have been very privileged to have volunteered at the London 2012 Paralympics, the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, the Rio 2016 Olympics and the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics and Paralympics, plus several other international sporting events in the past few years, including the 2018 Special Olympics in UAE. I think one of the best benefits of volunteering is the people that you get meet and interact with. I was very fortunate to have worked as a delegation assistant at two Paralympic Games and one Special Olympics, which means being assigned to a specific country’s team and close interaction with the team management, coaches and athletes. That, to me, is the most special and rewarding, and I am so inspired by the determination and courage shown by the Paralympic athletes as they prepare for competition and perform at the highest international level.
Seeing how people open up to and warm up to the work that volunteers do is incredibly rewarding, and the fact that the volunteers are doing what they are doing because they want to be there is quite heartening. I have made lifelong friends across the globe from my volunteering experiences at ISACA and major sporting events. For me, volunteering has provided an ideal way of complementing the work I have done at a professional level in large global organizations over most of my professional life.
From a career standpoint, it’s been fascinating to see how the work we do has become more widely understood over the years. Especially when I started out, work was very much work and then your private life was your private life, but there’s such a merging of those now in the digital economy. Particularly in the fields that we work in, such as IT security and cybersecurity, we’re all online – our children are online, our parents, our friends, our colleagues – and we’re able to discuss some of those things at dinner parties, where that wouldn’t have happened years back.
It’s almost that you’re never away from the challenges, but the plus side is that everybody has a closer understanding of what you’re doing and you see the value of what you’re doing, whereas in the past, they were probably a little bit distanced from it, and unless they were really engaged in a similar type of thing, it would be a kind of black box to them. Whereas now, there’s much more debate and discussion and interaction. You’ll be telling people how to set up their Facebook settings and how to secure their online bank accounts, and there is an intersection between our personal and professional lives.
We’re also able to provide some helpful input into the community. Another way in which I volunteer is by going around talking to schools and other places to talk about internet safety, so that’s directly related to the work that I do, and I know other people do similar types of things. The ability to make that type of societal impact wouldn’t have happened early in my career.