In January 2020, Daisy Peter-Paul was hired as a Junior Java Developer with CGI, the same day she graduated from JEDI’s Cybersecurity Program.
Daisy is a Mi’kmaq woman from Metepenagiag First Nation currently living in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Daisy dabbled in computer science prior to completing her Bachelor of Arts at St. Thomas University in 2018. She was on the fence about returning to studies in the IT field but once she learned about JEDI’s Cybersecurity Course she made the decision and decided to apply.
Taking the Cybersecurity Course has helped Daisy prepare for dealing with various personalities within a work/learning environment. “Coming from a very structured learning environment [university] into a more open adult learning environment was interesting to adjust to but I feel it helped me become more aware of what to expect and how to deal with opposing attitudes,” said Daisy.
Daisy feels that she really gained some new soft skills while taking JEDI’s program. Daisy said, “I already had a grasp on these concepts from my University experiences, but I feel as if this course developed them even further.”
Her future plans include becoming officially certified in the Cybersecurity field. Daisy plans on writing her CySA+ exam soon as well as other certifications in the upcoming year. Daisy believes that “it’s important to bring diversity and innovation to the table and as Indigenous Peoples we have the ability to use our culture and traditions to connect and benefit from the two".
In her opinion, “Indigenous Peoples’ cultures have so much to offer to the IT community so hopefully in the future we see more Indigenous owned/run technology companies and more Indigenous employees working for the ‘big’ IT organizations.”