Kyla Guru, 19, CEO of Bits N' Bytes Cybersecurity Education
When I was reading about Kyla, I was so impressed by her achievements and thought she was at least in her thirties but at 17, Kyla established her own education organization designed to raise awareness for cybersecurity with a global-scale mission. Now 19, Kyla is balancing studying at Stanford, multiple passion projects, all-while sipping her mother’s chai tea. Way to pave the way for the youth and women in tech Kyla!
TECHSESH: If we met at a social gathering, how would you introduce yourself?
Hi friends!! I'm Kyla and I'm the Founder/CEO of Bits N' Bytes Cybersecurity Education, or BNBCE. BNBCE is an international nonprofit dedicated to educating and empowering vulnerable populations in cybersecurity and privacy awareness and education. I am also the Co-Founder and Board Member of GirlCon Conference (www.girlcon.org), an annual, international high-school tech conference that unites 700+ industry professionals and students annually to discuss bridging the gender gap in tech. I'm a social entrepreneur, a creative junkie, and a student--I study Computer Science and International Security at Stanford University! My passions lie in the intersection of technology, equity/ethics, and cybersecurity and privacy. While I’m not creating curriculum for classrooms or tracking threat actors online, you can find me golfing, learning kickboxing, or endlessly debugging code!
TECHSESH: What was the inspiration behind BNBCE?
When I was at GenCyber camp during the summer before ninth grade, I was pulled into midnight conversations about cybersecurity where I saw how real-world, pervasive, and intersectional its impacts were personally to humans--our safety and security online heavily correlates to our physical safety and security. It was also here that I learned that most attacks boil down to human error and cybersecurity culture--we see foreign threat actors infiltrate our power, energy, and water due to weak passwords, password reuse, poorly configured systems, or a lack of updating devices. To shift culture, we start with education--I didn't see an adequate conversation about cybersecurity with young people in our K-12 system. At that point, I saw that there was a real need to flip cybersecurity culture on its head--to help individuals (starting from the first time they interact with their devices) understand that their personal cybersecurity matters not only for their own safety, but for our collective security.
TECHSESH: What are some challenges you’ve faced as a young CEO?
There have been situations where I've felt a need to prove my worth in certain rooms I was invited to or placed in just because of my age (relative to the demographic that is typically represented in rooms of cybersecurity professionals), but I have since learned to see age, diversity, and lived experiences as a real asset and to see that you have exactly the ingredients inside you to make a significant contribution to any conversation. The main points here are how much representation, inclusivity, and allyship matters for young people in tech: passing individuals the mic and making their voice feel valid and valued. Especially if we are talking about the future of an industry, we better have some Gen Z'ers in the room who have a real stake in the conversation. :)
TECHSESH: For all our younger followers, any tips on getting into Stanford?
March to the beat of your own drum, find what makes you come alive and do more of that. You cannot go wrong by investing and cultivating the passions and causes that move you (maybe even move you outside your comfort zone) as a human being. Once you do this, you will find the right place for you uniquely, where you will thrive as a learner and leader, wherever that may be!
TECHSESH: You've already done so much at such a young age, where do you see yourself in the next five years?
If there's one thing that quarantine has taught me, it's that there is so much of the world left to explore. I hope to work in the intersection of cybersecurity, human rights, and law, fighting for safety, security, and privacy for all. For now, there's still a lot of work to be done to transform our education system to reflect the diversity/equity, inter-disciplinary savviness, and need for innovation-driven learning that Generation Z envisions, in relation to cybersecurity, and beyond!
TECHSESH: How will you balance school and BNBCE and GirlCon?
My mother's chai tea is definitely a sanity saver. :) To be honest, I'm incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by a support system that keeps me grounded and allows me to be myself on good and bad days. I'd say a couple of things to this:
- Generally, I try and schedule out blocks of time for each passion project, and make it happen if I know it will be what keeps me fueled for the future.
- Find if an activity in your schedule or a project is an "adder," "subtracter," or "multiplier," in terms of energy and spirit. I try and mix my days with a combination of these happenings so that I am keeping myself balanced.
- Checking in with myself. I'm always learning to be more cognizant of my body's needs: I've started leaving large blocks to take breaks, exercise, call a friend, and enjoy the humanness of life like realizing just how orange your tangerines are. :P
TECHSESH: What would you tell other girls who are trying to enter into the tech space?
Realize that there is inherent power in your voice/your presence and that you have ALL the ingredients inside you already to make an indelible impact on those around you. There is a community that will be there for you, and even in the moments that are tough, know that (1) you are strong, courageous, and brave enough to face what comes your way, and (2) there are others in the same industry that look like you, speak the same languages, come from the same backgrounds to listen, act as a mentor, be a sounding board, and carry you forward. May you never forget that you are already changing the world.
TECHSESH: Who do you look up to for inspiration and why?
So many firepower young women making change in our present that inspire me, and so many figures of our past to look up to. Honestly, I think back farther in our history to some of the trailblazers who really set the benchmark in the face of certain uncertainty and choose to fight the good fight when faced with cynicism and doubt—Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Eleanor Roosevelt, Katherine Johnson, and so many more. In security specifically, the first home security system was built by a woman—Marie Van Brittan Brown! And of course, the first program was written by Ada Lovelace. These women are not exceptions to the rule, they are the rule. Every woman should be celebrated every day for the glass ceilings we dance on to make the world turn.
TECHESH: What has kept you motivated whilst everything unraveled last year?
It's absolutely not always easy for anyone I think. Definitely keeping up with projects and missions that fuel me and seeing other selfless heroes in the community safely organizing and doing the hard work. I took this time as a potential period of growth and just continued with the projects that I really felt close to my heart, trying to be more intentional about the energy I surround myself with every day.
TECHSESH: Outside of school and your companies, what do you like to do on your free time?
Lots of quarantine interests including ~very amateur~ kickboxing, neighborhood walking, blueberry-pie baking, reading poetry, and many movie marathons with the family!
TECHSESH: What is something you wish our readers take away from your interview?
You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to be a leader, all it takes is courage, bravery (to step out of the norm, to break the glass ceiling, and dance to the beat of your own drum), determination, sacrifice, and passion. The coolest part of being a leader and an innovator is being able to see the world through the eyes of someone who can make it a better place--noticing the pain points your neighbors are having and how you can help fix it, the unmet need that your school has that you can help cater to, or the way you can make your brother/sister/friend feel just a little bit safer, happier, or healthier. You have everything inside you needed to make a difference--all you must do now is keep your eyes and ears open!
Kyla introducing cybersecurity to primary kids
Let’s stay connected!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyla-g/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gurudetective?lang=en