Dr. Rhonda Farrell says her career chose her rather than the other way around. She credits her time in the U.S. Marine Corps as the start of her technology career. A cybersecurity change management expert at Booz Allen, with a Ph.D. in information assurance, Rhonda focuses on quality and innovation-oriented transformation (people, process, and technology) for defense, the intelligence community, and civil clients.
“I was interested in math, but when I grew up there wasn’t a lot of STEM offerings, and few women mentors to lead the way,” says Rhonda. In the Marines, she chose the ‘operations computing track’—learning about mainframe computers and the basis of computer architectures.
“This opened up many more STEM opportunities and I built upon my Marine Corps experience at commercial firms focused on mainframe, storage, telecommunications, and security technologies. This set the course for the work I’m doing today.”
She credits a diverse team of supportive leaders and mentors—both men and women—for helping her grow and succeed at the firm.
As a way of giving back to others, Rhonda’s a dedicated volunteer for several organizations with a similar purpose—creating member communities that utilize innovation to improve humanity and society. These include the American Society for Quality, Association of Change Management Practitioners, Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Rhonda was recently recognized as a Distinguished Fellow at the ISSA International Conference.
“I’m proud of the opportunity to apply the skills I’ve honed over three decades towards helping these organizations move forward and engage in mission-aligning activities.”
