Bo Julie Crowley: Contributing to Cybersecurity, Pursuing Secure Elections

Bo Julie Crowley didn’t initially plan to pursue a career in cybersecurity. A 2015 Georgetown graduate with a B.A. in Government, her current focus on cyber issues is a pivot from her undergraduate studies in counterterrorism and Arabic.

But after an internship experience at a University of Maryland homeland security research center, she developed an interest in how cybersecurity would play a role in national security. She later worked as a cybersecurity consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she gained additional knowledge and experience in the field. After the 2016 presidential election, she decided to make the switch from the private to the public sector of cybersecurity research.

Now, Crowley is a Master in Public Policy 2020 candidate at Harvard Kennedy School. As a student fellow at the Belfer Center, she is involved in a number of cybersecurity research initiatives, including the Defending Digital Democracy (D3P) Project that works to secure elections.

She traveled with a D3P team to Richmond, Virginia over the November midterms to observe the processes used by state election officials to ensure a secure election.

Additionally, in early November, Crowley and other students went to New York City to participate in the Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge, a competition designed to engage participants with cyber policy through various potential cyberattack simulations. Although her team didn’t win, she says she enjoyed the experience and liked the opportunity to expand her perspective on how to deal with different cyber issues.

 One of the most exciting aspects about working in cyber, Crowley says, is the opportunity in the field for expansion and also innovation.

“There’s a lot that we’re still figuring out right now,” she says, “so it’s a cool time to be working on it.”