Curtis Carpenter, senior information technology security analyst, is working to close equity gaps in STEM by introducing Black youth to cybersecurity careers through CyberPatriot, a national education program. Alongside engineer David Kinder and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Carpenter leads a student team in Inglewood, teaching cyber defense fundamentals and aiming to build early awareness of high-demand, high-paying jobs in the field.

“It’s hard for them to aspire to be in a career if they don’t know that it exists,” Carpenter says. “We want to expose them to that. And there aren’t a lot of African American professionals in the cyber industry and the IT industry as well in comparison to other ethnic groups. One of the ways that we want to change that is to try to expose them to this early through this program.”

This article was originally published by Los Angeles Standard Newspaper on March 21, 2026.