Dawn Manga is the Assistant Director for Resilience and Cybersecurity at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in the National Security Division. She is on a temporary assignment from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). At CISA, Dawn is a Senior Advisor within the Emergency Communications Division. She has previously been a Program Manager for major IT and Identity Management programs at CISA and Department of Homeland Security Headquarters. Prior to joining DHS, Dawn served as a Technology Fellow within the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group where she worked in strategic planning for the U.S. Navy and served in DoD for 10 years.
Ms. Manga received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Florida and earned a Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. She also holds a Project Management Professional certification and is a Certified Information Security Manager. Dawn is originally from Baltimore, MD.
Why did you become a mentor?
I became a mentor so that I could give back to someone in a way I didn’t have access to when I was younger. I had a challenging and indirect path to college that definitely could have benefitted from the guidance of a mentor. Additionally, I really enjoy the opportunity to share my story and show that even through adversity, you can persevere.
How long have you been mentoring with Spark the Journey?
I signed up with Spark back in June of this year and was preliminarily matched with my mentee in July. I met Jordyn at a match event in September, so I’ve only been mentoring for about 3 or 4 months. I do have history with another mentorship organization that I worked with in various capacities for years, but Spark the Journey is a much better fit for me.
What activities do you do with your mentee?
My mentee and I have primarily gone to places where we can grab a bite to eat while we catch up and chat about literally anything going on in her world… from family to friends to looking for a job or figuring out her major for college. We’ve also attended some of the events hosted by Spark, such as the Spy Museum outing and college tours.
What has been a highlight of your mentoring experience so far?
I really enjoyed helping Jordyn decide what her major would be. She identified a few areas she was interested in and within a few weeks she was able to narrow it down to one area that she wants to pursue. That felt really good and I was super excited when she told me she’d decided… maybe a little too excited LOL!
What is one of your mentee’s dreams?
She wants to become a Forensic Scientist which I think is super cool! Increasing the number of girls in STEM is a passion of mine, so I’m really happy Jordyn chose that as her major.
How are you helping them achieve it?
I’ve been acting as a sounding board and giving Jordyn things to think about when it comes to deciding on a major as well as talking through picking colleges to apply to. I’ve really just been trying to make sure I stay in contact and let her know she has someone in her corner to support her in this big decision, especially as someone that didn’t take a direct path to college and lacked a mentor to help guide me during my challenging times.
How has Spark helped you in your mentoring relationship?
Spark gives opportunities to talk with other mentors and bounce ideas off of them or just see how other matches are going, which is helpful. Having goals for each month is useful to guide conversations with our mentees. Also, having a Program Coordinator to reach out to if you have questions is beneficial because trying to manage everything on your own can be challenging.
What advice would you give anyone considering mentoring?
Definitely check out multiple mentoring organizations to understand how each one supports the mentorship match as well as each side of the match separately because that may affect the outcome of the experience. Also, be yourself! Your mentee will benefit most from someone that is their authentic self in a world where social media sometimes shows a skewed view of reality.