East Alabama Regional Cybersecurity Alliance (EARCA)

How the Alliance Began

The Talladega County Board of Education (TCBOE) has led powerful partnerships in the East Alabama region with employers, nonprofits, universities, and government agencies to create opportunities for gainful employment for students. In 2023, TCBOE launched their cybersecurity program as a part of Digital Promise’s Inaugural Cybersecurity Pathways Cohort. Through the initiative, they built a workforce pathway for rural students to gain credentials and employment in cybersecurity after graduation.

Recognizing the significant impact of students’ career readiness in the advancement of the East Alabama regional economy, TCBOE and their employer partners were motivated to expand access to cybersecurity career pathways across the region and neighboring school districts, including Anniston City, Etowah County, Oxford City, St. Clair County, Sylacauga City, Talladega City, and Talladega County. Now, through the East Alabama Regional Cybersecurity Alliance (EARCA), the area has the opportunity to strengthen the region’s economy by creating viable cybersecurity employment opportunities through the creation of a cybersecurity workforce ecosystem.

EARCA aims to expand economic opportunity in rural areas by bolstering the cybersecurity workforce ecosystem across multiple rural districts. Across the seven school districts, more than 35,000 students are positioned to engage with EARCA. These students come from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, with more than half (52.5%) qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, underscoring the need for increased access to resources and opportunities. During SY 2024-25, EARCA engaged in essential ground-laying work:

• Partners: Districts have actively engaged local industry and postsecondary partners to establish a supportive network within the regional alliance. These collaborations will provide students with mentorship, internship opportunities, and real-world insights into the cybersecurity field.
• Teachers: Teachers identified to teach cybersecurity in fall 2025 engaged in professional development and are preparing to deliver high-quality instruction aligned with industry needs.
• Curricula: Districts are planning to use curricula from a range of providers, including Project Lead the Way, TestOut, and Code.org, incorporating hands-on learning, industry certifications, and foundational cybersecurity concepts to equip students with essential skills. Each district is also integrating IBM SkillsBuild into their pathway.
• Students: Districts are actively promoting the cybersecurity pathway to students, highlighting career opportunities, the demand for cybersecurity professionals, and potential pathways to higher education or industry certifications. Outreach efforts include informational sessions, career fairs, and engagement with families.

Each district in EARCA is launching at least one cybersecurity course in the 2025-26 school year. These initial course offerings will serve as the foundation for increasing student participation in future years and expanding the pathway with additional course offerings, industry partnerships, and deeper engagement with postsecondary institutions. The long-term goal is to build a robust rural cybersecurity talent pipeline that creates opportunities for students to thrive where they live and supports regional workforce development and economic growth.

The Need for EARCA

Data from Cyberseek indicates that Alabama faces a shortage of cybersecurity professionals to meet the expected job openings in the field. The state recorded more than 11,000 cybersecurity job openings and over 3,000 of these positions required a CompTIA Security+ credential, a global certification acquired by paying for and passing a rigorous examination.

Despite the workforce talent gap, the opportunities are plentiful. According to a regional workforce report, the most lucrative careers fall within Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM), Information Technology (IT), and Finance, offering an average annual salary of $80,000. Additionally, IT and STEM careers are listed as Demand Occupations that provide a living wage for residents in East Alabama.

Through EARCA, this initiative addresses both the cybersecurity industry’s need for new talent and creates pathways for students to gain workforce skills for the future.

Alliance Goals

For the past year, business and university partners have been collaborating to ensure that students have access to mentors, internships, and postsecondary opportunities, which are key components of the Cybersecurity Pathways program. TCBOE and Digital Promise will expand the work of the current cybersecurity advisory board into a regional workforce alliance with support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Goals of the program are:

Alliance Partners

With funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, EARCA will build on the partnership between local industry, universities, and TCBOE in creating career pathways for students in cybersecurity. In addition to a cybersecurity pathway program for high school students, EARCA will establish a workforce pipeline connecting the K–12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors with support from community and government agencies in East Alabama. Championed by major employers in the region, multiple formal partnerships have already been established, including:

Get Involved

Are you an employer, student, district leader or workforce non-profit interested in building the workforce of the future? Contact Kristian Lenderman.

Funding provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology through the Regional Alliances and Multistakeholder Partnerships to Stimulate (RAMPS) Cybersecurity Education and Workforce Development (RAMPS Program) 2024-NIST-RAMPS-01.