I didn't grow up with a roadmap to cybersecurity. I grew up watching the people around me work twice as hard for half the recognition — and I decided early on that whatever space I built for myself, I would leave the door open behind me.
When I entered this industry, it wasn't built for me. The rooms were quiet about names like mine. The opportunities weren't sitting on a tray. So I made my own. I studied late, asked questions when it was uncomfortable, and showed up in places where I was the only one in the room who looked like me — until that stopped being true.
Imposter syndrome wasn't a phase. It was a daily negotiation. The pressure of building from nothing — credentials, network, reputation — while also being expected to be polished, calm, and grateful, almost broke me more than once. It didn't. It sharpened me.
Somewhere in the middle of that grind, I realized I couldn't just climb. I had to build. So I founded JumpLite Tech, a nonprofit dedicated to AI and cyber literacy — putting tools, language, and confidence in the hands of communities that have been historically locked out of this conversation.
Galan, in Spanish, means a man who carries himself with confidence, warmth, and presence — sharp without being cold. That's the man I've worked to become, and that's the energy I bring to the work: cybersecurity expertise, cultural pride, and the conviction that excellence and humanity are not opposites.
"I'm not here to take a seat at the table. I'm here to build a longer one — and pull up chairs for the people coming behind me."