Elton

I grew up in Monrovia, Liberia, where most things for daily sustenance required manual labor. Water needed to be fetched from distant wells with large buckets and firewood had to be cut for cooking meals. Moving to the United States in 2001 and the experience of twenty-first century America with all of its incredible advancements ignited many things within me. For one, I could see how the power of technology could be a great socioeconomic equalizer.  Secondly, I believed technology could influence change, both on a personal and societal level.  I became interested in engineering and began to pursue it as a career. 

I enjoy problem solving and I’m passionate about delivering transformative solutions. Being an engineer at Goldman Sachs provides me with opportunities to channel my creative thinking into making tangible impact. In my role, I’m empowered to pursue new ideas and propose creative solutions. Currently, the firm is increasingly looking to leverage the public cloud to expand our Engineering footprint. As a cybersecurity expert, I partner with engineers to develop solutions that sufficiently manage the risk of this expansion, while simultaneously fueling growth and innovation. 

Currently I manage two teams – Application Security and Supply Chain Security – both of which are focused on helping the firm manage technology risk. The Application Security team is responsible for understanding and defining risk tolerance. We focus on defining reference architecture patterns and standards that provide risk frameworks to engineers, as well as performing deep-dive technical assessments on applications, including design/architecture reviews and penetration tests. The Supply Chain Security team ensures the firm evaluates and effectively manages risks for vendors with material risk profiles. We help establish cybersecurity requirements during the contracting process with vendors, perform point-in-time risk assessments, and also continuous risk control monitoring of vendors.

I am involved with the Black Engineers (BE) Network, one of the firm’s many employee affinity groups. As a member of the steering committee, I help with community outreach, mentorship, recruiting and retention. We are currently working on multiple initiatives aimed at improving the representation of Black engineers at the firm – be it through hiring or promotion. The equalizing power of technology is something I’m passionate about and through the BE Network and its initiatives, I can help level the playing field within corporate America.

Outside of work, I like to garden, repair things around the house and build and troubleshoot hardware. I have always been interested in learning how things work, so getting to the bottom of a problem to understand the issue – be it a broken doorknob or a cybersecurity concern – allows me to fuel my curiosity and channel it into building solutions, both at work and beyond.