Career summary

Evelyn de Souza completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music, graduating with Honours, and a Diploma of Education at Monash University. She worked as a teacher for several years before moving the United States to pursue a career in the Silicon Valley. She has since held a number of  security assurance, compliance and privacy leadership, consulting and advisory, and has been awarded one of CloudNOW’s Top 10 Women in Cloud and a Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Influence.

Career pathway

2019 – Trust, Privacy and Compliance Leader, Oracle, Redwood City
2017 – Advisory Board Member, Social SafeGuard, 360of me ,United States
2016 – Security and Privacy Strategy Consultant, Various Organisations, San Francisco
2012 – Cloud Security and Data Privacy Leader/Strategy Advisor to Cloud Security Alliance, Cisco Systems, San Jose
2009 – Group Marketing Manager Data Center Security, McAfee
2006 – Senior Manager, Risk and Compliance, McAfee
2006 – Senior Manager, BigFix
2005 – Senior Marketing Manager, Cloudmark
2004 – Enterprise Product Marketing Manager, CP Secure
2002 – Product Marketing Programs Manager, Trend Micro
2001 – Product Marketing Education Manager, SS8

Why did you decide to study a Bachelor of Arts?

I did not know what I wanted to do when I left high school. My parents advised me to pursue math and science because it is binary, in the sense that no one can look at your work subjectively. They were concerned about me pursuing the Arts because of how subjective my success in it could be. But I was going through a kind of rebellion as a young person, where the more my parents encourage me to pursue maths and science, the more I leaned towards the Arts, and in particular music.

In hindsight, doing a Bachelor of Arts was probably the best thing I could have done because it is so broad.  It was also like Chicken Soup for the Soul, in the sense that it enabled me to pursue subject areas that I was passionate about.

What were some highlights of your Arts degree?

I really enjoyed the classes and teachers throughout my Arts degree. I remember taking International political studies with Herb Feith, and I found him so inspiring as a lecturer and an activist. I also had this fascination with south-eastern cultures, especially Indonesia. I took Indonesian classes and found a really interesting community of people there.

There was also the music side of my degree. It was a little different to what I had expected but it was still such great exposure to eastern music. I was also doing Renaissance studies at Monash, and I still remember my lecturers so many years after. The classes at Monash were so rich and I left university with a very strong sense of the fundamentals of communication.

What value did your Arts degree give you?

My Arts degree was immensely rewarding and satisfying. Undertaking an Arts degree sets you apart from other potential employees because you are able to gain exposure to different cultures and learn communication skills which are critical in the world today. Human relationships are paramount to how business is conducted, no matter how far technology advances.

Coming from Australia to the United States, I learned how important it was to be able to verbally articulate in any meeting. I also realised how crucial it was to have written communication skills. Throughout my career, I have had to write and review countless documents. I think that all the essays I wrote in my Arts degree really helped me develop those fundamental communication skills.

How did you end up working in the United States?

Throughout my Arts degree, I was mainly studying Music. I knew I didn’t have a future as a concert pianist, and I didn’t know what else I wanted to do. So, I also just took subjects that interested me.

I never thought that where I am today would even be on the horizon. I have to admit, I got where I am by accident, and the best thing about it was that it is very well suited to who I am.

I initially moved to the United States for love. On my initial stay, which coincided with the height of the Silicon Valley bubble in 2000, I attended a recruiting event that was hiring people for technology, just to find out more and gain an understanding.

I ended up applying for a position and I got a job and a visa! I started off in marketing and spent all my time trying to understand how technology worked. I learnt to build a basic website and I took coding courses.

When I first started working in the position, I was very eager and would say yes to anything – even though I was unsure how to do it. But I would go home and learn all about what they were asking me to do and then show up at work and do it. If I had known how intense it was going to be, I might never have done it. However, once I embarked on it, it was kind of thrilling. I worked really hard the first two years I was in America and it ended up being very rewarding for me.

How did you transition from working in marketing to IT?

After the first few years I worked in marketing, I began to envision an actual career path. Silicon Valley is a really hungry environment, in the sense that everyone is doing everything they can to maximise their career. As such, I realised that I should figure out what career path was the best for me. At McAfee, I made the jump from marketing to IT Security. And I guess the rest is history!

If you are eager to learn, and are motivated, you can get to where you want to be.

What advice do you have for students, especially in the current climate?

Don’t be afraid to take risks. I think that as we get older, it is easy to get more risk adverse. But the world is changing so much, and I think that we need to take calculated risks to adapt to it. There is always a reward at the end of that.

With the current pandemic, I think it is important not to buy into a climate of fear. Opportunity abounds when you have a positive mindset. I’m not saying it will be easy, but I think that if you really want to do something, and that’s where your heart is, you can definitely do it.

Written by journalism intern, Ruth Ong, March 2021