Joie de Vivre: Monique Head

Monique Head, Senior Manager, Security Education & Awareness, brings an open and artistic spirit to our Infosec team. Her work during last October’s Cyberfest activities was incroyable. She turned a call with a small group from all over the organization, most of whom had never met before, into a fully functional, cohesive team excited to execute and engage a wide variety of participants. Under her leadership, we had the best Cyberfest in company history.

Monique has a passion for “edutainment” or “gamification” in learning. As an owner-operator of her own consulting business while living in France, she explored acting, modeling, and design. These experiences now allow for the creation of meaningful educational training, which she has developed for a wide variety of learners.

Visibility and representation drive Monique’s passion. From working to build programs introducing computer use in the rural South to educational programs with Black Girls CODE, her work is motivated by the example of pioneers such as Gladys Mae West. Focusing on the empowering element of education, she works to create programs for youth education.

Monique offers Palo Alto Networks a dynamic and passionate educator. The chance to turn her vision of cybersecurity education and training into reality is a benefit in strengthening our culture. The success of Cyberfest was dependent on its appeal to, and engagement with, all levels of learners. Monique’s focus on each individual level, even children via special Cyber Academy classes, is evidence of her diligence and passion toward educating future generations on cybersecurity.

As an educator, Monique asks her participants to lean into their discomfort zone. As with a traveler working to develop a new language, discomfort can nudge one to work just a bit harder to understand and succeed. The next time you’re able to participate in one of Monique’s events, I’m sure you’ll agree that it has that certain je ne sais quoi.