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Building Mississippi’s Cybersecurity Workforce: A $4M+ Partnership Connecting Talent to Opportunity

Mississippi’s cybersecurity workforce gap is no longer an emerging issue—it is a present-day constraint on growth for schools, hospitals, small businesses, and public agencies. In response, Dr. Cadavious M. Jones serves as Co-Director of a $4M+ cybersecurity workforce training initiative delivered through a partnership between Rust College, Mississippi Center for Innovation and Technology (MCITy), and Cisco Systems.


The program was covered by The Vicksburg Post in a story republished on CDO TIMES (Nov. 16, 2025), which emphasized the statewide need—citing an estimated shortage of about 2,500 cybersecurity professionals—and highlighted the program’s role in delivering free training and paid stipends for participants. Note: that coverage focused on program design and impact and did not specify a total project dollar amount.


Why this initiative matters


Cybersecurity is now essential infrastructure. When organizations cannot find trained professionals, the impact extends beyond IT departments—risk increases across entire communities, from financial systems and healthcare to education and local government services. This initiative was built to meet that challenge with a practical pipeline that helps residents move from interest to capability to employability.


For Vicksburg and Warren County in particular, the program brings high-quality training into the community—lowering the typical barriers of cost, travel, and access that often keep adults from entering tech careers.


Dr. Jones’s role as Co-Director


As Co-Director, Dr. Jones’s leadership focuses on execution and outcomes—ensuring the program functions as a coordinated system rather than a set of disconnected activities. His work includes:

  • Coordinating program design and delivery to ensure training remains aligned with industry expectations and workforce needs

  • Leading recruitment and outreach to reach a broad talent pool, including veterans, recent graduates, and mid-career professionals

  • Strengthening partner alignment among education, innovation, and workforce stakeholders (including Accelerate Mississippi)

  • Centering community impact, with a focus on expanding economic mobility and building regional digital resilience


In the original coverage, Dr. Jones described the program as an effort that brings education, innovation, and opportunity together—uniting diverse participants around a common goal: building stronger futures for themselves and their communities.


Partnership model built for real-world results


This collaboration works because each partner contributes what it does best:

  • Rust College anchors the program through curriculum coordination, instructional delivery, and participant recruitment.

  • MCITy provides a workforce-centered environment in Vicksburg that supports hands-on training and local access.

  • Cisco supports alignment with modern cybersecurity expectations and industry relevance.


Dr. Jones’s leadership in this $4M+ initiative reflects a broader commitment to workforce development, cross-sector partnership building, and expanding opportunity through high-impact training. The program demonstrates what is possible when institutions align around a shared mission: preparing Mississippians to protect—and strengthen—the systems their communities rely on every day.


Source

  1. New cybersecurity program to train Mississippians in Vicksburg - Vicksburg Post - The CDO TIMES

 
 
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