Common Mission Project awards grant to Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University
Funds to support solutions from CMU’s first Hacking for Homeland Security course
WASHINGTON, DC, May 20, 2021 -- Advancing its effort to build a global network of mission-driven entrepreneurs, the Common Mission Project is pleased to announce a $20,000 Impact Fund grant to Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy.
The funds are supporting new solutions for the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency through Hacking for Homeland Security (H4HS), which is transforming the way national security challenges are solved, said Alex Gallo, CMP’s executive director.
“We chose Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College for this award because of its commitment to fostering mission-driven entrepreneurship. We were impressed by the passion and drive of students taking this pilot H4HS class and see promise in solution pathways the student teams have devised to address the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) problems, such as countering disinformation on COVID and fostering business information sharing for small-medium business,” Gallo said.
The Impact Fund is CMP’s philanthropic program. Its goal is to inspire and support mission-driven entrepreneurs and the institutions supporting them to help to solve complex, real-world problems from national security to our local communities, the environment, and beyond.
Award recipients help accelerate mission-driven ideas and scale their impact. “Empowering mission-driven entrepreneurs is core to CMP’s mission; they represent the problem-solvers and leaders we need to address today’s complex challenges we face,” Gallo added.
“Heinz College is pleased with the initial success of the H4HS course and of both student teams’ progress in developing recommendations for the cybersecurity challenges provided by DHS CISA,” said Randall Trzeciak, Heinz College faculty member and a director at CERT, a division of the Software Engineering Institute at CMU. “Working alongside subject-matter experts is an essential component of how we prepare our students for leadership in the cybersecurity field, and the client responses to the solution pathways presented were encouraging.”
Heinz College’s H4HS course provided students with a deeper understanding of CISA and real-world problem-solving through applied and experiential education. H4HS, taught during this past semester, was modeled on Hacking for Defense® (H4D) — the national program bringing new and innovative solutions to the critical challenges of our time. H4D is taught at 47 universities across the United States. CMP’s “Hacking for” programs are a new platform for national service — teaching university students how to use modern entrepreneurial tools to solve national security and intelligence community problems at startup speed.
About the Common Mission Project
The Common Mission Project (CMP) educates, connects, inspires, and supports mission-driven entrepreneurs around the globe. CMP is the non-profit partner of BMNT, Inc. Visit www.commonmission.us/
About Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy
The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy is home to two internationally recognized graduate-level institutions at Carnegie Mellon University: the School of Information Systems and Management and the School of Public Policy and Management. This unique colocation, combined with its expertise in analytics, sets Heinz College apart in the areas of cybersecurity, health care, the future of work, smart cities, and arts & entertainment. In 2016, INFORMS named Heinz College the number-one academic program for Analytics Education. Visit www.heinz.cmu.edu
About DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)
S&T is the science advisor to the Secretary and serves as the research and development arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Visit www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology
About the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
CISA is the Nation’s risk advisor, working with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborating to build more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. Visit www.cisa.gov