About Derrick

Asking questions to prepare for what is next...

Growing up, I was always asking the question, how can I make things better? What are things I need to do to prepare for future challenges - mentally, physically, and spiritually? And, how will what I do today affect my outcome of my task and engagements down the road?  

For college, I entered into a five-year Navy Co-op scholarship program for Electrical Engineering. During my first week of school, I laid out all the classes I would need to take to allow me to graduate in less than five years. I succeeded will only two of my classes being cancelled. I'd met my requirements in about four-years and decided to begin graduate school classes early continue my five year scholarship.

In group settings from college to the workforces, I would collaborate with my colleagues to get them to ask the question, how can we make our outcome the best or better than before? 

As I was navigating my on path in life from career to family, and I would continue to ask myself where I would like see myself in the next 3-5 years. I was in the mindset of laying foundations to build my career, family, and overall life.  

About midway in my career, my ask shifted to what can I do help others with their challenges in business and life. The question became, how can I help transform careers, culture, and lives. 

Helping others view their cyber challenges from a different mindset and perspective...

During my career, I've worked for large enterprise corporations and government agencies. Each having risk/cybersecurity challenges when it came to the business culture adopting new innovations and technologies through digital transformations. I was part of technical pre-sales teams helping customers understand the technology and why it would be a value added benefit to their business. The common challenge I noticed across all organization was siloed use of applications and the lack of communications between business units to maximize use of their technologies.  My focus became helping business cultures understand the cost benefit of working together with applications that benefited their eco-system. This mindset increased application utilization, security, and productivity while working towards an cyber/operational resilience strategy to establish and maintain a cybersecurity posture.

Sharing my cancer journey as a resilient survivor...

As a co-author, this is my first book.  Writing a book that could benefit or help someone else has always been a desire.  My dad began working on this book about a year before I was diagnosed.  After my diagnosis of prostate cancer, it made sense for to pick up in his writing where he left off to share the generational journey of our survival.

Building a resilience mindset over the years...

I was born August 1962 in Brooklyn, New York.  Raised in Connecticut from age four until I went to college at North Carolina A & T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina on a Navy Cooperative Education scholarship to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. While in college, I became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc – Beta Epsilon Chapter – Spring 1982. (Currently an active Life-member with the Mu Lambda chapter located in Washington, DC) After college, I obtained a masters’ degree in Telecommunications Management from University of Maryland University College.

I’ve worked at a variety of places including the same Naval Undersea Warfare Center in New London, Connecticut, as my dad.  My work has always been in technology fields at companies that include Martin Marietta Aero and Naval Systems, Voice of America, MCI, Electric Lightwave, and Siemens Enterprise Communications. 

I’m a Cyber-Business Resilience Executive well-versed in secure enterprise business continuity design architectures and strategies, domestically and internationally, for cyber-secure infrastructures, interoperability, cloud computing, and virtual networking.  In 2008, I left the corporate world to begin my own business – Continuums Corp – focused on secure business continuity strategies for enterprise architectures and consulting for the Navy DoD.  In 2015, I became the Chief Information and Cybersecurity Officer (CIO/CO) for Truth Initiative, a non-profit inspiring lives free from smoking, vaping, and nicotine.

In 2020, I became the President and co-founder on the Board of the Prostate Health Matters (Formerly known as Prostate Cancer Awareness Alliance-DMV (PCAA-DMV))– a non-profit focused on helping men to – Get a GRIP on Prostate Cancer – through educational and informational interactive sessions highlighting prostate cancer treatment centers and cancer support services within their communities and through shared survivor stories. 

Additionally, I’m a photographer, avid/century cyclist and have been a master martial arts practitioner, in over seven different styles, for more than 50-years.  I hold a 4th Degree (Master Instructor) Black Belt in Tang Soo Do and Tai Chi. I live in New Jersey  with my loving wife, Diane. My two sons, live in Queens, New York.