The Buzz with ACT-IAC
The Buzz with ACT-IAC
Playbook on Post-Quantum Cryptography: A Talk with an Associates Graduate from Accenture Federal Services
We get to talk with Kathryn Wayman, an early career professional who shares her journey through the ACT-IAC Professional Development Associates (PDA) program. Kathryn highlights her background, experience in government and consulting, particularly at Accenture Federal Services, and her involvement in developing a playbook for federal readiness for quantum computing. They discuss Kathryn's passion for public service, the diverse opportunities provided by the PDA program, and the significance of quantum computing and cryptography in federal agencies. The episode wraps up with a fun acronym challenge, showcasing Kathryn's competitive spirit.
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(Episodes 1-159: Intro/Outro Music: Focal Point/Young Community
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Yohanna: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome back to the Buzz from Act iac. I am your host, Joanna Baes, and today we are diving into the experiences of early career professionals who have taken part in the act, iac, professional Development Associates program. We get to explore their journeys before, during, and after the program, and they're sharing what they learned, how they grew.
Yohanna: And where they're headed next. Okay, so let's jump in. Hello, Katherine. Good morning. Thank you so much for joining me on the Buzz. Hi, Yohanna, great to be here. Thanks for having me. We were talking earlier about how GovCon is full of acronyms. I hope you're ready for acronym WARS at the end of this.
KATHRYN: I am. I am trying to prepare as best I can for whatever's to come.
Yohanna: Good. Good. All right, so. Let's, uh, let's start from the beginning. I'd, I'd like to know kind of like who you are, where you came from, um, just maybe share a brief overview of your background and your career journey. Absolutely happy
KATHRYN: to. So as you [00:01:00] mentioned, my name is Katherine Wayman and I'm actually originally from Fort Worth, Texas, so born and raised in Texas and I went to school at George Washington University.
KATHRYN: It's actually what brought me out to the DMV area and I had a really exciting undergraduate experience where got to intern a couple times on the hill. Department of Justice, SEC, and also a Department of Commerce. So very early on I knew I wanted to be in a sort of public service adjacent, or either directly in public service.
KATHRYN: It's always been kind of a passion area of mine and just didn't know what capacity that would look like. Um, so that's why I had a lot of internships to kind of explore what that could look like and just get more hands-on experience. Um, and then my senior year of college. Got more introduced to the consulting world.
KATHRYN: Um, so more of the industry side of GovCon. And I had a couple interviews and found Accenture, um, which is where I currently work. And so I started [00:02:00] at Accenture about a month after I graduated, and that's where I've been ever since. So, um, I'm about four and a half years in, I'll hit my five years actually this summer, which is super exciting.
KATHRYN: So that's where I currently Congratulations. Thank you. So that's where I, I currently am work at Accenture Federal Services, um, in more of a growth strategy role, um, within what we call our civilian portfolio.
Yohanna: Oh, that sounds fun. Yes. Strategy for us, us common
KATHRYN: folks? No, it's, it's great. So it's all about, um, how can we grow the business and, um, deliver better resources, assets to clients, and how can we creatively help them solve their mission at hand, essentially.
KATHRYN: Um, so it's a lot of strategic thinking, critical thinking. Um, it's coming up with processes that don't necessarily already exist, which I love. A lot of creativity there. Um, so my job is definitely not the same every day. Um, it looks very different, which I love and enjoy. Um. I definitely don't wanna be sitting there doing the same thing every day.
KATHRYN: [00:03:00] Um, that just for me, it, it doesn't scratch my itch. And so I, I genuinely really enjoy my job and what I do. That's so
Yohanna: cool. So when you mentioned the Hill, I automatically went to Veep. Have you seen, have you seen Veeps? Yes, I have. I have. It is. It's so funny. It's a great series. It's a great series. So it was like what?
Yohanna: They were like, they were Veep, they were on the hill. Fast paced. Fast paced. And now with Accenture and just, I think that's really great training, right? Like the Hill and anything that has to do with just being as close as you can to the White House and stuff like that's, that's amazing training.
Yohanna: Congratulations. I love that. Thank you. Yeah. Great context
KATHRYN: for just general like appropriations process of how that works. Then just being able to kind of intern in different capacities within either Department of Justice, like I was a Pathways intern, um, which is a program that essentially kind of tears you up to be within the government.
KATHRYN: Um, and I was in one of their procurement offices, so. Really quickly understood how acquisitions work, [00:04:00] how the procurement process works, which it is extremely complex. Um, and so it was, it was a really good crash course into how one funding is done and two things are acquired within and around the government.
Yohanna: Yeah, absolutely. That's so cool. I love that. Behind the curtain, huh? Yes. What, um, so I wanna know what inspired you to apply to the ACT I Act, professional development. Um, you're with the Associates Program, right? Yes. Currently
KATHRYN: in Associates 25. The program started April of 2025 and we actually kicked off at, um, the US Patent and Trade Office, which was great.
KATHRYN: So that was out in Alexandria. Really cool experience to go and, and tour around their facility and, and get to hear from their CIO at the time, which was amazing. Um, but I actually had a lot of mentors in my life who had been involved in ACT I Act and suggested that I apply. I don't have any kind of familial ties to like GovCon or [00:05:00] even really consulting, so this is very net new for me.
KATHRYN: And I wanted to really, one, grow my network, but also two, just learn more about the industry itself and, um, get more kind of ingrained experience on, you know, public speaking, like how to be a better leader. Just some of those core skills that are so transferrable no matter where you are in your career or really what industry you're in.
KATHRYN: And. So those were kind of some of the main reasons that I wanted to apply and just kind of be a part of it and what a year it's been just, just, just been such a transformative year within GovCon. I think I've heard many times people say kind of, we're in these really unprecedented times and there's just so much newness, which I think there's a lot of pros to, and um, it's been a really great year to be a part of the program and just lean on my peers to understand and kind of.
KATHRYN: How they're reacting, what their firms are doing. Um, and just kind of have an ear at times.
Yohanna: Oh yeah, for sure. I, I've noticed folks really under like, understand like, this isn't, this [00:06:00] isn't how it usually is, but it's such a great opportunity to really like knock it out of the park. Like, this isn't what we're used to.
Yohanna: This is an opportunity for us to like. Make it work and how can we make it work? What are the things that we need to do to, you know, like amp it up or whatever. So that's really good to hear. Also, I think Sarah's amazing. She has such an fun mind, like an, an immersive experience at the patent office to kick off your associate's program.
Yohanna: That's, that's super cool. I love that. It was
KATHRYN: great. And it was like a full day event where we went there, um, essentially met everyone in the cohort. Again, got to hear from the CIO at the time, which was great, and just talk about exposure to senior leadership, but someone who's had a decades long career in GovCon and get to share that with us.
KATHRYN: Um, 'cause for a lot of us, this is our first time either going through a government shutdown, going through the transition for a new administration. And so getting to lean on and, and speak with coaches and people like Syracuse who've been there has been really beneficial to kind of the kickoff of our career to [00:07:00] understand kind of.
KATHRYN: How to pivot, how to embrace the change and how to make sure that we're still like doing our jobs at the end of the day and, and making impact where we can.
Yohanna: Oh, yeah, for sure. Absolutely. I, I also hear that you are. Relatively self-aware. You were like, I, some of my mentors have, have, uh, mentioned act iac, I think I should do this 'cause I wanna get better at public speaking.
Yohanna: I really like that you knew what you needed and you went and you got it, you know? Yes, yes. Um, were there any kind of, uh, I guess challenges besides that that you, that you, that this program has helped to kind of address it? And if not, let's just go to the next question. Like, what were your initial impressions of the program?
Yohanna: And any, has anything like surprised you? I think the
KATHRYN: program has been great. It's really been, it's been a monthly event essentially of a certain topic. So we've had one on AI networking, how to be a better leader, public speaking negotiations. Someone actually came in and gave us a really [00:08:00] detailed rundown of the far, um, which was.
KATHRYN: Super helpful. I would say the geek side of me was really excited for that session because the far, and this kind of ties back to some of my previous experience, kind of in a procurement office is mm-hmm. Just so. Impactful with how everything is run in GovCon and just the general acquisition process. So getting to understand that more on a detailed level from someone who has been in and around the far and kind of representing clients for a while is super helpful.
KATHRYN: Just to understand generally like how things should be run. How to follow the rules and make sure that we're being compliant. So that to me, and also just everything that's happening with the overhaul of the far and net new changes that are happening. Again, this is just, there's, there's so much newness going on right now that I think is really exciting and um, it's energetic to an extent as well.
KATHRYN: I, I geek out about stuff too.
Yohanna: Like I totally understand, like, the [00:09:00] geek in me was like taking a copious notes. Like, what are they, what is this? The history? Where are we going? Like,
Yohanna: yes. Um, I know a lot of our professional development programs, we have coaches. Can you kind of maybe talk about your, your mentoring, your, um.
Yohanna: Your current coach? Yes,
KATHRYN: I'm happy to. No, my, my coach that was assigned to my team is, um, Laura Smith, and she's a CEO and founder of a, of a small consulting firm. And she has been fantastic. Um, my team essentially met each week to go through our project, talk through where we're at, talk status, and Laura was always just there to help support us, um, and be there when we needed her.
KATHRYN: I think she struck a really fine balance of. Being supportive, but also giving us the space to kind of explore and do the hard stuff on our own. Right. It's, um, it was, it was really helpful. But then of course when there are times where we might've been caught up on questions or queries that we just point blank didn't [00:10:00] know she was able to come in and, and provide insight just based off of her experience.
KATHRYN: And it was, it was nice for her to like shine light on things that we maybe hadn't experienced before or known. And she's always super supportive. We also had like. Dinners together, um, just outside of the program too, which I think is always really nice to get to know people at more of a personal level and she always really prioritize that.
KATHRYN: So making sure, yes, we're here from a professional capacity to. Explore, like how we can be better leaders and get the job done and fit the bill for whatever our project was, but also just know each other at a deeper level. Yeah. I,
Yohanna: I forget how, how a lot of my conversations have been where folks are just like, oh, I, I know this person outside of work.
Yohanna: I know this person outside of the office, and how that strengthens their relationship in the office. Yes. Like just. Go to dinner with somebody and then you, you see them, you know, at a dimly lit dinner table, like cutting their stake up, talking about their kids or whatever. And then you see them in the office and you're just like, I know a little bit about you.
Yohanna: [00:11:00] Like I can probably approach you with this difficult task right now. And you, and like a lot of those, that anxiety kind of, you know, falls by the wayside. Like, I just got this report, like, can I talk to you about it? And later can we have
KATHRYN: drinks? You know? Yep. I totally, no, I totally agree. So it's been, it's been a really good environment and Laura's fantastic.
KATHRYN: I can't say enough good things about her. She's amazing.
Yohanna: So we're getting closer to, uh, graduation. In what ways do you think the PDA program has influenced. Your career path so far? I mean, so far you've had an amazing life. Like, I, I really wanna read your bio, bio, your biography, but moving forward, like where do you see some of these skills, uh, being used in, you know, maybe at Accenture and and beyond?
Yohanna: Yeah, no,
KATHRYN: that's, that's a great question. I would say. A lot of what we did for our group project has been really impactful and influential for me. Um, and I'd love to just [00:12:00] kind of talk through what my team did and, and kind of what our report was. So as you know, with ACT I Act Associates program, we're split up into teams and we essentially support a COI, so a community of interest.
KATHRYN: And my team was assigned to the emerging technology, COI. So anything that's out and new that's people are trying to explore, like. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, edge computing, quantum computing, um, is kind of up for grabs and so we actually decided to tackle quantum computing. Which personally is a passion area of mine that I'm really interested in.
KATHRYN: Again, a side that I will totally geek out on. And we essentially researched and interviewed, um, SMEs within the quantum computing, but also post quantum cryptography space to come up with a 20 page playbook. On how US federal agencies can help prepare for the quantum computing era, and more specifically, [00:13:00] how they can use post quantum cryptography to help make sure that their cryptographic inventory is safe.
KATHRYN: So when quantum computing does fully become mature and those capabilities are here, they're prepared and ready, and they know that their information is safe. Wow,
Yohanna: okay.
KATHRYN: I could talk about that for a long time,
Yohanna: but it's just 20 pages. 'cause how can you bring that all down at a 20 page playbook? Like, I feel like this, it's a full library.
KATHRYN: It is. You know, it's, no, and it, it was. A bit of a passion project for me and my teammates were fantastic and it was interviewing people at nist, um, and with other kind of industry partners as well. And essentially the first portion of it just focuses solely on what is quantum computing and how is it very different than your more classical computer.
KATHRYN: Um, like what is a cubit? How is that different than a bit, what is entanglement mean? And [00:14:00] just getting more of like an elementary foundation on what quantum computing is and really just to kind of debunk a lot of the myths that are out there. Quantum computing as well. Yeah. And then the second portion focuses on what actually is post quantum cryptography.
KATHRYN: And what kind of directives have the federal government currently put out to help agencies kind of make that transition more seamless? Um, and so a lot of what we talk about in the playbook is memorandum M 2302. Which is essentially a directive that says that each federal agency needs to have an assessment of their cryptographic inventory on an annual basis that they submit that essentially flags like what are the most vulnerable assets, essentially that need to be prioritized, um, to make sure that they are safe once quantum computing does mature so.
KATHRYN: That's the first part. And then we created a roadmap, um, which essentially [00:15:00] tells you like, in a very easy kind of three-pronged approach, how can you best prepare your agency? Um, taking into account all of the things like budget skills and talent education, all of those things. That's always a question, right?
KATHRYN: Where do, where do I have the budget for this? How can I get it done? How do I upskill my people? Um, and, and how do I make sure that I still abide by directives that are currently out there like M 2302?
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Yohanna: silence. Because right now, when I think about quantum, I know it's not binary. When I think about the cryptography, I know that it's not blockchain, right? But I know that they're similar and I know that they kind of have similar functions in a way, or like the way that I understand binary, the binary function is like from, okay, 0 1, 0 1.
Yohanna: But quantum is like. It's like 0, 0 1 ones. It is like, and I guess you, you can tell me, please tell me, because I know that I understand it as like the opposite. I I understand. I'm understanding it as like the opposite of these things, right? Yeah.
KATHRYN: So essentially classical computers use bits, which is essentially zeros and ones, and quantum computers use qubits.
KATHRYN: So qubits can exist, essentially exist in a state of what's called super position. Meaning they can [00:17:00] represent both a zero and a one simultaneously. The kind of metaphor that I like to explain to people is think of like a maze. So a classical computer, you have a maze. It's gonna go through each scenario, one after another that it could take to actually successfully exit a maze.
KATHRYN: Whereas a quantum computer goes through all of the possibilities at once, which just shows how much faster. It can get to a, an answer, which is why the potential of quantum computing is just so exponential, whether that's helping in the financial industry, helping with cancer research breakthroughs, all of those things that a classical computer would take literal years to solve.
KATHRYN: Um, it's. It's, it's really miraculous. It truly it is. It really is.
Yohanna: It really is because it's like the, it's the next wave. It's getting us closer to singularity and everyone's just like, oh no, it's coming. How? Well, I have a 20 page playbook. [00:18:00] I can, I can tell you how Yes. You know, I can show you how to protect yourself with, so the cryptography part of it is just the protection of that, all of it.
Yohanna: Right. Exactly. So, exactly. There's so.
KATHRYN: A lot of what's happening now is this idea of, of kind of hack now, decrypt later, take the information now, even if we can't read it or access it. But once these quantum capabilities do mature, we'll be able to decrypt it. So it's, it, it, you know, not to kind of fear monger or anything like that.
KATHRYN: It is an inherent risk, especially with bad actors and, and potential foreign adversaries. People are today taking that, that information in, in those, in those data sets, and they're essentially waiting to say, okay, well we have this and, and once the capabilities are there, we will decrypt it essentially.
KATHRYN: Yeah. So, oh yeah. That's why there's such a push now to make sure that. They are safe and, and you are implementing kind of post quantum cryptography [00:19:00] so that, you know, as they are currently taking that information, it, it, it's safe as is.
Yohanna: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for your service in advance. Thank you for all of your cybersecurity today.
Yohanna: For tomorrow. No,
KATHRYN: it's, it's, um, it's definitely a big cybersecurity. Component that has to be addressed. Um, and then not to mention just all of the potential of, of quantum computing, just again, beyond just like optimizing supply chain systems, helping it, the financial industry. Um, and again, a lot of like the health related possibilities as well.
KATHRYN: It's just, it's, it's amazing and I'm, I'm excited to see kind of how that falls and, and just the possibilities of quantum computing. But of course, there's. There's the necessity of the cybersecurity component that happens kind of before that. Oh yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Yeah.
Yohanna: It's, it's always better to be prepared than, you know.
Yohanna: Yes. Hacked. Yes. No ab
KATHRYN: Absolutely. So that was a very [00:20:00] long-winded way of saying. That was definitely the most transformative aspect of my time in the Associates program because just getting able to interview subject matter experts in the field, people who do this day in and day out for their jobs, but also people at NIST who are the ones who are actually kind of writing the requirements.
KATHRYN: For post quantum cryptography was really, really interesting. Um, and people have degrees in quantum physics, which I will never claim to have. Um, but it was, it was great. It, it wonderful learning experience and I had a fantastic team, very collaborative, very creative. Um, really kind of went above and beyond to say.
KATHRYN: Hey, this might be good, but we're not okay with good. We wanna be, we wanna go with great and have something that is tangible that people could use and that will kind of see us through the next five or so years, whatever happens with the maturity of quantum computing.
Yohanna: Yeah, absolutely. I was, I was, yeah. My connecting [00:21:00] question was gonna be like, where on earth could it view had been given this opportunity, like.
Yohanna: This, this sounds kind of like a once in a lifetime situation. There aren't a lot of places where they're like, yeah, go for it. Go work on that quantum cryptography thing. Sure. We support you. You know? Yep. Um, so I'm so happy that you. That you found that community that was like, yeah, let's that cheerleaded you Yep.
Yohanna: On. And said like, yeah, absolutely. What, what else do you need? Yep. What else? What else? Who, who else do you need to talk to? Let's go. Can I make that connection? You know, that's, and that is, that's all we're That's what, yeah, that's what we're about. Like, that's exactly what happens. You need to talk to them, you.
Yohanna: Not a problem. We will find a way to get you connected to that person. That sounds amazing. I love this. I don't fully understand it, but I know that I'm excited for it. You know what I'm saying? Like I don't, I don't think I understand everything that Catherine was talking about, but I know that I'm really excited about it.
Yohanna: No, I get excited about these kinds of things, you know, like these kinds of breakthroughs.
KATHRYN: No, and that's okay. And another aspect of the playbook again, is [00:22:00] there's a lot of resources in there just for a fundamental understanding, and it. It can be in a variety of, you know, videos, but also, you know, written thought leadership as well.
KATHRYN: Um, 'cause there's so much out there to just learn and, and grasp knowledge of, um, especially for quantum computing. And so it's, I hope it's, it's helpful and we're actually gonna try to publish, it's relatively soon, so hopefully by the time this podcast comes out, it will be out there into Okay, the ether, um, hopefully on the ACT IAC website.
KATHRYN: But yeah, it was, it was definitely a passion project for me and I had a great team. Oh, that's great.
Yohanna: That's so cool. And you can build off of that too, like in the future. Yes, yes, exactly. 'cause you know, every, every other second the uh, uh, technology just gets better, faster, stronger.
KATHRYN: Exactly. No, it's, um, it's definitely something you can expand upon of like, okay.
KATHRYN: Well now step one was to. Make sure your, you know, cryptographic inventories are safe and you've successfully transitioned them [00:23:00] over. But also now what are the use cases for quantum computing? Because there's so many different, whether it is related to civilian focused agencies, national security defense, um, there's.
KATHRYN: So much you can do there. And then it's really saying, okay, we've kind of fit the bill with the cybersecurity component, but now what does that mean in practice by using this? Right? Um, and we have such a powerful system that is just going to. Significantly outperform classical
Yohanna: computers. Okay. So Catherine, you, you talked about this playbook, you talked about, um, like the roadmap to, you know, federal readiness.
Yohanna: I really don't know how I would even approach something like this. Like what, how, like, how do you even start?
KATHRYN: No, it's a, it's a great question and in our playbook we really put together kind of a three-pronged approach for federal readiness. And the first is to assess. So. Go in, follow what M [00:24:00] 2302 says, which is have an assessment and inventory your cryptographic systems and do you really want to go in and kind of prioritize what those high impact systems are?
KATHRYN: Of course, those really kind of more vulnerable sets of data. Um, and then when and if you can designate a post quantum cryptography team and leads. Um, and the second is to actually implement so. Go in and actually test post quantum cryptography, track the lessons learned from that experience and kind of begin more of a phased out approach or rollout of some of those mission critical systems.
KATHRYN: And then third is to just continue to monitor. As you mentioned earlier, this space is changing almost daily, um, with breakthroughs happening all the time in terms of just the maturity level of quantum computers. And so. Educating yourself monitoring policies that are coming out, [00:25:00] um, mainly from nist, but also from perhaps OMB, and then also just an education level of making sure you're continuing to train staff, educating staff.
KATHRYN: Not saying that anyone has to be a quantum physicist. I surely am not. I surely am not, but just making sure that they have, again, a more elementary fundamental understanding of. What this means and the impact it can have, um, because it's large, right? It just, the, the amounts of data and systems that our federal agencies have in their possession, um, could really impact people.
KATHRYN: So, um, just, just making sure that you're monitoring that and understanding some of the, the consequences and just kind of reverberations of what could happen. Oh my gosh.
Yohanna: There's a system to the system. Yes. You know, always figure out what you need. Set up the team. Yep. Implement, monitor, and then. Repeat.
Yohanna: Yes. You know, wash and repeat. Yep. That's, that's amazing. Exactly, exactly. That's
KATHRYN: really cool, to tell you the truth. No, it was, it was really great and we actually have like notional [00:26:00] years tied to each of these pronged approaches, I should say. So it's like, okay, the assessment maybe that takes you three years, like actual implementation, that's going to be longer, right?
KATHRYN: It's, mm-hmm. You're not going to be able to completely translate this in say like a year. Probably not doable. Um, and then monitor is just, again, that's continuous. Just to make sure that you are monitoring policies, monitoring the news, being in the know, and just general education. Amazing.
Yohanna: I love it. I love it.
Yohanna: It's so good. The intention behind it. All right, so, so you've made a t you've made a 20 page playbook, your baby. I, I want to read it. I really do. I, I think it's like an amazing piece of. Work and literature and, and I think it's gonna take us into the future that, that we desperately, you know, really want to protect.
Yohanna: Um, so yeah. So we're, [00:27:00] we're getting closer to graduation. I think some things when it comes to like these kinds of programs, do you think that it helps leaders address challenges that, that they face both in government and industry like. Because, because we're so future facing, you know, like what, what is it about this program that helps us right now today to, to figure out the future?
KATHRYN: No, I think what's really unique about this program is that. Again, it brings in peers from both government and industry to come in and solve problems that are not unique to either one, right? Yes. These are, these are problems that, that everyone faces and has a much broader impact than, than anyone at either industry or government.
KATHRYN: And so I think that's what's so unique and special about ACT I Act is you could get people. Who have a wide range of backgrounds, experience, um, degrees and, and specialties to come in and make a really clear [00:28:00] impact. And I've even seen that just within my cohort of, you know, people who. Are, you know, working actively for the government and being able to share such a unique perspective than someone who is maybe an industry and has kind of more of that perspective and lens.
KATHRYN: And so being able to kind of combine those and work together as more of a synonymous community has been fantastic. Again, especially with, you know, there's been a shift in administration and there has been just so many, I think, positive changes. In kind of this industry this year, um, to make sure that we're really prioritizing efficiency and innovation.
KATHRYN: And again, I think quantum computing really fits the bill for that to kind of tie it back to, um, our playbook. But again, just making sure that this people in this cohort have kind of a baseline of, you know, how do you speak in front of people? How do you communicate with others? What does it take to be a leader?
KATHRYN: Um. [00:29:00] Again, just being able to hear from such a diverse perspective is always helpful. And I, to your question of kind of will I maintain those relationships, it's very solid. Yes. I, a lot of people in my program might definitely consider friends now and um, it's going to go beyond just this program and when we end up graduating in January.
KATHRYN: Um, so it was a long-winded way of saying yes and. I can't say enough good things about this program and just how it's impacted and, and I think really blended a community. Um, and, and fostering kind of a sense of, of curiosity in others. Right. Of what does this mean for you? Like asking questions that you might not easily get an answer to if you're talking to someone you know within your own firm.
KATHRYN: Oh yeah, for sure. Absolutely.
Yohanna: All right. I think we're ready for acronym war. Perfect.
KATHRYN: Yes, I am. Yes. Very competitive, so I'm excited.
KATHRYN: All right. [00:30:00] Here we
Yohanna: go. Here's the first acronym, NRC.
KATHRYN: NRC.
Yohanna: It's a tough one.
KATHRYN: I'm thinking. National Regulation Commission.
Yohanna: Ooh, close. Close. It's not national. NRC. Would you like a hint? Yes. We have the codes for the first name. For the first word, we have the um, codes.
Yohanna: Mm.
Yohanna: Okay.
KATHRYN: So with that, I'm gonna go with probably nuclear.
KATHRYN: Yes,
Yohanna: we have the nuclear
KATHRYN: codes are, I feel like pretty standard is some sort of regulation, regulatory. There you go. Ding, ding. And then C,
Yohanna: I'm gonna go with [00:31:00] a commission. Nice. Good job. Okay. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Okay. All right, so here's the second acronym. EEOC. E,
KATHRYN: EOC.
KATHRYN: I think that's the equal Employee Opportunity Commission.
Yohanna: Yep. Right. Nice. Ding, ding, ding. Yep. Nice job. Alright, here's, here's another one. And this one we've been talking, we've been talking a lot of, uh, a lot of like quantum and it's all under the umbrella of this one. Okay? Okay. NSF,
KATHRYN: that is the National Science Foundation.
KATHRYN: Yeah. Winter chicken dinner. Yes, definitely. Good job. Definitely.
Yohanna: All right, cool. No, I like this game. Okay, cool. Thank you so much for talking to me, Katherine. [00:32:00] Um, can folks reach
KATHRYN: out to you? Are you on LinkedIn at all? Yes, I am. I'm on LinkedIn. It's just my first and last name, Katherine Wayman. But thank you so much for having me.
KATHRYN: This has been awesome to speak with you and, and talk more about. Our playbook and also just my involvement and experience in the Associates program. Yes. Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate you.
Yohanna: This has been such an insightful conversation. Thank you for sharing your journey and experiences with us.
Yohanna: And to our listeners, if you are interested in learning more about ACT IX Professional Development Program, be sure to check out act iac.org/professional development. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and we will see you in the next episode.