# @elilillyco on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq5f_fpRL91
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64294474-elilillyco-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/31c0301cf3.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-04-11T14:00:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Eli Lilly and Company (@elilillyco) — https://gondola.cc/elilillyco

## Caption

#WeAreLilly - 37,000 global employees #PoweredbyPurpose

“In 3rd grade, I thought I wanted to be a doctor until I realized it involves working with bodily fluids," Jamilia King laughs. Today, she helps patients through cybersecurity. She oversees the security of our clinical trials, research, technology and medicines we produce.

Cybersecurity talent is in high demand. But there's still progress to be made in the representation of women and women of color. Jamilia introduces people to the world of cybersecurity through mentoring, speaking engagements and partnerships with schools and not-for-profit organizations.

"If you want job security, go into cybersecurity," is her catchphrase.
 
Raised in Detroit, she found she had a knack for math. She majored in finance when she entered Michigan State University.
 
A summer job following her freshman year changed her future. "I worked in the computer operations department for a company where my mom worked," Jamilia said. “A Black female supervisor took me under her wing and introduced me to information technology. We discussed various paths I could take. I chose computer engineering for its broader opportunities." She returned to college with a new focus.

After graduation, Jamilia landed a job at Ford Motor Company, spending her first two years in a rotational program, landing a role in IT. Jamilia admits it was her "first time exposed to security-related things outside of a password."
 
"When I interviewed for a job at Lilly, I saw the culture and passion—it sold me," Jamilia said. "My purpose reflects Lilly's commitment to making life better for patients around the world."

Jamilia founded a nonprofit, Abundant Youth Empowerment, which uses the arts to help with mental wellness and uplift youth to accomplish their objectives. Jamilia sees the potential in youth—as her mentor saw it in her years before.

The wife and mother of three sons admits that motherhood was an awakening. "I’m driven by purpose and the critical need to make a societal impact so that they not only benefit but have the same sense of urgency.”

Jamilia King
Associate VP, Information Security

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## Tags

poweredbypurpose, wearelilly

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