Disaster Recovery Journal Winter 2022

CAREER SPOTLIGHT

Career Spotlight: Gabrielle Sandy By PETER LAZ T ell us about yourself – your name, company, title, and responsibilities? Hello DRJ family! My name is Gabrielle Sandy, and I am the AVP of business resiliency for CFCU Community Credit Union in upstate New York. My responsibilities include managing and overseeing physical security, facilities, business continuity, disaster recovery, and enterprise risk management. I have a hefty team which includes myself and one other individual who manages facilities. How did you get into the business continuity industry? I began at CFCU in 2017 as a junior paralegal, fresh out of college with a bach elor’s degree in criminology. I was wait ressing at the time and was eager to find a “big girl” job where I could put my degree to use. I had applied to many job openings to include TSA agent, border patrol agent, and junior paralegal at CFCU. The hiring process for border patrol was lengthy and brutal. After the interview portion (which I passed), I realized the career was not for me. I did complete the hiring process for TSA, but right around the same time I had also interviewed at CFCU and was offered the position. I had a difficult decision to make.

CFCU, the former officer ran for Tompkins County sheriff and won. There was now a job opening for the position I really desired. After six months of the position being vacant, I applied with the support from my mentor/supervisor. I studied for weeks to nail the interview as I knew I did not have the background or experience they were looking for but was hoping I could win them over with my drive and preparation. It worked! I began my role as physical security/BCP manager in January of 2020. I was ready for the physical security aspect of the

However, as you can tell from my bio, I decided to take the junior paralegal offer. It was the right decision. I remained in the position for two years, but I was itch ing for something else about a year into it. I knew I needed more of a challenge, a chance to really push myself. Throughout my time at CFCU I had always been inter ested in the physical security role within the organization, but I did not think I had a shot at it. For the first year and a half, a tenured police officer was in the role. I had zero experience aside from my criminol ogy degree. During his last few months at

32 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | WINTER 2022

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