TheBridge profile: Justin Griffin
Name: Justin Griffin
Current city: Washington, DC and Gilford, NH
Current job: Managing Director, USC Election Cyber Security Initiative supported by Google
Past job: Director of Finance for Governor Charlie Baker & Lt. Governor Karyn Polito; SVP, Revolution Agency
Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? Philz Coffee in Navy Yard
Q. Describe how a skill you learned in a previous job helped you in your current job. Listen intently. The loudest person in the room is not necessarily the smartest person in the room.
Q. Job advice in three words? Never give up.
Q. How are you (or your company, org, nonprofit) currently bridging the gap between innovation and regulation? We are working to educate people on how best to protect our democratic process from foreign and domestic adversaries. Our initiative is not Republican or Democrat. We are party-, platform-, and vendor-agnostic. Our tagline is: our candidate is democracy.
The initiative was originally designed to hold in-person workshops in all 50 states, to educate people in both campaigns and elections on best practices in cybersecurity, all before election day 2020. About 5 states into our 50-state campaign, COVID-19 hit. Our team formulated a crisis communication strategy over the course of the next 24 hours to come up with a way to 'fight on,' through conducting virtual workshops. Since then, we have visited 10 additional states, increasing our audience size and our information's accessibility, all while staying on schedule to complete workshops in all 50 states.
The virtual workshops consist of three modules that echo best election cybersecurity practices from thought leaders in public and private sectors. We focus specifically on 1) basic cyber hygiene (password protocol, two-factor authentication, phishing, etc.), 2) misinformation & disinformation, and 3) crisis communications.
Q. What can innovators learn from policymakers? Policymakers have to deal with what 'is' and what the ramifications 'are.' Innovators often challenge the status quo, and focus on what 'could be.' But maintaining safe, ethical, corporate and socially responsible standards is critical; and policymakers have the ability to do just that.
Q. What can policymakers learn from innovators? Policymakers can sometimes get stuck in a mindset of 'this is the way things have always been done...'. Innovators push limits, punch holes in things, and disrupt for the sake of making something better and more efficient.
Q. Favorite book/podcast/long-form article you recommend? Book: The Cider House Rules
Podcast: Starting 9
Long-form article: Is Jack Connors the Last King of Boston?
Q. Every day is probably different, but can you describe a "day in the life" of your job?:Evolving program rehearsals for new states, with different thought leaders, and intricately different sets of rules and regulations.
Q. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself in the beginning of your career? Balance patience and ambition delicately.
Q. Living person you admire? Bill Gates, an innovator whose philanthropy is even more impressive than his incredible business acumen.
Q. Favorite app? Truebill
Q. Startup to watch? Pulsar AI
Q. Which Member of Congress/local lawmaker is most tech savvy? Congressman Will Hurd
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