Gina D’Addamio is a Catalyst Community Ambassador, a position which fosters connection and amplifies the work happening at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst. In this role, Gina enhances the reach and impact of Catalyst programs, and engages with the Catalyst’s vast learner and alumni network, contributing to the strength and development of Canada’s cyber frontline.
Bringing home “Whisky”
Gina D’Addamio is a warm bubble of energy. Her South African accent (which is sometimes, she says, is hilariously mistaken for someone from Newfoundland) rings energetically through the video call. She apologizes that her English lab, Whisky, might announce himself. “He’s the colour of a good glass of whiskey,” she says, and it’s true: the ginger threaded through his chocolate-brown coat is confirmed in a photograph.
Whisky is one of those stories that sums Gina up. He was a neighbour’s dog, and every time she passed by their house, she fell more in love with him. The neighbour’s household was chaotic with young kids, and Whisky didn’t get enough attention. One summer, Gina, her husband, and her two kids were given a Whisky trial. Gina fell for him. “I didn’t want to give him back. I don’t want a dog, I thought. I want this one.” And in a change of seasons, a trial turned into a beautiful life transition. The story is offered casually, but it carries the shape of something larger.
The meaning of a village & the front line
For Gina, community has always been a kind of village. The first village she needed was one to help her navigate the transition to motherhood, and as she says, “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
For a time, that village was her first profession: nursing. Since then, it has been the Catalyst.
For sixteen years, Gina worked as a registered nurse in the Labour and Delivery ward. “It’s a beautiful job, I seriously loved my job,” she says. She worked all through the COVID-19 pandemic; her children were three and five at the time. And she found that the aspects of the work she loved grew less and less as the strain grew. The team was working around four nurses short each shift, and you were required to pick up as many shifts as you could. She had moms and babies on the line every day, and her mental health and family life were deteriorating. In the end, she left nursing.
“I had to look out for number one, which is myself and my family,” says Gina. “My life is not worth the paycheck,” she recalls thinking. She took physically challenging labour jobs, including shovelling snow and cutting grass. For a time, she worked at Costco. And then Whiskey stepped in. His prior owner, Gina’s neighbour, worked in cybersecurity, and she had been aware of the work of the Catalyst.
A door opens: Discovering the Catalyst
At first, Gina was skeptical. She had never worked professionally on a computer. Cybersecurity was a completely different world. Still, she attended an information session, and read what she could. She had never taken even a Zoom call, but she worked hard on the new skills and excelled.
By June, she was considering the October cohort of 2022-2023. “I had nothing else,” she says. “So I figured I might as well jump in with two feet.”
Learning to speak cyber
Gina heard there was a CTF (Capture the Flag) event at the Catalyst and felt it was a great opportunity to test herself in the field. CTF in cyber involves gamified technical challenges to find hidden text strings (the “flags”). CTFs are meant to test and improve technical skills in a controlled hands-on environment; Gina logged on and Googled her way through it. She completed 50% of the challenge with Google as her guide, at which point she said to herself, “Oh, I can do this.” She applied.
The seven months were intense. While her kids were in school, she was in school. She treated it like a job. “We had our life struggles, but the Catalyst was our cheering squad,” she said. “It was a place where we could anchor.”
But as I said, I had my village to support me during this program, and the Catalyst provided the community, because all of us were coming from different walks of life.
From student to mentor
Gina is a Leo. In astrological terms, she says it means she’s bold. Her mantra is, ‘it doesn’t matter how stressful or hard it is, just continue to show up. The rest will eventually fall into place.’
One of her secrets? According to Gina, having your camera on is a game-changer. It doesn’t matter what your house looks like or whether your hair is done, it’s about showing up for your community.
Your cohort mates may be a part of an organization where, after getting to know you, they refer you for a job. “Putting your camera on gives you an advantage. You don’t know where your connections will lead.”
When Gina returned to the Catalyst as a mentor and speaker, she shared her story openly, including the mental health struggles that led her to leave nursing. “People said, “Wow, your story is so inspiring. It made me make the jump: I just didn’t know I could.”
“It was a new language,” said Gina. “I literally had to dig in. But it was doable.”
Finding the right fit
After graduating, Gina spent several months translating sixteen years of nursing into the language of cybersecurity. She worked to articulate what nurses actually do: rapid risk assessment, critical decision-making under pressure, and communication in high-stakes environments.
Initially, she assumed a SOC analyst role would be the logical entry point; the cyber equivalent of nursing. High stress. Constant vigilance. Immediate response.
She attended her first cybersecurity conference, Women in Cybersecurity, where the visibility of women leaders helped her imagine a future for herself in the field.
And then, once again, the universe intervened.
A cold LinkedIn “quick apply,” led her to the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX).
A new work home
Three years later, Gina still calls CCTX her work home. Her role as a threat analyst has evolved alongside the organization. The team is small, remote, and they’re connected like family. Leadership is direct and honest. She’s learned to identify a problem and to approach her boss with a solution. It’s a healthy environment.
“This checks all my boxes,” she says. “Work doesn’t get to be the stressor in my life anymore.”
Giving back, moving forward
It follows naturally that Gina’s love language is service, and giving back to the Catalyst has been a major priority for her. The Catalyst gave her a new career, a new community, and a new sense of agency. When opportunities arose to mentor, speak, or represent the program, she said yes.
“The number of Catalyst programs; it’s mind-blasting,” she says, both as a Catalyst enthusiast and, as she says laughing, a poster child.
This year, she stepped into a new role as mentor liaison between CCTX and the Catalyst’s related programming, another thread connecting her professional life to the community that first supported her leap.
Looking back, the throughline is clear. Gina has always moved toward care, toward responsibility, toward showing up. Cybersecurity, for her, was inevitable.
It’s not as if I’m not knocking on all the doors. But my belief is that what is meant for me will go.
Gina no longer works in a delivery room, but she’s still on the front line, watching for risk, responding under pressure, protecting what matters. The tools have changed. The instinct hasn’t. When the door opened, she stepped through and built a village on the other side.
Gina D’Addamio
Gina is an Ambassador at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst. She is a highly motivated and adaptable cybersecurity professional, initially hailing from a background as a labour and delivery Nurse.
Presently, she proudly serves as a threat analyst at the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange (CCTX). This position can be aptly described as the network’s neighbourhood watch, where she actively shares vital threat intelligence with the wider community.
Her mission is clear: to guide organizations through the intricate landscape of cybersecurity, ensuring the safety and security of their invaluable digital assets in an increasingly interconnected world.