Avril Eklund’s career path has led her through multiple facets of the security industry ranging from state law enforcement, global tech firms, and team-building. Eklund got her start in security in the public sector as a Police Officer at Bristol Township Police Department in Pennsylvania.

While there, her work included policing and eventually undercover narcotics investigations for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office — a role she excelled at due to her ability to blend in and think strategically.

“I got really good at buying drugs,” she says with a laugh. “So I was recruited by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, Bureau of Narcotics and spent the last 10 years of my law enforcement career there.”

While it might have initially been a detriment to entering the world of law enforcement, Eklund says her unassuming appearance brought a unique value to the role.

“It came in handy when they needed somebody to buy drugs, because I don't look like a cop, and I don't act like a cop, and nobody ever thought I was one so I was really successful at undercover work,” she says.

During her time with the Attorney General’s Office, Eklund prepared for what would come next, earning a master’s degree in intelligence analysis while balancing the demands of her job and a growing family.

“The hours of narcotics work are kind of crazy and I wanted something more stable,” she says and the private sector beckoned.

Eklund took her first leap from government to the private sector with WeWork — a global workplace provider — as Director of Global Security Operations, Investigations, and Threat Management, where she helped build the company’s global security team.

From there, she was recruited by GitHub (which was acquired by Microsoft but operated independently), where she became the company's first-ever physical security hire. Since then, she’s built a comprehensive program from the ground up — one that now includes event security, crisis management, travel risk support, and more.

If there's one professional achievement Eklund is most proud of, it’s the team she’s built at GitHub.

It's so important to have somebody that's there to be your true cheerleader and kind of keep pushing you along, so I try to be that for other women.

“I’ve got much better at hiring, and hiring quality people that have really good hearts and are just really invested and love what they do,” she says. “They’re just really good people that are interested in the customer service part, and can explain to people why security matters and win people over. So we're out there winning hearts and minds, rather than just out there being the bad guy. They're here because they want to help people and they want to help keep people safe.”

GitHub’s remote-first model presents unique challenges for physical security, Eklund says. With remote employees spanning the globe — the security team included — Eklund had to think differently.

“Some were a little skeptical about whether remote would work for a security team, but we found that most of the incidents we were handling were at other locations, such as we were in San Francisco handling a situation in Amsterdam,” she says. “It certainly required some creativity when building out our team.”

Building a strong and effective security program included implementing mass communication systems, travel monitoring tools, and guard staff in each location Eklund says.

“It has been interesting from a security standpoint, and it's been neat to see how we haven't needed to be on site and have been very successful as a security team,” she says.

Paying it Forward

Looking back on her career, Eklund attributes much of her success to a mentor she met during her time at the Attorney General’s Office who introduced her to intelligence work and encouraged her to step outside familiar territory.

“I think that I wouldn't be where I am now if I didn't have a really good mentor,” Eklund says. “It was the first time I'd really had somebody like that build my confidence up and keep encouraging me and pushing me to do things that were outside of my comfort zone.”

She credits the mentorship as giving her the courage to transition from the public sector to private sector.

“I think I would have been too risk averse and too scared to do it if I hadn't had that sort of mentor in my life to support me and keep pushing me forward,” she adds.

Now, she’s dedicated to paying it forward by mentoring women in security offering advice, support and encouragement however she can.

“It's so important to have somebody that's there to be your true cheerleader and kind of keep pushing you along, so I try to be that for other women,” Eklund says. “I always offer to help however I can. I hope I can be that for someone else, because I know how important it was for me to have that in my career.”

For those looking to break into the security field, Eklund emphasizes the importance of soft skills, curiosity and a willingness to take risks — even when those risks can be scary or you don’t know all the answers.

“You can be afraid but you just have to do it anyway,” she says. “The risk is worth the reward. If somebody asked me if I knew how to do something, or know about something, my answer was ‘no, but I'm happy to learn.’ I've been able to show myself again and again that I can learn new skill sets, learn new things, and become an expert.”