HackerOne Company Values Matter: Default to Disclosure

Each year, HackerOne employees nominate peers to receive the covetable Values Awards. Five Hackeronies are recognized for their unique contribution to our company’s success, and their dedication to our values continues to help HackerOne be an incredible place to work.

Since its inception in 2022, the Values Awards have recognized three Default to Disclosure winners. We asked them why this award is important and how they hold themselves accountable and inspire and motivate others to live our values.

Meet Jan Deelstra: 2022 Default to Disclosure Value Award Winner

For over 11 years, Jan Deelstra has been building HackerOne’s products and services, watching the company evolve with each passing year and technological advancement. As a Principal Software Engineer, Jan understands how data informs better decisions.

“You should never have to chase information that should be available to you, and you should always be able to ask questions about why something isn’t public,” said Jan.

A large part of Jan’s role is enabling engineers to spend more time solving problems. By working in a culture that defaults to disclosure, he doesn’t need to chase information very often, and his team can pull what they need when they need it to be successful.

Transparency builds trust at HackerOne. By creating channels for honest conversations, feedback, and impactful communication, we create a team driven to build an inclusive space to innovate and share ideas.

Meet Kelcey Morton: 2023 Default to Disclosure Value Award Winner

As Manager of Data Science at HackerOne, Kelcey Morton has the opportunity to ask tough questions about our business and uncover solutions. Default to disclosure means embracing transparency at work to foster trust and boost collective intelligence. With incomplete or inaccurate information, these pursuits can be severely limited. 

“I feel encouraged and empowered to unleash my insatiable curiosity in my work, knowing that there is genuine interest in the truth,” said Kelcey. “As someone who works with data, I understand the importance of how my work informs better decisions.”

Kelcey is highly motivated and thrives on new challenges, asking, “why should this be private” versus “why should this be public.” She approaches her work with a growth mindset, always looking for ways to improve. Whether taking on a new project in an unfamiliar domain or tackling a complex problem, Kelcey lives the default to disclosure value.

Meet Alek Relyea: 2024 Default to Disclosure Value Award Winner

Alek Relyea believes in being honest and transparent in all his relationships. To earn his customers’ and colleagues’ trust and respect, he can only command those privileges by espousing the virtues of honesty and faith. 

“I am equally customer-facing and internally-facing to senior leaders and executives; my entire professional existence revolves around maintaining accountability for myself and my team,” said Alek. “There is no accountability without honesty. I can’t perform my job effectively without first building the foundation of trust and transparency.”

As a Senior Manager in Customer Success Management, he aims to start by defaulting to disclosure. His focus as a leader is to ensure that his team is accountable for their actions. 

“This is where the concept of ‘default to disclosure’ comes into play,” said Alek. “It means that instead of hiding information, we need to share it openly unless there is a good reason not to.” 

To stay motivated in his work, Alek finds inspiration in the positive impact that crowdsourced security has on the hacking community. He also enjoys collaborating with his colleagues to solve complex problems and measures his success based on his team’s success and satisfaction. Most importantly, he always makes sure to take some unplugged time off to recharge.