The latest statistics on demographics in cybersecurity are troubling: according to the Aspen Digital Tech Policy hub’s latest report, underrepresented groups make up an increasingly low percentage of the industry professionals: Black (9%), Hispanic (4%), Asian (8%), and Native American (1%).
Join us on February 28th, 2022 from 12pm – 1.30pm for this Roundtable to discuss why this is and what needs to be done. This event is free and open to the public. Register here.
Tennisha Martin |
Talya Parker |
Tia Hopkins |
Mari Galloway |
Eric Belardo |
Nikkia Henderson |
Deborah Kariuki |
Aastha Sahni |
Saman Faitma |
| Tennisha Martin |
Tennisha Martin is the founder and Executive Director of BlackGirlsHack (BGH Foundation), a national cybersecurity nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education and resources to underserved communities and increasing the diversity in cyber. She has worked in a government consulting capacity for over 15 years and in her spare time is a Cyber Instructor, mentor, and red-team leaning ethical hacking advocate for diversity in Cyber and the executive suites. |
| Talya Parker |
Talya Parker is the Founder and Executive Director of the BGiC Foundation, also known as, Black Girls in Cyber, whose mission is to increase industry awareness and diversity in cybersecurity, privacy, and STEM for women of color.
By day, Talya is a Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Risk Management professional with over nine years of advisory, consulting, and industry experience combined. She has worked with top corporations like Deloitte, Nike, Georgia Technology Research Institute (GTRI) and currently, a Privacy Engineer at Google. Talya is an expert in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). Past projects have allowed her the opportunity to lead cross-functional teams through stakeholder management, requirements development, and risk mitigation strategies to meet privacy and security regulatory requirements. Talya obtained a Masters in Cybersecurity from Brown University; and a Masters of International Business from Nova Southeastern University; she is also an alumnus of the illustrious HBCU, Florida A&M University, where she obtained her Bachelors of Science in Business Education. During her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, the beach, traveling and visiting local coffee shops. |
| Tia Hopkins |
Tia Hopkins is the Field CTO & Chief Cyber Risk Strategist at eSentire. In addition to her role at eSentire, she is an adjunct professor of Cybersecurity at Yeshiva University, a women’s tackle football coach, and is pursuing her Executive MBA and PhD in Cybersecurity.
She was recognized by SC Media as an outstanding educator in 2019, as well as one of The Software Report’s Top 25 Women Leaders in Cybersecurity and Cyber Defense Magazine’s Top 100 Women in Cybersecurity; both in 2020. In 2021, Tia was recognized as a Top Influencer in the Security Executives category by IFSEC Global. In 2021 she contributed a chapter to the book The Rise of Cyber Women: Volume 2 and is currently co-authoring a book on Hacking the Cybersecurity Interview with Ken Underhill Chris Foulon. She is also the Founder of Empow(H)er Cybersecurity, a non-profit organization aimed at inspiring and empowering women of color to pursue cybersecurity careers. |
| Mari Galloway |
Mari Galloway is the CEO and a founding board member for the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu (WSC), one of the fastest growing 501c3 non-profit cybersecurity communities dedicated to bringing more women and girls to cyber. WSC provides its members with the resources and support required to enter and advance as a cybersecurity professional.
Mari began her cyber career with Accenture where she excelled as a Network Engineer. Mari is also the inaugural ISC2 Diversity Award winner for 2019. With over 12 years of Information Technology, 10 of which are in cybersecurity, her experience spans network design and security architecture, risk assessments, vulnerability management, incident response and policy development across government and commercial industries. She holds a variety of technical and management certifications (CISSP, GIAC, CCNA, etc) as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Columbus State University and a Master of Science in Information Systems from Strayer University. Mari is currently a resident of Las Vegas working as a Customer Success Architect for Palo Alto Networks. She regularly contributes content to security blogs and training companies across the country as well as an Adjunct Professor for UMGC. She also lends her time to various organizations as an award judge, mentor, and advisor. Outside of being a geek, Mari enjoys arts, puzzles, and legos! |
| Eric Belardo |
A US ARMY Military Intelligence Veteran of Bosnia and Kosovo with NATO; Eric Brings over 30 years of Cyber Security & Online Safety Experience across many industry domains including Civilian Government, Department of Defense, International, Financial, and Civilian markets. Where he has supported organizations in strategic direction, program assessments, remediation and monitoring, intelligence services (VIP & High Value individuals), and Security Risk Mitigation and Security Education.
Eric’s experience in the cyber security field encompasses the areas of Security Operations, Incident Response, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, Digital Forensics, Certification and Accreditation, Enterprise Security Architecture, and Security in Mergers & Acquisitions in over 20 Countries. Eric is a sought after speaker on TV and in person, having performed keynote speeches/ webinars and many YouTube Videos and Livestreams. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Raices Cyber. |
| Nikkia Henderson |
Professionally, Nikkia Henderson is a “cybHERprenuer” called to help women in the cybersecurity discipline find their voice, passion, and dream career. She is a federal government employee helping agencies procure cybersecurity services and products; drafting cyber acquisition policies; and a supply chain risk management champion. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from Strayer University and a master’s degree in Cyber Policy from University of Maryland Global College. |
| Deborah Kariuki |
Deborah Kariuki is a former software engineer who is currently The Director of MAE CS Program and a Clinical faculty at the University of Maryland Baltimore City (UMBC). She is currently the Co-lead of WiCyS Mentor/Mentoring program, MIT- Inspire CS-AI Fellow and an ISACA SheLeadsTech Ambassadors. Deborah is known and considers herself a computer science evangelist. She has been awarded many awards as a software engineer and a computer science educator but the awards she values best are the NCWIT educator award and BlackcomputeHer Sistah award because these awards reflect her passion for educating the next generation of computer scientists and especially underrepresented groups. She is also highly sought in the field of cybersecurity where she mentors students and helps with view policies in cybersecurity. She is the sponsor/advisor of the Women in Cyber Security at UMBC and the Vice-president of Wicys MidAtlantic Affiliate. |
| Aastha Sahni |
Aastha is a competent Cybersecurity professional with 5+ years of experience in the industry. Her areas of expertise are Identity & Access Management (IAM), Application Security & Security Information Security Management (SIEM). Since the start of her career, she has donned many hats – from being a consultant to Engineer and now an instructor. She is a strong advocate of bringing Diversity & Inclusion to workplaces.
She is the founder of CyberPreserve & BBWIC Foundation |
| Saman Fatima |
Saman Fatima is a Data Engineer at Macquarie Group with 5 years of comprehensive experience in software development and Cybersecurity. Trained in Identity and Access Management, she has always been a Cybersecurity enthusiast and is Vice-Chair of Board at BBWIC Foundation. She is currently also a committee member of OWASP WIA, Women in Cloud Advisor and Ambassador & an active member of WiCyS India. |