21 Women in Cybersecurity You Need to Know

According to TechJury, 30,000 websites are attacked daily around the globe, with new attacks every 39 seconds. And in March of 2021, there were a record 20 million breaches. But when you think about our nation’s defenders from cyber attacks, who comes to mind? When you think about the creators of policies, processes and procedures that shape how data is handled by companies, do you think about women? According to the Aspen Cybersecurity Report, women make up roughly 24 percent of the cybersecurity workforce. Despite the dismal statistics, women operate at various levels in the private and public sectors and they are invaluable decision-makers, problem solvers, policy writers and much more.

March 1 marks the start of Women’s History Month—a time designated to celebrate the accomplishments of women and the contributions that they make in society. This year, the Making Space initiative is spotlighting 21 amazing women who have made major contributions within their organizations or on a local, national or global level. The women selected for the spotlights were nominated by coalition partners, or identified by individuals in the R Street Institute’s and #SharetheMicinCyber networks.

Each nominator shared why the nominee should be spotlighted and provided insight into how the nominee inspired other work. For the entire month, refer to this post and follow along on Twitter as we introduce you to some of the great women who work in cybersecurity.

Here are the 21 Women in Cybersecurity You Need to Know:

1. Alison King, Legislative Advisor, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
2. Angela Dingle, President and CEO, Ex Nihilo Management, LLC
3. Ann Cleaveland, Executive Director, UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity
4. Camille Stewart, Esq., Global Head of Product Security Strategy, Google
5. Deidra Artis Phyall, Senior Information Technology Specialist and Director of Mentorship and Events, U.S. Department of Treasury and Black Girls in Cyber
6. Diana L. Burley, PhD, Vice Provost for Research, American University
7. Dominique West, Team Lead, Datadog
8. Elizabeth Wharton, Vice President of Operations, SCYTHE
9. Hope Goins, Staff Director, US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security
10. Jessica Newman, Director, Artificial Intelligence Security Initiative, UC Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity
11. Jennifer Santiago, Summit Manager and Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity Task Force Member, SANS
12. Jennifer Tisdale, CEO, GRIMM
13. Kavya Pearlman, Founder and CEO, XR Safety Initiative
14. Lauren Zabierek, Executive Director, Cyber Project at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center
15. Meredith Wallace, Director of Business Intelligence, Next5, Inc. 
16. Nametso Precious Manyepedza, Founder, Cyber Ink Botswana
17. Safa Shahwan Edwards, Deputy Director – Cyber Statecraft Initiative, Atlantic Council
18. Stephanie Helm, Director, Massachusetts Cybersecurity Center at the Mass Tech Collaborative
19. SueAnne Griffith, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure, Auburn University
20. Tanisha L. Turner, Vice Chairwoman/ Chief Cybersecurity Officer, Black Girls Hack
21. Tiffany Xingyu Wang, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Oasis Consortium and Spectrum Labs

Updated March 3, 2022