This webinar will consist of a panel discussion on how women can succeed in careers in cyber security. Moderated by Heather Ricuitto, the webinar will explore the industry, career opportunities and paths, and why it would be a good fit for you. Our three panelists come from varrying backgrounds: the public sector and defence, the private sector and entrepreneurship, each bringing you a unique perspective on the industry and career opportunities.
Attending this webinar, you can expect to learn:
- What exactly is cyber security
- What kinds of careers are available, even if you don't have a formal technical background
- Why cyber security organizations need more women
This is your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at how other women have achieved success in a new and evolving industry.
The Panelists
Major-General Frances Allen, OMM, CD, Deputy Vice Chief of the Defence Staff
Major-General Frances Allen enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1983. After graduation from Queen's University in 1987 with an Honours Degree in Statistics, Major-General Allen completed her CELE Air training in 1988. Following CELE training, her early operational postings were to 764 Communications Squadron, the Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics in Kingston, Canadian Forces Station Carp and 76 Communications Group.
Major-General Allen has commanded at multiple levels throughout her career including Officer Commanding the National Systems Management Centre in Ottawa, at the Aerospace and Telecommunications Engineering Support Squadron in Trenton as well as the Canadian Forces Network Operations Centre and the Canadian Forces Information Operations Group.
Staff appointments have included the Operations Officer for the Information Protection Centre, Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff, Director Support Operations in the Strategic Joint Staff. On promotion in 2014 to Brigadier-General, she assumed the post of Director General Defence Security at NDHQ. Major-General Allen also served as Director General Cyberspace, Director General Information Management Operations at NDHQ and Joint Force Cyber Component Commander. She assumed her current position of Deputy Vice Chief of Defence Staff in June 2018.
Major-General Allen is a graduate of Queen's University, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College and Canadian Forces College National Security Program. She holds a Masters' Degree in Defence Studies from the Royal Military College and has been invested as an officer of the Order of Military Merit.
Sherry Shannon-Vanstone, President and CEO, Profound Impact Corporation
Formerly Sherry was Co-founder, President and CEO, and Chairman of the Board of TrustPoint Innovation. Sherry and her late husband, Dr. Scott A. Vanstone, founded TrustPoint in 2012 to provide authentication products and services for securing the Internet of Things. On April 1, 2017 TrustPoint Innovation was acquired by ETAS Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Robert Bosch group.
Prior to joining TrustPoint, Sherry held executive positions in several companies including Arcamatrix Corp., a Toronto Stock Venture Exchange (TSX) publicly listed company; MasterCard International; and two North American entrepreneurial information security companies--Cylink and Certicom. With Arcamatrix, which provided secure digital document management for doctors and hospitals, Sherry was CEO and member of the Board. With MasterCard, Sherry was Vice President, Electronic Commerce, where she led a team that developed and deployed secure solutions for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business Internet commerce. With Certicom and Cylink she developed strategies for marketing and sales of security solutions for domestic and international markets.
Sherry is currently the co-chair of the Perimeter Institute's Emmy Noether Council, promoting girls and women in physics and mathematics. Using her many years of experience in information security, Sherry is a member of the board of directors and advisory boards for several private and public companies and associations including the Automotive Parts Manufacturer's Association (APMA)'s Advanced Technology Working Group, Quantum Safe Canada, and Ontario's Autonomous Vehicle Network (AVIN). In 2015, Sherry was awarded WOW the World Waterloo Region's Female Innovator of the Year. She holds a Master of Science degree in mathematics from the University of Tennessee and was a cryptologic mathematician with the United States Government.
Wendi Whitmore, Global Lead for X-Force IRIS, IBM
Wendi Whitmore is a technical leader with 15 years of diverse experience in incident response, proactive and strategic information security services, intelligence and data breach investigations.
At IBM, Wendi was instrumental in creating IBM X-Force IRIS which includes the global X-Force Incident Response, Proactive Services and Threat Intelligence practices. In her role, Wendi leverages people, infrastructure, data and technology to drive the capabilities of detection and defense against targeted threats for client organizations throughout the world.
Before joining IBM, Wendi served as the vice president of CrowdStrike Services. While at CrowdStrike, she was responsible for all professional service offerings and engagements delivered by the company. Wendi and her team responded to critical security breaches within Fortune 500 companies from verticals in technology, defense industrial base, energy, critical infrastructure, and the U.S. federal government. In this role, Wendi was also responsible for managing P&L, sales and business development, and recruiting efforts.