2022 Your Future in Information Security-Women In Security-KC - 1.5 CPE's

Your Future in Information Security - A Panel Discussion 

Sponsored by Optiv, brought to you by Women in Security - Kansas City

Who Should Attend? 

Women in InfoSec, women who are graduating high school, college students and women looking to pivot into an exciting future in Information Security. Bring your questions to this meeting that will help jumpstart or further your future!

Keynote Speaker:  Neelima Parasker

• Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of SnapIT Solutions® LLC, an innovative high tech information technology services and solutions company.
• Neelima with over 20 years of experience in IT is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious National Award as ‘Enterprising Women of the Year Award in 2020, Kansas City Business Journal for ‘Women Who Mean Business’ in 2018 and ‘Technology All Star’ National Award’ in  STEM from Career Communications Group, Inc. and WOC Magazine for her contributions to STEM fields in 2015. SnapIT is also a  recipient of the 2020 Kansas City Business Journal ‘Champions of Business’, and 2019 ‘Outstanding Minority Business of the Year Award’ from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
• Neelima Parasker is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of SnapIT Solutions® LLC, an innovative high tech  information technology services and solutions company. Through SnapIT, she has developed a patent-pending business model,  SPRNT™, which encompasses the company’s four primary lines of business: SnapIT Solves, SnapIT Pods, SnapIT Probes, and  SnapIT Trainings™. Together, these four lines work to seek, train and hire individuals in under-resourced communities.
• With more than 20 years of experience in IT, Neelima has held leadership positions with Fortune 500 companies, leading teams  that perform enterprise transformations and promote innovation using Leading Edge Technology. She is a Board Member of  KansasWorks State Workforce Board since 2009, and serves on the Community Development Advisory Council at the Federal  Reserve Bank of Kansas City since 2020and was appointed on the Board for Overland Park Chamber in Jan ЀϾЀ. She was a speaker at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, was invited to represent US entreprueners by US Depatment of State at the 2009 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, and spoke in Bolivia on invitation from the US Consulate in La Paz.

Moderator: Maria Singh

• President, WiSKC | Cybersecurity Engineer at T-Mobile
• Maria is the current elected President of Women in Security Kansas City leading a team to provide programming that inspires and supports women at all career levels in information security. Maria has more than 11 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. She is a thought leader and cybersecurity professional with operational experience in building and implementing successful frameworks and processes in vulnerability management. She utilizes her vulnerability research background to identify and prioritize critical vulnerabilities in a timely manner towards remediation. Maria conducts regular threat intelligence analysis to ensure the security risk posture of the company's critical assets and resources. She also has earned multiple industry standard certifications.

Panel Discussions Speakers:

Cindi Carter, Chief Information Security Officer, in the office of the CISO at Check Point Software Technologies

• Cindi possesses a firm grasp of the challenges surrounding the security, privacy, and risk management landscape, and is a trusted advisor within Check Point as well as for our customers.  More recently, Cindi was the CISO for IntSights Cyber Threat Intelligence; Cindi also served as VP and Chief Security Officer at MedeAnalytics; and prior to that Cindi was the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. Cindi is also the founding president of Women in Security- Kansas City. She has been honored as part of SC Media magazine’s “Women to Watch in Cyber Security” list and in Cybersecurity Venture’s book “Women Know Cyber: 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cyber Crime.”

Dr. Cheryl Cooper, Cybersecurity Risk Manager at T-Mobile

• Cheryl holds a doctorate in Computer Science. She is a Security Risk Manager with T-Mobile and has earned several industry security certifications. She has 15 years of Cybersecurity experience and 12 years as an adjunct professor.   She sits on multiple cybersecurity boards and is an advocate for equal opportunity for women and minorities in technology careers. She is a veteran of the United States Navy. Recently, she has been invited to speak on Women in Cybersecurity, Closing the Race and Gender Gap in STEM during the Great Resignation, and Ransomware and DDoS attack trends. She is passionate about helping others and has demonstrated this through her community works, as well as being the recipient of multiple awards for being a champion and a bridge builder. Dr. Cooper was also the recipient of the 2022 ABWA Dr. Martin Luther King Education & Community Service award for keeping MLK’s dream alive.

Lisa Oyler, Cyber Patriots Coach & Adjunct Instructor at MCC & Park University

• Cyber Patriots Coach, Adjunct Instructor at MCC and Park University
• Passionate educator with over 20 years of experience teaching at Summit Technology Academy, Metropolitan Community College and Park University.  I started out  my career teaching the Cisco Academy courses and then later added the information technology, networking, security and Linux courses.  I am currently certified in CompTIA A+, Inet+, Net+, Sec+, and Cloud Essentials+.  I also have the Cisco CCNA, CCNA Security, and Cyber Ops Associate Certifications, as well as LPI Linux Essentials.

Jill Riffer, Technology Teacher at Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies

• Technology Solutions Instructor, Cyber Patriots Coach
• From working as a GIS Specialist to influencing high school students as a Technology Solutions instructor at the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS), Jill Riffer embraces changes in technology to teach digital natives and new users alike how to create with their varied devices and not just passively use them. Jill’s passion for technology learning includes increasing female enrollment in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).