NextExec - EWF EWF - Rising Leaders

In this episode, Aparna Kadari speaks with Diane Tran about her role in the Data Protection Space. Diane shares the challenges organizations face to protect data in this Global age, the support system she has had in her family and how she continues to be a trailblazer supporting women in the Information Security space. She encourages women to hone their craft and create work life harmony in all areas of their lives. Please enjoy. 

HOST:
Aparna Kadari is an Information Security Director for Operations, Endpoint Security, and Cloud Protection Engineering teams at Fannie Mae.  She has an MBA with a double major in Pharmaceutical and Chemical Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a minor in International Business from Wroxton College, Oxfordshire, UK. She is an avid Cyber Security speaker and an active blogger. She also writes poetry and has four anthologies published to her credit. 
She continues to be a mentor at the Girls in Technology (GIT) and Women in Technology (WIT); served as Vice-Chair for the WIT Mentor - Protege program, and as the ATA Convention Women's Forum Chair. She has been involved with community give-back organizations like ASCEND ( a Pan-Asian Leadership group), Executive Women's Forum, developed online awareness campaigns such as STOP Elder Abuse (SEA), continues to advocate for equity for women in STEM and meritocracy in our education system.

SPEAKER:
Diane Tran is an innovative leader with a unique background consisting of cross-disciplinary skills and experience in Data Protection and Privacy, Information Security and Information Technology. 

As a leader, she strives for continuous improvement while leading high-performance teams in diverse and dynamic environments. She currently leads the Data Protection program with a big focus on Data Loss Prevention. The program’s objective is to ensure data is well protected while supporting regulatory mandates and business priorities. It includes the development and implementation of enterprise-wide data management policies, control & governance frameworks, and technical capabilities.


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In this episode, Rachel sits down with Sai and they speak about Sai's journey from being a technologist, to challenging herself in various roles and responsibilities in Governance Risk and Compliance and later moving to the C-suite. Sai shares her insights with others about career development, and how to be an advocate and mentor to others.


HOST:
Luyao (Rachel) Chen is a Senior Manager with Schellman & Company based in Austin, TX, specializing in managing and conducting examinations and compliance engagements including SOC 1, SOC 2 SOC 3, HIPPA, and ISO 27001.  Luyao has worked with organizations ranging from start‐ups to fortune 500 companies across various industries including technology, energy, cloud services, communications, healthcare, legal and financial services.

GUEST SPEAKER:
Sailakshmi Santhanakrishnan ( Sai) is Professional Services – Senior Security Assurance & Advisor for AWS.  She is collaborative, result driven cloud risk, compliance and security executive who has enabled Fortune 100 & 500 organizations to successfully deliver highly visible and significant regulatory, compliance and technology initiatives.

As a trusted advisor, her core strengths are in partnering with the C-suite and business segments to enable their cloud adoption journey to build resilient and regulatory-compliant organizations in the Cloud. 

Sai enjoys global travel and learning about cultural variances. Sai is involved in her community as a NextGen advisor, volunteer, and mentor and as a guest faculty University of Texas, Dallas.  
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In this episode, Preeti conducts an engaging interview with Ashwini Rao, the co-founder and CEO of Eydle. Throughout their conversation, Ashwini talks about her career in cybersecurity, as well as the impact of her findings within the field. We hope that you will enjoy it and thank you so much for listening!

Guest - Ashwini Rao
Ashwini Rao, PhD is a cybersecurity expert, and Cofounder and CEO of Eydle, a startup that protects people and brands from impersonation scams on social media. Previously, she was the CISO at Spring Labs. She has also worked at companies such as Qualcomm and Appian. Her research has been recognized by the Federal Trade Commission, has been used to support a seminal privacy-related case in the US Supreme Court, and has been cited in the Big Data and Privacy report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Her research has been covered by the popular press including NPR, Scientific American and New Scientist.

Host - Preeti Ravindra
Preeti solves security problems with data and math with industry experience working at the intersection of security and AI. She has experience developing and operationalizing machine learning key differentiator solutions to solve cybersecurity problems in security operations, vulnerability management and endpoint protection. Her unique value proposition is working cross-functionally to help security teams succeed in adopting data science and machine learning to deliver business value. She gives back to the cybersecurity community by sharing her work at conferences and supporting women in cybersecurity through podcasting. 
 
Preeti has a Master's degree in Information Networking with a Cybersecurity concentration from Carnegie Mellon University. She has held different roles such as Security Researcher, Applied Researcher, Machine Learning Engineer and Data Scientist. Currently, she is an Information Security Manager at BetterUp leading the security insights and automation team operating at the intersection of security and data science, helping all security teams understand, prioritize and action on their security gaps and risks in a data-driven way.


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Hello and welcome to Season 4 Episode 3 of the NextExec Podcast. In this episode, Katie sits down and has a candid conversation with Aparna Kadari, the Information Security Director at Fannie Mae. From their conversation we learn about Aparna's aspirations of being a journalist, her career in pharmacy and the events leading up to her career change to Information Security. She discusses her culturally diverse background and how that has helped to shape who she is today as a mentor, friend and leader to the teams she currently supports.  Please enjoy.

Guest -  Aparna Kadari
Aparna Kadari is an Information Security Director for Operations, Endpoint Security, and Cloud Protection Engineering teams at Fannie Mae.  She has an MBA with a double major in Pharmaceutical and Chemical Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a minor in International Business from Wroxton College, Oxfordshire, UK. She is an avid Cyber Security speaker and an active blogger. She also writes poetry and has four anthologies published to her credit. 

She continues to be a mentor at the Girls in Technology (GIT) and Women in Technology (WIT); served as Vice-Chair for the WIT Mentor - Protege program, and as the ATA Convention Women's Forum Chair. She has been involved with community give-back organizations like ASCEND ( a Pan-Asian Leadership group), Executive Women's Forum, developed online awareness campaigns such as STOP Elder Abuse (SEA), continues to advocate for equity for women in STEM and meritocracy in our education system.
Host - Katie Margraf
Katie Margraf is a Vice President of Information Security at Citi Bank. She has experience in several cybersecurity and assurance disciplines and business.
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Hello and welcome to Season 4 Episode 2 of the NextExec Podcast. In this episode, Ashley speaks with Joyce Brocaglia the founder of the Executive Women's Forum (EWF) about her vision some 20 years ago and what the EWF is today. They discuss the sisterhood this platform has created, how the EWF has impacted growth in the lives of conference attendees and their corporate benefactors as well as the trajectory created by the various programs that have been instituted over the years. Please enjoy.

Guest - Joyce Brocaglia
Joyce Brocaglia is a visionary entrepreneur who created both the first executive search firm specializing in cybersecurity and a ground-breaking membership organization that builds women leaders in cybersecurity, risk, and privacy.Joyce founded Alta Associates in 1986 and today Alta is the most prominent executive search firm specializing in Cybersecurity, IT Risk Management and Data Privacy. Alta, ranked one of the top 50 executive search firms in the US has an unprecedented track record of placing Chief Information Security Officer’s and building world class organizations.
In March of 2022, Alta was acquired by Diversified Search Group, the largest women-led, women-founded executive search firm. Joyce is the Global Cybersecurity Practice Leader. This joining of forces has expanded Alta’s search capabilities throughout the C-Suite and into the boardroom. Joyce is a business advisor to her clients who has gained the trust and respect of the industry’s most influential executives by accomplishing their strategic and diverse hiring goals. 
For over three decades Joyce has helped to define, elevate, and integrate the role of cybersecurity leaders and professionals in firms ranging from private equity, venture-backed growth companies to the world’s largest and most complex global corporations.  Joyce is the leading authority on the recruitment of Chief Information Security Officers. She is a career advisor to executive thought leaders, sought after for her deep knowledge of the industry, market conditions, and business intelligence.

Joyce is a fierce advocate for women and has dedicated her career to advancing women leaders in cybersecurity, risk and privacy. In 2002, Joyce founded the Executive Women’s Forum ( EWF). Today the EWF is the largest member organization serving over 15,000 emerging leaders as well as the most prominent and influential female executives in their field.

With over 80 Corporate Benefactors globally, the EWF is turbocharging the advancement of their DE&I and ESG goals. The EWF Leadership Academy equips women with the self-awareness, resiliency, and skills necessary to compete for leadership roles. The EWF Cybersecurity Women on Capitol Hill Symposium strengthens public-private relationships. The Carnegie Mellon University, Joyce Brocaglia Endowed Fellowship Fund provides scholarships to underrepresented students.

Host - Ashley Baich
Ashley Baich is a Cybersecurity Senior Analyst at Accenture on the Cyber Investigation, Forensic, and Response team (CIFR). with experience in many disciplines of cybersecurity.  Her analytical background in marketing, communications, technology, and business development inform her mindful but competitive approach.

Ashley is fueled by her desire to bridge the communication between IT Professionals and Business Executives.  She considers herself a ‘forever student’, eager to continue to build her academic foundation to be innovative and forward thinking in the world of cybersecurity.  She is in the process of earning her MBA in information security and is an active participant in the EWF, currently as a co-lead for the Rising Leader Forum.  




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In this episode, Liz sat down with Linda to discuss her journey from being in academia to having a career in Law Enforcement and to her current role as a Senior Incident Response Analyst. Linda highlights the similarities between her time as a detective specializing in digital forensics and her current role within the private sector. She also shares advice for those who are considering a career within the Technology space whether they are fresh out of college or for those considering a career switch. Do enjoy!

Guest: Linda Smith 
My name is Linda Smith and I like to break hacker’s hearts. I am also the Founder of Codify Zone a Tech-Education company where children learn programming, logical and critical thinking skills. I am an ex-cop with extensive experience in the field of Digital Forensics.
Currently I am a Senior Incident Response Analyst with one of the best companies in the field of cyber security, Sophos. I am a mom of 2 beautiful children and a wife, in my spare time I run to support local and international charities.  I am a workout freak, and I can’t sit still. I love to travel, boxing and I absolutely could not live without caffeine.
I love what I do
I do what I love
I do what I do to protect business and humans.


Host: Liz Jaluague
Liz Jaluague is a Cyber Testing Associate at RSM Canada where she performs penetration tests for clients in a wide span of industries. Her previous work experience includes full-stack development, cloud automation, and security governance consulting at a Big Four firm. She earned a BSc in Biochemistry and a postgraduate certificate in Computer Security and Digital Forensics.
Liz serves as a mentor in several organizations for people who are in their first cybersecurity role or looking to enter the field. She also co-leads the EWF's Podcast Action Team.
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