Networking: Women speak cyber (brought to you by Palo Alto Networks)
Friday 30 October 2020
10:30am – 11:30am
About the event
Join this networking event to meet the power women diversifying the Australian cyber security sector.
Note: This event is hosted on Hopin and you will need to register on this platform to participate.
Drop in for short 1:1 networking sessions, facilitated through the ‘Hopin’ platform, with a range of ‘cyber power women’.
During this event you’ll be able to:
- Get first-hand information on how to become a ‘cyber woman’ – hear about their experiences and share yours
- Learn about the programs and policies that support these women
- Ask questions about career pathways
Or just come to connect and grow your network!
Guests you can network with include:
- Tharaka Dharnikota – Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Red Team Manager, Telstra
- Jennifer Firbank – Cyber Security Strategy & Influence Lead, Telstra
- Shey Dimon – Marketing and Communications Manager, Penten
- Susie Jones – CEO and Founder, Cynch Security
- Tracie Thompson – CEO and Founder, HackHunter
- Jacqui Nelson – CEO and Founder, Dekko Secure
- Kirstin McIntosh – Head of Partnerships, CyRise
- Jacqui Loustau – Founder, Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN)
- Louisa Partridge – Co-Founder of Women Speak Cyber and QLD Cyber Security Innovation Node Manager, AustCyber
- Jacqui Kernot – Partner (Cyber Security), EY
- Louisa Vogelenzang - Co-Founder of Women Speak Cyber
- Olivia Grandjean-Thomsen – Communication, Events and Engagement Lead, AustCyber
- Sarah Sloan – Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy for Australia and New Zealand, Palo Alto
- Jodie Vlassis – Senior Security Trust Analyst, Atlassian
- Michelle Price - CEO, AustCyber
- Prerana Mehta - Chief of Ecosystem Development, AustCyber
- Laura Hartley - Head of Public/Private Partnerships Enterprise Security, NAB
- Amy Roberts - Assistant Director - Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion, ASD
In partnership with
Presented by
Tharaka Dharnikota
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Red Team Manager - Telstra
Tara leads the Cyber Security OSINT and Red team at Telstra. She has over 10 years of experience in cyber security and across the various roles in her career, she has helped organisations identify threat exposures and technical security gaps in their systems and processes. Currently, she works in threat research and intelligence where she and her team help understand cyber threats that impact the business and strategic activities required to proactively manage those risks. Tara advocates OSINT by spreading the need for privacy through her various presentations. She loves to mentor those new to security and recently, has been nominated for the second time for Australian Women in Security awards.
Shey Dimon
Marketing and Communications Manager - Penten
Shey is an accomplished communications professional, with over 15 years’ experience in both Australia and the USA. She developed a love for communicating for engineering firms when she worked at global firm, Arup in her 20s. The company had the most progressive and welcoming culture she had experienced, and the projects they worked on were truly awe-inspiring. After working in the US at the Australian Embassy, and for multiple defence engineering firms, Shey started at cyber technology company Penten. Penten has the culture and innovation which reminds Shey of her days back at Arup. The staff are overwhelmingly positive, and the projects are truly world leading. As the lead for communications at Penten, Shey has carved out the role, implementing her strategic plans and creative processes. Shey advocates for diversity in the technology and security industries and is a finalist in the Australian Women in Security Network awards as Champion for Women in Security. She is a Certified Practicing Marketer with the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) in Australia and an AMI ACT Committee member.
Susie Jones
CEO and Founder - Cynch Security
Susie Jones is an Australian entrepreneur and the co-founder of cybersecurity startup, Cynch. Susie is an experienced risk, insurance and innovation leader. She developed her deep expertise through roles as a cybersecurity business services manager, corporate insurance broker, risk manager and innovator for established security frontrunners including Australia Post, Marsh and Decipha.
Tracie Thompson
CEO and Founder - HackHunter
Tracie Thompson is the CEO of HackHunter, a cyber security start-up based in Melbourne focusing on WiFi security. She has led HackHunter from idea through three accelerator programs (Startmate, CyRise and SBE Australia) to product launch. Previously Tracie was co-owner and COO of a security consulting and software company, managing two successful business exits. Tracie is also an industry and startup mentor, championing women in tech.
Jacqui Nelson
CEO and Founder - Dekko Secure
Jacqui Nelson has a passion for innovation and success and making a positive contribution to business and society. To that end, she has been closely involved in the start up and successful growth of several commercial and social enterprise ventures. Following a successful career in banking and finance in Sydney and London, Jacqui now leads the growth and global expansion of DekkoSecure, an Australian software company on the cutting edge of cyber security, that helps Government departments, law enforcement agencies, legal firms and medical and health organisations to securely communicate and collaborate on sensitive and confidential information.
Olivia Grandjean-Thomsen
Communication, Events and Engagement Lead - AustCyber
Olivia Grandjean-Thomsen is passionate about designing and implementing internal and external communication and stakeholder engagement strategies for the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. She currently works as the Communication, Events and Engagement Lead at AustCyber. Previously, she was the Strategy Lead and Head of Content at My Health Record – a high profile digital transformation project at the Australian Digital Health Agency. She has worked as a Senior Communications Strategist at contentgroup, and for Global Access Partners – a public policy think-tank that initiates strategic discussions on pressing social, economic and structural issues to increase stakeholder participation in the development of government policy
Sarah Sloan
Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy - Palo Alto Networks
Sarah Sloan is the Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy for Australia and New Zealand at Palo Alto Networks. In her position, she advises the company’s leadership on a range of strategic policies, builds relationships across all tiers of government and acts as a trusted private sector adviser to Australian Governments. She is the company’s primary interface with Australian and New Zealand parliamentarians and senior departmental officials. Sarah has 10+ years of experience working in government, predominantly in cybercrime and cyber security. She has a proven track record of delivering results at the operational and strategic levels of government and is passionate about improving Australia and New Zealand’s cyber security posture.
Louisa Vogelenzang
Associate Managing Director (Identity Theft and Breach Notification) – Kroll
Louisa Vogelenzang is an Associate Managing Director at Kroll (a division of Duff & Phelps) and APAC lead for Kroll’s Identity Theft and Breach Notification practice. Louisa is also a Director at Women Speak Cyber, a social enterprise she co-founded with Louisa Partridge that aims to elevate, grow and retain women in cyber security by ensuring women’s voices are equally represented in the industry. Louisa has over 16 years of experience in customer facing roles, leading teams across Europe and Australia. Her career highlights to date have included helping to design and launch two award winning state-of-the-art cyber security operations centers whilst part of the security products team at Telstra; a 3 month secondment to The Australian Prime Minister and Cabinet’s Cyber Resilience Taskforce; and during a short career break in 2019, spending three months volunteering with IDCARE, a not for profit dedicated to identity and cyber security support in ANZ.
Jennifer Firbank
Strategy and Influence Lead – Telstra
Jennifer Firbank leads Telstra’s Cyber Security Strategy & Influence function and is responsible for the CISO’s office, and driving the strategic vision of the team and influence capability. Jen is a big picture person and strategic thinker, and her strong generalist capabilities means her solutions are very considered. Jen previously led Telstra’s external engagement capability in cyber security, and worked as Chief of Staff for the CISO where she served as their confidant and right hand. Her background includes working as the Strategy and Operations Manager for Hewlett Packard on a top 10 Global Account, and various senior Media & Communications roles in the technology, banking and superannuation sectors. Jen holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts (Public Communications).
Kirstin McIntosh
Head of Partnerships - CyRise
Kirstin McIntosh is the Head of Partnerships for CyRise, Australia’s cyber security venture accelerator. At CyRise, she works with some of most technically adept and ambitious minds of the cyber security community. Before this, Kirstin worked in Europe and Asia in business development in the private sector, and corporate partnership roles in public sector for over 23 years before returning to Australia in 2017 and moving into startups. Kirstin holds an MBA from IMD in Switzerland, and a B.Comm from University of Melbourne. She is on the board of Startup Victoria and BSides Melbourne and is a mentor at Spark Deakin.
Jacqui Kernot
Partner (Cyber Security) - EY
Jacqui is a senior cyber security and risk management professional with over 20 years experience in consulting, startup and MSP management. Jacqui is currently a Cyber Partner with EY’s Financial Services Organisation, where she is also the FSO Lead for Diversity and Inclusion. She is founding partner of the Better Cyber Security Coalition, a global group leading thinking on new ways to approach cyber security problems. She is also Chair of the largest and longest running body for women in the IT industry, Females in IT and Telecommunication (FITT).
Amy Roberts
Assistant Director (Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion) - Australian Signals Directorate
Amy Roberts works in diversity and inclusion at the Australian Signals Directorate and is responsible for a number of initiatives to promote cyber security career opportunities. In particular, she strives to increase the participation of women in the industry. Amy is a Canberra Chapter lead for the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) and in 2019 was presented with the AWSN Women in Security Award for 'Australia’s Most Outstanding Woman in Security'. Amy is a certified organisational coach, coordinates Canberra’s ‘First Thursday of the Month Club’ which is an inclusive security industry meetup and, in addition to singing in her band, is passionate about connecting and inspiring people to develop a diverse and inclusive industry.
Laura Hartley
Head of Public Private Partnerships (Enterprise Security) - NAB
Laura Hartley is a criminologist specialising in cyber safety. She has worked in NAB’s Enterprise Security team for seven years, and previously worked in personal and institutional banking. Laura is the acting Head of Public Private Partnerships and leads NAB’s Security Advisory & Awareness team, which works with NAB’s employees, customers and the community to empower them to keep themselves safe online and in the physical world.
Jodie Vlassis
Senior Trust Analyst - Atlassian
Jodie Vlassis is a cyber security professional, with five years experience in Cloud Security, GRC and policy. Currently, Jodie is a Senior Trust Analyst on Atlassian’s Security team in Sydney. As a Senior Trust Analyst, Jodie’s responsibility is to remove barriers and security issues with customers so they can become a customer, continue being a customer or be a bigger customer of Atlassian. Prior to joining Atlassian, Jodie came from Big 4 professional services, successfully delivering and uplifting cyber security needs to her clients. As a senior leader, she demonstrated considerable expertise of cloud security, governance, risk and compliance and large-scale agile project management. Jodie is also incredibly passionate about raising awareness for women and marginalised groups in security and technology, coaching and mentoring and advocacy for mental health. She holds a Master’s Degree in Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, with a specialisation in Intelligence and Cyber Security.
Walkiria Perez
Ecosystem Development Lead - AustCyber
Walkiria has more than 15 years' managerial experience, qualifications in business/business information systems, two agile certifications and a passion for innovation. She enjoys finding ways to support entrepreneurs to thrive and industries grow in a collaborative way. Through her work in Australia, she has supported Canberra’s biggest innovation community and the Canberra Renewable’s Innovation Hub. She has established stronger links between high calibre research, industry, start-ups, diplomats, other national and international innovation organisations, and founders with innovative, collaborative and vibrant programs. She is championing and implementing successful activities to enable the ACT innovation community to come together to develop capability, talent and technology.
Jacqui Loustau
Founder - Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN)
Jacqui Loustau is a leading cyber security expert, with extensive global experience in the IT and information security industry. Passionate about collaborating with others to drive innovation and change within industry, Jacqui is currently using her experience to help small businesses with their cyber resilience at Cynch Security. As the Founder of the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN), she is also working on several initiatives to try and influence more talent from all industries and diverse backgrounds to pursue a career in security.
Louisa Partridge
Co-Founder of Women Speak Cyber and QLD Cyber Security Innovation Node Manager - AustCyber
Louisa Partridge is the Manager of the Queensland Cyber Security Innovation Node (Brisbane). She is also the Co-Founder and Director of Women Speak Cyber – a social enterprise that encourages diversity and empowers women in the cyber security industry to find their voice. For the last 15 years, Louisa has worked for cyber security vendors, most recently as the General Manager of Marketing (Cyber Security) at Telstra. She is passionate about helping brands grow in-market and building ecosystems and partnerships.