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“If you're in security, there's a tremendous future for you.” This quote from Margie Gurwin during the conversation stood out for us and fuelled us to run this podcast.
As we celebrate International Women's Day (March 8, 2024) this year under the theme of "Inspire Inclusion," it is crucial to recognize and honour the incredible contributions of women in the field of security. Women have played a vital role in shaping the landscape of threat intelligence and information security, breaking barriers, and paving the way for future generations of female security professionals.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with three such women in the security industry who have committed themselves to excellence and giving back. Listen as we ask their thoughts on women in security in 2024 and beyond.
In an industry traditionally dominated by men, women have made significant strides, bringing diversity of thought, perspective, and skill. From threat intelligence analysts, investigators, and engineers to chief information security officers and researchers, women have excelled in various roles within the security sector, making invaluable contributions to protecting organizations from cyber threats and ensuring the integrity of data and systems.
On this International Women's Day, let's live the theme in what we do all year round and "inspire inclusion" through our daily actions.
About our Guests:
Bobby Varma
CEO/ Founder at Princeton Identity
Accomplished executive with a strong affinity for technology and a keen business sense for the application of emerging products. Customer-focused, result-oriented and ambitious with proven management skills and distinctive leadership capabilities for operations, execution and growth. Passionate, creative and ambitious to grow a fast-moving business in a constantly changing environment.
Princeton Identity is biometric identity management that makes security more accurate, reliable and convenient than ever before. Using iris recognition and other biometric technology, PI enables businesses, global organizations and borders to simplify identity management, resulting in improved safety and protection.
Our software and physical hardware provide versatile identity authentication solutions designed to verify and manage individuals’ identities for a wide range of physical security and access applications. With proven installations around the world, Princeton Identity offers system solutions for a diverse range of mainstream applications, including mobile access control, corporate, industrial and secure workplaces, as well as airports, critical infrastructure, public arenas, and border control.
Margie Gurwin
Founder of Content Creation Partners LLC , SIA Women In Security Forum Steering Committee, WISF Power 100 Honoree, Uplift HER Co-Chair, and SIA TIME Mentor
Margie Gurwin is the founder and principal of Content Creation Partners, a boutique content service catering exclusively to clients in the Physical Security sector. Beyond representing her client's products and services, she helps communicate their vision, industry insights, and success stories.
Ms. Gurwin is passionate about expanding the presence and impact of women in the security industry. She is an active member of the Security Industry Association (SIA) and Women in Security Forum (WISF), currently serving her third year on the WISF Steering Committee and first as co-chair of the WISF UpliftHER (formerly Charitable Giving) subcommittee. She has also donated her time to the WISF AmplifiHER (formerly Scholarship) subcommittee, the inaugural Security LeadHER Conference planning committee, and the SIA TIME mentorship program.
Before establishing Content Creation Partners in 2017, she spent two decades heading marketing teams for high-tech B2B companies, mostly within the security industry. In 2023, she was named to the WISF Power 100, which recognizes women who lead, inspire, and innovate in the global security industry.
Sheryl Pinckney-Maas
CEO & Founder of Guardian Zone, LLC
Sheryl Pinckney-Maas is the CEO and Founder of Guardian Zone, LLC, a technology company in Colleyville, Texas that is a leading provider of crowd-sourced security solutions. Sheryl has launched a cutting-edge security mobile app and software platform that fortifies public safety. Her company is first in the market to invent a mobile software solution for businesses, schools and venues that creates an open and secure community allowing any smartphone user with the app to automatically connect with on-site security officials. Guardian Zone is the ultimate solution to connect,communicate, and mitigate false Information.
Sheryl created Guardian Zone by leveraging her 25 years’ experience as a U.S. Diplomat and Senior Commercial Officer living and working in six international markets: China, South Africa, Mexico, The Netherlands, Jordan and Peru. As a senior officer, she was a member of the Embassy’s Emergency Action Committee and the International Trade Administration’s representative on the Overseas Security Advisory Council, where she worked closely with U.S. based companies’ overseas operations. Using her experience of living in high threat and high crime countries, she has taken more than two decades of knowledge and created a security solution for today’s corporate, educational and entertainment industries.