Women in Security Awards Aotearoa: The Winners

We celebrate all nominees for the 2021 Women in Security Awards Aotearoa, and are proud to feature the winners in each category. Congratulations to all!

In its second year, the Women in Security Awards Aotearoa (WiSAA) has again proven a challenge for its expert judging panel, with a high quality field of nominees from across New Zealand’s security sector.

Organised by the New Zealand Security Sector Network (NZSSN) and supported by the Women in Security & Resilience Alliance (WISECRA), the WiSAA initiative was established in 2020 to recognise women who have advanced the New Zealand security and resilience sectors.

Nominees must be women, or identify as women, with more than three years of experience in either the physical security, personnel security, information security, or resilience disciplines, and be actively practising in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This year’s WiSAA categories include:

• Consultant – A professional who provides advice and expertise to (or in) organisations to help them improve their security and/or resilience performance.

• Analyst – A professional who collects, processes, and/or analyses security information.

• Engineer – A professional working within software or hardware engineering that supports the security sector.

• Executive – A professional who develops and implements security strategies, policies, protocols and procedures, and controls budgets for security and/or resilience operations.

• Leader – A professional who leads a team or teams, such as a team leader involved in the recruiting, training and supervising of security officers, or an operations manager.

• Educator – A professional who teaches, informs or inspires others.

• Thought Leader – A professional who has expertise, insight, and a valuable perspective; one that challenges thinking, encourages colleagues and supports change.

• Indigenous Advocate – A professional supporting grassroots Indigenous movements to protect, respect, and fulfil the rights of their communities.

• Rising Star – An early career professional who is expected to achieve great things in the security and resilience sector.

This year, WiSAA organisers were honoured to be joined by an expert judging panel reflecting the skills and experience diversity of the sector:

• International risk management, organisational resilience, and extreme events specialist Dr Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor;

• Former New Zealand Police Senior Sergeant and Australasian Council of Women and Policing Award recipient Claire Bibby, and

• ASIS International New Zealand Chapter Chair, respected security educator, and 2020 WiSAA recipient Ngaire Kelaher CPP PSP.

And the winners are…

Thought Leader (co-winner)

Jennie Vickers, CEO, Zeopard Consulting.

As CEO of the New Zealand Defence Industry Association (NZDIA) for four years (having stepped down in May 2021), Jennie championed courageous and open conversations between government and industry in the defence and security sectors to support better procurement outcomes, and supporting more SMEs to participate in government supply chains.

Along with qualifications to practice law in NZ, Australia and UK, Jennie is a WorldCC Fellow, Expert in SRM and CCMP qualified in CCM. In her consultant role to Fortinet, she is focusing on helping businesses and government employees in ANZ understand what security-driven networking looks like and supporting Fortinet’s global initiatives around closing the Cybersecurity professionals gap.

Jennie was able to energise the membership of the NZDIA, build its base and create momentum across the span of industry from the very large international players to small New Zealand businesses. Jennie seemed to have unlimited energy which she used in an influential but considered manner.

The NZDIA Membership expanded substantially over her tenure as CEO of NZDIA and event variety and frequency of delivery increased. Jennie’s vision recognised that to deliver Broader Outcomes the Primes needed to meet, then build relationships with NZ SMEs and Māori-Pacifica businesses. Making these connections is difficult for those spread across the World and Jennie used a range of tools to support those connections being made.

Jennie uses social media like LinkedIn, as a force for good. Her posts rarely talk about her own achievements, instead she uses her platform to help and support others. She demonstrates to fellow Women in Security that courageous conversations conducted in a respectful way, help build trust and identify a way forward.

Thought Leader (co-winner)

Sai Honig, Senior Security Consultant, ANZ.

Originally from the United States, Sai has worked in a variety of fields following achieving a BSc degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona. Sai is a recent recipient of the 2020 IFSEC Global Top Influencer in Security – #16 in the Cyber Security category.

Sai has volunteered across multiple organisations, including for the Grameen Foundation, which culminated in her being the recipient of a US Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2013.

Sai has demonstrable experience leading teams, advising C-Suite executives and boards on cyber security best practice, including establishing and delivering child awareness campaigns through ISC2 for the New Zealand youth.

Sai is selfless with her time volunteering in New Zealand both inside and outside of the security industry. She has twice presented to the New Zealand Women in Security and ASIS New Zealand forums and is recognised as a progressive thought leader in cyber security governance, operations and policy.

Sai has served on the global board of ISC2, and co-established the New Zealand Network for Women in Security, a local network for women currently working in cybersecurity or who are interested in cybersecurity. She has also served on the Cloud Security Alliance APAC Research Advisory Council, and is a director of the Black Cybersecurity Association.

Executive

Heather Jones, Director, Aegis Private Security.

Heather is the primary owner/ operator of Aegis Private Security Ltd and has been for over 20 years. Prior to that, she spent many years in security with various local businesses where she learnt the skills of the trade that she’s then been able to apply in her own business.

Specialising in cash handling, event and static security: she is a role model for women in physical security and anyone who is interested in becoming a security guard or owning their own security business.

With a strong moral compass – her approach to ensuring the client (and anyone she or her staff come into contact with) is treated with respect – is one that is to be admired.

She is ‘hands on’ and in uniform. Her highly effective communication skills mean that she is able to diffuse situations that could otherwise escalate – which staff and others around her learn from.

Over the last 24 months, her unwavering work ethic has been proven itself frequently in the

context of Covid-19. With the reality of losing around 70 percent of her income (with events being cancelled all over the country), she adapted by providing security services for the Tauranga DHB testing and vaccination centres.

During the time, she was working 65+ hour weeks, adamant she didn’t want her staff to be working and exposed to the virus if she could help it – demonstrative of the care she has for the health and wellbeing of her staff.

Heather is a well-respected individual within the Tauranga community – both as a general citizen and even more so as the Director of Aegis Private Security.

Leader

Jill Priest, Client Services Manager – Tauranga, FIRST Security

Jill gives a human face and a formidable personality to security for her clients, and this, combined with a mastery of her trade and an exemplary commitment to her communities, makes her a truly inspiring leader and mentor to her teams of security officers, patrol officers and regulatory enforcement officers.

Based in Tauranga, Jill is responsible for employees and clients across the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne areas – a large area of responsibility with dozens of key clients from local government, to education and healthcare, to retail and large urban and rural enterprises.

“Her relationship with Private Investigators, Police, other security providers and Councils in her region demonstrates that she collaborates with multiple agencies to provide us, as her customer with the multifaceted solution to a problem and collects information and intelligence from organisations that trust her,” stated a senior client security manager in relation to Jill.

Jill was a finalist in the 2021 New Zealand Security Industry Awards, and it is demonstrative of the level of positive impact she has had in her region that her nomination was supported by testimonials from several external customers.

Jill creates jobs for people that they want to come to, where they learn and grow as individuals and security professionals, and where they can make a difference. Always community-minded, Jill’s holistic approach to security and community safety puts people first – whether they are a client of FIRST Security or not.

Indigenous Advocate

Tash Bettridge, CSAM, Microsoft New Zealand.

Tash Bettridge is a proud female and even prouder Maori female. Tash has advocated for greater access to technology, the implementation of it to disadvantaged communities and cyber security training for indigenous Maori.

Tash has a strong connection with her whakapapa and recognises the importance of connecting Indigenous people with technology through an understanding of traditional Maori tikanga. She holds a BSc from Unitec in Computer & Information Systems/Information Assurance, where she was the Student ISACA representative and continued post completion of her degree to work as a student mentor.

Tash has worked tirelessly for diversity in the NZ cybersecurity landscape, most recently participating and presenting at the annual Women in Security seminars. Tash also coestablished the online community New Zealand Network for Women in Security.

In doing this, she has woven traditional Maori manaakitanga and encouraged more people to access resources and become active participants in the sector.

Whilst not alone in this category, Tash has broken many traditional barriers in her pursuit of connecting New Zealand’s indigenous Maori communities with knowledge and capability. Her advocacy of indigenous people and technology security as one makes her a stand out in this category.

Educator

Yvonne Bruce, Training Manager, FIRST Security.

Yvonne is an experienced and highly qualified HR, professional development and training professional who believes in using her skills to improve the performance of an organisation and its people by offering practical solutions to operational challenges.

Yvonne’s ongoing focus on developing life skills beyond security knowledge for a diverse workforce has seen her develop and deliver a literacy and numeracy training programme that has delivered literally life-changing results for many of her colleagues.

Staff who have completed Yvonne’s courses have gained new life skills, more confidence in their roles, and the pathway to advancement in their careers. The impact of this goes well beyond their work life and into their lives outside of work.

Yvonne has also been instrumental in the training and preparedness of security officers deployed to Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) sites around the country as part of the government response to Covid-19.

COVID-19 and MIQ-focused training initiatives led by Yvonne were instrumental in FIRST Security’s provision of security guarding services to MIQ facilities. The resources developed by Yvonne directly supported the Covid-19 response and the prevention of community transmission of the virus in New Zealand from the border.

The challenge was urgent, the situation was dynamic, and trained guards were required in timeframes that were unprecedented. Yvonne initiated training documents based on best practice and continually adapted these to comply with changing Government requirements. Yvonne’s training modules, which were favourably by independent reviewers, have been crucial to the training of the nation’s several hundred MIQ security guards.

Consultant

Anupurna Kaw, Senior Customer Success Engineer, Microsoft New Zealand.

Based in Wellington, Anu has worked in the security industry in Australia and New Zealand for more than 18 years. She is always willing to support, volunteer and promote events or initiatives to help educate people about the importance of security, inclusion and diversity.

Being a female and an immigrant, Anu has faced many challenges. But with confidence and perseverance, she has successfully broken all the barriers presented to her in the male-dominated industry. She has worked for leading organisations such as Unisys, Spark, Vocus, and Vodafone, and has made a significant positive impact at each place of her workplaces.

Her impact resulted in her nomination by Vodafone (her previous employer) for the Technical Award in the Reseller News Women in IT Awards, 2019. She was selected as a finalist in a category that recognises candidates who have excelled in the technical and engineering segment of the ICT industry.

In the words of her ex-Manager, Rowan Smith, Cyber Security Consulting Practice Manager at Vodafone New Zealand, “Anu has been one of the most indispensable members of my team, she has sought out challenging responsibilities and opportunities, both internal, for the Vodafone enterprise, and external for Vodafone customers. She is goaloriented and results-focused.”

“Coupling her end-to-end holistic view of information security, with her technology-specific knowledge, Anu has often, and unexpectedly, found herself as the de-facto subject matter expert in the room. She rose to the challenge on every occasion.”

In addition to her Customer Success Azure Subject Matter Expert role at Microsoft, Anu has been involved with a number of community organisations that focus on promoting inclusion and diversity in cybersecurity in NZ. She has built her own LinkedIn community where she actively posts meaningful content with her followers.

She mentors youth and promotes inclusion and diversity by encouraging minorities to join the industry – a role model for many women who are keen to join the industry and thrive in it.

Engineer

Sherilyn Tasker, Software Team Leader, Gallagher.

Sherilyn has worked in the Security industry for more than 30 years, starting with PEC Ltd as a Software Tester in 1989. With Gallagher for the past 20 years, Sherilyn is a senior people leader in Research & Development, currently overseeing the work of two development teams.

Sherilyn impacts the development of new security products in her Release Management role, through coordinating and quality assurance – ensuring both product quality, and quality of the technical and user documentation that accompanies it – of the release process across more than 10 development teams.

Sherilyn is a straight shooter, providing unfettered feedback regarding any perceived opportunities to improve the way we do things across the organisation. Sherilyn actively considers and advises where she sees the greatest gaps are in how we work, and where potential positive changes can be made to improve process, systems, or resourcing to meet the larger needs of the team.

As our team has grown, Sherilyn’s role has evolved from software testing to test team management, overall team leadership, and release management. This evolution has required her to mould a team of engineers from different backgrounds, including technical leaders, and understand what makes them tick to encourage an environment that breeds both individual and team success.

Sherilyn sets a positive example for other women in security through being independent, confident, and forthright in a traditionally male dominated profession. The effectiveness of the teams Sherilyn leads also illustrates the importance of a people-centric approach with emphasis on clear communication.

Analyst

Amina Aggarwal, Security Design Consultant, Spark.

Amina migrated to New Zealand in 2016 where she studied a Post Graduate Diploma in Computing from Unitec Institute of Technology. She commenced her IT career as a service desk specialist in 2017.

Having come from a different background and without formal training in cyber, Amina faced significant obstacles, which she overcame by continued perseverance and focus when she landed her first role at Spark NZ in 2018 as a Security Analyst.

After leaving Spark, where she worked in the country’s largest Security Operations Centre, Amina moved to Workday in 2019 where she became a Senior Security Analyst for one of the world’s leading SaaS services.

Recently Amina has returned to Spark as a Security Design Consultant where she continues working in Security for the largest ISP in the country assisting Spark’s internal and external customers.

Amina has been involved with the New Zealand Network for Security as an administrator since 2020. She has committed to giving her time to Cybersecurity events globally and hopes to build a stronger presence locally.

She has been involved in various programs, including the CyberConnect program for mentoring University of Maryland students. Through CyberConnect, ACES LLP and Minor Students are matched with cybersecurity professionals to explore the cybersecurity field, build professional relationships, and learn from others who were once in their shoes.

Rising Star

Pascale Howell, Customer Research Manager, Gallagher.

Pascale joined Gallagher straight out of university as a Product Manager within the Security Customisation Team in 2018. Pascale’s dedicated work ethic and ability to quickly learn new concepts – and rapidly apply these learnings to her next challenge – is what inspired her nomination.

Her ability to connect with customers, understand their needs, identify their problems, and then break this down into a format that everyone can understand, is what sets Pascale apart.

She flourished in her role as Product Manager, contributing to a range of significant projects for large multinational customers. It is these customers who benefit from her contribution most, as the delivery of new product developments have always been ahead of schedule and in excess of their expectations.

Additionally, Gallagher’s R&D teams benefit from Pascale’s influence and skillset around identifying the customer’s challenges and distilling these down to identify the most impactful changes that need to be made.

Pascale’s ability to both coordinate tasks and communicate effectively with everyone involved is something that is greatly appreciated by her sales colleagues and by Channel Partners.

In September this year, Pascale started a new role as a Customer Research Manager in Gallagher’s recently established Research Centre of Excellence – providing a mechanism for all those involved in new product development to be able to gain insights directly from customers.