The awards are designed to generate positivity across the industry by recognising the talent and efforts of some of the leading individuals tirelessly working to develop the security and fire safety sectors.
Nominations for 2021 are now closed.
The judges, many of whom have been named as previous top influencers in the awards, all play prominent roles in the security and fire sectors across the globe. The panel consists of individuals from several different countries – many have additional years of overseas experience – with more details about the individuals selected below.
Lead Judge and co-founder of the prestigious awards, Grant Lecky, returns for 2021, commenting: “Last year’s awards were bigger than ever, and I’m thrilled to say we once again have an exceptional and highly respected team of international judges from several disciplines in the field of physical and cyber security. With the addition of the ‘Influencer of the Year’ award, there’s an extra bit of recognition available as well, and as always we look forward to reading all the nominations that come in!”
Grant himself featured among the IFSEC Global Influencers in Security and Fire in both 2014 and 2017, has featured on the Canadian Who’s Who, and is a recipient of the Bill Zalud Memorial Award for professional excellent/outstanding service in the security profession. Grant has held the lead judge position since 2018, working to ensure there is wide international representation and liaising regularly with the judges to maintain a fair and balanced process.
The 2021 influencers will be announced in the IFSEC Security Briefing (which you can register for here) this summer.
And, for the first time ever this year, the inaugural ‘Security Influencer of the Year’ Award will be announced at the Security & Fire Excellence Awards, set to take place in London, UK in November. The winner will be chosen between the top influencers in the first five security categories listed above.
You can find out the winners of the 2020 awards, here.
This could be anyone:
Installers
The criteria for installers is slightly different, being an individual – not a company – who has done some or all of the following:
Lead Judge: Grant Lecky
Grant Lecky MSc. CSyP, F.ISRM, AARPI, CBCP is the co-founder of the Security Partners Forum (SPF), a network of security professionals that fosters greater communication and collaboration between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors across the globe.
In addition to the SPF, Grant, also currently serves as an Expert Network Member (Risk & Resilience) at the World Economic Forum, as member of the global advisory council of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM) and is a winner of numerous accolades including a spot on the Canadian Who’s Who and the Bill Zalud Award through the IFPO and Security Magazine.
View Grant’s LinkedIn profile to find out about his other accolades and accomplishments.
Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola, Chair, African Union Cyber Security Expert Group
Amongst many other roles, Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola is concurrently: Chair, African Union Cyber Security Expert Group (AUCSEG) – African Union Commission; Chair, Working Group on Cyber Incident Management and Critical Information Protection of Global Forum on Cyber Expertise; and Commissioner, Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace. He is a founding member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation – Computer Emergency Response Team and Chairman, Consultancy Support Services (CS2) Ltd., a Nigerian Cyber Security, e-Library and ICT Policy Consultancy Firm.
He is working to kickstart the development of an Africa Cyber Security Economic sub-sector, employing knowledge workers who will profitably drive cyber security solutions value chains to solve current and future problems.
Professor Alison Wakefield, Professor of Criminology & Security Studies, UWL
Professor Alison Wakefield PhD CSyP FSyI recently stepped down from her role as Chair of the Security Institute, which she held for three years, and is currently a Professor of Criminology and Security Studies at the University of West London. She is also an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, Academic Adviser to the Chartered Security Professionals Registration Authority, and an editorial board member for several journals.
Alison’s recent honours and awards include featuring in SC Media UK’s 50 Women of Influence in Cyber Security 2019, winning an Emerald Outstanding Paper 2018 award for the co-authored paper ‘Confronting the “fraud bottleneck”’ in the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, and receiving the Association of Security Consultants Imbert Prize 2017 for her contribution to the security profession. She has published three books, and just completed a new one for Sage titled Security and Crime: Converging Perspectives on a Complex World, due out in 2021.
Andrea Chittaro, Senior Vice President, Global Security & Cyber Defence, Snam Group
Andrea Chittaro began his career as an Officer of the Italian Carabinieri Corps in 1986. Over the course of 24 years he has held several leadership roles in the main Carabinieri organisations in different Italian regions, dealing with public order, organised crime, internal and international terrorism. In July 2010 he joined the Snam Group, where he is now Senior Vice President leading the Global Security & Cyber Defence Department.
Andrea is lecturer and member of the Scientific Committee at the Homeland Security Master of the Campus Biomedico University of Rome and at the Training Course for Corporate Security Professional at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan. He is Chairman of the Executive Board of the Italian Association of Corporate Security Professional (AIPSA), as well as a member of several “fora” among the main European gas companies. He was a founding member and member of the Executive Board of the AIAS Security & Safety Professional Association (APASS), with expertise in the “Critical Infrastructures” Area.
Ardi Sutedja, Chairman, Indonesia Cyber Security Forum
Ardi Sutedja K., is the founder and Chairman of the Indonesia Cyber Security Forum (ICSF), a non-profit professional organisation established and based in Jakarta, Indonesia, whose mission is to promote and nurture cyber security and resilience in the region. Amongst several other initiatives, ICSF hosts the annual Indonesia Cyber Security Summit (ICSS), which is an invitation-only event featuring sessions and roundtable discussions led by global experts and leading academics.
Aside from ICSF, Ardi is the President Director of Indonesia Dirgantara Expo (IDEX), an event management company focusing on ICT, aviation and maritime events. Ardi also is former Board of Trustees and Senior Advisors of Indonesia’s ICT Community (MASTEL).
Brett Lovegrove, Chief Executive, City Security and Resilience Networks
Brett joined the UK Metropolitan Police Service in 1978. After retiring as the Head of Counter Terrorism for the City of London Police in 2008, Brett is today the Chief Executive of the City Security and Resilience Networks (CSARN) covering the UK and Australia; Chairman of Paratum (Counter Terrorism Engineering); Chairman of the Defence and Security Committee of the London Chamber of Commerce; Managing Director of Valentis Bridge Ltd and sits on the London Board of Crimestoppers. He also is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence.
His companies address the full spectrum of counter terrorism, counter corporate espionage, artificial intelligence, engineering, business continuity, crisis leadership, communications, risk analysis, disaster recovery and emergency planning issues featuring both nationally and internationally on defence and organisational solutions.
Brian Harrell, Vice President and Chief Security Officer, Avangrid
Brian currently serves as the Vice President and Chief Security Officer (CSO) at Avangrid, an energy company with assets and operations in 24 states. He is responsible for the company’s physical and cyber security, security compliance, enterprise risk governance, and fire protection units. In 2018, Brian was appointed by the President of the United States to serve as the sixth Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, at the Department of Homeland Security.
Brian also served as the first Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at the US Cyber security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Brian has spent time during his career in the US Marine Corps and various private sector agencies with the goal of protecting the United States from security threats.
Cathy L. Lanier, Senior Vice President and Chief of Security, National Football league (NFL)
Prior to serving in her current role as Senior Vice President and Chief of Security at the National Football League, Lanier held the position of Chief of Police with the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from 2007 to 2016. Lanier earned various commendable honors including becoming the first female police chief of the nation’s capital, the first commanding officer of Homeland Security and Counter-Terrorism for D.C. Police. Cathy took the lead role in developing and implementing coordinated counterterrorism strategies for all units within the MPD and launched the department’s Operation TIPP (Terrorist Incident Prevention Program). While leading the MPD, Lanier also demonstrated expertise in securing and managing large events, including five Presidential inaugurations.
As the Chief of Security for the NFL, Lanier safeguards the security of all 32 NFL teams and their venues, liaises and collaborates with federal, state and local law enforcement, and ensures security for events like the Super Bowl. Chief Lanier’s service continues to extend beyond the NFL to the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Christine Lanning, President, Integrated Security Technologies
Christine Lanning leads an elite team of security system integrators as President of Integrated Security Technologies, Inc. (IST), a woman-owned, small disadvantaged 8a electrical contractor headquartered in Hawaii. IST’s mission “Leading Hawaii to a Safer Place” reflects Christine’s history of commitment to the local community and the security industry. IST was awarded Hawaii Business Magazine’s Best Places to Work from 2013 to 2020, Pacific Business News Fastest 50 in 2020 and a 2020 Hawaii Business Magazine Top 250 Business.
Christine is a champion for culture building and leadership, promoting Ho’ohui (creating connections and building bridges together). She currently serves on the boards of The Pacific Club, AFCEA Hawaii, ASIS Hawaii, Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council (MAC), and PSA Security (North America’s largest electronic security cooperative). She is also an active member of the InfraGard, Honolulu Navy League, and the National Association of Women in Construction. In 2014 Christine was awarded ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) Woman of the Year and in 2020 she was awarded the SBA Leader of the Year for Hawaii.
Dr Dimitra Georgiou, Academic, Security & Privacy, University of Piraeus
Dr. Dimitra Georgiou is an Adjunct Lecturer and Postdoc Researcher in the field of Security & Privacy in Cloud-based Health Systems, at the University of Piraeus in Greece and a Certified IB Teacher of Computer Science at the International School of Athens, Greece. She is also an author and presenter at international conferences and in journals, as well as a member of several associations, including ISACA and the Women in Cyber Security initiative.
She holds a Ph.D. with Excellence in Security Policies for Cloud Computing, a MSc in Network-Oriented Information Systems and a BSc degree as an Engineer of Computer Science and Telecommunications. Dr. Dimitra has received three funded scholarships from the State Scholarship Foundation of Greece (IKY) and the European Union, and her research interests lie in the areas of Information and Communication Systems Security and Privacy, Data Protection and Privacy, Security Policies, Protection of personal data and the compliance of information systems to the European Legislation.
Don Erickson, CEO, Security Industry Association
Don was appointed CEO of the Security Industry Association in November 2011, having previously served as SIA Director of Government Relations from 2006. As CEO, Don leads implementation of SIA’s Board Strategic Framework and oversees SIA’s collaboration with industry and vertical market associations and organisations. He is responsible for the management of SIA’s operations and programmes and serves as the primary liaison to events.
Prior to joining SIA, Don served as manager of legislative affairs for Alcatel and legislative director for a trade association representing rural telecommunications providers. He spent six years on the senior legislative staff of U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, where he facilitated the enactment of legislation pertaining to criminal justice, telecommunications and technology policy.
Jacqui Loustau, Founder, Australian Women in Security Network
Jacqui Loustau is a leading cyber security expert, with years of experience in the global cyber security industry. Passionate about security and collaborating with others to drive innovation and change within industry, Jacqui is currently using her experience to help small businesses with their cyber resilience.
Jacqui is also the founder of the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN) which aims to connect, support and inspire more people, in particular, women to pursue a career in security.
Liz Chamberlin, Executive Director, International Security Management Association
Liz Chamberlin is the Executive Director of the International Security Management Association (ISMA). She began her career in law, where she focused on insurance defence litigation, workers compensation, and corporate litigation matters. Ms. Chamberlin graduated from the University of Iowa and from the University of Iowa College of Law. She resides in Hampshire, UK.
Lynn Dohm, Executive Director, Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS)
Lynn Dohm brings more than 20 years of organisational experience to the WiCyS team. She has successfully aligned businesses, nonprofits and NSF-funded grants with their business goals and outcomes. As a solution-oriented strategist, Lynn focuses on nonprofits, facilitating process improvements, coordinating project management, and using resourceful operations to achieve strategic objectives.
Lynn has long been committed to cyber security education and for the last 14 years held active roles in grant-funded programmes and nonprofits that assist in providing educational solutions for the cyber security workforce. She is passionate about the need for diverse mindsets, skillsets, and perspectives to solve problems that never previously existed. Lynn couldn’t be more proud to be surrounded by such committed women, male allies and advocates to bridge the gap in the cyber security workforce shortage through WiCyS initiatives. Lynn has also been awarded Top 100 Women in Cybersecurity by Cyber Defense Magazine, interviewed on TV and radio, and a keynote presenter, panelist, and moderator for multiple international conferences and organisations.
Macarena Rau Vargas, President, International CPTED Association
Macarena Rau Vargas has extensive experience leading urban security projects and initiatives, both public and private, in Chile and in various countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. With a PhD in Architecture and Urbanism, she is a specialist in the CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) methodology with proven success in diagnosis, design, execution and evaluation of Violence and Crime Prevention projects from an environmental perspective.
Macarena is also an international consultant in urban security with CPTED methodology of the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), World Bank, Un-Habitat, and central and local governments.
May Brooks, CEO, Helena
May Brooks is a seasoned Information Security consultant and lecturer since 2003. She began her cyber security career as an intelligence officer in the IDF and has been a trusted consultant in numerous Israeli and global companies ever since.
May is the CEO & Founder of Helena – a security consulting firm specialising in building and managing awareness campaigns and professional security services. She is an international lecturer, commentator and public speaker, and the author of “Don’t Click Here – The ultimate guide to online safety”. May serves as the President of the (ISC)2 chapter in Israel, as well as an authorised (ISC)2 CISSP and HCISPP instructor.
Merlin Guilbeau, CEO, Electronic Security Association
Merlin Guilbeau has 34 years’ of experience in the electronic security industry. In 2002, he transitioned from company owner and volunteer leader to an association executive when he became CEO of the Electronic Security Association (ESA). Guilbeau provides strategic direction to ESA and its subsidiaries and has helped solidify the association’s position as the voice for the industry.
Guilbeau also lends his experience by serving on the UL Security Council and on the board of directors of several industry organisations. In 2012 he graduated from the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management.
Mike Allen, Global Chief Security Officer, Manulife
Mike has more than 20 years of experience in the security field, most of which have been in premises and financial institution security management. Mike is an advocate of public and private partnerships, convergence of related practices and elevating the security profession.
He has earned numerous professional designations including the Certified Protection Professional (CPP), Physical Security Professional (PSP) and the Professional Certified Investigator (PCI) from the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS International), as well as several others awards from the likes of IFPO. Mike completed a certificate in Security Management from New Buckinghamshire University in the U.K.
Nicholas Dynon, Consultant & Chief Editor, New Zealand Security Magazine
Nicholas is a security consultant and Chief Editor of New Zealand Security Magazine, Line of Defence Magazine and Fire NZ Magazine. With a background in government, military and private security, Nicholas is a co-founder of the New Zealand Security Sector Network, a grouping of professional, industry and academic bodies aimed at advancing public-private security collaboration.
A contributor to professional and scholarly discourse on issues relating to New Zealand’s national, border, homeland and private security, Nicholas also serves as a member of the editorial board of Massey University’s National Security Journal and is a New Zealand Security Awards judge.
Pascal Steichen, CEO, SECURITYMADEIN.LU
In 2002, Pascal joined the Luxembourg government, first at the “Task Force eLuxembourg” and afterwards at the Ministry of the Economy as advisor and project manager in the area of network and information security. From 2003 to 2014 he was a member of the management board of ENISA (the European Network and Information Security Agency).
Today, Pascal is CEO of SECURITYMADEIN.LU, the structure behind the main information security initiatives of the Luxembourg government. He is a member of the Luxembourg Cyber Security Board, Lecturer in information security at the University of Luxembourg, President of the CLUSIL (an association representing the information security landscape of Luxembourg) and member of the FIC advisory board.
Patrick Straw, Executive Director, Canadian Security Association (CANASA)
Patrick is currently the Executive Director of the Canadian Security Association (CANASA), a position he has held for nearly four years. He has spent 35 years working in the security integration industry, in Toronto and on national and international levels.
Patrick also has five years’ experience in law enforcement (RCMP) and is an active collaborator between the private security industry, law enforcement and government in Canada.
Dr Reem F. Al-Shammari, CISO, Kuwait Oil Company
Dr. Reem Al-Shammari is a leader who has made a huge change to the maturity of the oil and gas sector’s cyber security programme, which plays a critical role to her country’s national cyber security. Dr. Reem has leveraged capabilities of the Kuwait Oil company by leading several successful initiatives, despite numerous constraints and challenges.
She also leads initiatives at national, regional and international levels, including being a Co-Founder of the Women in Cyber Security MiddleEast (WiCSME) Group and the Lead of the Kuwait Affiliate of this WiCSME Group, as well as representing Kuwait in UK-Gulf Women in Cyber Fellowship Program. She also presents at Academic Advisory Committees in the oil and gas sector.
Tatiana Diniz, President, Special Private Security Commission, OAB São Paulo Section
Amongst several committee roles, Tatiana Diniz is the President of the Special Private Security Commission of the OAB São Paulo Section and Managing Partner of Cadiz Security and Surveillance.
Tatiana has also achieved numerous educational qualifications in the security and business security sphere, included an MBA in Strategic Management of Corporate Security from Anhembi Morumbi University and MBS (Master Business Security) by the Fundação Escola Alvares Penteado.
She was President of the Brasilian Association of Security Professionals (ABSEG) in the years 2007 to 2011 and from 2016 to 2018, and was the Director of Institutional Relations at ABSEG and Vice-President of the American Society for Industrial Security – Chapter São Paulo in 2019.
Venisha Nayagar, Director, Crypt IT
Venisha’s career spans over 17 years in technology, ranging from IT audit, digital risk and information security and CISO positions, to a Managing Director advising organisations within cyber security. She has managed security operation centres and grew security functions in large organisations, recognised through winning cyber awards in Africa, the US and Middle East.
Amongst several other awards and recognitions as a leading influencer in the industry, she had previously been awarded the Top 50 women in IT Barclays award. Venisha is a Board Member of an NPO (Girl Code) that focuses on women building careers in technology and Venisha champions and initiates events such as mentoring and conferences to obtain sponsorship for employment for disadvantaged women.
Andrew Taylor, Technical Officer, ASFP
Dr Andrew Taylor was appointed as ASFP Technical Officer in January 2018. He offers more than 30 years’ of experience in the fire protection coating industry. Having worked in the field of fire resistance product research and development and testing, Andy initially worked on reactive coatings for steelwork at Leighs Paints/Sherwin Williams, and more recently on both intumescent coatings and firestopping at tremco-illbruck.
Andy has worked on various ASFP, CEPE, CEN and BSi committees involved in writing standards and guidance. He has a chemistry degree from Bristol University, and a PhD in the material science of intumescent coatings from Manchester University.
Robert Thilthrope, Technical Manager, Fire Industry Association (FIA)
Robert took over as Technical Manager at the FIA in 2005. Prior to joining, Robert worked for BSI and was responsible for National, European and International Fire Committees for fire extinguishing, fire detection and alarms, Fire Brigade Equipment and Portable Fire Extinguishers. Robert remains the current Chair of FSH/18 Fixed Fire Fighting Systems and CEN /TC191 Fixed Fire Fighting Systems and FSS/0 Services in fire and security. He is convenor of ISO/TC21/SC8/WG5 which is responsible for ISO/14520-1 and the guidance venting of gaseous fire extinguishing systems and ISO/TC21SC 8/WG8 CO2 Extinguishing systems.
He represents the FIA at European level – Euralarm Board, Services Section and TC Horizontal Compliance, which he chairs. He is also the Secretary for the FIA Extinguishing and Services Councils and subordinate working group. Within the UK, Robert represents the FIA on BRE’s Fire Suppression Industry liaison group and several MHCLG project groups managed by BRE.
Russ Timpson, CEO, Horizonscan
As well as directing the Tall Buildings Fire Safety Conference, Russ Timpson is the founder and CEO of Horizonscan – a company focusing on risk, resilience and client readiness for crisis events. Russ began his fire career with Kent Fire Brigade. On leaving the Fire Service, he took up the position of Head of Safety for Virgin Atlantic Airways. In 1999, Russ was headhunted by BAA (UK airport operator) to lead the response to the major fire at Terminal 1, Heathrow Airport.
Russ was awarded the HSE’s award for European Safety and Health at Work achievement 1998 and European Strategic Risk Management Award 2004, International Fire professional of the Year 2015. CIR International Risk Management Award 2017. Following the Grenfell Fire, Russ is a regular expert contributor to media reports and broadcasts.
Simon Ince, Project Engineer, UL
Simon has been a vocational fire safety professional for 14 years and has strived to make a difference and improve UK fire safety standards. He has built up a very broad working knowledge base. Initially working on fire testing and certification, he developed the first accredited competent persons certification scheme for Fire Risk Assessors in the UK. Simon has also worked as a fire risk assessor, fire safety consultant and trainer and ran his own fire safety consultancy, predominantly working in the retail and housing sectors. Since joining UL, Simon has developed passive fire protection training courses, new quality assurance certification schemes, written articles (including for IFSEC Global) and given many presentations, especially relating to the current drive for change in the fire sector. Simon follows the fire safety sector closely, and through his work supporting sector initiatives, he promotes the UL core value of ‘Working for a safer world!’
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