Celebrating International Women’s Day

Cyber Security, High Technology, Technology Posted Mar 12, 2021 by Doug De Orchis

In honor of International Women’s Day on Monday, CHEN PR worked with IT and tech news video provider TechStrong TV to assemble a panel of three exceptional female leaders in cybersecurity to share their insights and talk about their experiences in the industry:

Debra Danielson, Chief Technology Officer, Digital Guardian

Jill Orhun, Vice President of Customer Success, Devo

Lara Meadows (CISSP), Vice President of Sales Engineering, ThreatConnect

Moderated by Charlene O’Hanlon, the panel began by exploring some of the frustrations and challenges working in a field they feel so passionately about. The panelists also discussed how the pandemic has disproportionately affected women, especially when it comes to balancing support for children and families while staying on track with their professional lives. That said, working remotely has shown that a hybrid work environment is feasible, and that women in the field may enjoy greater work flexibility and empathy from their employers and co-workers post-pandemic – which could become a competitive/cultural differentiator for some companies.

Another aspect explored during the panel was young women entering the industry. The panelists explained how they are energized to empower the next generation of cybersecurity talent and provide guidance at a level that they themselves may not have received early in their careers.

Although strides have been made to attract and develop female talent over recent years, much work remains. And as the panelists speculate, perhaps the remote work and quarantine lifestyle of the pandemic has laid bare some of these challenges to companies and employees to the point that real change might be on the horizon – and that women will be recognized not just for their gender but for their tremendous contributions and accomplishments.

Here’s hoping so.

You can view the panel discussion in its entirety here: https://digitalanarchist.com/videos/charlene-ohanlon-techstrong-tv/debra-danielson-jill-orhunlara-meadows-techstrong-tv