SIA announces 2023 SIA WISF Scholarship winners

SILVER SPRING, Md.—The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named 10 recipients for the 2023 SIA Women in Security Forum (WISF) Scholarship – a program developed to further educational opportunities and promote advancement for the widest spectrum of people possible in the security industry.

In the 2023 scholarship program – open to employees of SIA member companies and SIA student members – each honoree will be awarded $7,500 to use toward continuing education and professional development courses, conferences or webinars, SIA program offerings, repayment of student loan debt and/or other education or academic pursuits.

“The 2023 SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship honorees are an inspiring group of industry leaders, students and professionals, and SIA is proud to recognize them,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “This year’s class of scholarship winners are truly making an impact in our industry and demonstrate outstanding accomplishments, vision, and commitment to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in security. We celebrate their successes and look forward to supporting them and helping them thrive in their careers.”

The winners for the 2023 SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship are:

• Nike Coker, senior project manager, City of Toronto, Canada
• Alex Czoschke, learning and development manager, Arcules
• Deepa Veni Dhanasekaran, systems designer, Convergint
• Laura Garest, director, global and national systems integrators, Wesco
• Crystal Landeck, warehouse coordinator, Convergint
• Madeleine Mathias, graduate student, The Fletcher School at Tufts University
• Carmella Saia, graduate student, The George Washington University
• Alina Thai, graduate student, Georgetown University
• Hilary Turner, senior content writer, Eagle Eye Networks
• Rhette Wallach, senior principal product security engineer, Stryker

The 2023 SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship honorees were selected with the help of SIA’s Women in Security Forum scholarship subcommittee: chair Martha Entwistle of Eagle Eye Networks; Beth Anderson of Allegion US; Rebecca Bayne of Bayne Consulting & Search; Jim Black of Microsoft; Lynn de Séve of GSA Schedules; Tia Eskandari of Allied Universal; Stephanie Mayes of SiteOwl; Elaine Palome of Axis Communications; Kim Rahfaldt of AMAG Technology; Ania Ross of Wesco; and Gannon Switzer of Vector Firm.

“The SIA Women in Security Forum is pleased to award scholarships to 10 individuals whose exemplary achievements, ambitious professional goals and commitment to promoting diversity and equity in the security industry made them stand out among a highly competitive pool of deserving applicants,” said Entwistle, senior manager of corporate communications at Eagle Eye Networks. “Now in its fourth year, the 2023 WISF Scholarship program has experienced a substantial increase in the number of applicants, doubling the number of submissions from prior years.

“We want to thank the AmplifiHER subcommittee members who dedicated their valuable time and effort to support, promote and fundraise for this important initiative. We also wish to express our deep appreciation to the SIA member companies whose generous contributions help to enable the progress of women in our industry and make this program possible.”

To learn more about the SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship and 2023 awardees, visit the scholarship page.