SSN marks 10 years of celebrating Women in Security This year features women from JCI, Resideo, CMS and others
By Spencer Ives
Updated Tue November 27, 2018
YARMOUTH, Maine—For the 10th consecutive year, Security Systems News has the honor of featuring several outstanding Women in Security, each of whom has stood out in her company and within the industry. This year's profiles include women from different areas of the business, including commercial integrators, manufacturers and monitoring centers.
“Security Systems News' Women in Security features in our recent December issue are devoted to highlighting the achievements of leading women in security today,” said Paul Ragusa, editor of SSN. “In an industry that has been male dominated, SSN feels it is vitally important to shine a light on women in security who are making a difference in the industry through their work and through efforts to advance the role of women in security through awareness, mentoring and role modeling.”
He continued, “This year we had the good fortune to profile some incredibly strong women who are not only leaders within their respective companies, but who are also leaders within the industry, giving their time and effort to mentor other rising young leaders while reaching out to others to champion the benefits and opportunities available in this quickly evolving industry.”
Two of this year's Women in Security come from areas of defense. Susan Hunter, managing partner at Security 101 in Hampton Roads, Va., served as a data analyst in the Air Force, working with “precision-guided weapons, tactics, some of the auto-routing software,” she said. Alice DeBiasio, vice president and general manager of Resideo's global pro security business, formerly worked as a design engineer for Northrop Grumman Corporation, specifically focusing on unmanned aircraft and “large scale, complex commercial and military programs,” she said.
DeBiasio said that she is seeing more women in the industry, including on different levels of management. “I'm sitting across the table from very powerful women most of the time—customers of mine, suppliers of mine,” she said.
There is a range of experience among this year's Women in Security; some have a few years in the business while others recognized this year have nearly 25.
Each of this year's Women in Security had a unique take on how to get more women involved in the industry. Jessica Burton, the global surveillance product marketing manager at Seagate Technology, said that “it really starts with raising girls not feeling that they are stereotyped for certain roles or careers for their future.”
She continued, “It really means getting girls involved in STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] activities at an early age and encouraging learning and experimentation.”
Hunter said that the industry could benefit from more outreach to schools. “As a security industry, we've got a lot we could do to work with colleges, tech schools—letting them know the skills that we want, whether that is on the guard side, on the project management side, on the install side, or as a security administrator in corporate America, for example. We need to start reaching out to and working with students early on and make security an attractive career opportunity for them.”
Rose Sabourin, operations support manager for CMS, said that higher awareness is key to bringing more women into the industry, along with the message that “security is a business out there that women should not be afraid to be involved in.”
According to DeBiasio, it's the strong mission of the security industry that will bring in new talent. “What attracted me was that vision, a purpose behind an organization and what our products do for people. I think that's the story that needs to be told,” she said. “Talking about that story will attract talent, whether that be women, men, or any individuals from globally diverse cultures.”
To learn more about the women that SSN is featuring this year, feel free to click on their full profiles below:
Jessica Burton, global surveillance product marketing manager, Seagate Technology
Alice DeBiasio, VP/GM, Resideo
Susan Hunter, managing partner, Security 101 Hampton Roads
Lisa Roy, VP of commercial sales, JCI
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