Women on Board

As I sit by my living room window looking out at all the gloom following a late-October Nor’easter, I’m smiling from ear to ear because today marks one of the prouder moments for all of us in the Security Systems News family.

Why, you may ask? You don’t have to look any further than the main page of our website, as we made the announcement earlier today that three outstanding, brilliant women in the security industry – Kasia Hanson, Antoinette King and Min Kyriannis – have joined our SSN Advisory Board.

These three women have deservedly earned their spots on our board, with resumes that rival anyone’s in an industry that has been considered male dominated for decades.

This announcement, of course, does not take away from the accomplishments of our current board members, whose bios on our site are also quite impressive, to say the least. 

To see how women have come so far in making their mark in our industry, our advisory board, with the addition of Kasia, Antoinette and Min, now consists of almost a 50-50 ratio of men and women. Talk about an inclusive group of professionals!

Why join our advisory board? One reason is that our board members play an integral part in planning for our annual SecurityNext conference, with our next one slated to take place in April 2022. Their input on topics for our educational sessions and speakers is invaluable so that attendees – security professionals and vendors alike - get the most out of their experience. 

In addition, their breadth of knowledge on the myriad topics impacting the security industry helps enhance the stories we cover on everything related to physical and cybersecurity, as well as on the commercial, residential, monitoring and supplier sides of the business. Ultimately, it’s a win-win on both sides having that expertise when planning our annual conference and the articles we put together for you, our readers.

Getting back to our newest board members, extolling their virtues and what they have accomplished in the industry is something we take pride in at SSN, and each of these outstanding ladies has one thing in common – their tireless efforts to advance women empowerment and inclusion in the security industry.

Let’s start with Kasia Hanson, who chairs the Security Industry Association’s (SIA) Women in Security Forum (WISF) and serves as Global Director of Edge AI Sales – Safety & Security, Safe Cities and Venues, Internet of Things Group at the Intel Corp.

We recently spoke with Kasia to get her thoughts on inclusion and diversity in the security industry, and she reflected on her own journey in a primarily male-dominated and historically non-diverse security industry as an opportunity, rather than a challenge.

“When I joined the security industry, I noticed the opportunity to increase diversity and have seen progress in the industry thanks to the creation of groups such as the Women in Security Forum and industry support,” she said. “We must continue on this mission to bring diversity, not just women but also ethnic backgrounds and experiences that will help the industry continue to evolve and grow!”

In addition, Kasia noted the importance of getting more women and more diversity within leadership and management positions in the security industry.

“We are on a journey and hope that through the WISF and our work with member companies, we can create awareness and opportunity for women in executive roles in the industry,” she pointed out. “SIA and WISF created a Speakers Bureau to help generate a database of female speakers on a range of topics. We hope through this initiative, it helps to bring more awareness of the talent in the industry and therefore opening the door for more advancement opportunities for women in security.”

Our second new board member, Antoinette, has now hit the ground running with her own security consulting firm, Credo Cyber Consulting, where she helps manufacturers, integrators, and end users develop successful cybersecurity programs for themselves and their customers.

Since we posted that article in July, Antoinette has been super busy not only with Credo Cyber, but also traveling to conferences around the country, providing insight on everything cyber to ensure businesses develop the right programs to fit their needs.

As a woman in security with more than 20 years of experience, Antoinette is another example of someone who broke down doors in a male-dominated industry to finally make it on her own.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in this industry, but I’m a living, breathing example of  a person who is a minority in the industry, and I have some of the most incredible men and women who are pulling me from the top,” she told me back in July. “They’re giving me a hand and they’re saying, ‘What do you need? I’ll help you.’ They’re promoting me. That’s what we can do - recognize that we each need each other.”

Min recently started her own technology company, Amyna Systems, after more than 25 years serving in various roles in the cybersecurity space.

As CEO of Amyna Systems, Min noted the importance of women expressing themselves more in order to get into more leadership roles within the security industry.

“I think there are more and more women who are vocal now in terms of getting into leadership roles,” she said. “We need to prioritize ourselves more in terms of what want with our lives, such as owning a company. I struggled with that back in the day, but I think that more women are coming to the realization that there are people out there with those experiences. Let’s get rid of toxicity and start banding together. Support each other, lift each other up, and I hope I can do the same.”

We are truly honored to welcome Kasia, Antoinette, and Min to our advisory board. These three women, along with our other 10 board members, will help us put together another successful SecurityNext conference for you next year, and continue to offer their expertise for our editorial coverage.

I don’t think my smile is going away anytime soon.