Breaking Barriers: Women Leading the Charge in Cybersecurity

Leadership Insights from Vision 2025

In a vibrant virtual gathering that brought together over 70 cybersecurity leaders, Elisity and Vision and Voice recently co-hosted "Vision 2025: Women in Cybersecurity Leadership," a powerful event celebrating women's contributions to the industry while exploring paths forward for greater representation.

The event featured an extraordinary panel of industry leaders including Bindi Davé (Deputy CISO at DigiCert), Dina Mathers (CISO at Carvana), Ashley Devoto (CISO at Discount Tire), and Amy DeSalvatore (Partner at Night Dragon), moderated by Sabrina Sirianni, VP of Business Development at Elisity.

Lisa Hayashi, founder of Vision and Voice, set the tone by describing the community's mission: "Our vision is to help women ascend and rise into leadership in cybersecurity. We celebrate the women who are doing so by hosting events where we can network and learn from one another." This community focus underscored the event's collaborative spirit.

Anthony Johnson from DelveRisk provided valuable data-driven insights on women in cybersecurity, analyzing trends across organizations with over $1 billion in revenue. This research formed the foundation for the panel's exploration of key challenges and opportunities.

Diversity as a Strategic Advantage

The panelists emphasized how diversity drives better outcomes, particularly in cybersecurity's high-stakes environment. Amy DeSalvatore cited research showing that companies with stronger gender and ethnic diversity outperform others by 36% in profitability.

"The only way you're going to engender creative thinking is if you have people from different cultures and backgrounds coming at problems from different perspectives," DeSalvatore explained. "You're not going to get those types of solutions in a room of homogenous individuals."

Bindi Davé shared how diversity manifests during security incidents: "When we're in an incident response situation with limited information, having different viewpoints is crucial. Threat actors aren't always men, and neither should every security team be all men."

Innovation and Leadership Pathways

The panel highlighted how women are increasingly driving innovation in cybersecurity. Dina Mathers described her team's implementation of AI-powered SOC agents to triage security events, freeing human analysts for more complex work - a transformation that earned industry recognition.

"Being able to celebrate innovation is important," Mathers noted. "We do a lot of great things, but we never really recognize those achievements. Getting our first industry award last year was pretty great for us and helps showcase thought leadership."

Breaking the "Only Woman" Pattern

With DelveRisk data showing 66% of women in cyber have worked on teams where they were the only woman, panelists shared stories of mentorship and advocacy.

Ashley Devoto recalled how her career began when her Air Force squadron commander nominated her for the first group of officers to attend cyber warfare training: "I got on this path because of her, and she was just the first of many incredible women I've been fortunate to work with."

Devoto described later hiring a woman with a non-traditional background – a former flight attendant and elementary school teacher – who has since become an essential leader: "I saw something in her... She had tenacity, intellectual curiosity, and a hunger for learning."

Redefining Technical Leadership

The panel challenged misconceptions about technical roles, with Dina Mathers emphasizing that broader skills are often more valuable than deep technical expertise: "I think there is a misconception that you can't lead or manage an effective cybersecurity program unless you have very deep technical expertise."

Ashley Devoto echoed this sentiment: "Some of the best CISOs I know were art majors, history majors, English majors. Cybersecurity is a big tent and there's room for everyone."

Devoto also advocated for reframing GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) work, which is where many women in cyber contribute: "The CISO role is focused on the GRC domain because our role is to partner with the business to reduce risk. That is why we exist."

Moving Forward Together

The event concluded with practical advice for women aspiring to leadership roles. Bindi Davé encouraged attendees to focus on value creation rather than titles: "Reflect on what you're looking for, as opposed to just the title. In leadership, it's about how many folks you can champion to follow you."

Ashley Devoto summarized what kept her in cybersecurity: "Every day I was learning something new, working with really smart people. I was like, if I can figure out how to do this for the rest of my career, I will be winning."

Elisity, which enables enterprises to rapidly improve their security posture through identity-based microsegmentation, demonstrated its commitment to women's advancement not just through sponsoring the event but through its own leadership practices. As Lisa Hayashi noted, "Elisity doesn't just talk the talk for women in cybersecurity. They walk the walk with many female leaders."

Through connection, mentorship, and celebration of diverse pathways to success, Vision 2025 offered not just inspiration but actionable strategies for building the next generation of cybersecurity leadership.

If you missed it, you can catch the reply here on the Elisity website. Again, we want to thank all the participants and Vision & Voice.