Value to affix: Annual particular person membership, $1,250.
FirstBoard.io payments itself as a “curated collective of feminine tech founders, CXOs, and working leaders working collectively to extend feminine illustration on firm boards” in quite a lot of industries, together with cybersecurity, cloud, enterprise software program, synthetic intelligence, robotics, and web of issues.
Based in 2020 by Rita Scroggin, an govt search companion, this group goals to spice up the illustration of feminine expertise leaders on the personal and public boards of startups to post-IPO firms to assist them carry out higher and improve shareholder worth.
As well as, FirstBoard.io advocates for gender-balanced boards and works to attach certified, skilled leaders with organizations that perceive the advantages of getting girls on their boards.
“As an govt of a company on the bleeding fringe of cloud-native security, I’m all the time trying to find alternatives to attach with different feminine leaders within the area,” says Karen Walker, CFO at cloud cybersecurity firm Sysdig. “I just lately joined Firstboard.io, a curated collective of achieved feminine executives who’ve expertise in expertise, operations, and firm scaling and are able to be positioned on boards. Most of the Firstboard.io members have labored in cybersecurity, and a few are CTOs, CIOs, and CISOs.”
Value to affix: FirstBoard.io doesn’t cost a membership charge. Reasonably, FirstBoard.io solely recruits board-ready members and expects them to actively contribute to the group’s mission in varied methods from day one.
WOMCY, or Latam Ladies in Cybersecurity, was established in 2019 as a non-profit group by cybersecurity skilled Leticia Gammill. The aim of the group is “to attenuate the information hole and improve the expertise pool in cybersecurity.”
“I began WOMCY as a result of there was an absence of appropriate [non-governmental organizations] in Latin America devoted to empowering girls in cybersecurity,” Gammill says. “Confronted with the problem of discovering an acceptable group [where I could] volunteer my time and cybersecurity experience in 2019, I took the initiative to create WOMCY and tackle this hole.”
The group’s main goal is to empower girls to enter the cybersecurity discipline throughout Latin America, selling range and inclusivity to shut the cybersecurity hole, she says. Working by way of three key packages — training, company, and expertise — WOMCY gives coaching, networking alternatives, and profession improvement to its members. WOMCY presently has 1,575 members from 25 nations, 95% in Latin America.
“For the final 4 years, WOMCY can be the group accountable for creating and executing Prime Ladies in Cybersecurity, Latin America, awarding the highest 25 cybersecurity professionals within the area,” Gammill says. “This prestigious award has helped elevate and acknowledge outstanding girls in cybersecurity who’ve superior the business and formed the trail for future generations of execs amongst different important contributions.”
Value to affix: College students, free with a minimal donation of not less than $1; CyberMaster, $25 yearly; CyberNinja, $50 yearly. Every degree affords completely different member advantages.
Based in 2019 by Tennisha Martin, who can be the group’s govt director, BlackGirlsHack is a training-focused group created to assist improve range in cybersecurity. The group goals to assist shut the hole between what’s taught in instructional establishments and what’s obligatory for careers in cybersecurity.
The group represents the business because it desires it to be by being inclusive and reflective of its neighborhood. The imaginative and prescient of BlackGirlsHack is to create a various and inclusive cyber business the place Black girls are represented in technical, management, and govt roles. Nevertheless, regardless of its identify members don’t should be Black or girls to affix.
“We offer hands-on coaching, coaching packages, mentoring, resume assessment, examine teams, and alternatives to attend conferences,” Martin says. “BGH Basis (our authorized identify), which incorporates BlackMenHack and We Obtained Subsequent Cyber (ninth by way of twelfth grade college students). is working to assist improve illustration within the pipeline to employment in cybersecurity. We even have a convention referred to as SquadCon every year to spotlight the analysis and work of underrepresented communities inside cybersecurity.”
Value to affix: $49 yearly for a full membership.
Ladies in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) was based in 2013 by Ambareen Siraj by way of a Nationwide Science Basis grant awarded to Tennessee Tech College.
A nonprofit group, WiCyS goals to recruit, retain, and advance girls within the cybersecurity discipline. The affiliation gives networking alternatives, mentorship packages, and sources for skilled improvement to help and empower girls within the business.
Since 2012, WiCyS has grown to turn into a worldwide neighborhood with chapters in a number of nations. WiCyS additionally hosts an annual convention for girls in cybersecurity to attach, be taught, and share their experiences. The group strives to extend range and inclusion within the cybersecurity discipline and promote equal alternatives for everybody.
“I’ve been a mentor for WiCyS all through my time in tech as a result of I feel it’s extraordinarily necessary that girls are represented within the discipline,” says BlackGirlsHack’s Martin. “I’ve been a member previously and am a supporter of this group.”
Netscout’s Brigg can be a member of WiCyS.
“This group focuses on recruiting and retaining girls in cybersecurity careers to construct a strong, numerous workforce,” she says. “I frequently take part in native occasions, webinars, mentorship, and networking packages, which permits me to community with seasoned veterans of the business and people keen to start out their careers.”
Value to affix: $20-$95 yearly.
Chief was based in 2019 by Lindsay Kaplan and Carolyn Childers to attach and help girls executives. The group welcomes leaders who establish as girls, transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming. Chief’s management vets candidates for govt seniority to make sure its members can get help from true friends.
Chief’s community of senior govt girls represents 10,000 firms. Seventy-seven p.c of Fortune 100 firms have an govt in Chief, and 40% of Chief members are of their firms’ C-suites. Chief was acknowledged as one in all TIME’s 100 Most Influential Firms in 2023.
“Chief is the personal community that govt girls depend on to maximise their management influence by way of entry to a vetted govt neighborhood and priceless insights,” says Avani Desai, CEO of cybersecurity compliance agency Schellman. “I take pleasure in and take pleasure in being a member of Chief due to the worth and connections it affords girls, together with expansive alternatives to community with different pushed, clever, and motivated girls. [Chief has] commitments to range and inclusion and are redefining what energy ought to appear to be in company America.”
Value to affix: Annual charges vary from $5,800 to $10,900, relying on the extent a person selects.
Began in 2014 by Jacqui Loustau, the Australia Ladies in Safety Community (AWSN) is a not-for-profit affiliation and community of individuals whose aim is to teach girls and ladies dwelling in Australia on security and improve the variety of girls within the security neighborhood.
“I began the casual group in 2014, once I got here again to Australia after 14 years working in cybersecurity in Europe,” says Loustau, who can be the group’s govt director. “I walked into my first security occasion and was shocked to be the one lady within the room.”
After realizing that there was just one different lady on the occasion, Loustau determined it was time to collect girls collectively for casual breakfasts/lunches to attach them to 1 one other and construct a robust help community.
Presently, the AWSN has 2,817 members throughout Australia, with chapters in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Tasmania, and shortly the Sunshine Coast.
“We’ve put extra 1300 professionals by way of AWSN packages within the final three years,” Loustau says. “We’ve packages focused at each stage of our members’ profession journeys, together with mentoring, management, technical abilities and extra.”
Value to affix: Particular person security professionals, $66.
The Breaking Obstacles Ladies in Cybersecurity (BBWIC) Basis started as a Lean-In Circle that was based in January 2021 by Aastha Sahni to convey collectively girls aspiring to enter the sector of cybersecurity. The circle aimed to facilitate networking, plan instructional classes, manage coaching, and strategize management improvement.
“Inside six months, the circle skilled an awesome response, resulting in a doubling of its membership,” Sahni says. “Recognizing the potential influence, I took the initiative to formally register us as an official non-profit group beneath the Canadian Not-For-Revenue Act in October 2021. Our neighborhood, now international, spans members from varied elements of the world.”
The neighborhood has advanced right into a supportive community for brand spanking new immigrants to the US and Canada in addition to a trusted circle for girls worldwide.
“Our overarching goal is to advertise management improvement and lift consciousness amongst girls and college students about ample alternatives for upskilling, conferences, job interviews, visa processes, scholarships, and profession progress,” Sahni says. “We offer a secure area for sharing challenges, with a give attention to total persona improvement.”
Value to affix: Free.
