Accelerate Action this International Women’s Day 2025 with LeadHER in Security

TechNadu believes that all women are powerful! They can make a difference and should voice their opinion to bring about a change. Melinda Gates rightly said, "Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world."

This International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025, TechNadu celebrates women leaders working relentlessly for a more secure cyberspace. 

There are millions of vacant positions in cybersecurity, all while cybercrime rates skyrocket. To address this concern and learn what leading cybersecurity professionals have to say, we put together their thought-provoking ideas on one platform.

Their voices will guide women professionals to seek help, feel safer, and find their way into the infosec arena with the LeadHER in Security campaign. 

This, in conjunction with this year's theme for the International Women’s Day, “Accelerate Action,” can make way for discussions and healthier debates.

Read closely about industry experts as they ignite your mind with their thoughts, ideas, and experiences to celebrate women in security. 

Sofia Scozzari, CEO, Hackmanac

Women often feel uncomfortable or inadequate in technical roles, and even more so in cybersecurity. My first piece of advice is to silence those doubts and focus on recognizing and leveraging your skills and professionalism.

Cybersecurity, like any other profession, is something you can learn - just as no doctor can perform surgery without many years of study. Moreover, the field is not limited to technical roles. There is also a strong demand for professionals with strong backgrounds in communications, law, marketing, and many other fields. This means that any previous experience can be an asset, even for those who move into cybersecurity later in their careers.

Women should focus on developing a combination of hard and soft skills. Technical expertise can always be acquired, but soft skills such as critical thinking, adaptability, and problem-solving are what set professionals apart

Poornima DeBolle, Cofounder & General Manager, Data Security, Menlo Security

International Women's Day is the day we should pause and reflect on our actions throughout the year to support and accelerate women's participation and success in the workforce. 

I commit myself to calling out inequality when I see it, mentor younger women, and counsel my daughter to own her place at the table. I am proud of the next generation of women who are forging a more confident path and I hope this will be a non-issue for my daughter's generation. 

Danielle West, Head of Corporate Marketing, Nutrient

We’ve come a long way since I entered the tech space 10 years ago, when I was often the only woman in the room. Remote working, access to the internet, and more inclusive education have opened up opportunities for women globally. 

We need to continue to push for education not only in technical skills, but in all areas of business, from negotiating salaries and benefits, to asking for a promotion, or to just feel empowered to speak up or stand up for ourselves in traditionally male-dominated roles. 

Mye Bahamonde, EVP of People, Deepwatch

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, this year’s theme—“Accelerate Action for Gender Equality”—reminds us that progress requires intention, not just today, but every day. 

Equally important is building a strong network of mentors, allies, and personal boards of directors—those who empower, challenge, and support us to know our worth and break barriers. 

Supriya Goswami, VP Product Marketing, Whatfix

As we celebrate International Women's Day, it's crucial to focus on actionable steps that make a real difference. This includes implementing mentorship programs, providing access to continuous learning opportunities, and promoting policies that support work-life balance. 

Let's commit to making 2025 a year of significant progress, where every woman has the chance to achieve her full potential.

Aditi Gupta, Sr. Manager, Professional Services Consulting, Black Duck

"When I entered the technology workforce in India over 15 years ago, women made up roughly 12% of the STEM workforce. 

Growing up in my small Indian town, my exposure to professional women was primarily limited to teachers and bank employees, even though countless women contributed invisibly to the economy through informal labor. 

As one of the fortunate 8% of women enrolled in engineering programs then, I learned early on to pursue the less traveled path.

After transitioning to the United States in 2014, I found the landscape somewhat similar, though the context was different. Here, women’s representation in tech has marginally increased from about 25% in 2009 to roughly 28% in 2024, highlighting a universal challenge in achieving gender parity.

The World Economic Forum’s projection that workforce gender parity won’t be achieved until 2158 serves as a sobering reminder of the work still ahead. 

Our women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG), supported by leadership, provides mentorship, sponsorship, and networking opportunities and works to increase the visibility and representation of women in the industry."

Ksenia Peguero, PhD, Director of Software Engineering, Black Duck

Having grown up in the Soviet Union, International Women’s Day has always been important for me. Firstly, it was and still is a federal holiday in my home country and many other countries. 

Secondly, although the agenda of the holiday has changed throughout the years, its main focus on women's rights and the advancement of women in the workplace and in all spheres of life is as important today as it was a hundred years ago.

The inequalities that women experience today, such as the pay gap, the glass ceiling in career advancement, and the inequality of mental load and the burden of household tasks need to be highlighted and addressed by our society at large.

In the technical field, women and allies have been working hard over the last few years to advance the success of women. This is evident in the workplace through employee resource groups (ERGs), “women in tech” conferences and events, removing gender bias in the hiring process, and through supporting organizations for younger generations like “Girls Who Code”.

At Black Duck, we have a Global Women’s Network that works on building a space for networking, coaching and learning opportunities for women.

Joy Burkholder Meier, General Counsel & Chief Human Resources Officer, Black Duck

Much of what led me to the C Suite involved me paying attention to the key actions other successful leaders took to rise to the top and incorporating those behaviors into what I did – being highly responsive, attending to detail, building trust and consensus, being your own best advocate, and really hard work. 

You need to be ready for the opportunities when they present themselves and willing to take feedback and step outside your comfort zone to continue to grow. 

I believe the best way to be successful is to work hard to solve problems.  If your leaders see you stepping up to solve issues that make their jobs easier, then they will give you more and more responsibility. 

Another big part of success is a great manager who will build trust with you and support you in your career. A great manager can change the trajectory of your career, so aim to work with great managers and to be one yourself, because that’s how you will get the best out of your team.

Amanda Fitzsimmons, Head of Legal, Salt Security

Real change happens when companies and their leaders commit to mentorship, create truly inclusive workplaces, and recognize the value of diverse perspectives in securing our digital world.

Kris Bondi, CEO, Mimoto

International Women’s Day is not only about the accomplishments of women, but a reminder that everyone deserves an opportunity. 

April Lenhard, Product Manager VMDR, Qualys

Be curious about everything, especially if it is outside your scope of knowledge and scope of practice. This involves operating with little to no guidance or constraints, and proceeding until apprehended. It also gives you opportunities to learn about parts of a team or aspects of a company you otherwise would not have interacted with.

Constantly maximize both your formal and informal professional development. Anything from a college class to increase your knowledge in a specific subject area to an audiobook on hostage negotiation, if you need more ideas on how to have difficult conversations.

Finally, never hoard information. Showing and teaching knowledge is such a critical component for ensuring organizations can function, but so few people actually take the time to pass on the intel they gain. 

Doing this both invests in your own presentation skills, and invests in others. In medicine we’ve learned “see once, do once, teach once,” For example, watching a sales pitch, giving a sales pitch, and then teaching how to give a sales pitch.

Actively seek out mentors that align with your values and your mission, and do not accept any behavior below your standard of excellence. 

Build out a strong technical foundation early on using freely-available online resources, and follow a few different cybersecurity blogs to develop a sense for what kinds of issues are most interesting to you, advanced persistent threats, zero days, incident response, risk and compliance, IoT security, critical infrastructure, vulns, etc. 

We at TechNadu believe that the war against cybercrime needs brave effort from both men and women because each brings different traits to the table. There is a higher number of men in the industry as compared to women. 

Cybersecurity demands thorough research, unwavering commitment, and a balanced approach to finding solutions. This stresses the need for gender parity and a collaborative approach. 

Aptly summed up by the American author, Edwin Louis Cole, “Men and women have strengths that complement each other." And this is what cybersecurity demands, and we at TechNadu are committed to doing our part!