March 21 2023

Mark Weatherford

Mark Weatherford is the Chief Security Officer at AlertEnterprise and also serves as the Chief Strategy Officer and a member of the board at the National Cybersecurity Center.
Mark has held a variety of executive level cybersecurity roles including Global Information Security Strategist at Booking Holdings, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist at vArmour, Principal at The Chertoff Group, Chief Security Officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, and the first Chief Information Security Officer for the state of Colorado. He was also appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008 to serve as California’s first Chief Information Security Officer and in 2011 he was appointed by the Obama Administration as the first Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Mark is a former U.S. Naval Officer where he served as the Director of Navy Computer Network Defense Operations, Director of the Navy Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT), and established the Navy’s first operational red team.
Mark is an investor, a Board Director, and on the Advisory Board of several cybersecurity technology companies where he has a successful track record in helping startups from founding to acquisition.

J. Cleve Adams

● 6 Time Tech Transactional CEO – Specializing in M&A Advisory and Execution
● Voted one of the Top 50 Non-Technical Entrepreneurs in Tech Industry History.
● Multi-time VC/PE backed software CEO managing companies from pre-revenue to over $2.3 Billion.
● CEO of six companies: four acquired, two IPO’s. Average return to investors is 21x.
● 11 Transactions total.
● Started, built, and managed the largest company in the SaaS/Cloud Cyber security software market from pre-revenue to a $1.3B IPO, the largest in San Diego county history. Company sold to Raytheon for $2 Billion.
● 24+ years of technology CEO experience, great experience in operations, sales and marketing experience in Cloud, Security software, Mobile, SaaS/Cloud, Mobile security, AI, ML.
● Built successful sales channel of 1100 resellers and distributors in 82 countries in Cybersecurity.
● Knowledge of corporate governance and General Management best practices
● Expertise in raising capital. Raised 12 rounds and over $300M from tier one VC/PE’s for multiple companies.
● Proven experience at developing profitable strategies and implementing vision
● Excellent Organization and Leadership Skills
● Strong Analytical abilities and problem-solving skills.
● Public speaker circuit
● Master’s degree in business administration

EDUCATION/PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

Pepperdine University – Presidential and Key Executive MBA
• Pepperdine University Board of Advisors • University of California Irvine Technology Council
• The Founders Institute Mentor • UCSD Connect Program Advisor • Cal State Fullerton, UCSD, SDSU Lecturer

Larry Whiteside

Larry Whiteside Jr. is a veteran CISO, CSO, CTO, former USAF Officer, and thought leader in the Cybersecurity field. He has 25+ years experience in building and running cybersecurity programs, holding C Level Security executive roles in multiple industries including DoD, Federal Government, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Critical Infrastructure.
He serves as the CISO for RegScale, an organization that is working to shift compliance left and freeing organizations from the paper world of compliance.
Larry is also the Co-Founder, President, and on the Board of Directors at Cyversity, a 501(c)3 non-profit association that is dedicated to increase the number of minorities and women in the cybersecurity career field through providing workforce development that includes skills assessment, training, education, mentorship, and opportunity.
Larry routinely advises several corporate security executives and companies across the cybersecurity industry on how to make Cyber Security a number one objective to their business. He has helped CEOs and board members of private cybersecurity companies achieve their goals in sales, marketing, and customer retention.
Larry routinely speaks in front of large audiences, C Level leadership and the Board of Directors of some of the largest private and public sector organizations in America. A thought leader in the industry with extensive experience presenting at conferences such as the Gartner Security Summit, RSA Conference, and SC World Congress, Larry has been featured in many articles relating to information security and risk management.
Larry received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science at Huston-Tillotson University, an HBCU that is the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of Texas.

Karla Reffold

An experienced business owner and leader, Karla has experience running businesses in recruitment, ecommerce and cybersecurity. With an international network in cybersecurity, Karla is passionate about values-led leadership and people development.
Karla founded the international recruitment business, BeecherMadden in 2010 before overseeing the acquisition by Nicoll Curtin. As a Director for Nicoll Curtin, she expanded the company further before moving to the US to accelerate growth of the American business. In 2020 she joined Orpheus Cyber as COO. Orpheus are a threat intelligence company with a SAAS platform that helps organisations manage their own risk, and that of their third parties, with an easy to understand cyber risk score.
Karla is a judge for The Cyber Security Awards, The National Cyber Awards and The American Cyber Awards. She is the host of industry interviews on the Cyber Talks media platform, the Zero Hour Podcast and the Capital Tea Podcast. She is also an experienced speaker, on the topic of cyber security and women in technology. Her views are often sought and published on this subject, as well as entrepreneurship.
Karla was included in SC Magazine’s Top 50 Women in Security in 2019. She was a finalist for the Woman of Influence awards at the SC Awards Europe in 2022. She was a finalist at the Women of the Future awards in 2016, for Entrepreneur of the Year and a finalist in The Future Ladies Awards for Mentor of the Year in 2019. Under her leadership, Orpheus Cyber won Best Use of Machine Learning at the SC Awards in 2021.

Richard Greenberg

Richard, a well-known Cyber Security leader, evangelist, advisor, and speaker, brings over 30 years of management experience, including being a CISO for 15 years. He is an ISSA International Distinguished Fellow, is on their Honor Roll, and is president of the ISSA Los Angeles Chapter. He has been on the OWASP Global Bd, and led the OWASP LA Chapter for many years.

You may have heard Richard’s interview as a Cyber Security expert on Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy podcast:

Richard is the Founder and CEO of Security Advisors LLC, which offers security risk assessments and network and application penetration testing, allowing organizations to continuously assess their internal and external cyber risk posture and meet compliance requirements.

No stranger to the boardroom, analyst, and investor community, Laz is an early stage investor and advisor to some of the most innovative companies in technology and cyber security. He is a Tech Partner at Rally Ventures and advises companies about trends with technology, cyber security, and go-to-market strategies.

Adriana Mendieta

Adriana Mendieta is an experienced independent insurance agent who has been working in the industry since 2005. She owns an agency called Tech Coordinator Cyber Insurance Solutions and is licensed in 15 states. Adriana has been recognized for her sales skills and has been named Sales Coordinator of the year multiple times at Colonial Life. Her expertise includes database management and managing field sales teams.
Adriana achieved the status of Lead Producers Round Table (LPRT) at the National Association of Independent Benefit Advisors in 2018. This recognition is given to top producers in the insurance industry, specifically in the health insurance field. LPRT members are considered experts in their field, and are able to produce a high volume of business in a cost-effective manner. Their success is attributed to their dedication to excellence and their ability to produce a significant amount of business. (https://nabip.org/membership-resources/lprt-leading-producers-round-table)
Adriana studied Cyber Security 101 At Long Beach State in 2019.
In 2020, Adriana implemented a sales distribution partnership with Zeguro Cyber Insurance, and began specializing in Cyber Insurance. This partnership allowed Adriana and her agency, Tech Coordinator Cyber Insurance Solutions, to offer clients a specialized service in the area of Cyber Insurance, which is becoming increasingly important for businesses of all sizes.
In September 2021, Adriana authored and presented a continuing education (CE) class for the Orange County chapter of the National Association of Independent Benefit Advisors (NABIP) on the topic of Cyber Security and Risk. The class covered several key topics, including:
· Illustrating the 3 layers of the internet and their relationship to cryptocurrency and the dark web
· The CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability)
· Simplifying the 7 layers of security
· Recognizing the risk in the 8th layer (People, Processes, and Technology)
· Threat vectors and types of “hacking” and “hackers”
· Using Cyber Security to lower risk
· Using Cyber insurance to transfer risk

Adriana’s class aimed to provide attendees with a comprehensive understanding of the current state of cyber security, the various threats that exist, and the steps that can be taken to mitigate risk and lower the potential for data breaches. (https://ocahu.wildapricot.org/event-4452601)
In February 2022, Adriana authored and presented a second continuing education (CE) ethics course for the Orange County chapter of the National Association of Independent Benefit Advisors (NABIP), titled “Cyber Risk & Posture.” The course covered several key topics, including:
· Cyber Security Basic Principles
· Cyber Warfare
· Cyber Statistics
· Law Enforcement Reporting Requirements
· Cyber Landscape & Threat Vectors
· Cyber Insurance: Types of coverage, limits, deductibles, the application, and resources.

Jessica Barker

Dr Jessica Barker is an award-winning global leader with over ten years of experience working in the human side of cyber security. She is Co-Founder and co-CEO of Cygenta, where she follows her passion of positively influencing cyber security awareness, behaviour and culture in organisations around the world. Jessica has been named one of the top 20 most influential women in cyber security in the UK and has delivered face-to-face cyber security awareness-raising sessions to over 50,000 people. She serves on multiple boards, including the UK Government Cyber Security Advisory Board.
She is an international keynote speaker, including for NATO, the World Government Summit and RSA San Francisco. Jessica is the go-to cyber security expert for many media outlets, appearing on BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 News, BBC radio and much more. She is the author of the best-selling book ‘Confident Cyber Security: how to get started in cyber security and futureproof your career’ (Kogan Page) and co-author of ‘Cybersecurity ABCs: delivering awareness, behaviours and culture change’ (BCS).

Brett Fulmer

Brett Fulmer, “Broker Brett,” is an insurance agent, agency owner, and carrier access provider. He is also a startup Advisor, including to 1Fort Inc. , and considers himself an “InsurTech Guinea Pig,” kicking the tires and giving real-time boots-on-the-ground feedback to startups, companies, and investors in the Insurance industry.

Howard Chen

Howard is an experienced cybersecurity practitioner specializing in governance, risk, and architecture spanning across multiple industries. In addition, Howard is a certified CMMC PI and serves as the Director of Education for the National Upcycled Computing Collective, a 501(c)3 non-profit computer science and engineering research institute, and is an organizer for RaiseMe, a volunteer organization focused on assisting veterans and engineers mature their infosec careers.

Brian Reed

Brian Reed leads the mobile innovation and DevSecOps charge at NowSecure helping orgs deliver high quality secure mobile apps faster. He brings decades of experience in mobile, apps, security, dev, testing and operations helping Fortune 2000 global customers, federal agencies and mobile innovators. Brian is a compelling storyteller, speaker and writer including Droidcon, AllDayDevOps, OWASP, DevOpsWorld, DevOps Days, RSA, Mobile World Congress, FS-ISAC, and more. Brian is a graduate of Duke University.

Jeff Farinich

Jeff Farinich is a visionary technology executive with over 25 years of experience driving enterprise capabilities by leading IT and Security strategy, people, processes, and governance. Jeff was recruited at New American Funding in 2019 to transform IT and Security, building a security program from the ground up as the world locked down due to Covid and the mortgage industry experienced record growth. Jeff is also a member of both the Executive and Strategy C-level committees. Previously Jeff worked in various leadership roles at SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Cisco Systems, NDS Group and other organizations.
Jeff has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business, a Bachelor of Business Administration from California State Polytechnic University, and attended a CIO Executive Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management while working at NDS Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation. Jeff holds Project Management Professional, Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Certified Information Security Manager, Certified Information Systems Auditor, and Boardroom Certified Qualified Technology Expert certifications.
Jeff lives in Orange County, California with his wife and daughter. He enjoys talking all things tech and public speaking whenever the opportunity arises.

Martin Murphy

Martin Murphy is an Account Executive for Cowbell Cyber Insurance and specializes in small-to-mid-sized business clients. He is a graduate of Florida State University and holds a degree in Risk Management & Insurance. Martin has had a focus on Cyber Insurance for the last 4 years.

Rich Lindberg

Rich Lindberg is a technologically capable, results-driven, and seasoned leader with 25 years of security experience in U.S. Defense, Civil Government, Fortune 50, and other industries. He provides expertise in efficient implementation of security solutions for technical, organizational, and GRC challenges. Rich has an extensive diverse background with technical execution, consulting, presentation, and leadership skills. https://www.linkedin.com/in/skippy/