We are currently in the midst of women’s history month, a month dedicated to recognizing the contributions that women have made to our nation. Many industries are dominated by men and cybersecurity is one of them. Only 10% of the cybersecurity workforce are women and only 25% in executive positions in technology overall.

It is no secret that resources and availability for women has been limited to work their way up the ladder. But instead of focusing on that, we are focused on the women who have worked hard and made it to the top. In particular, we are focusing on Minnesota based Fortune 500 companies who have women Chief Information Security Officers. These women are an inspiration to many and should be celebrated as such.

There are 17 Minnesota based Fortune 500 companies, of those only three companies have women Chief Information Security Officers. Below are those CISOs.

Deb Dixson–

SVP and Global Chief Information Security Officer (recently retired)

Best Buy

Cumulatively, Deb Dixson spent about 14 years as a Best Buy Corporate Officer. From 2000-2009 she was VP and CISO and returned in 2-15 as the SVP and Global CISO. She was Best Buy’s first Chief Information Security Officer and formed the original Information Security team. In between her times at Best Buy, Deb worked as SVP and Global Chief Information Security Officer at Delhaize America.

Sarah Engstrom–

CISO and IT Director of Productivity

CHS Inc.

Sarah joined the team at CHS in December of 2015, after spending many years in senior leadership and information technology roles at Target. At CHS, Sarah combines employee efficiency with secure technology to create a program that encourages productivity. Sarah is known for her different take on such a stressful field by incorporating her passion for yoga to provide a supportive and nurturing environment.

Heather Hanscom

CISO

Supervalu

Over the course of her career, Heather has held multiple senior leader and security roles at companies like Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and Medica Health Plans. She now holds the VP and CISO position at Supervalu where she is responsible for all aspects of information and cybersecurity.

There are so many women taking positions in security and risk related fields. But there are still large bounds we have to take to close the equality gap. On top of the three listed above we are inspired by so many others like these 10 women CISOs or these advisors for the Cybersecurity Summit.

Are you inspired by a woman in security or risk management? Tell us about her in the comments below!