Eskenzi PR, the dedicated global cybersecurity PR agency, are proud to announce the shortlist for the 2025 Most Inspiring Women in Cyber Awards. This year the organisers received the highest number of nominations since the awards started in 2020, with over 250 nominations. This year is the first time a shortlist has been announced ahead of the event. The Top 20 winners and five ‘Ones to Watch’ will be revealed at an exclusive awards ceremony at the iconic BT Tower in London on the February 26. 

As a result of partnerships with leading industry community groups, including LT Harper’s InClusive InCyber, WiCyS UK & Ireland, WiTCH and CyBlack, the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber Awards are able to reach a wider, more intersectional group of women from across the globe. The awards aim to uplift and celebrate women in cybersecurity for their incredible achievements, especially those who often go above and beyond the call of duty to make the industry a better place to work. 

Without the support of forward-thinking organisations, the Most Inspiring Women in Cyber Awards would not be able to go ahead. This year’s sponsors include KnowBe4, BT, Mimecast, Bridewell, Varonis, Certes and Pentest-Tools. With the support of our sponsors, the awards proudly remain free to enter and free to attend for shortlisted individuals, in the hopes of making the awards as accessible as possible. 

Yvonne Eskenzi, Co-Founder of Eskenzi PR and organiser of The Most Inspiring Women in Cyber Awards, said: “We’re so pleased that the awards have really resonated with people this year, attracting women from all areas of the cybersecurity community to nominate themselves or their peers. Judging is an almost impossible task! We can’t wait to celebrate with all the shortlisted individuals in February at the event. A huge congratulations to all those who made the list.”

The shortlisted individuals are: 

• Didar Gelici, Security Leader at SHe CISO Exec  
• Rafah Knight, CEO and Founder at SecureAI
• Dr. Valerie Lyons, Chief Operations Officer at BH Consulting 
• Sophia McCall, Strategic Threat Intelligence Lead at NCC Group
• Sharan Kaur Kambo, Cyber Security Sales Specialist at BT
• Mamoona Asghar, Lecturer (ATB) at the University of Galway
• Kelly Onu, Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at Ernst & Young LLP 
• Tammi Robson, Director of Information Security and Technology at The Labour Party
• Danu Sivapalan, Senior Product Manager, Identity & Access Management, at Sainsbury’s
• Anastasiia Ostravska, co-founder & CEO Women’s Leadership and Strategic Initiatives Foundation (WLSIF), Co-Founder Kyiv International Cyber Resilience Forum, Communications Advisor National Cybersecurity Coordination Center (NCSCC) under The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
• Blessing Ebare, Data Protection Officer/Information Security at Phonovation Ltd.
• Hassanat Oladeji, Threat Intelligence Analyst at Moniepoint
• Lauren Monks, Director of Strategic Service at IN4 Group (CyberFirst & MEGA Hubs Team)
• Pushpinder Chouhan, Senior Research Scientist at BT, Networks, Research and Network Strategy, Cyber Immune Security Research
• Saja AlJulaud, Senior Information Security Analyst at Mastercard
• Bianca Miclea-Sechovsky, Security Engineering Senior Manager at Direct Line Group
• Jess Matthews, Compliance Governance Officer at Acacium Group Ltd.
• Eirini Anthi, Senior Cybersecurity Security Leader at Cardiff University 
• Stephanie Itimi, Chair of Seidea
• Penny Hooper, Principal Security Analyst at Insight
• Katie Beecroft, Associate Director of Risk and Security, Cyber and Infosec at Fidelity International
• Toni-Ann Grant, Principal Security Architect at BT Group 
• Katia Desira, Manager – National Cyber Security Coordination Centre, Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA)
• Hristina Ivanova, Threat Analyst II at Sophos
• Rashmi Sharma, Technical Specialist at Application Security, Cyber and Infosec at Fidelity International
• Sophie Keats, Writer for Security Awareness and Human Risk, Sans Institute
• Ellice Birch, Cyber Security Technical Manager at Motability Operations
• Julia Studholm, Security Analyst at Varonis 
• Lisa Landau, CEO of ThreatLight
• Melissa Gurney, CEO of Punk Security
• Jane Rowe, Security Delivery Associate Manager at Accenture
• Funke Omolere, Senior Technology Compliance Product Owner at Adobe
• Bronagh Healey, Cyber Resourcing and Outreach Lead at HMRC 
• Eva Benn, Principal Red Team Program Manager at Microsoft
• Melanie Scott, SOC Team Leader at th4ts3cur1ty.company
• Saskia Coplans, Co-Founder of Digital Interruption
• Shaima Al Hashmi, Lecturer at the University of Technology and Applied Science 
• Ayala Maurer-Prager, Senior Direct of Cybersecurity at FTI Consulting 
• Clare McBrearty, Supplier Cyber Security Lead at Rolls-Royce plc
• Zara Perumal, Cofounder and CTO of Overwatch Data
• Sue Nesbitt, Sales Director – RSA & Africa at Mimecast
• Colette King, Information Security Lead at Ayvens
• Jennifer Odogwu, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Mimecast
• Shobitha Shivakumar, Cyber Security Consultant at IBM
• Michelle Corrigan, Director at Digital Care Hub
• Charlotte Wilson, Head of Enterprise Sales at Check Point Software
• Chris Kubecka, CEO of HypaSec
• Helen Oluyemi, Information Security Manager at Pollinate International Limited
• Annabel Turner, Founder of Cyber Safe Scotland
• Esther Edonkumoh, Senior Special Risk Analyst at Bank of England
• Katie Shanahan, Founder of Your Cyber Coach
• Marine Ruhamanya, Cybersecurity Senior Manager at Accenture
• Vladlena Benson, Professor, Aston Centre, Aston University
• Mariana Ruiz de Streuhofer, Principal Consultant at Devoteam GmbH
• Kirsti Price, Case Support Team at The Cyber Helpline
• Katie McGuire, Helpline Investigator at The Cyber Helpline
• Shalu Madan, Cybersecurity Detection Engineer at Lloyds Banking Group
• Eryn Linnell, Marketing Campaign Manager at Bridewell Consulting
• Lavanya Rajendran, Cybersecurity Analyst at Tideway
• Caroline Camper, Strategic Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at SecAlliance
• Autumn Bamford, Electromagnetics Software Developer at BAE Systems
• Nisa Vithana, Operations Director at Meta Defence Labs Ltd.
• Silvia Sofronea, Cybersecurity Engineer II at TJX Europe Ltd.
• Isabel Scavetta, Product Manager at Checkout.com
• Jess Mant, Digital Commercial Solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson
• Rhiannon Fairweather, Branch Manager North and South Cyber Women CIC
• Sochima Okoye, Cyber Security Consultant at Surecloud
• Clare Foster, Cyber Exercise Planner at Inzpire
• Ginny Spicer, Threat Analyst at Netcraft
• Kiranjit Shergill, Graduate Technology Developer at Barclays
• Alexandra Forsyth, Founder of AFRG
• Sophie Powell, Director of CyberWomen CIC

The winners will be chosen by a panel of industry experts from within the cybersecurity community, with the results revealed at the ceremony in February. The ceremony will also feature networking, a panel discussion and keynote addresses. 

To find out more information about the event, please visit: https://www.itsecurityguru.org/most-inspiring-women-cyber-2025/

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