SANS Institute Hosts Neurodiversity in Cybersecurity Summit on May 12

Panels and Discussions on Working with, and as, Neurodiverse Employees

BETHESDA, Md., May 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SANS Institute (SANS), the global leader in cybersecurity training and GIAC certifications, will be hosting the Neurodiversity (ND) in Cybersecurity Summit 2022 on Thursday, May 12, 2022. The free, online event will consist of several discussions and panels developed by and for neurodivergent cybersecurity professionals, as well as anyone who manages, reports to, works with, or supports ND colleagues and friends.

Recent years have seen a surge in long-overdue dialogue about the importance of equity, inclusion, and belonging among neurodivergent professionals, particularly as it is well-documented that diverse teams lead to better, more profitable outcomes. The ND in Cybersecurity Summit centers the conversation on the unique strengths, experiences, and challenges of these intelligent cybersecurity professionals.

"Since taking our Summits virtual in 2020, we've had the privilege of hosting many people who had never been to SANS events before, and we've learned a great deal about the different ways people consume and process information," said Jennifer Santiago, Director of Content Development for SANS Institute Summits. "We respect individual learning and working styles, and we're excited to bring the community this content specifically dedicated to celebrating the unique talents and contributions of neurodivergent professionals in cybersecurity. We hope to share tools and tactics to help these individuals thrive in their cybersecurity careers."

"A sense of community not only brings together people of all learning styles within the cybersecurity industry, but also has a major influence on schools, government, employers, and service providers to collaborate on changing how we support these individuals," said Teresa Thomas, SANS Summit Advisory Board, and MITRE Corporation's Program Lead for Neurodiverse Talent Enablement.

The ND in Cybersecurity Summit is free and open to everyone. It will begin at 9 a.m. ET on May 12 and is worth 6 Summit CPE Credits. Featured presentations, panels, and speakers will include:

• Welcome & Opening Remarks with Steph I., Cloud Security Operations Analyst II, Duo Security
• Keynote: The Journey to Inclusion with Nicola Whiting MBE, Co-Owner, Titania Ltd
• Dear Neurotypicals: What We Wish Co-Workers and Managers Knew with Nicola Whiting MBE, Co-Owner, Titania Ltd; Nathan Chung, Senior Consultant, Azure Cloud and AI, Microsoft; Megan Roddie, Senior Security Engineer, IBM, Robert "RJ" Scharf, Cyber Security Analyst
• Learning to Heal: How Neurodivergent Adults Can Recover from Years of Educational Trauma with Pete Jarrett, Managing Director, Tutorum Technologies Ltd
• Recruiting, Training, and Retaining Neurodivergent Talent with Jennifer Feldman, MSW, Manager, Corporate Engagement, Inclusion and Accessibility Advocate, Specialisterne USA; and Teresa Thomas, Program Lead, Neurodiverse Talent Enablement, MITRE
• The Real STEM Sadie: Owning Your Story with Sadie Gauthier, SROC Engineer, SANS Institute
• Self-Hacks for Success Panel: Self-Management Strategies for Avoiding Burnout, Staying Healthy, and Getting Stuff Done with Steph I., Cloud Security Operations Analyst II, Duo Security; Cat Contillo, Threat Operations Analyst II, Huntress; Kassandra Pierre, AVP- Global Functions Technology Talent Development, Citi; and Lisa Ventura, Founder, Cyber Security Unity

For the full agenda and more details about the event, please visit: https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-training-events/neurodiversity-cybersecurity-summit-2022/.

About SANS Institute
The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. Today, SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cybersecurity training and certification to professionals in government and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach more than 60 courses at in-person and virtual cybersecurity events and on demand. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates practitioner skills through more than 35 hands-on, technical certifications in cybersecurity

and provides the highest and most rigorous assurance of cybersecurity knowledge and skill globally. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's and bachelor's degrees, graduate certificates, and an undergraduate certificate in cybersecurity. SANS Security Awareness, a division of SANS, provides organizations with a complete and comprehensive security awareness solution, enabling them to manage their "human" cybersecurity risk easily and effectively. SANS also delivers a wide variety of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, webcasts, podcasts, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system–the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to support and educate the global information security community. www.sans.org

SOURCE SANS Institute