SecureWorld Denver 2026

Rodney Beard, CISSP, is a cybersecurity consultant with Cyber Risk Opportunities LLC, bringing more than 20 years of experience protecting organizations across defense, government, and financial services sectors.

Most recently, Rodney served as Information Security Officer at Rivermark Community Credit Union, a $2B institution in Oregon, where he built and led the enterprise security program for seven years. His responsibilities included penetration testing, security architecture, incident response, vendor risk management, and developing security awareness training for employees.

Prior to financial services, Rodney spent eight years as an IT Specialist with the U.S. Army at White Sands Missile Range, where he served as Information Management Officer responsible for IT security across 22 regional locations and 250 employees. He implemented security policies aligned with NIST, Federal, and DoD standards while managing a program portfolio valued at $2.5 million.

Rodney has also taught technology courses as an Adjunct Instructor at Vista College, preparing students for CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications.

He holds the CISSP certification, CompTIA Security+, Network+, and A+, along with multiple Microsoft certifications. Rodney is based in Casper, Wyoming, and works remotely with clients nationwide.

Sam Masiello has been working with email, messaging, and fighting internet pollution for over 25 years. Prior to The Anschutz Corporation, he served as the CISO at Gates Corporation, where he was responsible for the company's data security, risk, and global compliance initiatives. Before that, he was CISO at TeleTech, where he oversaw the protection of employee, consumer, and customer data for all of the organization's clients, which included many Fortune 500 companies.

Sam has also been the Chief Security Officer, Head of Application Security, and Head of Security Research at companies such as Groupon, Return Path, and McAfee. He currently serves as Director-at-Large of The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), National Advisory Board Member for SecureWorld, and is an Executive Board Member of Colorado Cyber. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Messaging, Malware, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG), the Steering Committee of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), and a member of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

Roberta Anderson is a 25-year cybersecurity veteran, Air Force veteran, and published author whose career spans the DoD, Fortune 500, healthcare, and government. She served as the City of Colorado Springs' first CISO, where she built the city's information security program from scratch, and today serves as CISO at Onterris, a global environmental solutions company. Her credentials — CISSP, CRISC, CDPSE, Security+, Network+ — represent the full arc of a GRC and risk management career.

She holds an M.S. in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance from National University and a B.S. in Cybercrime Investigation from Colorado Technical University. She is the author of Breaking the Firewall: How Women in Cybersecurity Rise from Entry-Level to the C-Suite (2026) and AI for Beginners in the Digital Age (2025). For more than two decades, she has mentored women in cybersecurity — resume by resume, negotiation by negotiation, promotion by promotion. She is a member of WiCyS, ISC2, ISACA, and ISSA.

IT and managed security sales specialist with over fifteen years of experience. Proficient at gathering business requirements, analyzing business needs, and presenting technology strategies and solutions that align with business objectives. My main goal is to help the enterprise increase user productivity, decrease risk and control costs.

Specialties: Cybersecurity, EDR, MDR and XDR services, Managed aiSIEM, Penetration Testing & Vulnerability Assessment, Managed IT Services, Virtualization, Data Storage and Protection, Data Center Solutions, Disaster Recovery Expertise and Network Infrastructure Solutions.

Zach is a seasoned IT executive with a distinguished career spanning strategic IT management, cybersecurity, risk mitigation, and budget oversight. As the AVP IT and CISO for a private higher education institution, Zach has orchestrated transformative initiatives that have fortified the institution's cybersecurity landscape while driving strategic growth. His leadership in negotiating vendor contracts, managing multi-million-dollar budgets, and chairing the Enterprise Risk Management Committee has resulted in substantial cost savings and operational efficiencies.

With a focus on aligning IT strategies with organizational goals, Zach has led successful cloud migrations, implemented robust cybersecurity measures, and established a culture of transparency and collaboration. His expertise extends to compliance with GLBA and FERPA regulations, managing cybersecurity training programs, and optimizing network infrastructure. Zach's passion for innovation, user-centric approach, and ability to build cross-functional teams have been instrumental in driving organizational success, enhancing cybersecurity defenses, and positioning the institution as a leader in health education and operational excellence.

Zach is a 2X recipient of Cyber Defense Magazine’s Top Global CISOs, was named 40 Under 40 Security Leaders by CDO Magazine, and was St. Louis Non-Profit CISO of the Year. He’s a recent graduate of the FBI CISO Academy. Zach provides his industry expertise to others by speaking at conferences, webinars, and universities throughout the country.

Sebastian Schuetz, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. His research helps leaders address the human and organizational dimensions of cybersecurity, including employee behavior, security messaging, social capital, data breaches, ransomware, and AI-driven scams. Published in leading business and information systems journals, his work translates rigorous evidence into practical guidance for strengthening organizational resilience. He shares practical insights through MBA teaching, media interviews, and presentations, including an FTC workshop on data-driven harms.

Rich Korn, a Senior Security Solution Specialist for Comcast Business Global, has been in the industry for almost 30 years, selling hardware/software and services. Rich spent most of that time working in the Agent Community, founding CDW’s Agent Program in 1999. In 2018, Rich brought his skill set to Masergy, which was subsequently acquired by Comcast Business.

Rich has experience in the following areas: Internet, Wide Area Networks, Voice, Co-location, Cloud, Managed Services, and Security. He has been published on such topics as VoIP, MPLS, SD-WAN, SASE, and Security. He has also filled roles in Leadership and Training/Development.

Melissa Ruzzi is Director of AI at AppOmni, a SaaS security company protecting 101 million+ users secured over 260 million exposed data records, analyzes 60 billion cyber events a month and has 100+ employees worldwide. She’s fascinated by the challenges involved in applying machine learning in cybersecurity and the constant changing threat landscape. She embraces a mix of technical and business skills and is passionate about creating applications using data science and machine learning to help organizations defend against cyber threats.

James Dasher is Chief Information Security Officer at Jack in the Box, Inc. (Nasdaq: JACK), where he leads enterprise cybersecurity strategy, risk management, and security operations for a publicly traded quick-service restaurant brand of roughly 2,200 predominantly franchised locations. His remit spans PCI DSS and SOX compliance, board and audit committee risk reporting, and security transformation across corporate, technology, and franchise environments. He also owns the company's approach to AI governance — acceptable-use guardrails, third-party AI and data-use controls, and NIST AI RMF-aligned oversight as generative AI moves into enterprise and vendor-delivered technology.

He brings more than 15 years of security leadership in regulated and mission-critical environments. He was previously Interim Global CISO at UST, where he also led global security operations, engineering, and architecture across 35+ countries and nearly 40,000 users, and Deputy CISO at Blue Origin, building cyber defense across IT, OT, manufacturing, and mission-critical space systems. Earlier he led cyber risk, threat operations, and incident response engagements at Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton across the U.S., Middle East, and Asia, and supported national security missions as a cryptologic cyberspace operations specialist in the U.S. federal government.

James is a U.S. Army veteran with a Signal Corps and cryptologic background and holds the CISSP. He lives in Pueblo, Colorado, with his wife Amy and their four children, ages 11 to 18 — which means most of his non-existent spare time is spent as an unpaid "Uber" driver, running kids between practices, rehearsals, and games. Whatever's left goes to good food, travel, and great music.

Currently CISO at Crocs, Inc., based out of Broomfield, CO – a global brand in the footwear and accessories market. As CISO, she is responsible for securing assets within the enterprise, retail, and distribution business, including global security operations and the governance/risk/compliance functions. Lena currently also serves on the Board of Directors for the Retail and Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RH-ISAC) and is the co-chair of the CISO Advisory Committee.

Prior to joining Crocs, Inc., Lena led cybersecurity teams at Vertafore and Lumen (formerly CenturyLink and Level 3 Communications) with over 25 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity. In her 23-year tenure with Lumen, she led IT teams earlier in her career from hands-on-keyboard roles to leadership roles, then expanded into security leadership over the past 15 years, both customer-facing and internal to the corporate enterprise. Lena was also Lumen’s Global Chair for PAAN (Pacific Asian Ancestry Network) Employee Resource Group and was also a member of the Women of Vertafore resource group.

Recent cybersecurity recognition includes:
• 2025 Colorado Technology Association (CTA) CISO of the Year
• 2026 RH-ISAC CISO of the Year
• 2025 and 2026 CISOs Connect – A100 Awards

Outside of work, Lena keeps busy with community volunteer opportunities with Big Brother Big Sister, Dress for Success Denver and P-TECH Pathway at Northglenn High School. She also enjoys portrait photography and provides free senior photos to low-income students. Lena has two college-aged daughters and is adjusting very well to the empty nester lifestyle with more weekend trips and dining out with her husband.