Anita Siassios, located in Melbourne Australia, land of the Wurundjeri people

Inspired by WiCyS Founder Dr Ambereen Siraj Anita established WiCyS Australia in July 2020 with the goal to create a local community to bring together people who wish to learn and grow about Cyber Security and it’s interrelated disciplines.

Anita has a Bachelor of Information Technology and a global industry career of 34 years in Banking and IT specialising in Customer Experience Management. Anita’s journey in Cyber Security commenced in 2018 whilst on an assignment to establish a Privacy Centre of Excellence where she learnt of the Cyber Security ecosystem, the impact and potential harm it could have to people, organisations and communities amongst the midst of two significant Data Breaches.

Anita’s passion for people and communities extends outside of her daily work as the Founder of non-profit Customer Experience Association (CXPA) Melbourne, Secretary ANZ Bank Retired Officers Board, Parent Co-ordinator Wesley College Senior School, and volunteer lead for Mayflower Aged Care Home. Anita is a mentor and fellow member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and Financial Executive Women’s (FEW) organisation. 

Anita is a mother to a teenage daughter, the eldest of 3 sisters with a Greek heritage that has inspired her to lead and make a difference to improve the future of others.

Divya Sangar located in Melbourne Australia, land of the Wurundjeri people 

Divya brings over 20 years of experience across various technical and sales roles in the IT, Telecom and Datacentre industries. Her journey has fuelled her passion for tech diversity, particularly due to the lack of female role models she encountered early in her career and education.  Even when she graduated in Bachelor of Science in Physics & Computing Science, she was one of only two female students at graduation.

Divya has been a dedicated mentor to women starting their careers in Tech and Telco in the organisations she has worked in.  She is deeply committed to cybersecurity safety and awareness, recognizing the importance of protecting online services in today's digital age.

Inspired by the welcoming environment and meaningful conversations in her first WiCyS morning coffee catchup, Divya became an WiCyS active member shortly after.

Outside of her professional life, Divya is a proud mother of twin boys she shares with her husband Luke and is the youngest of three sisters.

Deyan Pejovic, located in Melbourne Australia, land of the Wurundjeri people

Deyan is a student undertaking a Master’s degree in Information Technology at the University of Melbourne. He is particularly interested in privacy and data ethics, and is always looking to learn more about the burgeoning field of cyber security.

Beth Dwyer is an experienced professional in cyber security with a background in management consulting focused on cyber and digital risk. She holds a Bachelor of Laws and is a Certified Information Privacy Manager (IAPP). Currently, Beth works in Cyber Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). 

Beth is also involved in educational and mentoring initiatives volunteering in secondary education through the P-TECH program both on the steering committee and as a student mentor. Additionally, she dedicates time to supporting women in cyber security, offering guidance and mentorship to those entering or advancing in the field. Beth is passionate about promoting security awareness and helping others develop the necessary skills to succeed in cyber. 

Elenga Sitnikova, located in Adelaide Australia, land of the Kaurna Meyunna  people.

Associate Professor Elena Sitnikova PhD, BE (Hons), CSSLP, SFHEA is an award-winning academic and researcher at Flinders University.  Elena is an internationally recognised leader in Critical Infrastructure cybersecurity research, with particular expertise in complex systems and networks, the key areas of cyber-physical systems security, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Elena has expert knowledge and experience in cybersecurity, control systems, software and systems engineering, and cybersecurity education. Elena has published more than 70 research papers, with over 3,000 citations to these research papers.

Elena is currently an Editorial Board Committee Member serving as critical reviewer for several journals and conferences.  Elena was one of the first Australians to be accredited as a Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional from ISC2 and has received numerous awards and prizes, including the Women in AI for Cybersecurity award.

Elena was among the first group of 11 women to graduate from the Australian Women in IT and Science Entity’s South Australian Board Readiness Program.  Elena is a role model and a mentor for many women who are exploring their opportunities in cybersecurity and has been instrumental in supporting the acceleration of their career paths in cutting-edge cybersecurity areas. Elena has served on Boards including the Asia-Pacific Business Council for Women (APBCW) (2007-2013), Nexus (2013-2014), and History SA (2014-2015).

Elena likes to travel in her free time, and is interested in culture and art.

Kevin Crowley, located in Canberra Australia, land of the Ngunnawal people

Kevin has a Masters in Management Science and Information Systems, and over 10 years’ international experience working with information technology. Kevin started his career in regulation and compliance, and has worked for the past several years as a technology consultant. Kevin brings extensive data security experience to the team, having worked with both European and Australian privacy legislation and standards. Kevin has also delivered a platform for data protection to financial institutions in Australia.

In addition to professional experience in security, Kevin enjoys spending his free time learning about cybersecurity, in particular modern and historical cyber warfare, ethical hacking, and social engineering.

A proud feminist, Kevin recognises the critical role of diversity in the workplace, and is honoured to be able to give hands, eyes and heart to a noble cause, and help a very talented and valuable community to shine.

Jane Arriagada, located in Melbourne Australia, land of the Wurundjeri people

Jane is passionate about diversity and inclusion and an advocate for raising awareness about cyber threats and personal privacy online.

Jane comes from a consulting background and is an experienced Project Delivery Lead who has worked on various regulatory, compliance and technology transformation initiatives. This has given her experience with international privacy standards, data management, data governance and cyber security standards in banking and financial services and has led her to supporting organisations uplift their privacy and cybersecurity culture. Recent personal achievement was development of global organisation Data Breach Playbook.

Jane loves the challenge of learning new skills everyday and is excited to encourage more woman to explore careers in technology especially from non-traditional STEM careers paths.