IT Leadership Awards

Consulting firm (ISC)2 on Tuesday announced the final nominees for its sixth annual Government Information Security Leadership Awards. The awards honor individuals who have significantly enhanced the information security workforce by demonstrating a leadership role in any information security workforce improvement initiative, program or project on either a government-wide or agency-specific basis. The program recognizes IT workers from each of the following categories:

Non-Managerial Information Security Professional

• Bobby Akins, network integrator, U.S. Air Force Engineering and Technical Services (AFETS), U.S. Air Force
• Karyn Higa-Smith, program manager, identity management tools, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Command, Control and Interoperability Division
• T. Sgt. Shannon Haygood, non-commissioned officer in charge, information assurance, U.S. Air Force, 754th Electronic Systems Group, Operations Division

Senior Non-Information Security Manager

• Cecille Jones, director, Wage & Investment Business Systems Planning Division, U.S. Internal Revenue Service
• Erin Finkes, director of workforce development, Defense Contract Management Agency
• Lori Roberts, program manager, Wage & Investment Security Program Management Office, U.S. Internal Revenue Service

Senior Information Security Manager

• Austin Pearson, information assurance program manager, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, U.S. Army
• Stanley Joseph Jarzombek, Jr., director of software assurance, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Cyber Security Division
• Patrick D. Howard, chief information security officer and director computer security office, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Federal Contractor Information Security Professional

• John Bagladi, senior information technology security project manager, Alpha Protective Services/Advanced Resources Technologies Incorporated
• John Stewart, vice president and chief security officer, Cisco Systems
• Margaret Spanninger, senior associate, Booz Allen Hamilton

For more information on the finalists, click here. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner on Oct. 7.