Most Influential People in Security

Security magazine presents the Most Influential People in Security 2023, a cross-section of impressive enterprise, government & institutional security leaders.

Wendy Bashnan believes in pushing the boundaries and taking lessons learned from other industries & departments to enhance security and business resiliency.

Lauren Bean Buitta, Founder and CEO of Girl Security, has made it her life’s mission to create a more diverse security workforce.

Julie Bowen helps The MITRE Corporation solve key national security and global security challenges using an enterprise risk management approach. 

Sandi Davies is outspokenly passionate about elevating the perception and reputation of security officers, and she has spent her entire career with this focus.

Shannon Fariel-Mureithi, Director of Global Safety and Security at ChildFund International, is dedicated to protecting the NGO security landscape and serving individuals.

Michael Garcia has made it his life’s work to tackle the issue of violence within schools.

Peter Hunt, VP Security, Brand Protection & Resiliency at Flex, says a holistic understanding of risk is key to enterprise supply chain security.

Allan “Al” Moore, Director of Security & Crisis Management at Spire Energy, brings together community stakeholders to boost public safety.

Driven by mission, Erik Antons, Chief Security Officer at Whirlpool, delivers best-in-class security, risk management and emergency management programs. 

Security’s Most Influential People in Security 2022 represent a number of professionals protecting their organizations, furthering their missions and elevating the security industry in significant ways.

Gordon Snow, Chief Security Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, leverages security partnerships to improve safety in the healthcare field.

Security magazine is pleased to announce our 2021 Most Influential People in Security – 10 top security executives and industry leaders who are positively impacting the security field, their organization, their colleagues and peers, and the national and global security landscape.

As Director and Administrator, Robert F. Granzow III, CPP has been instrumental in developing the security function at the Office of Judicial District Security for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC), spearheading significant initiatives to increase collaboration between professional disciplines in and beyond the Commonwealth’s Unified Judicial System.

Rebecca Gomez is a Program Manager for the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a Federal Advisory Committee that promotes security cooperation between U.S. private-sector interests worldwide and the U.S. Department of State. In this role, Gomez manages, analyzes and facilitates the coordination of OSAC’s programs, partnerships and policy activities for membership groups that ensure the exchange of timely, relevant and reliable security advice and guidance to U.S. private-sector interests overseas.

Paul R. Kolbe is the Director of the Intelligence Project at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Relations.In his role, Kolbe focuses on preparing a new generation of intelligence leaders for the public and private sectors while advancing policy-relevant knowledge in intelligence areas.

As Managing Director and co-leader of the Intelligence Practice, Mary Legere focuses on bringing Accenture’s global capabilities, services and best practices to national defense, intelligence and cyber clients. She brings experience and passion to her role at Accenture Federal Services (AFS), serving senior leaders across the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense to help advance improvements to their community.

Joe M. Olivarez Jr. has been an influential leader to Jacobs, a $14 billion multinational engineering company powered by more than 55,000 employees worldwide who deliver innovative, technical, professional and program-management solutions for public and private clients.As Vice President of Operational Centers of Excellence (OpCOE), Olivarez has built and led the company’s integrated global security strategy.

Jeff Snyder, Executive Coach at Jeff Snyder Coaching and Founder and President of SecurityRecruiter.com, proudly described himself as a recruiter, coach, husband, father, entrepreneur, great friend and risk-taker.

In his position as Vice President and Chief Security Officer of Global Security, Claude J. Nebel Jr. has built a team to ensure the safety and security of Cargill Inc. through the programs of Asset/Physical Security, Investigations, Crisis Management and Intelligence. Cargill — a $114.7 billion company — is a major international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial, and industrial products and services. Since becoming a member of the Cargill team in August 2008, Nebel has led various industry and workplace safety standards, which play a critical role in Cargill’s foundational goal to work relentlessly to nourish 70 countries around the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.

Ben Brown’s contributions to the security field have had a significant impact in advancing the value of several security programs and enhancing the security posture of various organizations. Through his knowledge in specialized security management domains, Brown has been able to act as a change agent in large organizations, bringing resolution to complex security challenges by generating new frameworks.

Steven Antoine’s impact goes beyond security. He is a valuable thought leadership partner to those at the most senior level and has an experienced background in leading among his peers and others in the security industry. Currently, Antoine, a member of Security’s Editorial Advisory Board, is Vice President of Global Security at PepsiCo North America.

Fred Burton has positively impacted the security and intelligence world and is often referred to as the “Father of Protective Intelligence” for developing a framework for the approach and infrastructure of protective intelligence, helping to change the process for how physical security threats are identified and assessed for government, corporate and executive entities. 

Security magazine is pleased to announce our 2020 Most Influential People in Security – 22 top security executives and industry leaders who are positively impacting the security field, their organization, their colleagues and peers, and the national and global security landscape.

Rebecca Morgan is the Chief of Insider Threat Division at the Center for Development of Security Excellence, Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA).

Carmen Best will retire as Chief of the Seattle, Wash. Police Department (SPD) on September 2, 2020. As Police Chief, Best managed 1,400 police officers and was in charge of maintaining court-ordered reform to limit excessive police use-of-force and improve relationships with the local community.

Paul Abbate currently serves as the Associate Deputy Director, a position in which he is responsible for the management and oversight of all U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) personnel, budget, administration and infrastructure, as well as the inspection of insider threat programs.

Paul Goldenberg is a highly decorated law enforcement and national security professional. He was a co-founder of Secure Community Network, the nation’s first Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ASIS-recognized faith-based information sharing center, which has developed many of the security industries standards for faith-based security.

An experienced nonprofit leader who specializes in startups, turnarounds and leadership coaching, Peggy O’Neill has over 35 years of experience working with nonprofit boards.

Paul Timm is Vice President of Facility Engineering Associates (FEA), which helps support and provide owners and managers with progressive and innovative solutions to facility lifecycle challenges.