Services

2022 ISSA Nova Board

Michael Smith

Michael D. Smith
President

Michael D. Smith was elected as the 2022 ISSA-NOVA President. He previously served as the ISSA-NOVA Senior Vice President and prior to that as the Director of Veteran’s Affairs.   Michael Smith brings to the board over 30 years of IT and Cybersecurity expertise and Senior Leadership. He is the Cybersecurity Architecture and Advisory Services Group Leader for the Battelle Memorial Institute and the Cybersecurity Program Manager for DHS. He is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who commanded the Army Reserve Operations Group (ARCOG), established a research unit at the Army Cyber Institute (ACI) West Point, NY, and served as the Deputy G6 (CIO) for the 22,000 Soldier command responsible for all Logistics in Iraq during the surge.

 

Amit Arya

Amit Arya
Senior Vice President

Hello! I have over ten years of experience working in the IT Security industry with various Identity and Access Management (IAM) applications, Identity, Access, Adaptive Access, Federation and LDAP products. I have managed various aspects of the project lifecycle with an emphasis on identity management applications and access control. I joined the ISSA-Raleigh chapter about 5 years ago and after moving back to the Northern VA area, I joined the Northern VA chapter and have been on the board for over 3 years now. In my free time I do like to watch movies, go for hikes and play tennis.

Dr. Ana Valentín
Vice President of Education

Dr. Ana Valentín is an Enterprise Service Program Manager for the Office of Chief Information Officer under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Ana leads various information technology projects critical to NOAA’s Mission. Dr. Ana also is a Cyber Applied Research Fellow at Marymount University, Member of the NIST National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Working Group, and a Vice-President for Education for the Information System Security Association Northern Virginia Chapter. Dr. Ana has degrees in math education, biostatistics, cybersecurity, information security management, and program management.

Walter Cekala
Vice President of Operations

Walter Cekala is the Vice President of Operations. Previously he served as the Vice President of Education. He is a dedicated, mission oriented Senior Cybersecurity Architect at Acenture Federal Services. His expertise and previous experience include:

  • Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) – Information Security Certification
  • Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) – IT-Governance
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)® Project Management Certification
    Significant Federal clients:
  • Department of Homeland Security/Customs and Border Protection – 2003-2004, 2005-Present
  • U.S. Census Bureau – 2002-2003, 2004-2005
  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (Special Projects) 2000-2005
  • Internal Revenue Service – 2000-2002
  • Department of Defense – 1975-2000

Dr. Nancy Landreville
Vice President of Programs

Dr. Nancy M Landreville is an engineer currently engaged in nuclear physics to develop, design, and deploy APIs that enhance various handheld devices for asset remediation and threat management. As a ten-year member of IEEE as of 2022; interests in supporting various facets of structural mechanics have become an important goal in evaluating innovations that include the use of blockchain algorithms for network security monitoring to protect cryptocurrency as data-in-transit and recently mentored professional students including bank attendees with MIT. She is an innovator and has served as a computer scientist, engineer, developer, and contributor of guidance with NIST and ISOs with IEEE since 2010. She is interested in volunteering to serve with IEEE in further endeavors as a board member. Dr. Nancy M Landreville is a seasoned business owner professional with extensive leadership and managerial expertise in industry, government, military, and the private sector. Her previous business, NML Computer Consulting Company, LLC and Corp., provided cloud subject matter expert consulting advice for the military, government, and private industry.

Karen Frederick
Vice President of Sponsorship

Karen Frederick is the Director of Business Strategy, Privacy Management, for Microsoft Business Technology Solutions | Global Business Development. She is a dynamic Sales and Business Development Executive with comprehensive experience selling complex technology solutions to C-level executives and surpassing multi-million dollar sales quotas within highly competitive global markets. Exceptional communicator with proven presentation and negotiation skills, Fortune 500 account management skills, exceptional problem solving abilities, and a strong aptitude for assessing client needs and developing business solutions to meet those needs. Ability and drive to aggressively identify opportunities and close business.

Richard Smith
Vice President of Communications

Richard has worked in the IT industry since his U.S. Navy days, Worked as an Electronics Technician and was responsible for the Central Navigation Computers for Missile Ballistic Submarines (SSBN).  Taught Basic Computer Concepts and Troubleshooting Techniques in the Strategic Weapons Systems’ Electronic “A” School. With over 600 students provided knowledge to move-on to their Advanced “c” schools.

He worked as a Network Engineer pulling and landing internal cabling system for many of the schools around Northern Virginia, and Maryland providing first generation of School Network capabilities as well as intercommunication (Intercoms and Bells and Clocks), Television Cabling and Fire Alarm systems.

 

Certifications: CISSP, C|CISO, CDWP, COR III

 

Bud Roth
President Emeritus

My name is Bud Roth. I put NetBSD on a Mac SE/30 and never looked back. I have some diverse interests. I spent 8 years of my life living in Japan where I earned an MA and competed in Judo as part of the Nagoya University team. I clerked at the Court of Chancery in Delaware and spent a few years doing Internet-based securities fraud investigations with the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement. After 9/11, I joined DoD and supported the GWOT, doing a number of overseas assignments before joining Deloitte. I now focus exclusively on cybersecurity issues as a private consultant and the Non-resident Fellow for Cybersecurity at Sasakawa USA.

Brian Ngac
Vice President of Memberships

Brian Ngac is Deputy to the Vice President of Digital Engineering Research & Development Programs at Parsons Corporation’s Defense & Intelligence Unit, and a PhD Candidate (ABD) at George Mason University’s College of Engineering & Computing. He is also an instructional faculty member within the Information Systems & Operations Management Academic Unit at George Mason University’s School of Business. He holds 12 internationally recognized cyber security and management certifications including the C|CISO, CISSP, ISSMP, CISM, and PMP. His areas of expertise are in cyber security, digital engineering R&D, and business process improvement (solving business challenges with technology solutions). His research focuses are in cyber executive management, expert crowdsourcing, and decision analytics. The ultimate goal of Brian’s research endeavors is to publish rigorous papers that are impactful to the area of cyber security management so that his findings will be read, understood, shared, and practiced by cyber professionals, managers, executives, and leaders. He has also developed an experiential learning course for students to work on real projects with real clients prior to their graduation.

Michael Craghead

Michael Craghead
Vice President of Finance

I have been a member of ISSA-NOVA since 2010, shortly after obtaining my CISSP certification. A regular attendee at chapter meetings except for a 2-year period when working outside of the DC metro area. While a member I have been a semi-regular attendee of the ISSA-NOVA Risk Management Lifeboat group, and also attended ISSA-NOVA’s first Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP) preparation course offering. I have over 20 years in the Information Technology (IT) field. Started my professional career as a software developer. In 2004, by chance, transitioned to Information/Cyber Security, or whatever you want to call it :). Worked for a mobile telecom company supporting their internal Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems. Have worked in IAM in some form or another since then, and currently working for one of the top professional services companies as a consultant. ISSA-NOVA has incubated many great leaders for both the chapter and for the international ISSA organization. I have always considered becoming one of those leaders. Now is the time!