Optum vice president, Gretchen Block, to keynote at Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) conference
DENVER, March 5, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Gretchen Block, Optum vice president, is one of three significant women to present a keynote at the Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) conference, March 12-14 in Aurora, Colorado.
Block is the vice president of the Optum Global Technology Enterprise Risk Governance Program. Her presentation, "Power, Influence and the Art of Female Leadership" will chronicle her journey from John Deere HealthCare to her current role as a global leader that drives technology risk management across business towers and geography. Block aims to candidly cover uncomfortable topics for female leaders surrounding organizational politics, positional and personal power, the juxtaposition of power and influence, and female leadership potential. Female leaders emerging in the workforce must employ savvy and grit to maximize their leadership potential, and she will touch on those issues.
In 1995, Block began her career in healthcare by working for John Deere HealthCare. Her roles included IT asset management, computer operations and security. In 2006, she joined Optum as part of the acquisition of John Deere HealthCare with UnitedHealth Group. She currently leads the enterprise policy, risk governance, access management and security operations teams supporting critical business areas. She has been part of the Enterprise Security organization working with risk governance, compliance management and threat management in support of the broader cybersecurity program.
"We have to be ruthless in our pursuit to protect the customer's information that we are accountable for within the organization that we serve while also keeping cybersecurity woven into the fabric of how we operate on a daily basis," Block said. "I'm excited to be part of WiCyS and participate in this conference. With so many women as part of this organization, I see endless opportunities to influence change while further protecting the organizations and customers we serve."
The WiCyS conference will bring together more than 1,650 women and allies in cybersecurity from industry, academia, government, nonprofits and research to share their knowledge and expertise while networking and mentoring. The conference is unique as it zeroes in on recruiting, retaining and advancing women in cybersecurity careers.
Journalists are invited to attend and should email info@wicys.org to request a media pass. For more information on WiCyS or the conference, visit http://www.wicys.org.
About WiCyS:
Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) is the premier nonprofit organization with international reach dedicated to bringing together women in cybersecurity. Founded by Dr. Ambareen Siraj from Tennessee Tech University through a National Science Foundation grant in 2013, WiCyS offers opportunities and resources for its members and collaboration benefits for its sponsors and partners. The organization's founding partners are Cisco, Facebook and Palo Alto Networks. WiCyS' strategic partners include Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, Cisco, Equifax, Facebook, Google, HERE Technologies, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Nike, Optum, Palo Alto Networks, PayPal, SANS Institute, Target, and University of California San Diego. To partner with WiCyS, visit https://www.wicys.org/become-a-partner
SOURCE Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS)
