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Women Who Cyber brings together a diverse group of aspiring and thriving cybersecurity professionals for dynamic and interactive events, providing a forum to gather intel, network with peers, establish meaningful mentoring relationships,
and share in unique experiences.
At Women Who Cyber Nashville, we'll explore today's rising threats, human risk, and agentic AI, and discuss how to better prepare for the evolving threat landscape.
Our distinguished panel of women in cybersecurity will share their perspective on the importance of investing in yourself and developing a CEO mindset, the challenges faced as women in this field and how they've overcome them, strategies for the advancement of women in cybersecurity, and more in
our panel on Empowering the Next Generation of Cybersecurity Professionals.
While Women Who Cyber is dedicated to bringing talented women together to celebrate and foster their passion and drive for cybersecurity, we happily welcome all genders, identities, and generations to attend our event and support women in changing the face of cybersecurity!
Candle Pouring Workshop
Following the discussion, we'll enjoy lunch and nurture our creativity with a hands-on, instructor-led artisan candle pouring workshop at Paddywax Candle Bar! We'll begin by selecting a vessel from their wide
selection of versatile styles, blending functionality with on-trend design.
Each vessel style offers multiple uses beyond its life as a candle, including bowls, mugs, planters, and catch-alls.
From there, we'll each select from expertly crafted fragrance blends, place the wicks, measure the oil and wax, and then blend and pour our custom candles!
Note: Candles will be ready for pickup the following day but may be stored
by Paddywax for up to 30 days.
Alternatively, Proofpoint is offering complimentary shipping for those who would prefer to have their candle shipped to them directly—simply provide your shipping address during registration to ensure convenient delivery of your candle.
Anissa Neubauer is the Senior Regional Sales Director for Southeast Enterprise at Proofpoint. Anissa has over 20 years of expertise in IoT Medical Sales, SaaS Marketing, IT Consulting, Cloud and Cybersecurity, where she held key leadership roles at Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic, WayStar, Deloitte, and VMware. Her diverse background enables her to craft strategic, innovative solutions that support her customers technical road maps. Additionally, Anissa is the co-founder and President of The Olive Branch Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. She holds an MBA from the University of Dallas.
“What if the weakest link in cybersecurity was actually the best place to start designing smarter systems? Crista Nunez thinks it is — and she’s betting on the human factor.”
Crista Nunez is a user experience designer who doesn’t just design for screens — she designs for how people think, feel, and behave in the face of digital risk. With three master’s degrees—an MBA, a Master’s in Marketing, and an MS in Cybersecurity—plus a CISSP certification, Crista brings together the disciplines of business, design, and technical security to tackle one of cybersecurity’s toughest challenges: human risk.
At Proofpoint, she has led the design of powerful security products including Human Risk Explorer, Insider Threat, Endpoint DLP, and CASB—translating dense technical insight into clear, intuitive, behavior-aware experiences. She’s also worked on projects that merge data sources into individual risk profiles, helping organizations see not just systems, but people — and the patterns behind their actions. Her work on data lineage visualizations has helped security teams trace the path of sensitive data across platforms in a way that makes sense to both analysts and end users.
Before Proofpoint, Crista brought that same human-centered philosophy to Ford Motor Company, where she helped deliver telematics data—the complex data flowing from connected vehicles—in a way that was meaningful and understandable for everyday drivers. It wasn’t just about data access; it was about data empathy.
Crista believes that real cybersecurity doesn’t just protect systems — it empowers people. And to design truly secure products, we have to stop thinking of users as the problem, and start designing as if they are the solution.
Elise Veazey Stacey is Chief of Staff to the CEO of Optiv, focused on strategic planning and execution of organizational goals. She holds leadership positions within Optiv as a mentor and committee co-chair for Optiv Women’s Network (OWN), where she oversees relationships with the Executive Women’s Forum (EWF) and Women of the Channel (WOTC).
Elise elevates cloud security awareness and education throughout the Nashville area as the co-founder and director of membership for the Music City chapter of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a global nonprofit.
Prior to the institution's acquisition in October 2022, Elise served on the board of directors of Sycamore Bank and Tate Financial, a community bank in her home state of Mississippi, as the co-chair of the Information Technology committee. She also served on the Audit and Compliance, Nominating and Loan Committees. She holds the distinction of not only being the second woman to ever be elected to the bank’s board of directors but was also the youngest person ever elected in the institution’s 100-plus year history.
While earning her MBA from Belmont University, Elise chartered and served as the first chapter president of the university’s MBA Women International Chapter.
Elise lives in Tennessee with her two young daughters. She leads Bible study at her church and volunteers at her children's schools.
Tanya Lyde is a seasoned cybersecurity professional with over 30 years of experience in IS/IT, including 20 years in leadership roles. As the Senior Manager of Cybersecurity at Nissan Americas Headquarters, she oversees cybersecurity strategies across North and South American enterprise regions, ensuring the protection of organizational assets and driving proactive threat management.
Throughout her career, Tanya has excelled in vulnerability threat management, SOC operations, digital forensics, and data loss prevention, with a proven track record of minimizing cybersecurity incidents through strategic risk mitigation. She is a strong advocate for cybersecurity awareness, policy development, and training programs to enhance compliance and reduce security violations.
Before joining Nissan, Tanya held pivotal positions in Gaylord Entertainment (2010 Nashville Flood Rebuild), Verizon Telecommunications, Deloitte & Touché, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and more, where she managed large-scale network operations and security initiatives. She has worked in industries ranging from automotive to healthcare, education, financial services, hospitality, and telecommunications, equipping her with a broad perspective on cybersecurity challenges across different sectors.
Tanya’s leadership philosophy centers on critical thinking, careful planning, and best practices to drive operational excellence and customer satisfaction. She brings invaluable insights into leading global cybersecurity teams, managing emerging threats, and fostering diversity and inclusion in tech leadership.
Tanya holds expertise in security architecture, enterprise network strategy, and incident response, making her a trusted advisor in cybersecurity resilience. She is dedicated to empowering the next generation of cybersecurity professionals through mentorship and collaboration.
She is 1996 alumni of Tennessee State University, with focus studies in Architectural Engineering and Computer Science, as well as was a member of the renowned TSU Aristocrat of Bands.
Shannon Rains is a Consulting Cyber Security Engineer with nearly two decades of experience in Information Security, including over 14 years specializing in Cyber Security. In her current role at HCA, she leads phishing research initiatives with a concentrated focus on email threat research, playing a critical role in protecting organizational assets from ever-evolving cyber threats.
Shannon has the distinction of having been the first female member of her organization's cyber security team and has consistently demonstrated a commitment to both technical excellence and community engagement. She has held leadership positions beyond her current role, including serving as Employee Chair for the company's Caring for Community Campaigns - advocating for employee involvement within our communities.
Deeply passionate about email security, Shannon is particularly focused on its increasing significance within the cyber security landscape. She is honored to join the "Women who Cyber" panel to share her experiences and help empower the next generation of cyber security professionals.
While we are dedicated to bringing talented women together to celebrate and foster their passion and drive for cybersecurity, we welcome everyone—all genders, identities, and generations!
This event is suitable for information security decision makers, including: CXO, VP of IT, Director of IT; mid-level information security management (Senior Security Manager, IT Security Manager, IT Manager) and technical information security practitioners (Security Engineer, Messaging Architect, IT Analyst). This event is not open to channel or technology partners.
Government and public sector employees are reminded to ensure that their acceptance and participation are permitted by applicable rules and regulations.
NOTE: Registration requires a valid email address from your organization’s domain, so Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo or any other ISP are not accepted. Yahoo or any other ISP are not accepted.
