Mandy Burdey

Her portfolio spans NetWars, BootUp CTF, Elite CTF, Skills Quest, Cyber Crisis Exercises, and the Applied Skills Analysis Platform (ASAP), which assesses individuals and teams against national workforce frameworks and shows where the real gaps sit. She works with defense agencies, national cyber authorities, and global enterprises across every region SANS operates in. Her customers share one problem. They need to know, not hope, that their people can perform under pressure.

Mandy came to cybersecurity sideways, and she'd argue that's the point. She holds a degree in criminal justice and sociology from Colorado State University and spent more than twenty years in medical device sales, much of it inside operating rooms, where preparation and performance carry immediate consequences. That experience shaped a conviction she's carried into this industry: readiness is a human problem before it's a technical one.

She joined SANS in 2019 with no cybersecurity background. She moved through enterprise sales, strategy, and sales leadership, serving as Director of Sales for North America before taking on general management of a global business unit. She was named SANS Top Overall Performer in 2020, founded the SANS Healthcare Forum out of a conviction that the sector was being underserved, and holds the GISF and GSTRT certifications.

She is a persistent advocate for widening who gets to enter this profession, a position informed as much by leading a Girl Scout troop as by running a P&L.