Tia Hopkins

Tia Hopkins has spent more than two decades in the IT and IT Security industry and is currently the Field CTO & Chief Cyber Risk Strategist at eSentire. Additionally, Tia is an adjunct professor of Cybersecurity, a women’s tackle football coach, and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor. Tia is also pursuing her Executive MBA and PhD in Cybersecurity and is committed to building the cybersecurity talent pipeline by promoting diversity through empowerment, education, and mentorship. She is an Associate Instructor for MGT512: Security Leadership Essentials for Managers.

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Tia is a Cybersecurity Executive who has spent the past 20+ years of her career in various IT and IT Security roles with over a decade of experience in the managed services space. Her work focuses on helping organizations achieve cyber resilience through effective and efficient combinations of people, process, and technology.

In addition to her work at eSentire, she is also an adjunct professor of Cybersecurity at Yeshiva University and is currently pursuing a PhD in Cybersecurity Technology Innovation Management. Her mission is to help drive the growth and success of the cybersecurity industry by researching and addressing current industry challenges and trends, and taking an innovative approach to solving for both current and future concerns.

Part of growing the industry involves attracting and retaining top talent. She is committed to creating a next generation of cybersecurity professionals that is as diverse and inclusive as possible. Our adversaries come from all backgrounds and perspectives, and so should we.

Tia was recognized by SC Media as an outstanding educator in 2019, as well as one of The Software Report's Top 25 Women Leaders in Cybersecurity and Cyber Defense Magazine's Top 100 Women in Cybersecurity; both in 2020. In 2021, Tia was recognized as a Top Influencer in the Security Executives category by IFSEC Global and was most recently recognized by Dark Reading as #1 on the list of ‘8 More Women in Security You May Not Know but Should’ in 2022.

Tia contributed a chapter to the book The Rise of Cyber Women: Volume 2 in 2021 and co-authored ‘ Hacking the Cybersecurity Interview’ with Ken Underhill and Chris Foulon in 2022. She is also the Founder of Empow(H)er Cybersecurity, a non-profit organization aimed at inspiring and empowering women of color to pursue cybersecurity careers.

Outside of work Tia enjoys spending time with her family, coaching women’s tackle football, watching Cartoon Network, and eating Apple Jacks.

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TIA:

Reality Check: An Honest Look at Cybersecurity Jobs, New2Cyber Summit 2022