2024 ISSA-NOVA Board

Michael D. Smith
President

Michael D. Smith was re-elected as the 2024 ISSA-NOVA President. This is his third term, having served as President in 2022 and 2023. 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.

Walter Cekala
Senior Vice President

Walter Cekala, Senior Vice President, ISSA Nova is a widely respected mentor and business/technology consultant. Walter previously served as the ISSA Nova Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Education. He has over 40 years in the networking industry with engineering and management positions at high profile organizations. His certifications include CEH, CISSP, CRISC, CSM, ITIL® v3, PMI-RMP, and PMP. Walter served as Administrative Officer for the Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College. He is active with several professional organizations including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Federal IT Security Institute (FITSI), and ISC(2). Walter has many public speaking engagements and several education and training classes to his credit. He taught and encouraged many people during 2017, 2018, and 2019 as the primary Mentor/Trainer for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional Series.

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.

This led into a networking career with Edelman Financial Services (EFS). Taking on the requirements of moving the systems through the early stages of windows 95 and the First-Generation Pentium Chips.

After leaving EFS, he took on the role of Engineer Level III with Telephone Laboratories (Tellabs) where worked to solve issues in the field wherever Tellabs had equipment placed for Landline and Mobile phone system and networking. Worked in 4 of 7 Continents and saw 19 different Countries.

Mr. Smith Found himself working for the U.S. National Guard as a contractor with Koniag Systems Inc. and successfully worked the first DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP) program within the National Guards Programs and Systems. Worked as a Portal Administrator and Instructor for the Joint Information Exchange Environment (JIEE). An “Event” driven capability that allowed information flow from affected states to supporting States that would have the capacity to provide supplies/ manning/ equipment to lend aid for the affected/requesting areas. The reporting function provided a quick roll-up of all support provided and where it was placed along with active mapping capabilities.

Continuing with his career with as a Contractor for Solutions By Design (SBD II), worked with the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) overseeing the Compliance efforts of 44 systems, bringing the DCMA into an aligned Federal Information System Management Act (FISMA (2002) program.

This activity provided a springboard to the U.S. Army as the Army’s Liaison for all things FISMA (2002 and 2014) “DAHQ FISMA Compliance Officer”. Created capabilities for the Army to see where their systems were in relation with FISMA Compliance.  At the time, Army was working 1750+ system and was not in the top ten DOD communities with compliance.  With-in three years, Mr. Smith was able to bring the first FISMA Passing Grades for the Army over the entirety of the FISMA program. By working with the Information Assurance professional with each component, was able to identify areas of concern and worked with the component to bring the system back into compliance.

Moved to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the Federal Compliance Officer for the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. Overseeing and leading the team for Compliance with analysis of scanned data, Testing the Controls, Penetration testing and Security Operation Center. Working with System owners to assist with compliance efforts. Certifications: CISSP, C|CISO, CDWP, COR III

Brian Ngac
Vice President of Membership

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.

Alex Grohmann
Vice President of Programs

Alex Grohmann (CISSP, CISA, CISM, CIPT) has been a leader in the information security rich Northern Virginia (NOVA) community and would be honored to serve on the ISSA International board of directors.

Alex has been an active member of the NOVA chapter since 2003. He has served on the board for over a decade and has held various leadership roles including three terms as president. During Alex’s three years as president, the membership increased 11% to over 550 members, sponsorship quadrupled, and average meeting attendance regularly surpassed 120-140 attendees. He founded a mentoring program with two local universities and started a Toastmasters chapter within the chapter. The chapter also won the International Chapter of the Year during his presidency.

He developed a lasting relationship with the international Spirit of Innovation (www.conradchallenge.org) positioning the NOVA chapter to be the exclusive Challenge Partner and providing judges for early and secondary rounds. For the last two years, Alex has represented ISSA at the finals at the Kennedy Space Center, bringing ISSA brand recognition to the event. Additionally, Alex created a CISO curriculum for George Mason’s Cybersecurity Master’s program which is still in use today.

Mr. Grohmann currently sits on the IT Sector Coordinating Council (IT-SCC), a body designed to help ensure information security concerns are voiced to Federal Government policymakers. He is also a member of the National Cyberwatch Center (NCC) Information Security Fundamentals Curriculum standards which is creating a security framework to help small and medium-sized businesses manage their own security programs (2016-present). He is a board member of Northern Virginia Community College’s cyber security program advisory committee (2015-present), a member of the National Institute of Standard’s (NIST) National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) program (2016-present)

Mr. Grohmann served on the Washington, DC InfraGard board for four years and is a graduate of the respected FBI Citizens’ Academy. He is an active STARS mentor to the state of Virginia’s cybersecurity accelerator, MACH 37. He frequently speaks at events and has been a guest on Washington DC’s Federal News Radio show twice.

Mr. Grohmann was a 2014 recipient of International’s Fellow designation (one of only 89 Fellows globally) and a 2015 Honoree of ISSA’s “Honor Roll.”

Mr. Grohmann is an independent security consultant and his clients range from financial services to energy to healthcare. He has been in technology for over 23 years and information security for the last 15.

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.

Gail Schnell
Vice President of Technology

Gail Schnell is the President & CEO of Schnell-Tech Solutions, LLC. Schnell-Tech Solutions LLC is a Information Technology Consulting and Contracting Company that is Woman, Minority, and Veteran-Owned as well as SDVOSB Certified that specializes in Cyber Security, Information Assurance, and Certification & Accreditation. Gail also serves as a Commissioner for Maryland Military Monuments as well as the Board of Directors Member & Chair of the External Affairs Committee for APAPA-GDC – Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association. She is currently working as a Senior Cloud Security Architect, Security Manager, and RMF SME.
Gail is a US Army OEF Veteran and deployed to Afghanistan before she started her company. She volunteers with IAVA, Team Rubicon, Veteran’s Voices, The Mission Continues, Travis Manion Foundation, and Team Red, White, & Blue. She taught entrepreneurship to veterans through Project Opportunity and mentored middle school girls on Cyber Security. She is an alumna of V-Wise, Project Opportunity, EBV, Veterans Entrepreneurship Program – VEP, Veteran Institute for Procurement – VIP, and was a Mission Continues Bravo Class 2012 Fellow. She has received the honors of: 2012 Rising Star Award Honoree at the Woman Veterans Rock Rally, 2013 Leaders & Legends Honoree, Women Veteran Entrepreneur Corps Awardee, 2015 NBC Woman Warrior Honoree, 2016 Heroines of Washington Technology Winner, 2019 Top 50 Tech Leaders Awardee, & President’s (POTUS) Call to Service Award. She enjoys doing volunteer work and helping others.

Malik Lockett
Director of Communications

Malik Lockett is an Information Security Architect at the Department of Homeland Security, Science & Technology since 2013. He previously worked for Northrop Grumman, Apex Systems, Tetrad Digitak Integrity, and Vigilant Services as Information Systems Security Officer, and Cybersecurity Engineer. He is a graduate of Hampton University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Walaa Zoomraway
Director of Programs

Walaa Zoomraway is the Director of Programs. She is a rising Cybersecurity Professional.

Veena Harish
Director of Sponsorship

Veena Harish is a Sr Technical Program manager with Microsoft since 2021, leading Security, Privacy and Compliance programs. She previously worked for Aflac for 17 years in various capacities in IT, Strategy and Global Security leading complex programs . She holds a degree in Computer Science and is certified Computer Information System Manager (CISM).

Jameson Schnell
Director of Technoloy

Jameson Schnell is Director of Technology. He is a rising Cybersecurity Professional.

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.