Cherise Esparza – Cybersecurity Woman of the Year

Recognized in the Category:

Additional Info

Company / OrganizationSecurityGate.io
Company size10 - 49 employees
CountryUnited States
World RegionNorth America
Websitehttps://securitygate.io/

NOMINATION HIGHLIGHTS

Cherise is the co-founder and chief product officer of SecurityGate.io. She is a cybersecurity expert with more than 15 years of experience working in OT industrial control system environments, and she has guided cybersecurity risk management programs for some of the largest industrial companies in the world. Cherise has a BS in Computer Science with a focus in cybersecurity and a minor in Mathematics and Physics from The University of Texas at San Antonio, as well as an MBA in International Business and Finance from The University of St. Thomas.

Accomplishments

1. Cherise is an expert in OT/ICS cybersecurity, and she is dedicated to helping protect the world’s critical infrastructure. Her 15+ years of experience working in industrial control environments inspired she and her team to create a risk management acceleration platform for industrial cybersecurity.
2. Cherise recognizes the importance of aligning technical and non-technical members of an organization to improve cybersecurity. She has a proven track record of doing it for some of the largest industrial organizations in the world.
3. As chief product officer of SecurityGate.io, Cherise works closely with her team to create new features for the platform. Her experience guides the creativity used with her team to create product features that have never existed before.


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Voting closes July 18, 2026. Community Choice winners will be announced before Black Hat USA.

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The Community Choice Award is separate from the jury-based awards. Jury awards are decided by expert judges. Community Choice is decided by public votes. A nominee can receive jury award recognition, Community Choice recognition, both, or neither.