It Takes a Village: Securing Our Shared Future Through Government, Industry, and International Cooperation

Nathaniel C. Fick was sworn in on September 21, 2022 as the inaugural U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

Prior to joining the State Department, Ambassador Fick was a technology executive and entrepreneur.  He was CEO of the cybersecurity software company Endgame from 2012 through its acquisition by Elastic in 2019.  Thereafter, he led Elastic’s information security business globally.  Ambassador Fick spent nearly a decade as an operating partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, working with management teams to build technology businesses.  In 2018, he was named by Fast Company magazine as one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business,” and Endgame was selected by Forbes as one of the “100 Best Cloud Companies in the World.”

From 2009 to 2012, Ambassador Fick was CEO of the Center for a New American Security, a national security research organization in Washington.  Earlier in his career, he served as a Marine Corps infantry and reconnaissance officer, including combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.  His book about that experience, One Bullet Away, was a New York Times bestseller, a Washington Post “Best Book of the Year,” and one of the Military Times‘s “Best Military Books of the Decade.”

Ambassador Fick graduated with high honors in Classics from Dartmouth College and holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Lorena Boix Alonso is Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity in Directorate General for Communications Networks Content and Technology (DG CONNECT), at the European Commission. Formerly, she was Acting Director for Policy Strategy and Outreach and Head of Unit for Policy Implementation and Planning, also in DG CONNECT. Previously, she was Deputy Head of Cabinet of Vice President Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda and also during Ms Kroes' mandate as Commissioner for Competition. She joined the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition in 2003. Prior to that, she has worked for Judge Rafael García Valdecasas, at the European Court of Justice, as well as Deputy Director and Legal Coordinator of the IPR-Helpdesk Project and in private practice in Brussels. She holds a Master of Laws from the Harvard Law School and a Licence Spéciale en Droit Européen from the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She graduated in Law from the University of Valencia.

Josh DeFigueiredo is vice president, chief information security officer at Workday and is responsible for the Workday programs and policies that protect customer data.

Josh joined Workday in 2010. Prior to his role as chief trust officer, Josh held roles focused on information security management, data privacy, and compliance. Before joining Workday, Josh executed enterprise risk management at Yahoo! and served as an advisor at KPMG. He began his career as an analyst for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Josh holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from California Polytechnic State University.

Dave DeWalt is a veteran CEO, advisor, and investor who has led companies, from startups to the Fortune 500, on a transformational journey of success. Focused on technology and cybersecurity, Dave helped create more than $20 billion of shareholder value during his 15-plus years as President and CEO of three major companies. That includes driving the largest cybersecurity IPO to date as of 2013, and leading the largest all-cash deal in technology history as of 2010. Today, he serves as Managing Director of Allegis Cyber as well as investor and board member in the world’s most innovative companies such as Delta Airlines, Five9, Forescout, Phantom Cyber, Claroty, Team8, DataTribe, Illusive Networks, and Optiv.

Sebastian Goodwin is chief trust officer for Autodesk. In this role, Sebastian oversees the fulfillment of Autodesk’s commitment to its customers and stakeholders on security, privacy, and data ethics. Sebastian helps Autodesk achieve outcomes on security, customer choice, and the ethical use of data to build and scale its products and industry clouds on a trusted platform.

Sebastian is a recognized cybersecurity leader with over 20 years of experience helping Global 2000 companies measure and manage cyber risk to support sustained business growth.

In his previous role as chief information security officer at Nutanix, Sebastian built the company's foundation of global cybersecurity, compliance, and risk management. Before Nutanix, Sebastian was head of product marketing for endpoint security at Palo Alto Networks and led the company's product launch into the endpoint security market. He was also chief information security officer at Robert Half.

Sebastian holds a bachelor’s degree in applied economics from the University of San Francisco, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Elena serves as Chief Trust Officer at SAP. The Chief Trust Office team spans four continents enabling secure digital transformation of clients across global cloud products. Prior to this position, she served as Senior Vice-President and Technology Executive at Bank of America. Previously, she worked as a divisional Chief Information Officer at Barclays Bank. Her focus was on delivering the highest degree of privacy and security of customers and employees globally.

Elena served as an affiliate fellow at Harvard Law School and worked at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC. Her published work appeared in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, featured in the Wall Street Journal, the White House cybersecurity report, The New York Times, and multiple industry media.

She has invented patent-pending technologies in cybersecurity, privacy, and secure financial technologies (with 30+ pending patents named a top inventor at Bank of America).

Throughout her career, she has been a strong advocate in national cybersecurity and technology diversity programs, and a lecturer and speaker at national and international Universities.

Elena is a member of the Board of Directors of Refugees International and a Patron of Carnegie Hall in New York.

Abhi is the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Engineering for the Workforce Identity Cloud (WIC) at Okta. He oversees building and delivering Okta's WIC SaaS and has overall responsibility for the entire Engineering organization, including Software Engineering, Infrastructure Engineering, Test Engineering, Technical Operations, and Engineering Services.

Abhi has held a variety of engineering leadership roles within Okta over the past 8 years and has driven the development of cutting-edge technologies critical to Okta’s growth. Abhi received his Bachelor's and Master’s degrees in Computer Engineering and Computer Science respectively, and holds his MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business. An engineer at heart - building and creating are part of Abhi’s DNA. When he’s not working, Abhi enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, reading, traveling and of course - he never stops problem solving.

Henry Young is Director, Policy for BSA | The Software Alliance. Prior to joining BSA, Young was Senior Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor first to Secretary of Commerce Ross and then Secretary of Commerce Raimondo. In that role he was trusted to develop and oversee high-level policy and strategy for the U.S. Department of Commerce and its bureaus and collaborate with senior White House and interagency officials, to design, advocate, and implement critical policies and strategies that shape national and foreign policy related to technology including cybersecurity, 5G, and standards.