September 26, 2024 | 9:00 AM-11:30 AM ET | Virtual Conference via Zoom
WHO WE ARE
The Women in Science and Security Initiative is an internal CRDF Global working group focused on promoting the active involvement and leadership of women in STEM and CBRN security fields by opening access to professional development opportunities, creating regional peer networks, and linking women with regional and international role models to serve as mentors. We leverage regional partners, expertise, and experience to strengthen opportunities for women in science and security, while fostering mutual support through growing alumni networks and bolstered funder relationships.
CRDF Global is an independent nonprofit organization founded in 1995 in response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the threat of large-scale proliferation of weapons technology from the region. In the past 25 years, our work has expanded to address ever-changing global concerns, but our commitment to ensuring the success of our partners remains the same. We are a leading provider of flexible logistical support, program design and management, and strategic capacity building programs in the areas of higher education, CBRNE security and nonproliferation, border security, cybersecurity, global health, technology entrepreneurship, and international professional exchanges.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Breaking Barriers 2024 will host 6 women speakers covering a variety of topic areas, including:
The Breaking Barriers 2024 Keynote Address with Dr. Patricia Gruber
Women's Leadership across Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence with Ljubica Krstevska
Women Driving Environmental and Climate Security with Sherri Goodman
Global Champions: Women Leading Nonproliferation and Conflict Resolution with Sylvia Mishra
Biosecurity: Women as Driving Forces of Change with Dr. Michelle Rozo
Women's Leadership in Global Governance and Policymaking with Dr. Vivian Roza
KEYNOTE SPEAKER | Dr. Patricia Gruber
Dr. Patricia Gruber is serving as the Science and Technology Adviser to the United States Secretary of State. In this role, she engages with academic and private sector research communities to inform foreign policy priorities and promote international science and technology collaboration.
Dr. Gruber served as the Director of Research at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) with responsibility for the Dept. of Navy fundamental research portfolio, balancing critical investments in future capabilities with exploration of high risk, emerging technologies. In this role, she also led the development of the Naval S&T Strategic Plan, initiated the Basic Science of Autonomy program and coordinated ONR’s education, outreach and diversity programs. More recently, she served as Technical Director for ONR Global, leading a group of fifty scientists and engineers who facilitated international research collaboration and acted as technical liaisons to operational fleet/forces. She had oversight of the Navy’s International Science Program which awarded over 200 grants per year across a wide range of technologies and partner nations. Prior to ONR Global, she was Vice President/General Manager of Maritime Systems at Battelle and the Deputy Director at the Applied Research Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University. She has held a number of technical management and business development positions at AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Marconi Communications.
Dr. Gruber received a M.S. and Ph.D. in Applied Marine Physics from the University of Miami and a B.S. in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. She conducted research in marine science at the Naval Research Laboratory and Bell Laboratories.
2024 Breaking Barriers Speakers
Sherri Goodman
Sherri Goodman is a Senior Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program and Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security (IMCCS), representing over 40 military and national security organizations addressing the security risks of a changing climate. Sherri serves as Vice-Chair of the US Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board (ISAB).
Sherri is the author of Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security, coming in 2024. Sherri chairs the Board of the Council on Strategic Risks and chairs the External Advisory Board on Energy and Homeland Security for Sandia National Laboratories. She serves on the Climate Council of the US EXIM Bank. Sherri is a Board Director of the Atlantic Council and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Sherri is the former President and CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. She served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of CNA (US Center for Naval Analyses). She is the founder and Executive Director of the CNA Military Advisory Board, whose landmark reports include National Security and the Threat of Climate Change(2007) and Advanced Energy and US National Security (2017). Sherri served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security), (1993-2001), where she was responsible for environmental, energy, safety and occupational health for the US Department of Defense.
Speaker Name
(biography of the speaker)
Dr. Vivian Roza
Vivian Roza, Ph.D., has twenty-five years of experience in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects focused on issues of women’s leadership and political participation, gender and political parties, and good governance. She served as the Coordinator of the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Program for Women’s Leadership and Representation (PROLID), where she led regional research and online projects, as well as capacity-building initiatives, impact evaluations and grantmaking programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. She also led the leadership programs implemented by the IDB’s Gender Parity Initiatives and mainstreamed gender in IDB loans, projects and policy documents in various sectors, including public administration, extractives, and labor markets, among others. She holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from New York University.
Dr. Michelle Rozo
Dr. Michelle Rozo is currently serving as Vice Chair of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a U.S. legislative branch advisory entity charged with conducting a thorough review of how advancements in emerging biotechnology and related technologies will shape current and future activities of the Department of Defense. Dr. Rozo is also Vice President of Technical Capabilities at In-Q-Tel, a non-profit strategic investor that accelerates the development and delivery of cutting-edge technologies to enhance the national security of the United States. From 2021 to 2022 she was Director of Technology and National Security at the U.S. National Security Council, where she advised the President and National Security Advisor on biotechnology and national security policy, and was also previously the Principal Director for Biotechnology within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering at the Department of Defense.
Dr. Rozo is a molecular biologist by training and studied severe infectious diseases as a staff scientist with the Naval Medical Research Center in Fort Detrick, Maryland. She holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the Cell, Molecular, Developmental Biology and Biophysics Program at the Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Biology from Northwestern University.
Ljubica Krstevska
Ljubica is a Senior Expert Consultant, international Trainer and Speaker in Personal Data Protection and Privacy, Cyber Security and Data Governance. She is holding the highest international credentials in Data Protection and Privacy (CIPP & CIPM), and an award winner as Cyber Security Top50 Women of Influence twice in a row.
Inspire and let yourself to be inspired has guided her personal and professional growth, while confirming that "the great aim of education is not knowledge, but action!". With more than 17 years of experience as an international data protection consultant, supervisor, advisor and lecturer, she has built up and implemented in partnership a variety of projects and trainings for all-sized companies, thus creating a soil for highly productive and innovative in-house, public and online training sessions.
During her career path, Ljubica has worked in a diverse environment around the globe as a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, a long-term leading Consultant for the World Bank and UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, as well as a Key Data Protection and Cyber Security Expert in various EU projects, among them few Horizon2020, Erasmus+ and IPA, and the EU Regional Trust Fund MADAD Jordan.
Behind she has a decade of company training portfolio for various aspects of data protection and Cyber Security. After the first laws in Saudi Arabia and Jordan were enacted, she was engaged as key expert consultant for several companies to build their inner posture in Data Protection and Data Governance.
Ljubica is genuinely driven in assisting and guiding companies to become data privacy and cyber security compliant, through developing a holistic data systems and framework, including Strategies, Management Plans, Procedures and practical tools.
As a result of extensive experience, Ljubica was appointed to co-draft the first Law on digitalization in her country, and to do the assessment of the Law on Security of Networks and Information Systems.
Following her dedication for personal data as an valued possession and asset, she spread her thoughts as an international professional speaker, among which at the 2022 G20 side-event - Indonesia Fintech Summit, CyberSecurity Asia, GRC World Forum, European Commission Data Privacy Conference, LawTech Europe Congress, etc.
She is Founder & President of Women4Cyber North Macedonia, part of the international cybersecurity community, and member of EITCI Quantum Standard Group European Information Technologies Certification Institute Brussels, Vice-President of the ADRIATIC Council Regional Organization and member of the Presidency of Euro-Atlantic Council of Macedonia.
Sylvia Mishra
Sylvia Mishra serves as the Deputy Director of Nuclear Policy at the Institute for Security and Technology (IST), where she leads critical projects on nuclear strategy, risk reduction, crisis communications, and the integration of AI into nuclear weapons systems. Her research spans nuclear strategy, nonproliferation, Southern Asian security, emerging and disruptive technologies, and military innovation.
Previously, Sylvia was a Research Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center's Managing the Atom project and a consultant at the European Leadership Network, where she advised senior European leaders on emerging technologies. A prominent leader in Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation (WCAPS) since its inception in 2017, she chaired the CBRN Working Group. Additionally, she served on the Steering Committee for OrgsInSolidarity, advocating for diverse representation in national security. Sylvia is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Stimson Center’s South Asia Program and sits on the Atomic Reporters. She was featured in the CSIS-Diversity in National Security 2021 U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership List.
Sylvia has held prestigious fellowships, including the Janne Nolan Nuclear Security Fellowship, CSIS Nuclear Scholar, and India-U.S. Fellow at New America. She has also been a Scoville Fellow at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Earlier in her career, she worked with the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi on India-U.S. defense and security ties.
Her publications include book chapters, journal articles, and opinion pieces. Sylvia regularly presents papers, delivers talks, and participates in crisis simulations and Track II dialogues at leading national and international forums.