ValidaTek Navy Cyber Account Executive Teresa Duvall is AFCEA West Innovation Showcase Featured Speaker

At last week's West 2024 Premier Sea Services Event in San Diego, Old Dominion University (ODU) School of Cybersecurity Professor/Internship Director and ValidaTek Navy Cyber Account Executive, Teresa Duvall, served as a featured speaker during the Innovation Showcase. Teresa shared her insights regarding the urgency of representation and sustainable practices in recruiting and retaining women in the field of cybersecurity. Teresa has over 25 years of IT/cybersecurity experience in the Navy, Defense industry, government civil service, and academia. She conveyed her firsthand experience as “the only woman in the room” as well as her dedication in using her voice to resolve the gap in the cybersecurity workplace. 

“When forcing functions are cyber attacks on our financial systems or national security systems, we won’t be looking to see who is female or male in filling the position. We will want the best and brightest. It’s not a question of if these attacks are going to happen, rather it is when and how often. The time to act is now,” said Teresa in her address. 

When AFCEA International was selecting topics for their Innovation Showcase, they were excited to come across Teresa’s work and her expertise in inspiring the next generation of leaders to pursue careers in STEM and cybersecurity. Her well-received presentation is representative of the shared passion of AFCEA International, ODU, and ValidaTek for increasing equity and representation in the professional IT world as we work to make our country safer. 

Read more about ValidaTek’s passion for inspiring young STEM professionals, increasing representation, and all of our Corporate Citizenship commitments here: https://www.validatek.com/who-we-are/corporate-citizenship.