KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Jen Easterly
DirectorCybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), US Department of Homeland Security
BIOSPEAKERS
Adam S. Lee
Vice President, Chief Security OfficerDominion Energy
Adam S. Lee is Dominion Energy’s vice president and chief security officer.
He directs the development and implementation of corporate security strategy and policies which protect the company’s physical and cyber assets, valued at over $100 billion and spanning 20 states. He is Dominion Energy’s security and intelligence liaison with the U.S. government and federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Lee joined the company in this role in 2018.
Before joining Dominion Energy, Lee served as Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond Division. In 2018, he retired from the FBI after a career spanning 22 years in counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence, and cyber investigations and operations, in addition to specializing in cases involving political and governmental corruption, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and antitrust violations. Lee previously served as the FBI’s executive over its national Public Corruption Program, overseeing the FBI’s most sensitive criminal investigations involving elected and appointed officials across the spectrum of government.
Lee serves as a member of the Boards of Advisors for Hampden-Sydney College’s Wilson Center and University of Richmond’s Continuing Education Program. Additionally, he is a member of the FBI’s Domestic Security Alliance Council, the Department of Homeland Security’s Classified Intelligence Forum, the Central Virginia Law Enforcement Executives Association, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
Lee is a passionate supporter of our nation’s veterans. He serves as Dominion Energy’s executive leader over its Veteran Resource Group, and, in 2019, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Richmond Fisher House, now serving as vice chair, which supports families of veterans seeking medical care at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center.
Lee is an attorney licensed in the State of California. Prior to his career in national and corporate security, he served as a Fellow in the California State Senate and Counsel to the California State Allocation Board. He is married to Melinda, and father of Finn, Abigail, and Virginia.
Jen Easterly
DirectorCybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), US Department of Homeland Security
Jen Easterly is the Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Ms. Easterly was nominated by President Biden in April 2021 and unanimously confirmed by the Senate on July 12, 2021.
As Director, Ms. Easterly leads CISA’s efforts to protect and defend civilian government networks, manage systemic risk to national critical functions, and collaborate with State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial partners as well as with the private sector to ensure the security and resilience of the Nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure.
Before serving in her current role, Ms. Easterly was the head of Firm Resilience and the Fusion Resilience Center at Morgan Stanley, responsible for ensuring preparedness and response to business-disrupting operational incidents and risks. Ms. Easterly joined the Firm in 2017 to build and lead its Cybersecurity Fusion Center, the operational cornerstone of its cyber defense strategy.
Ms. Easterly has a long tradition of public service, to include two tours at the White House, most recently as Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Counterterrorism, and earlier as Executive Assistant to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in the George W. Bush Administration. A former member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service, she also served as the Deputy for Counterterrorism at the National Security Agency.
A two-time recipient of the Bronze Star, Ms. Easterly retired from the U.S. Army after more than twenty years of service in intelligence and cyber operations, including tours of duty in Haiti, the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Responsible for standing up the Army’s first cyber battalion, Ms. Easterly was also instrumental in the design and creation of United States Cyber Command.
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a French-American Foundation Young Leader, Ms. Easterly is the past recipient of numerous fellowships, including the Aspen Finance Leaders Fellowship, the National Security Institute Visiting Fellowship, the New America Foundation Senior International Security Fellowship, the Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, and the Director, National Security Agency Fellowship.
A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Ms. Easterly holds a master’s degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She is the recipient of the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation American Hostage Freedom Award and the Bradley W. Snyder Changing the Narrative Award.
Dr. Barbara George
Executive Director, Advisory ServicesFortalice Solutions
Dr. Barbara George is a veteran cybersecurity professional well-versed in addressing cyber
challenges related to security, policy, technology, analysis, and training. A skilled facilitator, she
has coordinated government, industry and academia partner discussions in the cybersecurity
community and brought her expertise to bear on significant management and operational issues
that impact national security.
Dr. George is a retired military officer trained in human factors with 20+ years of consulting
experience. She spent 14 years working in communications and cybersecurity within the
Department of Homeland Security and two years collaborating with the Department of Defense
Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity on strategy and policy.
As Executive Director of Advisory Services for Fortalice Solutions, Dr. George serves as a key
resource working closely and confidentially with the Management Executive Committee (MEC),
the company management team, government officials, and officials of select commercial clients.
She serves as a billable executive sponsor who cultivates key relationships with high-level
government agencies and select VIP commercial officials. Her duties include developing
strategic business plans to promote new government business paramount to catapulting solid
delivery solutions; expanding government client services; and executing the Fortalice culture of
exemplary degree of overall client satisfaction.
Serving as an Advisor to several boards, Dr. George is the Executive Director of the 501(c)(6)
non-profit Washington Cyber Roundtable, an industry liaison group dedicated to enhancing the
vitality and security of cyberspace.
Nate Lesser
Chief Information Security OfficerChildren’s National Hospital
Nate has spent the last 20 years driving innovation at the nexus of technology and security. He has held technical and executive positions in government, non-profits, and the private sector. As the Children’s National Hospital (CNH) Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Nate is responsible for leading the cybersecurity function and protecting CNH patients, families, and staff.
Prior to joining Children’s National, Nate served as the Managing Director of Cypient, where he advised clients on enterprise cybersecurity capabilities, conducted standards-based assessments, and designed solutions to reduce clients’ cyber risk. Before founding Cypient, Nate served as the Deputy Director of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE), at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he ran the national lab dedicated to solving cybersecurity challenges, including medical device security.
Earlier in his career, Nate spent several years in Booz Allen Hamilton’s cybersecurity practice, leading a team of cybersecurity engineers providing support to several federal agencies including the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Health and Transportation. Nate has also worked at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a policy analyst and Presidential Management Fellow. Nate has a Masters and Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in New York City. He is a frequent public speaker with over 30 publications and presentations on various topics in cybersecurity.