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Episode Transcript

About

The podcast episode emphasizes the crucial role of Chief People Officers (CPOs) in aligning HR agendas with business strategy. Key points stress the use of data analytics to advocate for business-oriented initiatives and build trust with leaders. Syreeta Brown, Group Chief People Officer at Virgin Money, highlights the importance of understanding the business landscape and prioritizing initiatives effectively.

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Syreeta Brown

Syreeta Brown is currently Group Chief People & Communications Officer at Virgin Money UK PLC reporting directly to the CEO and is a member of the Executive Leadership Team.  She was appointed to the role in November 2021.  Prior to joining Virgin Money Syreeta was a Managing Director at the US Global bank, Citi, and led the HR function for the Global Functions and Operations and Technology business in Europe, Middle East and Africa region.  In this role Syreeta was responsible for the People Strategy and HR practices regionally for 20,000 employees (Global Functions covers Risk, Finance, Legal, Compliance, HR, Internal Audit, Public Affairs, Government Affairs, Security Investigative Services, AML).

Prior to joining Citi Syreeta was a HR Director at British Telecom Group PLC having joined as a graduate.  She worked across various businesses in her 12 years there in a number of roles across the HR generalist and Centre of Excellence space (Performance Management, Resourcing and Talent Management).

Syreeta has been a Board Trustee for the Access All Areas Theatre (2016-2019) – a Theatre company for learning disabled artists based in Hackney, London and sits on the ‘Panel of Influential Women’ run by the Advanced Boardroom Excellence Group led by Helen Pitcher OBE, based in London which is focused on the development of senior executives. Syreeta has been recognised for 20 years of service to Human Resources by CIPD and was named Financial Services Leader of the year at 2018 Black British Business Awards.

She was also included in the UK Powerlist 2022 and named as an Involve Empower Role Model 2022. In 2023 Syreeta was included in the UK Powerlist top 10 most influential Black British people. Syreeta is an advisory Board member for the Black Talent charter initiative in the UK led by Harry Matovu KC, a Board Trustee of the ALETO foundation chaired by Sir Ken Olisa and Vice Chair of the Change the Race Ratio Campaign chaired by Sir Trevor Phillips. Syreeta actively advocates for and supports Parents who have children with Special Needs focusing on Autism.

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Episode Transcript

About

The podcast highlights challenges for women in engineering and offers solutions. Key takeaways include the low retention rate due to hostile environments and biases. Jenny Ibrahim, a Google manager, emphasizes addressing insecurities like impostor syndrome and advocating for team members. She stresses sponsorship over mentorship for career advancement and suggests fostering inclusive cultures and amplifying underrepresented voices. Overall, the episode provides actionable steps for managers to support diversity in technical roles, applicable to any minority group.

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Jennie Ibrahim

Jennie Ibrahim has been building software and leading teams for more than 20 years. She's been working at Google for more than 14 years, working as a software engineer manager and technical lead of a team of full-stack software engineers working in Java and Angular Dart.

Prior to Google, she worked in the defense industry, in companies such as BAE Systems and General Dynamics. She was the chair of the board of directors for Project Scientist, a non-profit organization helping girls get into STEM and is now on the oversight committee at Oakhouse. She holds a Masters in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

Jennie shares her knowledge of Java and Dart as a guest speaker at the Orange County Java User Group, Sabio Coding Bootcamp, and the SoCal Code Camp. She is regularly invited to speak at technology-related events to inspire future software engineers.

She has been a guest of the Experian DataTalk podcast and the keynote speaker at the Women Impact Tech Los Angeles #WITLA conference. She has been a panelist multiple times at WICS at UCI. She enjoys time with her husband and three kids ages 8, 10, and 12.

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Episode Transcript

About

The podcast underscores the crucial role of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in protecting organizations from cyber threats. Gary Hayslip, a seasoned CISO, emphasizes the evolving nature of the role from technical to strategic leadership. He highlights the importance of integrating CISOs into the executive team and discusses the ethical concerns surrounding their reporting structure.

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Gary Haysllip

Gary Hayslip is an experienced Global CISO with repeated success delivering innovative security programs to safeguard enterprises at every touchpoint. An insightful thought leader with proven business acumen and commitment to organizational mission, values, and goals. Hayslip brings this wealth of information technology, security leadership, and risk management experience to his role as the CISO, for SoftBank Investment Advisers & SoftBank Group International. Hayslip’s previous executive roles include multiple CISO, CIO, Deputy Director of IT, and Chief Privacy Officer roles for the U.S. Navy (Active Duty), the U.S. Navy (Federal Government employee), the City of San Diego California, and Webroot Software.

Hayslip is a proven cybersecurity professional; he has established a reputation as a highly-skilled communicator, author, and keynote speaker. Hayslip co-authored the CISO Desk Reference Guide: A Practical Guide for CISOs – Volumes 1 & 2, The Executive Primer: An Executives Guide to Security Programs, and Developing your Cybersecurity Career Path. He also recently published The Essential Guide to Cybersecurity for SMBs. Hayslip serves as a director on several boards and is also a technology advisor for several others.

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