Jennie Vickers

Announced late in 2021 as the inaugural supreme IFSEC Global Security Influencer of the year 2021-22, Jennie is currently full time consulting to Fortinet in New Zealand.

Jennie had her first glimpse of governance at age 14 as a local government Youth Councillor, while running a financially successful youth club. Fast forward to 2022, and Jennie is intentionally not in any governance roles, despite recently being named in the New Zealand 100 Top Diverse Board Ready Directors List.

Over time, Jennie has served on, or with Boards as diverse as a sports governing body (Chair), Social Enterprise (Chair), Listed Companies (Company Secretary), Law Society (Councillor and Vice President) and Associations (as CEO and Board Coach).

Jennie made New Zealand her home over 25 years ago having forged a successful career in the UK as a commercial/business/IT lawyer with organisations like Slaughter & May, EMI Music, Pace Microtechnology, Comshare and Synthomer. 

In New Zealand, a long spell in the utility sector covering electricity, gas and telecommunications, gave Jennie a deep understanding of OT and IT enterprise risk management and related Board responsibilities.

The last 8 years saw Jennie in the NFP (Not for Profit) Association space, as a CEO and Business Development Director. The common thread was thought leadership and connecting people in the Defence and Security Sectors in both New Zealand and Australia and further afield.

As a result of the IFSEC win, initially as the top Influencer in the Category- “Associations and Thought Leaders” and then as the Inaugural overall winner, Jennie has been using her position of influence to connect people and businesses and governments to secure better security outcomes for others across defence and security.

A lifetime and constant learner, Jennie has a Masters of Management, a Degree in Law, is admitted to practice law in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and is now studying Disruptive Technologies, Digital Transformation, Cyber Security and Art Appreciation.

Further Awards in 2021/2022 include being a Finalist in the Inaugural 2022 New Zealand OSPAs Outstanding Female Security Professional Category and Co-winner of the 2021 New Zealand Security Sector Network (NZSSN) Women in Security Awards Aotearoa (WiSAA) ‘Thought Leader’ category. 

Jennie’s many articles and influencer pieces can be found on LinkedIn and on the Zeopard.com website.

Opening Keynote May 24

The Enemy Within - Directors, Executives or Employees-Where is the Real Insider Threat?

Corporate Governance around the world varies in application but the fundamental principles are universal.

A study of the governance evolution over the past 40 years shows us a series of problems and disasters, a load of reaction-kneejerk and otherwise, and then a settling down to a new equilibrium, until the next crisis hits.

Jennie is of the view that it will be cyber risk management that causes the next crisis, at a time when the prevailing equilibrium position is ill suited to addressing the immediate and the looming risks.

Questions like...

• Directors, Execs and Security Professionals-Best of friends or mortal enemies?
• White Collar Crime-Could Cyber ignorance turn your Directors into criminals or bankrupts?
• Is the Board risk sub-committee creating a risk?
• Finance used to be/was the non-negotiable skill for a Director or Exec-is cyber now the non-negotiable? 
• Is the mindset of hands off Governance causing Director hesitancy,

...need considering and answering.

Society urgently needs to seek a way forward, to change the way we oversee cyber risk decisions.

In this fast moving and sometimes provocative keynote, Jennie will pounce on a range of the current governance sacred cows to see what is serving us really badly.

Having picked apart the Board and Governance challenges, it will be the turn of executives and the way management teams function and are incentivised to deliver good news and, then we will look at the employees who are frequently named as the greatest insider threat but who could, and should, be saved from themselves.

Finally Jennie has a bag of ideas for organisations to consider and then, reconsider the way they manage this greatest threat of the twenty first century.