Celebration Dinner

Trailblazer: Elena Kvochko, Founder – TrustGuardAI and Adjunct Professor, Cornell SC Johnson School of Business

Elena Kvochko is a seasoned cybersecurity industry professional. In 2020, after holding cybersecurity leadership roles at several financial institutions, she was appointed the first Chief Trust Officer for the enterprise software giant SAP which operates in over 200 countries. There, she and her global team work to prevent and ward off cybersecurity threats while building trust with SAP customers, end users, partners and stakeholders.

Prior to SAP, Kvochko was a data security mastermind in the banking industry. She focused on global security as Senior Vice President and Technology Executive at Bank of America and Divisional Chief Information Officer at Barclays Bank in New York and London. Elena is also an inventor of 30+ patent-pending and patented technologies in security, privacy, digital payments technology, and quantum computing. One includes an information card silent coercion alarm that prompts an institution to review fraudulent activity on behalf of a customer.

Elena’s many accolades include being named among the Top 100 CIOs; Leading CIOs – Who Happen to be Female by the CIO Magazine, Business Role Model of the Year by the Women in IT Awards, and Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women – International.

Catalyst: Aaron Hughes, Chief Information Security Officer, Albertsons Companies

Aaron Hughes is CISO at Albertsons Companies. In this role he is responsible for enabling the business and securing the infrastructure, digital assets, and payments for a network of over 2200 supermarkets operating under 20 brands across the United States serving 30 million customers per week and driving $70B in annual revenue.

Previously, he was VP for Information Security and Deputy CISO at Capital One where he led the team providing security services across all Capital One lines of business. Aaron is also the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy where, as the senior DoD cyber official, he was the primary interface with the broader USG, Congress, the public, and foreign governments for all defense related cyber policy matters. His office was responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of cyber policies, strategies, operations, and plans for the DoD.

Aaron is on the Board of Directors for SentinelOne (NYSE $S) and is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for privately held Advanced Technology International (ATI), a leading provider of consortium services to the largest departments and agencies in the US Government. He is a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve currently serving as a Senior Advisor to the Commander USCYBERCOM. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, MS in Telecommunications and Computers from George Washington University, and MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

All-star: Jerry Kowalski, Chief Information Security Officer, Jeffries

Jerry Kowalski is the Chief Information Security Officer at Jefferies LLC.

As CISO, he is responsible for designing, building and operating the cyber security program that enables Jefferies to run its core businesses securely.

At Jefferies, he heads Security Engineering, Operations Security, Access Identity Management and Application Security practices. Prior to this, Jerry was head of Application Security Risk for Barclays Capital and Wealth. During his 5-year tenure, Jerry built the Application Security practice that consisted of security assessments, architecture design, risk management and developer training.

Earlier in his career, Jerry was a Senior Security Engineer/Team Lead at Ernst & Young Advanced Security Center, and Computer Engineer Researcher at Air Force Research Laboratory where he provided R&D services to federal government and homeland security.

Jerry earned his BA in Computer Engineering and MS in Computer Security at Syracuse University.

Appetizer: (pre-set or request silent vegan)

• Raspberry walnut salad with mesclun greens, radicchio, endive, fresh raspberries, goat cheese crumble, toasted walnuts, raspberry vinaigrette
• Silent vegan appetizer: vegan garden salad available on request

Entree (select one)

• Seared cod gremolata with white bean ragout, lemon caper beurre blanc
• Braised short rib with roasted root vegetables, creamy parmesan polenta, rosemary natural jus
• Silent vegan entree: slow-cooked eggplant, white bean puree, roasted onion with tamarind sauce

Dessert:

• Fresh berries with chantilly cream and chocolate biscotti

Beverages:

• Premium bar package
• Assorted soft drinks, mineral waters, juices, mixers
• Freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and assorted fine teas