Cybersecurity Leadership Program

Welcome Orientation

Wednesday, October 1, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
UW Staff and Lead Executive in Residence Patrick Zweber

Meet your classmates and program staff at the online orientation, receive program logistics information, and start building connections.

IMMERSIVE IN-PERSON SESSIONS

Thursday and Friday, October 9-10, Full day class sessions
UW Seattle Campus

Thursday, October 9

Charting Your Leadership Journey: CISOs Share Roadmaps for Executive Success

Hear firsthand from established CISOs about pivotal lessons learned, strategies that helped them overcome setbacks, and practical advice for aspiring security executives. Topics will include career-defining moments, skills they wish they’d developed sooner, and insights on how to thrive as both a technical expert and strategic leader.

Cybersecurity Leadership
Nicholas Muy

Explore the evolving role of Cybersecurity Leaders with an emphasis on key responsibilities, organizational alignment, and leadership practices essential for success. As the foundation of the Cybersecurity Program, this module sets the stage for deeper learning in subsequent sessions.

Compliance
Examine key cybersecurity compliance frameworks, regulatory obligations, and risk-aligned controls. Understand how to build or refine a compliance program that supports business goals while meeting industry and legal requirements.

Security, Policy, Ethics and Legal Environment
Crystal Bulda

Benefit from a strategic overview of governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) principles. This course highlights the interdependence of people, processes, and technology in managing cyber risk, aligning with regulatory frameworks, and building organizational resilience. You will explore practical applications of risk models, compliance mandates, and incident response strategies through real-world examples. This session is ideal for leaders looking to enhance their GRC leadership acumen.

Friday, October 10

Corporate Strategy
Suresh Kotha

Understand how established companies formulate and implement competitive strategies. We will explore why some corporations succeed and others fail. Our discussions will focus on how established (and emerging) corporations create and maintain their competitive advantage. Concepts will be taught primarily through case discussions, lectures, and readings. You will be given scenarios and asked to address issues related to the company’s strategy from the point of view of a senior-level executive.

Introduction to the Capstone Project: Cybersecurity Strategy & Execution
Patrick Zweber & Nicholas Muy

Gain foundational insight into setting and executing cybersecurity strategy. Learn to align technical capabilities with organizational goals and build an actionable roadmap for cyber maturity.

Online Sessions

Building Effective Teams (Part 1)
Wednesday, October 22, 5:30-8:30pm
Greg Bigley

Learn to build, lead, and work well with others in a highly effective team. While our focus will be on program teams, the principles we explore are crucial whenever and wherever you must assemble a team to accomplish an objective.

Achieving sustained teamwork excellence is challenging under the best of circumstances. However, teams within most organizations now face unprecedented volatility, uncertainty, complexity, or ambiguity (i.e., VUCA conditions), where major setbacks are common and continuous high performance seems improbable. We will consider how to construct teams that perform remarkably well in VUCA conditions.

Leadership & Board of Directors Engagement
Wednesday, October 29, 5:30-7:30pm
Yassir Abousselham

Strengthen your ability to communicate cybersecurity priorities and risks to executive stakeholders. Learn best practices for engaging the board and influencing strategic decisions through effective reporting and storytelling.

Financial Accounting
Wednesday, November 19, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Wendy Baesler

Familiarize yourself with the external financial reports of corporations, including the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flow. You will learn to interpret the information presented in these statements and the rules underlying their creation. Some financial statement analysis and ratios will also be provided.

Learn about the internal financial decision making of management. Topics include determining the cost of a segment, allocating common costs, identifying relevant costs for decision making, and making long-term financial decisions using capital budgeting techniques.

Writing for Executive Engagement
Wednesday, December 10, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Thomas Gruver

Are you flexing your writing style to resonate with your audience, or do your emails and other communications get lost in your recipient’s inbox? Learn to write to immediately capture attention, drive clarity with your reader, and deliver on any next steps and actions. In addition, we will discuss the pros and cons of AI, and when it can be useful in articulating your message.

Managing Tough Conversations
Wednesday, December 17, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Kirsten Smith

How do you prepare for challenging conversations? Are you managing your tough questions with poise and confidence? Being prepared with strategies for navigating these key moments will build your confidence, create and maintain long lasting relationships, and drive understanding and action in those around you.

Understand how to identify, assess, and prioritize cybersecurity risks in dynamic environments. Learn to build a scalable risk management program that supports proactive decision-making and long-term resilience.

Vendor Risk Management
Wednesday, January 14, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Manny Thinakaran

Explore third-party cybersecurity risks and how to manage them effectively through governance, segmentation, and regulatory alignment. Learn practical frameworks to assess vendor security posture, implement risk-based approaches, and enhance your organization’s overall supply chain resilience.

Data Privacy
Wednesday, January 21, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Ginger Armbruster

Demystify global privacy regulations and operational requirements under the guidance of a Chief Privacy Officer. Develop strategies for integrating privacy into cybersecurity programs and ensuring responsible data stewardship.

Security Engineering
Wednesday, January 28, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Nick Yoo

Chart a comprehensive journey from defining security strategy and foundational architecture to practical implementation. You’ll learn to translate business needs into security objectives, design foundational architecture building blocks, and develop strategic roadmaps while identifying and prioritizing security gaps based on risk. A key focus will be on leveraging the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) to guide the development and implementation of a robust cybersecurity program, ensuring a risk-driven approach to securing organizational assets.

Uncover the complexities of insider threats both malicious and unintentional. Develop programmatic approaches to detect, prevent, and respond using behavioral analytics and internal controls.

Product Security
Wednesday, February 11, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Matias Brutti

Learn how to embed security throughout the product development lifecycle. Gain actionable insights into secure design, threat modeling, and application security in modern environments.

Leading Organizational Change (Part 1)
Wednesday, February 18, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Michael Johnson

Take an evidence-based approach to organizational change. Managing change effectively is among the hardest challenges for an organization. Rapid changes in technology and increased competition from globalization have combined to create a business environment that requires organizations to change rapidly and often. We will examine the best evidence available for how to successfully drive and manage change.

Incident Response
Wednesday, February 25, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Erika Voss

Develop executive-level skills in managing cybersecurity incidents. Learn how to lead through crisis, coordinate response teams, and communicate with internal and external stakeholders.

Learn to shape organizational culture to align employee decisions and behavior with the goals of the organization. You will plot your organization’s culture in one of the leading organizational models and learn how to steer a culture using small (and sometimes counterintuitive) actions.

Cyber Threat Intelligence
Wednesday, March 11, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Michael DeBolt

Discover how threat intelligence supports proactive defense. Understand how to collect, analyze, and operationalize intelligence to stay ahead of adversaries and inform business risk decisions.

Automation in Security: Scaling Protection and Efficiency
Wednesday, March 18, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online

Investigate practical use cases for automation in threat detection and response, vulnerability management, compliance reporting, and more. Learn through real-world examples, frameworks, and discussions of common pitfalls –how to prioritize automation investments, measure ROI, and lead organizational change to maximize impact.

Infrastructure Security
Wednesday, March 25, 5:30-7:30pm
Live Online
Talha Tariq

Explore how to safeguard core infrastructure through layered defense strategies. Understand key domains including network segmentation, endpoint protection, cloud posture, and asset visibility.

IMMERSIVE IN-PERSON SESSIONS AND GRADUATION

Wednesday and Thursday, April 2-3, Full day class sessions
UW Seattle Campus

Cybersecurity Leadership Panel: Transitioning from Technical Expert to Strategic Leader
Hear panelists’ candid insights on developing business acumen, communicating effectively with executive stakeholders, and influencing organizational strategy while staying true to their technical roots.

Leadership that Shapes the Future
Pat Bettin

Develop the essential leading, planning and influencing skills necessary to create and sustain long-term organizational success. During the interactive two-day workshop, you will learn strategies and methods you can use to become a “transformational leader” — one who enables others, especially peers and subordinates, to transcend self-interest and act for the common good of the organization.

Graduation Ceremony & Dinner