Washington, D.C. is one of the most concentrated cybersecurity markets in the country, but its leadership base extends far beyond federal agencies alone. The city is home to cybersecurity executives shaping security strategy across pediatric healthcare, higher education, financial services infrastructure, healthcare data exchange, public-sector benefits systems, and professional associations tied to regulated industries. Together, these leaders reflect how cybersecurity in Washington increasingly sits at the intersection of public trust, sensitive data, compliance, and mission-critical operations.
Nathan Lesser — Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer, Children’s National Hospital
Nathan Lesser leads cybersecurity at Children’s National Hospital, where security has direct implications for patient care, research, and one of the most sensitive data environments in healthcare. His background blends engineering, policy, and innovation, and that mix shows in the way he approaches security leadership. Since stepping into the CISO role and later becoming vice president and CISO, he has been responsible for protecting a major Washington healthcare institution where resilience, privacy, and clinical continuity all matter at once. Lesser stands out for combining technical depth with collaborative leadership, making him a notable cybersecurity leader in the capital’s healthcare ecosystem.
George Irungu — SVP & Chief Information Security Officer, CAQH
George Irungu leads enterprise security at CAQH, the healthcare data and interoperability organization trusted by major players across the U.S. healthcare system. In that role, he is overseeing security transformation across SaaS and cloud-native environments while aligning cybersecurity with business growth, compliance, and customer trust. His work spans secure-by-design engineering, cloud security, IAM, governance, and privacy-aware product development, making him a strong example of a modern security executive operating in a highly regulated sector. In Washington, where healthcare, data infrastructure, and policy often overlap, Irungu represents the kind of cybersecurity leader helping build durable digital trust.
Bo Berlas — Chief Information Security Officer, Conference of State Bank Supervisors
Bo Berlas now serves as CISO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, bringing with him more than two decades of security leadership experience, including a long tenure at the General Services Administration. His background covers security engineering, federal cybersecurity operations, and executive security leadership inside one of government’s major institutions, giving him a rare mix of technical and policy-oriented perspective. At CSBS, that experience is especially relevant given the organization’s role in the financial regulatory ecosystem. Berlas is a strong fit for a Washington spotlight because he sits at the crossroads of public-sector security rigor and financial services oversight.
Micah Czigan — Chief Information Security Officer, Georgetown University
Micah Czigan brings one of the most extensive public-private cybersecurity backgrounds in this group. Before becoming CISO at Georgetown University, he held senior security roles at Symantec, the U.S. Department of Energy, Washington Headquarters Services, DISA, and the U.S. Army. That experience spans enterprise cyber operations, threat intelligence, vulnerability management, defendable architecture, and large-scale public-sector cybersecurity oversight. At Georgetown, he applies that background inside one of Washington’s most prominent universities, where the security mission includes protecting academic, administrative, and research environments. His profile reflects the depth of technical and operational leadership that defines much of the D.C. cybersecurity market.
Harry Hoffman — Chief Information Security Officer, American University
Harry Hoffman leads cybersecurity at American University and brings a long track record of security and technology leadership across higher education and research-intensive environments. His earlier roles at Northeastern, Harvard, MIT, Penn, and Drexel show a career built around modernizing complex institutions while keeping security, resilience, and compliance at the center. He has worked across cloud adoption, IAM, enterprise architecture, governance, and higher-ed cybersecurity collaboration, making him one of the more established academic security leaders in the market. In Washington, where universities often intersect with public policy, research, and international engagement, Hoffman represents the type of CISO whose work carries both institutional and broader ecosystem importance.
Montae Brockett — Deputy CIO / CISO, DC Department of Health Care Finance
Montae Brockett is one of the clearest examples of cybersecurity leadership tied directly to public service delivery in Washington. As Deputy CIO and CISO for the DC Department of Health Care Finance, he oversees technology and security for systems that support Medicaid services, benefits delivery, provider ecosystems, and critical public programs serving hundreds of thousands of residents. His remit spans cybersecurity operations, GRC, vendor oversight, modernization, and a major technology portfolio in a highly regulated environment. What makes Brockett especially notable is the scale of operational impact behind the role: his work is not just about protecting systems, but about ensuring the continuity and integrity of essential government services.
Why Washington, D.C. remains a standout market for cybersecurity leadership
Washington’s cybersecurity leadership bench is often associated with the federal government, but the broader market is just as compelling. Hospitals, universities, financial-sector organizations, and local public agencies across the city all operate in environments where security failures carry outsized consequences. The leaders in this group show that Washington, D.C. remains one of the country’s most important hubs not only for cyber policy, but also for hands-on operational leadership across healthcare, education, finance, and public infrastructure.
For readers interested in the federal side of the capital’s cyber leadership ecosystem, see our feature on Federal Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch in Washington, D.C.