Wisconsin’s cybersecurity leadership bench is shaped by executives working across retail, healthcare, financial services, and health information. What makes this group stand out is the range of environments they help secure: consumer-facing enterprises, pediatric care systems, financial institutions, and data-rich healthcare organizations where privacy, resilience, and operational trust are all mission critical. The women featured here reflect that breadth. Some lead classic CISO programs inside major enterprises, while others operate at the intersection of privacy, health information, infrastructure, and security governance. Together, they show how cybersecurity leadership in Wisconsin extends well beyond one sector or one title.
Rebecca Janutis — Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer, Kohl’s
Rebecca Janutis leads information security for one of Wisconsin’s most recognizable consumer brands, overseeing the overall security strategy for Kohl’s and the execution of enterprise-wide programs designed to protect sensitive data, identify threats, and reduce risk. Her long tenure at Kohl’s, including years spent as director of information security before becoming CISO, points to both deep institutional knowledge and sustained trust at the executive level.
Before joining Kohl’s, she spent nearly a decade at Discover Financial Services, where she led security engineering, risk management, and incident response teams. That mix of retail and financial-services experience gives her a strong foundation in balancing customer trust, regulatory expectations, and practical enterprise risk management. In Wisconsin’s corporate cyber landscape, she stands out as a long-serving CISO leading security at scale.
Angela Johnson — Chief Information Security Officer & Vice President, IS Infrastructure, Children’s Wisconsin
Angela Johnson brings a multidisciplinary approach to cybersecurity leadership at Children’s Wisconsin, where she helps lead strategic efforts to improve security and infrastructure processes while supporting the secure adoption of new technology. Her remit goes beyond traditional cyber oversight, spanning enterprise information security, physical security, business continuity, and infrastructure strategy in a highly regulated healthcare setting.
That breadth matters in pediatric healthcare, where security decisions affect not just compliance and risk posture, but day-to-day care delivery and organizational resilience. Johnson’s earlier leadership experience at Baird and her background across information systems, supply chain, and financial services add to her range as an executive. She is a strong example of a Wisconsin cyber leader whose work connects security, infrastructure, and mission-driven operations.
Jennifer Mueller — Senior Vice President of Health Information Career Advancement, AHIMA
Jennifer Mueller is included here not as a current CISO, but as one of Wisconsin’s notable women cyber and privacy leaders working at the intersection of health information, data governance, privacy, and workforce development. Her career has combined executive leadership in health systems, privacy oversight, and large-scale health information strategy, including prior roles as vice president and privacy officer at the Wisconsin Hospital Association and as chief information officer, compliance, ethics, and privacy officer in healthcare delivery settings.
Her current role at AHIMA reflects a broader kind of cybersecurity influence. Mueller is helping shape the future workforce that will manage privacy, compliance, and data stewardship across healthcare. She has also led initiatives tied to cloud migration, public-facing data tools, and statewide privacy and security collaboration. For a feature framed around female cybersecurity leaders rather than only current CISOs, she is a meaningful inclusion because her impact sits squarely in the governance and data-protection side of the ecosystem.
Mary Elizabeth Faulkner — Vice President & Chief Information Security Officer, Thrivent
Mary Elizabeth Faulkner leads cybersecurity at Thrivent, making her one of Wisconsin’s strongest financial-services security leaders. As CISO, she sits in a sector where security governance, resilience, and trust are central to the business itself. Her path to the role also reflects depth across compliance, security operations, and enterprise risk.
Before joining Thrivent, Faulkner held leadership roles at Bose, Caterpillar, and Ciena, bringing experience from manufacturing, technology, and global security operations environments. That cross-industry background strengthens her profile as a CISO who understands both strategic governance and operational execution. In Wisconsin’s leadership slate, she represents the kind of executive who can translate cybersecurity into enterprise value in a regulated, customer-trust-driven industry.
Wisconsin’s Women Strengthening the Cyber Front Line
Wisconsin’s female cybersecurity leadership story is not limited to one pipeline. It includes enterprise CISOs at major brands, healthcare executives securing complex care environments, financial-services leaders managing trust at scale, and health information strategists shaping how data is governed, protected, and used. That breadth is what makes the state interesting.
The leaders featured here show that cybersecurity in Wisconsin is being shaped not only by people defending networks and managing incidents, but also by executives building privacy programs, guiding digital transformation, strengthening resilience, and preparing the next generation of professionals. It is a reminder that strong cyber leadership does not come from a single mold, and Wisconsin has more than one kind of standout woman helping define it.
Explore more in CISO Whisperer’s Women’s Month series.