Energy is one of the most consequential cybersecurity arenas in the world. It sits at the intersection of national resilience, industrial operations, public safety, and economic continuity. For Women’s Month, this feature highlights female cybersecurity leaders to watch in energy, spanning electric utilities, grid operations, renewable infrastructure, and the wider security ecosystem that supports critical assets.
Ann Delenela — Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer, Entergy
Ann Delenela has built one of the strongest and longest-running leadership careers in energy cybersecurity. As Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer at Entergy, she brings decades of experience across critical infrastructure, telecommunications, software, and consulting, with earlier senior leadership roles at Ameren and ERCOT. Her work has not only centered on building and maturing enterprise security programs, but also on shaping industry-wide coordination through appointments to bodies such as the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee. That combination of operational depth, sector influence, and board-level credibility makes her one of the clearest standout leaders in the energy space.
Therace Risch — Independent Board Director, Old Republic International
Therace Risch earns her place on this list because of the scale of technology and security responsibility she carried at American Electric Power, where she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Information & Technology Officer with oversight that included cyber and physical security alongside core technology, digital, telecommunications, and innovation. Before that, she held top enterprise technology roles at JCPenney, COUNTRY Financial, and Target, giving her a broad operating perspective across regulated and complex environments. Her transition to an independent board director role at Old Republic International adds another layer to her profile, showing how her experience now extends into governance and board oversight after leading security-adjacent transformation at one of the most important sectors in the economy.
Roya Gordon — Member, The CISO Society | Former CISO, ENGIE North America
Roya Gordon stands out for her particularly strong operational technology and critical infrastructure profile. As former CISO of ENGIE North America, she was responsible for the cybersecurity of renewable assets including solar, wind, battery storage, and power plants, bringing a background that spans military intelligence, Idaho National Laboratory, threat intelligence consulting, OT research, and executive advisory work. That mix gives her unusual credibility at the intersection of industrial systems, real-world threat intelligence, and energy operations. In a sector where cyber risk increasingly touches field assets and operational continuity, her career reflects exactly the kind of specialized leadership that matters more every year.
Antoinette Jago — Chief Information Security Officer, Woodside Energy
Antoinette Jago is a compelling example of a modern security leader rising through major global technology platforms into a top energy cybersecurity role. As CISO of Woodside Energy, she now leads security for one of the best-known names in the sector, following more than a decade at Microsoft where she worked across cybersecurity solutions, modern work and security, cloud, and strategic customer leadership. Her background also includes Google and other large-scale digital operations roles, which gives her a strong blend of enterprise technology, cloud transformation, and security leadership. That makes her especially notable as energy companies increasingly need leaders who can connect industrial realities with modern cloud and digital environments.
Securing the systems that keep energy moving
What makes this group especially compelling is how many different sides of the energy security challenge they represent. Some built their reputations inside utilities and grid-critical organizations. Others bring a blend of enterprise technology, board oversight, OT expertise, and renewable infrastructure security. Together, they reflect how cybersecurity leadership in energy now demands more than traditional IT defense. It requires operational understanding, regulatory fluency, sector collaboration, and the ability to secure the systems that keep modern life running.
Explore more profiles of the amazing women shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our Women’s Month collection.