Arkansas continues to produce cybersecurity leaders whose work spans retail technology, financial services, data-driven enterprise environments, and public-sector institutions. The women in this feature reflect that breadth. They are leading identity and access programs, enterprise risk and compliance functions, large-scale security operations, and university security strategy in organizations where resilience, governance, and execution all matter. Together, they show how Arkansas is contributing meaningful leadership to cybersecurity across both private and public sectors.
Monica Ballard — Director, Information Security, Walmart Global Tech
Monica Ballard is Director of Information Security at Walmart Global Tech, where she leads security-related operations tied to user management, controls, and contractor account governance across a global enterprise. Her career at Walmart spans more than a decade, and her progression through compliance, technology operations, and global tech leadership gives her a strong foundation in building standardized, enterprise-wide processes that balance security, audit requirements, and usability. Her current role stands out for its scale, with responsibilities that touch core identity and access functions across one of the world’s largest organizations.
Brenda Curtis — Senior Director, Information Security, Risk and Compliance, Acxiom
Brenda Curtis built a long career at Acxiom before moving into more recent senior security leadership roles at Interpublic Group and Omnicom, giving her one of the deepest risk and compliance backgrounds in this Arkansas group. Across decades of work, she held leadership roles in enterprise risk, compliance, information security assurance, audit coordination, and security operations, including serving as a key point of contact for physical, personnel, and data security questions. Her experience reflects the kind of steady, organization-building leadership that matters in mature enterprise security environments.
Ivana Cojbasic — Chief Information Security Officer, Regions Bank
Ivana Cojbasic is Chief Information Security Officer at Regions Bank, following earlier security leadership roles at FIS and Acxiom. Her background covers a broad range of high-level security responsibilities, including vulnerability management, penetration testing, identity and access management, encryption, governance, compliance reporting, audit readiness, and cloud transformation. She also brings experience in executive reporting, dashboards, process development, and enterprise roadmap execution, making her one of the strongest Arkansas-based profiles for large-scale financial-sector cybersecurity leadership.
Karen DiCicco — Chief Information Security Officer & Director of Business Enablement and Enterprise Applications, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Karen DiCicco serves as Chief Information Security Officer and Director of Business Enablement and Enterprise Applications at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, where her role combines cybersecurity leadership with enterprise application strategy and broader IT modernization. Her background inside the organization spans digital innovation, application development, data security, cloud platforms, compliance, and training, giving her a practical understanding of how to align security with institutional needs and operational improvement. What makes her especially notable is the range of her remit, which extends beyond security alone into the systems and processes that support organizational growth and efficiency.
Where Arkansas Cyber Leadership Stands Out
What makes Arkansas’ cybersecurity bench especially interesting is how much of it has been shaped inside large, complex institutions. These leaders are not only protecting systems. They are building structure, improving governance, modernizing operations, and helping major organizations manage risk at scale. That gives Arkansas a strong profile in cybersecurity leadership grounded in execution, enterprise discipline, and long-term organizational impact.
Explore more profiles of the amazing women shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our Women’s Month collection.