Iowa’s cybersecurity leadership bench reflects the state’s breadth across legal services, healthcare technology, agriscience, higher education, and enterprise IT. The leaders in this feature are helping shape how organizations across Iowa manage security risk, strengthen operations, and build resilience in increasingly complex digital environments. Their backgrounds span governance, infrastructure, compliance, cloud security, and institutional security leadership, giving this group a strong cross-section of the people guiding cybersecurity strategy in the state.
Derek Kilbride — Director of Information Security, Nyemaster Goode
Derek Kilbride serves as director of information security at Nyemaster Goode, where he brings a blend of legal-sector security leadership, consulting experience, and public-sector IT management. He has led information security at the firm since 2017, following earlier work as chief executive at DK Technologies, IT manager for the Iowa State Public Defender, senior network engineer at Softrim Corporation, and systems engineer at Alliance Technologies. That progression gives him a practical background across security leadership, infrastructure, and operational IT, with experience spanning both government and private-sector environments in Iowa.
Lisa Vonstein — Director of Technology Solutions / Chief Information Security Officer, Data Innovations
Lisa Vonstein leads technology solutions and cybersecurity at Data Innovations, where her role combines strategic IT leadership with chief information security officer responsibilities. Her profile reflects close to two decades of experience building and scaling internal technology functions while aligning security, governance, and risk management with broader business goals. With expertise across frameworks including HIPAA, HITRUST, SOC 2, GDPR, PCI-DSS, CCPA, COSO, NIST, FFIEC, and GLBA, Vonstein stands out as a leader whose work bridges enterprise technology strategy and formal security oversight in a highly regulated environment.
Randy Remington — Director, Information Security, ITA Group
Randy Remington is director of information security at ITA Group, bringing senior-level experience across security, IT leadership, architecture, and financial services technology. Before joining ITA Group, he served as director of IT security GRC at Dotdash Meredith, held senior consulting and solutions architecture roles at BlueAlly, and spent more than a decade at Bankers Trust as vice president and chief information officer. Earlier in his career, he also worked at Wells Fargo, giving him a long runway in technology operations, risk management, vendor strategy, and enterprise security leadership that now informs his work in information security.
Levi Limmex — Director of Cyber Security, Corteva Agriscience
Levi Limmex serves as director of cyber security at Corteva Agriscience, adding a cloud- and infrastructure-oriented perspective to Iowa’s cybersecurity leadership landscape. Before joining Corteva in 2023, he worked as a cloud security architect at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, cloud engineer lead at Homesteaders Life Company in West Des Moines, application engineer at StoneX Group, cloud engineer at Chelan County PUD, and system administrator at Baker Group. His background reflects a steady progression through technical and security-focused roles that now support leadership in one of Iowa’s most prominent agriscience companies.
Brian Beninga — Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, University of Iowa
Brian Beninga is deputy chief information security officer at the University of Iowa, where he brings more than two decades of institutional experience across systems administration, architecture, and information security. Since joining the university in 2003, he has progressed through roles including systems administrator, senior systems administrator, information security architect, and senior security architect before stepping into the deputy chief information security officer position in 2022. That long tenure gives him deep familiarity with the university environment and a strong foundation in network security, architecture, and operational security leadership within higher education.
Where Iowa’s cyber leadership stands out
What makes this group notable is the range of environments they represent. From a major public university and a global agriscience company to a legal institution, healthcare technology business, and enterprise services organization, these leaders show how cybersecurity in Iowa is being shaped by people who understand both technical risk and organizational execution. Together, they reflect a state-level leadership bench that is broader and more mature than it may first appear.
Explore more profiles of the leaders shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our CISOs to Watch collection.