Alaska’s cybersecurity leadership spans state government, higher education, healthcare, and private-sector advisory work, reflecting the range of systems and institutions that keep the state running. The leaders in this feature work across public infrastructure, university environments, healthcare operations, enterprise risk, and security strategy, helping organizations strengthen resilience in a place where operational reliability and trust matter as much as technical defense.
Mary Sternfeld-Hynes — Department Chief Information Security Officer | Data Processing Manager 3, State of Alaska
Mary Sternfeld-Hynes serves as Department Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Alaska, bringing a background centered on confidentiality, integrity, availability, and data quality. Her path includes years of information security, systems, and data-focused work across both public and private settings, along with certifications including CISSP, GSEC, and GSCL. In her current role, she brings a leadership perspective shaped by hands-on technical experience and a strong grounding in security fundamentals inside state government.
Mark Breunig — Cyber Security Advisor, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; former Chief Information Security Officer, State of Alaska
Mark Breunig currently serves as a Cyber Security Advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and previously held the Chief Information Security Officer role for the State of Alaska. His background includes leading security and compliance efforts in both government and private-sector environments, including the Municipality of Anchorage and NANA Development Corporation. Across those roles, he has focused on building formal security programs, aligning organizations to frameworks such as NIST and ISO, and helping institutions turn compliance and risk requirements into practical operating models.
Joel “Josh” Garcia — Chief Technology Officer, Alaska Department of Revenue; former Chief Information Security Officer, Alaska Department of Health
Joel “Josh” Garcia is Chief Technology Officer for the Alaska Department of Revenue and previously served as Chief Information Security Officer for the Alaska Department of Health. His experience combines enterprise modernization, public-sector systems leadership, and security governance, including work tied to HIPAA-covered environments, statewide public systems, and mission-critical government platforms. That mix of CTO and former CISO responsibility gives him a broad view of how security, operations, modernization, and public trust intersect across Alaska’s technology landscape.
Jeannette Okinczyc — Chief Information Security Officer, University of Alaska
Jeannette Okinczyc is Chief Information Security Officer at the University of Alaska, where she has grown through multiple security leadership roles across the university system. Her progression from information security officer and senior information security officer to manager of security operations and now CISO reflects deep institutional knowledge as well as long-term commitment to higher education security. With an additional background in teaching and technical support, she brings a practical and academic perspective to protecting university systems and data.
Jeff Wilson — Chief Information Security Officer, Hansen Gress Corporation
Jeff Wilson is Chief Information Security Officer at Hansen Gress Corporation, where he oversees enterprise risk and managed security operations programs in Alaska. His background spans healthcare, audit, compliance, fractional CISO advisory work, and executive cyber education, including experience translating technical and business risk for leadership audiences. He has worked across frameworks such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, SOC 2, and HITRUST, giving him a broad perspective on how governance, resilience, and security operations come together in practice.
Tamara Serr — Information Services & Cyber Security Director, Central Peninsula Hospital
Tamara Serr is Information Services & Cyber Security Director at Central Peninsula Hospital, where she has advanced through several technology and informatics roles before taking on cyber leadership. Her background blends clinical informatics, application services, and hospital technology management, which gives her a grounded understanding of how cybersecurity fits into real healthcare operations. That progression is especially notable in a healthcare environment, where system uptime, patient data, and application reliability all carry direct operational consequences.
The Roles Shaping Alaska’s Cyber Future
Alaska’s cybersecurity leadership stands out for its range. Some of these leaders are securing statewide systems and public services, others are protecting universities, hospitals, and enterprise environments, and together they show how cyber leadership in Alaska is being built across multiple fronts. What connects them is the ability to pair technical discipline with practical leadership in environments where resilience, coordination, and long-term trust matter every day.
Explore more profiles of the leaders shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our CISOs to Watch collection.