New Hampshire’s cybersecurity leadership stands out for its mix of public-sector depth, infrastructure responsibility, enterprise security experience, and community influence. The women in this feature reflect that range clearly. Some helped shape statewide cyber readiness and incident coordination, while others lead security programs inside critical infrastructure, financial services, technology, and managed services. Together, they show how New Hampshire’s cyber bench is built not only through formal CISO titles, but also through advisory leadership, security transformation, education, and long-term contributions that strengthen the state’s broader cyber ecosystem.
Leslie Williams — Cybersecurity Consultant
Leslie Williams brings some of the deepest public-sector cybersecurity roots in New Hampshire. As the former Chief Information Security Officer for the State of New Hampshire, she helped guide the state’s cybersecurity program through a major period of growth and maturation. Her work included building the IT Security Group, supporting incident response planning, shaping the NH Cyber Disruption Plan with homeland security partners, and helping establish the NH Cyber Integration Center to centralize cybersecurity operations.
Now working as an independent consultant, she continues to apply that same practical and collaborative approach to cybersecurity program planning, policy development, team building, awareness, and preparedness. Her career reflects the kind of leadership that blends long-term institutional knowledge with hands-on execution, making her a foundational figure in New Hampshire’s cybersecurity landscape.
Diana Kelley — Chief Information Security Officer, Noma Security
Diana Kelley is one of the most recognizable cybersecurity leaders in the industry, with senior roles spanning major security and technology companies over the course of her career. She currently serves as Chief Information Security Officer at Noma Security and has previously held leadership positions including CISO at Protect AI, Cybersecurity Field CTO at Microsoft, Global Executive Security Advisor at IBM Security, and executive roles at Symantec, Burton Group, and KPMG. Her work has covered enterprise security, application security, AI and machine learning security, compliance, and strategic advisory at a global level.
Beyond her executive roles, Diana has built a strong presence across the broader cybersecurity profession through board service, speaking, writing, and education. She serves in leadership and advisory roles with organizations including WiCyS, the Executive Women’s Forum, RSA Conference, TechTarget, and OWASP initiatives, and she remains a visible voice on security leadership, AI risk, and resilience. Her career reflects both technical credibility and industry influence, making her one of the most prominent cybersecurity leaders connected to New Hampshire.
Sarah LaChance — AVP, Risk Tooling and Transformation, Global Security and Defense, TD
Sarah LaChance represents a strong New Hampshire-rooted leadership path shaped by long-term technical growth and later specialization in cybersecurity, risk, and transformation. Her earlier career included Portsmouth-based technology roles, and her work at Liberty Mutual in Portsmouth placed her inside one of the region’s major enterprise security environments. There, she led cybersecurity risk and compliance assessment and engineering work that supported better visibility into control maturity, remediation priorities, and security decision-making across the business.
She has since continued into more senior security leadership, including identity and access management at Kenvue and now AVP of Risk Tooling and Transformation within Global Security and Defense at TD. Her background brings together software development, operations, governance, DevSecOps, and enterprise risk, giving her a broad perspective on how security programs support business resilience. Her continued involvement with the University of New Hampshire’s industrial advisory board also reflects her commitment to strengthening the next generation of technology and cybersecurity talent in the state.
Kimberly Hood — Chief Information Security Officer, Unitil
Kimberly Hood stands out as a critical infrastructure security leader whose work is directly tied to the resilience of an essential regional utility. After more than a decade helping lead cybersecurity and compliance efforts at Unitil, she moved into the Chief Information Security Officer role while also taking on broader infrastructure operations responsibilities. Her work has placed her at the intersection of IT, compliance, and operational technology concerns that are especially important in the energy sector.
Her leadership reflects the kind of operationally grounded cybersecurity work that carries real weight in New Hampshire and throughout New England. She has also brought that perspective into public industry conversations through speaking engagements focused on utility cybersecurity and the challenges of securing IT and OT environments. Her long tenure, sector expertise, and critical infrastructure focus make her a strong example of the practical cyber leadership shaping the region.
Paige Yeater — COO/CISO, Mainstay Technologies
Paige Yeater brings a compelling blend of operational and cybersecurity leadership through her work at Mainstay Technologies. Over several years, she advanced from information security program leadership into broader executive responsibility, ultimately stepping into the dual role of COO and CISO. That progression highlights her ability to connect security strategy with day-to-day business execution, client service, and organizational growth.
Her background shows a strong focus on helping organizations align their operations with security and compliance requirements in a practical way. She has led teams that support clients across different industries and stages of security maturity, helping them understand risk, strengthen programs, and build stronger long-term security foundations. Her leadership reflects a modern model where cybersecurity is not treated as a silo, but as part of how a business scales, serves customers, and operates effectively.
From Statewide Resilience to Utility Defense
New Hampshire’s cybersecurity leadership continues to grow stronger because it combines deep institutional knowledge with forward-looking security thinking. The women in this feature reflect that balance. Their backgrounds span state government, critical infrastructure, enterprise risk, technology services, and nationally visible cybersecurity leadership. Together, they show that the state’s cyber influence is built not just through titles, but through sustained impact, trusted leadership, and a strong ability to connect security strategy with real-world outcomes.
Explore more profiles of the amazing women shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our Women’s Month collection.