When a charity, a health service or a university network loses access to its systems or data, the effects reach the people it exists to serve. The five cyber leaders below protect organisations built around a purpose: community services, health care, chronic disease support and the higher education and research sector. Their paths into cyber security started in some unexpected places, from cancer research laboratories to the Royal Australian Navy.
Christie Lim – General Manager Information Security and Governance, The Salvation Army Australia
“You don’t need to be an expert in neurodiversity to make a meaningful difference,” Christie Lim has said. “Start by listening, asking questions and being curious about how people work best.” In September 2026 she received the Neurodiversity in Cybersecurity Excellence Award at the Australian Women in Security Awards, nominated by a colleague she met while mentoring through Purple Team Australia, an initiative supporting women moving into cyber security careers. Through an earlier partnership with Auticon, which employs autistic technology professionals, she onboarded several of its consultants into cyber security roles and has watched their careers grow. Since January 2026 she has led The Salvation Army Australia’s approach to securing its information and systems. She brings more than 20 years of experience, including as director of cyber operations for the Victorian Government’s Department of Government Services, building a new function covering privacy, data governance and cyber security at Vicinity Centres, and leading cyber security at Officeworks and information security operations at Australia Post.
Jo Fisher – Head of Cyber Security, Diabetes Australia
Jo Fisher spent years in laboratories before she moved into cyber security. She started as a clinical laboratory scientist, then researched leukaemia and solid tumours at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, led pre-clinical evaluation of Group A Streptococcus vaccine candidates in collaboration with Merck, and worked at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her move into digital health came through clinical lead roles, including at the Australian Digital Health Agency, where she led governance, risk and compliance and applied safety and security practices to its digital health products and services. After security advisory work at Trustwave and cyber risk and compliance at Macquarie Group, she became head of cyber security at Diabetes Australia in March 2024. She was a finalist in the not-for-profit category of iTnews’s 2026 Benchmark Security Awards.
Leana El-Hourani – Head of Information Security & GRC, Mission Australia
Leana El-Hourani began her career in 1993 as a desktop publisher. Over the following two decades, she moved through telecommunications, service desk and IT service management, and business improvement roles, then became head of IT at IVE Group and later its head of governance, risk and compliance, before leading cyber GRC at Boral. Since November 2022 she has been head of information security and GRC at Mission Australia, in Sydney. Her focus reflects a challenge familiar across the sector: at CISO Sydney 2026 she was scheduled to join a discussion on rationalising security tools and working within constrained budgets.
Ben Lester – Group Head of Digital Security (CISO), St John of God Health Care
Ben Lester started out as a combat information systems and intelligence officer in the Royal Australian Navy, serving for eight years. He went on to lead security and continuity at NAB’s Docklands head office and enterprise security risk management at Telstra, then spent several years in Victoria’s Department of Transport supporting the resilience of transport critical infrastructure and essential services, including as a member of the State Crisis and Resilience Council. He later became Wyndham City Council’s inaugural chief risk officer and chief security officer, and served as interim chief security officer and chief privacy officer for the Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety. Since October 2024 he has been group head of digital security and CISO at St John of God Health Care, leading cyber security and data protection services across its network.
Nikki Peever – Director, Cybersecurity, CAUDIT
Nikki Peever’s remit is not one university but a sector. As director of cybersecurity at CAUDIT, the not-for-profit association owned by Australasian universities and major research organisations, she has led the Australasian Higher Education Cybersecurity Service since January 2022, covering procurement, advocacy, advice, training and awareness, threat intelligence, operational support, and governance and compliance. She also co-chairs the Higher Education and Research Trusted Information Sharing Network, representing the sector to the Critical Infrastructure Advisory Council, and sits on the Resilience Expert Advisory Group. Before CAUDIT, she directed IT field operations at the Attorney-General’s Department, worked as an information security management system assessor and taught at QUT. She holds degrees in law, information technology and psychological science, worked on a PhD candidature with QUT, the AFL Players Association and Movember on wellbeing among sports fans, and plays football and futsal in her spare time.
Different Starting Points, the Same Purpose
A laboratory scientist, a desktop publisher, a naval officer, an IT service manager and a banking security specialist took very different routes to these roles. Today each protects an organisation whose work depends on people trusting it with their information and relying on its services.
Discover more CISOs securing their organizations:
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- Behind the Deputy Title: The Deputy CISOs to Watch
- More Than Security: The CISOs Whose Titles Include Privacy, Identity and Technology Risk
- When Customers Depend on You: The Security Leaders Protecting the Services Businesses Run On
- Running It and Securing It: The Cyber Leaders Who Own Both Infrastructure and Security
- Security in Motion: The European CISOs Helping Businesses Transform
John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.