Security Industry Association Announces SIA RISE Scholarship Awardees

PRESS RELEASE

SILVER SPRING, Md. – The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named 24 recipients for this year’s SIA RISE Scholarship, a program offered through SIA’s RISE community, which supports the education and career development goals of young industry talent and emerging leaders.

Through this scholarship program – open to SIA student members and RISE members who are employees at SIA member companies – each awardee will receive a $3,000 scholarship to use toward continuing education and professional development courses, SIA program offerings and/or other academic or education programs. Scholarship funds can be used to expand knowledge in the areas of business, human resources, information technology, marketing, sales, project management, security engineering and/or risk management.

“SIA congratulates this year’s class of RISE Scholarship awardees – an impressive, diverse array of security professionals and rising stars who are making their mark on our industry,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “We are proud to present scholarships to more recipients this year than ever before and honored to support these inspiring young leaders as they pursue their educational and career development goals.”

The winners for this year’s RISE Scholarship are:

• Zachary Allen, account executive, Convergint Technologies

• Brianna Bonfondeo, account manager, Traka, ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions

• Joi Brown, control center specialist, Rapid Response Monitoring Services

• Brenda Constantin, account executive, 3Sixty Integrated, a Division of the Cook & Boardman Group

• Jonathan Crabtree, channel sales specialist, Genetec

• Taylor Davenport, HR business partner, i-PRO Americas

• Mason Fanning, end user specialist, ASSA ABLOY

• Natalie Fetsko, customer success manager, dormakaba

• Aishwarya Gandhe, senior channel marketing coordinator, North America, Genetec

• Anish Chandra Jalla, software developer II, Genetec

• Kajaanei Kajenthiran, security guard, City of Toronto, Canada

• Will Knehr, senior manager of information assurance and data privacy, i-PRO Americas

• Ryan Knoll, account executive, Pro-Tec Design

• Chandni Lalwani, DevOps engineer, HID Global

• Vincent Malenfer-Henard, security analyst, Genetec

• Josh Martin, mechanical engineer II, dormakaba

• Bryn Menzel, director of strategic accounts and marketing, 3millID Corporation

• Gabriella Moraniec, contracts manager, GSA Schedules

• Taylor Nevells, digital marketing and content specialist, Wavelynx

• Juan Pelayo, technical support supervisor, i-PRO Americas

• Itzel Portillo, marketing specialist, Allegion

• Joel Searle, program manager, ZBeta

• Maria Sturges, project coordinator and administrator, Northland Controls

• Julie Trinh, SDK specialist, Genetec

Learn more about the honorees here.

SIA would also like to thank the following individuals and companies which contributed to the 2024 RISE Scholarship fund. Tax-deductible donations were made through the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST), a nonprofit organization co-founded by SIA and the Electronic Security Association and dedicated to connecting passionate, innovative professionals with new opportunities in the security industry.

• Secure Access & Digital Systems

SIA RISE is a community that fosters the careers of emerging leaders in the security industry. In addition to the SIA RISE Scholarship, SIA RISE offers fun in-person and virtual networking events for young professionals, the Talent Inclusion Mentorship Education (TIME) program for early and mid-career professionals, the 25 on the RISE Awards, career growth webinars and trade show education tracks and the annual AcceleRISE conference – a unique event designed to ignite new thinking, strengthen leadership and sharpen business acumen in young security talent. The SIA RISE community is open to all employees at SIA member companies who are young professionals under 40 or have been in the security industry for less than two years; learn more and sign up to join.

About SIA

SIA is the leading trade association for global security solution providers, with over 1,500 innovative member companies representing thousands of security leaders and experts who shape the future of the security industry. SIA protects and advances its members’ interests by advocating pro-industry policies and legislation at the federal and state levels, creating open industry standards that enable integration, advancing industry professionalism through education and training, opening global market opportunities and collaborating with other like-minded organizations. As the premier sponsor of ISC Events expos and conferences, SIA ensures its members have access to top-level buyers and influencers, as well as unparalleled learning and network opportunities. SIA also enhances the position of its members in the security marketplace through SIA GovSummit, which brings together private industry with government decision makers, and Securing New Ground, the security industry’s top executive conference for peer-to-peer networking.