Women To Watch Awards 2026 honors Dr. Cheryl Cooper

Dr. Cheryl Cooper is a United States Navy Veteran, Doctor of Computer Science, and one of the nation’s leading voices in cybersecurity, cyber resilience, and women’s leadership in STEMM. As a Fractional CISO for law firms and SMBs, she helps executives protect their data, reputation, and revenue through practical, business‑aligned cybersecurity strategies grounded in governance and risk management. She brings a rare dual expertise: fortifying organizations against cyber risk while equipping women with the agency, visibility, and leadership needed to transform the industries they serve.

A former Fortune 100 Business Information Security Officer, Dr. Cooper, brings more than two decades of experience securing global environments, developing cybersecurity programs, and advising executive teams on governance, resilience, and risk. She is the founder of Cooper Cyber Consulting Group, LLC, where she guides organizations in building cyber maturity, strengthening GRC frameworks, and leading with confidence in the face of evolving digital threats.

Beyond her cybersecurity leadership, Dr. Cooper is a transformational thought leader whose work empowers women in technology to claim their agency, elevate their visibility, and lead change without waiting for permission. She is the creator of Becoming Seen and The SEEN Method™, signature frameworks and movements that help women shift from invisibility to influence in industries where their presence has been persistently overlooked.

An accomplished author, Dr. Cooper, has authored several works including:

• Breaking the Code: Winning Strategies for Women in Cybersecurity & Tech

• Hood to Hooded: A Black Woman’s Choice to Rise

• Triumph in the Trenches: Navigating Success for Black Professionals (an Anthology)

• Becoming Seen: A 60-Day Guided Journal for Women Who Choose to Rise

As an inspirational speaker, Dr. Cooper uses her platforms to influence change, most recently delivering a powerful TEDx talk in Abuja, Nigeria, now surpassing 100,000 YouTube views. Through her speeches, articles, books, and her podcast Ctrl+Alt+EmPower, she shares her personal journey of resilience, identity, and choice, offering powerful blueprints for navigating both cyber threats and systemic barriers.

As President of Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Kansas City, Dr. Cooper has championed

hundreds of underserved students and women professionals, creating pathways into STEM through mentorship, visibility, and real‑world exposure. Her leadership has earned national recognition, including Women in Tech’s Cybersecurity Leader of the Year 2025 and Silver Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as being the only two‑time recipient of the Central Exchange STEMMy Awards for Groundbreaking Leadership, and Women’s Champion in STEM. She also received the ABWA Martin Luther King Jr. Award for “Keeping the Dream Alive” in education and community service.

In 2026, Dr. Cooper returned to the stage as keynote speaker at Texas A&M University to deliver “The Choice to Be Seen and Heard: Four Bold Strategies to Transform the STEM

Industry”, and “The Radical Choice to Transform Women in STEM, presenting on the 2026 International Women Thrive Summit. Both a rallying cry for advancing equity, representation, and leadership for women and the underserved across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine.

At the core of Dr. Cooper’s mission is a calling she voices often and embodies fully: “We must see the girl in a world in which she is usually unseen.”