The Security Industry Association (SIA) selected eight recipients for the 2024 SIA Women in Security Forum (WISF) Scholarship. The program, developed by the SIA Women in Security Forum, aims to further educational opportunities and promote advancement for the widest spectrum of people possible in the security industry. 

In the 2024 scholarship program — open to employees of SIA member companies and SIA student members — each honoree will be awarded $7,500 to use toward continuing education and professional development courses, conferences or webinars, SIA program offerings, repayment of student loan debt and/or other education or academic pursuits. 

“Now in its fifth year, the Women in Security Forum Scholarship program continues to attract highly qualified and ambitious applicants who embody the successful future of the security industry,” said Martha Entwistle, senior manager, corporate communications at Eagle Eye Networks and co-chair of the WISF AmplifiHER Subcommittee. “We are thrilled to award generous scholarships to eight outstanding individuals and look forward to the contributions they will make to the security industry in coming years.” 

The 2024 winners for the SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship are: 

• Shannon Berry, legal affairs manager, i-PRO Americas
• Lindsay Cotten, customer success specialist, IoT and platform sales, Wesco
• Christin Kinman, end user sales consultant, Allegion
• Melissa Lesperance, corporate security director, Ilitch Holdings; student, Harvard University
• Gabrielle Martins Scotti, student, Oakland Community College
• Jillian Mulloy, student, Tufts University
• Carolina Restelli, regional marketing manager, Latin America, HID Global
• Lauren Yonis, global events manager, Acre Security 

“I’d like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to this year’s scholarship recipients and express gratitude to all our sponsors, whose unwavering support is indispensable to this initiative,” said Tia Eskandari, senior director, national field service, Allied Universal Technology Services and co-chair of the WISF AmplifiHER Subcommittee. “Serving as co-chair alongside Martha Entwistle has been an enriching experience. As a previous awardee, I deeply respect and admire the dedication exhibited by all our committee members; we could not have done it without you. SIA’s Women in Security Forum remains steadfast in its mission to empower and support women, fostering their growth and leadership within our industry.” 

The scholarship program is made possible by donations of SIA members and SIA member companies. In an announcement, SIA thanked the 2024 WISF Scholarship sponsors: Diamond Sponsor Axis Communications; Emerald Sponsors Allegion, Altronix, Genetec and Security-Net; Ruby Sponsors Amazon, Boon Edam, Bosch, Brivo, Eagle Eye Networks, GSA Schedules Inc., HID, Intel, i-PRO, SAGE Integration, Securitas Technology, Windy City Wire and Zenitel; and Sapphire Sponsors Imperial Capital and SecuritySpecifiers. 

SIA also thanked the members of the WISF AmplifiHER Subcommittee for lending their time and expertise to fundraising and evaluation for this year’s WISF Scholarship: co-chairs Martha Entwistle and Tia Eskandari and additional members Beth Anderson, senior channel marketing manager at Allegion; Rebecca Bayne, president of Bayne Consulting & Search; Jim Black, senior director, security architect at Microsoft; Lynn de Séve, founder and president, GSA Schedules, Inc.; Lori Hudnall, vice president of human resources at SAGE Integration; Lyndell Kline, secured entrance strategist at Boon Edam; Elaine Palome, director of human resources, Americas, at Axis Communications; Julie Rolles, account executive at WeSuite; Ania Ross, director, product and technical marketing at Wesco; Lisa Sobek, channel marketing manager at Allegion; Gannon Switzer, vice president of sales management consulting at Vector Firm; and Tanya Turner, director of human resources at Salto Systems; as well as Kenia Caballero, industry affairs manager at SIA. 

To learn more about the SIA Women in Security Forum Scholarship and 2024 awardees, go here.