The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named Matt Feenan as the 2021 recipient of the SIA Committee Chair of the Year Award, which recognizes individuals for excellence in leading SIA committees and advancing member objectives. SIA will present Feenan with the award at The Advance, SIA’s annual membership meeting, which will be held March 23 as a virtual event.

Feenan — who serves as marketing specialist, product and solutions marketing at Axis Communications — is the immediate past chair of the SIA RISE Committee. SIA RISE is a community that fosters the careers of young professionals in the security industry. Feenan has been with Axis Communications for more than seven years and has held a variety of roles within the company’s marketing department, serving on the business development, national accounts, partner marketing and product and solutions marketing teams. In his current role, he designs and executes on launch plans, promotional campaigns and internal education narratives for technical product categories such as cybersecurity, video analytics and strategic technology partner alliances. He holds a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Bentley University and is pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.

“I’m very honored and humbled to be recognized as SIA’s Committee Chair of the Year. Being chair was made exponentially easier by the fact that the RISE Committee is comprised of some of the most dedicated young industry leaders I’ve ever met, so I want to thank them first and foremost,” said Feenan. “Additionally, I want to thank SIA for their commitment to giving young security professionals a platform to network, share and learn together. Young professionals in this industry love to empower each other as often as possible, and SIA’s recognition of those young professionals and their growing aspirations is what has allowed this community to expand to what it is today. It’s been nothing short of a privilege to lead this group over the last couple years, and I can’t wait to see the amazing places RISE and its members go next.”

Feenan joined the SIA RISE Committee in 2018 and served as chair in 2019 and 2020; in this time, the SIA RISE community grew from just over 300 to more than 760 young security industry professionals and had a number of noteworthy accomplishments. During Feenan’s tenure as chair, SIA RISE launched several new education programs and initiatives, including the RISE Microlearning Series — a five-part virtual training program to help young professionals advance their careers – and SIA’s new Talent, Inclusion, Mentorship & Education (TIME) mentorship program for young security industry talent and students. During this time, SIA RISE also built on existing initiatives like the AcceleRISE conference for tomorrow’s security leaders and the SIA RISE Scholarship program. Additionally, Feenan and the RISE Committee worked together to establish the new Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee, provided input on SIA’s Security Cornerstones Learning Series and fostered community among young industry professionals by offering virtual networking and learning opportunities.

“Matt Feenan has led SIA RISE through tremendous growth and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to fostering engagement and collaboration among early-career security industry professionals,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “SIA applauds Matt for his outstanding leadership of this robust community and his efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and empower underrepresented identities in security, and we look forward to recognizing him for his achievements at The Advance this year.”

The Advance 2021 will take place on Tuesday, March 23, at 1:30 p.m. and will be hosted as a virtual event. At this special membership meeting, attendees will review official association business, recognize volunteer achievements in 2020 and exchange market intelligence for the year ahead. In addition to presenting the SIA Committee Chair of the Year Award, SIA will honor the 2021 recipients of the SIA Chairman’s Award, Sandy Jones Volunteer of the Year Award, Standards Service Award and Member of the Year Award.