Public and Private Sector Leaders Are Among Winners of SIA Women in Biometrics Awards

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named the five recipients of this year’s SIA Women in Biometrics Awards, with leaders from government and the private sector among the honorees.

From the public side, Amanda Conley is the Chief of the Human Capital Branch in the Office of Biometric Identity Management, a Department of Homeland Security agency. Diane Stephens, meanwhile, is the Biometric Standards Coordinator for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the US Department of Commerce agency that has become the leading standards-based testing organization for the global biometrics industry.

From here it’s just a small pivot to the private sector side: Another of SIA’s honorees, Delia McGarry, is the Senior Director of IDEMIA National Security Solutions’ US Department of State activities. IDEMIA NSS is a major provider of biometric solutions to the US government, and McGarry leads the company’s Face Recognition, Passport Book and Passport Card portfolio.

Bobby Varma, meanwhile, is on the more entrepreneurial side of the biometrics industry. She is the co-founder and CEO of Princeton Identity, whose iris recognition technology has been deployed across a wide range of application areas, from an airport in Dubai to Samsung smartphones.

Finally, Gena Alexa is the founder of Dignari, LLC, a human-centered systems integrator that won a five-year Blanket Purchase Agreement last year to provide identity and access management services across the Department of Homeland Security, and she also oversees the delivery of biometrics and identity programs to the Department of Defense.

“Each year, the Women in Biometrics Awards celebrate the accomplished leaders who are paving the way for biometric identity and security, and this year’s honorees have made outstanding contributions to biometrics technology innovation, education, program management, engineering and engagement across government and industry,” commented SIA CEO Don Erickson. “SIA commends Gena Alexa, Amanda Conley, Delia McGarry, Diane Stephens and Bobby Varma for their impressive dedication, vision and leadership in this critical field and looks forward to recognizing them at SIA GovSummit.”

The awards program, co-sponsored by FindBiometrics, honored the winners in a ceremony that took place yesterday during the SIA GovSummit. The event will conclude today, with FindBiometrics’ Director of Digital Media and Events Doug OGorden slated to host a panel session, “How Will Digital ID Impact Federal Government Programs?”, at 3:00pm.

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May 25, 2022 – by Alex Perala