CIO & CISO Think Tank

Urban Edge Properties is a NYSE listed real estate investment trust focused on managing, acquiring, developing, and redeveloping retail real estate in urban communities, primarily in the Washington, D.C. to Boston corridor. Urban Edge owns 77 properties totaling 17.4 million square feet of gross leasable area. Cecilia Li, Chief Information Officer, serves as a strategic partner to the executive management delivering vision, critical analyses, and recommendations. With over 20 years of experience with a focus on customer service and digital transformation, she leads the strategy and implementation of their technology operations and aims to deliver continuous and impactful solutions to the business. You will often find her speaking on relevant topics related to innovation, business intelligence, cybersecurity, and operations optimization. She plays an active role in bettering the built environment; She served as the Co-Chair for Realcomm, is a Board Member of Real Estate Cyber Consortium (RECC), is the recipient of several awards in the industry and mentors aspiring IT professionals.

Alaa Moussawi serves as Chief Data Scientist for the New York City Council, where he oversees the operations of the data and web development units. Under his leadership, the data operations unit promotes the utilization of data to shape legislative initiatives aimed at addressing the diverse needs of NYC's residents. Utilizing advanced statistical and technological tools, they analyze a broad spectrum of issues pertinent to the city, ranging from pay equity to school bus delays. Their objective is to empower policymakers with data-driven insights, ensuring transparency and reproducibility in their models and research. Simultaneously, the web development unit designs and implements technologies aimed at enhancing the efficiency of council staff while reducing cognitive load. By leveraging algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) technologies, they streamline user interfaces and automate complex tasks. Their solutions, developed exclusively using open source technology, are customizable and include CRMs, internal websites for streamlined processes like paperless hearings, dashboards, and machine learning models deployed to facilitate daily council operations.

Experienced and passionate cybersecurity leader. Responsible for all facets of cyber security to Schneider Electric's enterprise IT, encompassing approximately 140,000 employees in 100 countries, including 220 factories, 35 distribution centers, and 1,200 sites

Melissa Ouari is the Information Security and Business Continuity Officer for Money Management International. She has been I the world of technology and accounting for more than 25 years and has served in leadership positions while in her role at public accounting firms in New York City and Boston. Melissa has an array of cyber risk experience and worked across virtually all industry sectors. In her role at Money Management International, she is establishing collaborative relationships with key business and IT stakeholders to strengthen security protocols across the enterprise and finding balanced solutions to achieve productivity, efficiency and internal controls.

Nora Osman is the Founder & CEO of Norvana, a boutique Customer Experience Optimization company helping organizations reimagine customer and employee experiences through a human-centered, service-driven approach. She is a transformational leader, coach, keynote speaker, and Fellow at the Institute for Digital Transformation. With more than 25 years of experience leading complex IT and service transformations, Nora specializes in turning friction into fuel, aligning people, process, and technology to create world-class experiences that work simply and beautifully.

Feras Tappuni is the CEO and founder of SecurityHQ and is responsible for overseeing all the technical and financial aspects of the company. With over 25 years’ experience, he has dedicated his life to cyber security and is driven by the desire to offer his clients the highest degree of protection against today’s cyber threats. Feras has delivered complex security and engineering projects to prestigious clients globally. From harnessing the right technology, processes, and people, he ensures that SecurityHQ delivers a truly enterprise grade experience. Founded in 2003, SecurityHQ has evolved into a leading global cybersecurity business, headquartered in London with operations spanning Dubai, New York, Pune, Johannesburg, and Brisbane, supported by a team of over 480 full-time employees. Feras holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and continues to play an active role in shaping the global cybersecurity landscape, helping organisations navigate an increasingly complex digital world.

Chris Andrew is the CEO and Co-founder of Scrunch, the leading platform helping brands secure visibility in AI-powered search. With deep expertise in marketing technology and a passion for innovation, Chris partners with more than 500 brands to influence how they are discovered and interpreted by AI agents such as ChatGPT and Gemini. His work bridges brand strategy, AI infrastructure, and digital transformation, positioning him as a trusted advisor for marketers navigating the evolving search landscape. At the forefront of the AI search revolution, Chris is dedicated to equipping brands with the tools and insights to thrive in this new era. In his spare time, Chris is a Neapolitan-certified pizza chef who is passionate about trails, jazz, food, and building community.

Rahil Parikh is a Senior Manager of Security Engineering and Architecture at Zinnia, where he has built and leads robust security operations, engineering, and architecture programs. With over a decade of experience in the information security space and a strong focus on fostering a culture of trust and security without impeding business, Rahil has dedicated his career to effectively managing security risk while enabling business growth. He holds a master’s degree in Information Assurance from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Gujarat University.

Derrick A. Butts is the CEO/Founder of Continuums Strategies LLC. Derrick helps organizations develop enterprise cyber-resilience and risk management strategies to secure their business culture before the AI driven cyber-attacks. With 20+ years of strategic enterprise resilience experiences, he’s digitally transformed enterprise environments with up to 700,000 employees and supported winning contracts up to $3.2B. As an Enterprise Cyber-Resilience Advisor |SME, and former CIO/CISO, he’s been entrusted by CEOs, boards of directors, C-Level executives, financial directors, Navy Captains/Directors, federal/state technology directors, university CIOs/CTOs, and non-profits. He’s proactively addressed the adoption/integration of enterprise innovations through IT/security challenges while aligning cyber-resilience strategies with operational survivability requirements to meet mission compliance objectives. Additionally, he’s worked with business cultures to logistically embrace enterprise digital transformations and necessary vendor services to support their eco-system's resilience strategy. Recognized as a Top Cybersecurity Leader - 2021/2020.

Charlotte Edwards is the Vice President of Operations at Cyberwolf, a boutique cybersecurity firm protecting the personal digital lives of high‑profile individuals. With seven years of experience in cybersecurity and three years at Cyberwolf, she has helped Fortune 500 leaders, nobility, elite athletes, and wealthy families stay safe online in an increasingly hostile threat landscape. Charlotte played a key role in establishing Cyberwolf’s U.S. presence and brings deep expertise in the risks facing executives and VIPs. Before joining Cyberwolf, she served as Chief of Staff for the B2B division of one of Europe’s leading ICT companies.