Cheryl Cooper

Dr. Cheryl Cooper is a visionary U.S. Navy Veteran, global cybersecurity leader, bestselling author, and award-winning speaker whose voice has moved rooms and sparked movements. With nearly three decades of experience, she has served as a Business Information Security Officer at T-Mobile and now mentors the next generation as a cybersecurity professor. She is the International President of Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS) Kansas City and the only two-time recipient of the Central Exchange STEMMy Awards for Groundbreaking Leadership and Women’s Champion in STEM.

Her TEDx talk, “The Power of Choice to Unlock Your Destiny,” reached over 7,000 viewers globally and inspired a wave of affirmations, with audience members calling it “goosebumps,” “talk of the year,” and “a master class in the power of choice.” She is the host of Ctrl+Alt+Empower, a podcast exploring the intersections of cyber resilience and inclusion, and the author of Breaking the Code: Winning Strategies for Women in Cybersecurity & Tech. Dr. Cooper’s message is cinematic, catalytic, and unforgettable, empowering women to claim their voice, lead with agency, and build legacies that outlast titles.