Elevating First-Time Female Voices on Stage
Poorna Rajaraman, Deepika Gupta
BSidesSF 2026 · Day 1 · AMC Theatre 07
In a compelling presentation at BSides SF, Deepika Gupta and Poorna Rajaraman from Cisco addressed a critical issue within the cybersecurity community: the significant underrepresentation of first-time female speakers on conference stages. Their talk, "Elevating First-Time Female Voices on Stage," unveiled a meticulously designed and tested mentorship program aimed at dismantling the barriers that prevent technically proficient women from sharing their expertise with a broader audience. The Deanna Initiative, a non-profit supporting first-time speakers, also sponsored this talk, highlighting the broader industry relevance of the problem.
AI review
A well-structured, earnest talk about a real organizational problem — the underrepresentation of women in conference speaking pipelines — backed by three years of internal program data and a replicable playbook. It does what it sets out to do competently, but the ceiling is a BSides community slot, not a headline session.