Baxter CISO Nicole Darden Ford Joins NTSC Board of Directors
Thursday, October 11, 2018
ATLANTA (October 11, 2018) – Nicole Darden Ford, Vice President, IT Security and Compliance and Global Chief Information Security Officer for Baxter International Inc., has been appointed to serve on the National Technology Security Coalition’s (NTSC) Board of Directors. Representing the healthcare industry, Ford will help influence the strategic direction of the NTSC and join CISOs who represent a broad cross-section of enterprise companies. These CISOs have a vested interest in protecting the security of their customers and employees through policies that improve national cybersecurity standards and awareness.
“During my career, I’ve seen the impact of information security regulations across different industries as CISOs aim to both secure their organizations and comply with laws,” said Ford. “As cybersecurity leaders, our duty is to continually utilize the best practices and policies needed to respond to an ever-changing cyber threat landscape and protect the business environment. By assembling CISOs from all industries, the NTSC is providing lawmakers in Washington D.C. access to an underserved voice in the national discussion about cybersecurity policy. I am honored to join such a distinguished group of my CISO peers and look forward to sharing my public and private sector experience to help the NTSC’s mission.”
In her role at Baxter, Ford has global responsibility for information security as well as information technology quality compliance and information governance supporting Baxter. She joined Baxter in December 2016 from Venable LLP, an AMLAW 100 law firm located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area where she held the position of Director of Information Security. Prior to this role, Ford served as the Senior Director of Security and Compliance for Inovalon where she built a premier Privacy and Security Program that balanced functionality and security with leading products, best practices, and excellence in execution. She also served as Security and Compliance Officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and began her IT career in the U.S. Army working for the Joint Chiefs of Staff near Camp David in Maryland. Currently, Ford is the information technology (IT) representative for Baxter’s Global Inclusion Council, committed to advancing inclusion and diversity at Baxter with a primary focus on advancing women and underrepresented minorities in leadership and driving inclusive leadership capabilities and culture across the organization.
“Nicole’s experience is vast and encompasses serving as a CISO, overseeing compliance and regulatory requirements related to cybersecurity, holding security leadership roles in the public and private sector, and starting off her career journey in the U.S. Army,” said Patrick Gaul, Executive Director of the NTSC. “She has extensive knowledge and experience with cybersecurity, cyber forensics, and Homeland Security practices within the federal government and private sector. We are honored to have Nicole join our Board and look forward to her insights about national cybersecurity policy as we continue to shape our strategy and positions.”
The NTSC provides a platform for CISOs to advocate for beneficial legislative and regulatory policies. We encourage dialogue about cybersecurity issues, laws, and regulations through advocacy engagement with congressional members, regional CISO policy roundtables, and our National CISO Policy Conference.
Ford joins a prestigious board of CISOs from leading companies including Aaron’s, Aflac, AIG, Archer Daniels, AutoNation, Citi, Cox Automotive, Discover Financial Services, Dollar Tree, Ellie Mae, Globe Life, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, Huntington Bank, Johnson & Johnson, MassMutual, Mastercard, McKesson, Motorola Mobility, NCR, Ohio State University, Pulte Group, Synovus, TaxSlayer, Technology Association of Georgia, TransUnion, Turner, Unisys, United Airlines, US Bank, Voya Financial, Western Digital, and Zocdoc.
About the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC)
The National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that serves as the preeminent advocacy voice for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across the nation. Through dialogue, education, and government relations, we unite both public and private sector stakeholders around policies that improve national cybersecurity standards and awareness.
Twitter @NTSC_CISO
To learn more about joining or underwriting NTSC, visit ntsc.org