The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)® is a not-for-profit, international organization of information security professionals and practitioners. Through its membership, ISSA-Kansas City helps security professionals in the Kansas City area learn of information security issues and trends, which promote education, collaboration, and leadership, and further the information security profession.
Board of Directors
Nichole Windholz is a Cybersecurity professional who has over 20 years of experience working in Information Technology and Security. She is a proven leader, with a focus in Cybersecurity Incident Response. Nichole spent the last 2 years building a new Cybersecurity Incident Response Center for a major corporation in Kansas City, supporting ~26,000 associates in 26 countries.
She spent her early security career managing several different areas of security, including Security Architecture and Application Security. During this time, she led several security projects from proof of concept to implementation.
Nichole is a Founding Member and Past President of Women in Security-Kansas City and the Director of Education for the Kansas City ISSA Chapter. Nichole enjoys focusing on outreach opportunities and is passionate about sharing her Cybersecurity knowledge through youth education, mentoring, and conferences.

Gary Kretzer has been a member of the Kansas City chapter of ISSA since 2006. Gary volunteered in the chapter meetings at check in, and he began his leadership role with ISSA by serving as Chapter Secretary from 2007 to 2013. Gary was elected the position of Treasurer for 2016. Gary is currently a Security Engineer for The University of Kansas Hospital on the Identity Management (IdM) Team. He manages identities for Hospital, University, & Contractor accounts for over 8,000 users. Gary has a bachelor’s degree from DeVry University in Telecommunications Management and earned his CISSP in December 2006. Gary has worked in the Federal, Legal, Software Development, and Healthcare verticals.
In 2013 Gary was accepted into the ranks of ISSA Senior Member Program, which recognizes sustained membership and contributions to the information security profession.
John Godfrey has most recently served as the Associate Vice Chancellor of Information Security and Chief Information Security Officer for the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) where he works with national leaders within healthcare and academic medicine. Since 2012, he has worked to develop and build KUMC’s information security program. Prior to KUMC, he served at Kansas State University in a variety of IT and information security roles for a half decade. Prior to Kansas State, John worked for a large telecommunications and internet services provider and operated his own consulting business.
John remains very active in the profession. He is a member of numerous professional organizations, he speaks locally and nationally on a variety of topics, he moderates conference session panels, guest speaks on podcasts, writes articles for publications and magazines, consults with startups, holds several board positions, and is on the State of Kansas Governor's Cybersecurity Task Force. John has repeatedly been described as a passionate professional and a transformative leader through his deep commitment to developing and growing his team, his peers, and his organization.
In his spare time, he is working to complete his Doctor of Science degree in cybersecurity. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, touring vineyards, travelling, and giving back to others. John Godfrey has been a member of the Kansas City chapter of ISSA since 2008. In 2014, John was accepted into the ranks of ISSA Senior Member Program, which recognizes sustained membership and contributions to the information security profession.

WS Cheng has been a member of the ISSA KC Chapter since 2012 and has served ISSA KC Chapter as Director of Membership since 2017. He is currently Information Security & Risk Manager at an AMLaw 200 law firm headquartered in Kansas City. Mr. Cheng enjoys traveling, and he is a regular at DefCon.
Cheng also studied animation and screened his work at different venues around the world including Belgium, France, Canada, China, Switzerland, and Spain. He holds a master’s degree in Information Systems Engineering and is certified as CISSP, CISA, and CISM.

Thomas Badgett, ISSA-KC Chapter Webmaster, joined Security PS in 2005 and serves as Director of Professional Services. Thomas leads the various information security consulting practice areas and ensures the delivery of Security PS services adhere to the highest professional standards. His extensive project management background and leadership abilities have allowed the firm to consistently deliver client projects on-time and on-budget. In addition to leading the consulting practice areas and managing key client relationships, Thomas has led several key company initiatives that have allowed the firm to grow revenues and profitability.
Prior to joining Security PS, Thomas served various technical and leadership roles in application development and account management. He has a bachelor's degree in Business and Marketing from Kansas State University and earned an MBA degree from Baker University.

Naeem Babri is a Cyber Risk Manager at T-Mobile with a day-to-day focus on risk assessments, information security, and security controls. Naeem has been a member of the T-Mobile Security team since 2011. His strong knowledge base of security, project management, and IT operations and support has led to various roles at Sprint/T-Mobile.
He holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Resource Management and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science.
Naeem is an avid marathon runner and patron of the arts. Naeem Babri has served as ISSA-KC Chapter President since 2014.
Michelle Manley, Social Media
Mike Hill, Director of Certification
Past Chapter Board Officers
Listed below are previous chapter board officers. We thank them for their dedication and service to the ISSA-KC Chapter.
JoAnn Fisher, Board Advisor

JoAnn Fisher has been a member of ISSA for 17 years. She began her leadership role with ISSA by serving as president in 2000 and 2001. Last year JoAnn was accepted into the ISSA Fellow Program which recognizes individuals for: Commitment to leadership and involvement with ISSA; Leader in the information security community; Engagement in appropriate debate and discussion; A visionary and strategic thinker; and establishment of new and innovative programs within their sphere of influence. JoAnn is currently a Security Solution Architect for Capgemini and develops security solutions for potential and existing clients.
JoAnn has a master’s degree from Keller Graduate School of Management in Telecommunications Management and a master’s degree from Pittsburg State University in Human Resource Development. JoAnn holds the following certifications: CISSP, CISA, PMP, CISM, CGEIT, ITILv3, and ABCP.
Naeem Babri, President (2014 - 2021)
Naeem Babri is a Cyber Risk Manager at T-Mobile with a day-to-day focus on risk assessments, information security, and security controls.
Carmen Banks, Director of Programs

Carmen Banks is an Information Security and risk management professional. She has extensive experience managing professionals in the maintenance of systems to protect data from unauthorized access. Experience includes HIPAA-PHI, risk management, and application security by implementing and managing application security assessment software and providing security input into development projects for new systems, networks and products.
She has extensive experience developing information security policies and procedures, conducting risk assessments to validate compliance to security policies and regulatory requirements, enterprise security awareness and education, building a secure infrastructure, responding to incidents, conducting investigations and caring out periodic reviews to verify levels of compliance with the Information Security policies and standards. Experience includes developing, implementing and maintaining all aspects of a progressive Information Security Risk Management program.
Rochelle Boyd, Secretary of the Board

Rochelle Boyd is the Technology Audit Manager at Johnson County Community College, where she’s been employed for ten years. She received her master’s degree from Regis University and earned her CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) certification in 2004 and has over 16 years' experience in the information security field.
She has worked in the Oil/Gas, Financial, Technology, and Higher Education industries. She enjoys helping others helping others secure their information and during her off time she enjoys spending time with her family.