The CSA Triangle Chapter’s Year of Momentum: 2025 Highlights

Building on a strong foundation, the CSA Triangle Chapter continued its mission in 2025 to advance education and awareness across Cloud Security, Zero Trust, and AI Safety; forge powerful partnerships; and deepen community engagement across its expanding region, which now extends beyond the Triangle to include Fayetteville, Wilmington, and Greenville metros.

Under the leadership of President and Co-founder Shankar Chebrolu, the Chapter made significant strides in expanding educational reach and delivering high-value technical content to the information security community and received the chapter of excellence award for the third year in a row.

 

Building Academic Partnerships and Educational Outreach

The Triangle Chapter strengthened its commitment to preparing the next generation of cybersecurity professionals by establishing new academic partnerships and enhancing existing relationships:

NCSU, UNCFSU and ECU Partnerships: Formal academic partnerships were established with North Carolina State University (NCSU), Fayetteville State University (UNCFSU) and East Carolina University (ECU). All three universities signed the CCSK Academic Partner License Agreement, enabling integration of CSA’s foundational CCSKv5 courseware and labs into their curricula. This expansion brings the Chapter’s total academic partners to five, joining UNC Wilmington and Duke University that were signed last year.

Continued Engagement with NCSU: The Chapter continued to maintain strong engagement with NCSU. Training Directors Vinay Bansal and Lauren Santiago, together with colleagues from Cisco and Red Hat, led a three-hour workshop titled “Cloud Security for Cybersecurity Professionals” at the NC-PaCE Cybersecurity Symposium on April 17. Shankar also participated in a panel discussion with NCSU’s student ISSA chapter in March.

Comprehensive Duke University Partnership: The Chapter deepened engagement with Duke University through education, mentorship, and sponsorship.

• Executive Education & Global Expansion: Shankar and Vinay delivered a two-day executive course, “AI and Cybersecurity for Leaders Certificate,” as part of Duke’s Executive Cybersecurity Certificate Programs, collaborating with Duke faculty and industry leaders. Both also joined the program’s Industry Advisory Board, further strengthening the chapter’s influence in shaping cybersecurity education. This partnership will expand globally with a forthcoming two-and-a-half-day “Cloud Security for Leaders Certificate” program. In addition, the Chapter’s Program Director, Ashish Vashishtha, joined Shankar as a mentor in Duke’s Mentoring for Cybersecurity Achievement Program (MCAP).
• Conference Sponsorship & Engagement: The Chapter sponsored the Duke Cybersecurity Conference, influenced a new nonprofit sponsorship tier and secured the sponsorship early on. Board members including VP Aaron Lancaster, Membership Director Ryan King, Shankar, Vinay, and Ashish attended the two-day event, engaged with Duke faculty, staff, and speakers, and presented “CSA Certified” shirts to students certified in CCSKv5 and CCZT.

 

Community Support and Key Conference Engagement

In 2025, the Chapter significantly increased its support for major local security conferences and expanded collaboration with sister organizations, underscoring its commitment to strengthening the broader regional cybersecurity ecosystem.

Carolina Cyber Network (CCN): The Chapter established a new partnership with CCN and contributed to their AI and Cybersecurity Symposium with Shankar scheduled to speak on the panel titled “The Evolution of Zero Trust”.

ISSA Raleigh: The Chapter continued its key partnership with the ISSA Raleigh chapter, contributing to the success of their annual Triangle InfoSeCon on Oct 3. Shankar presented on "AI + Computer Vision: Turning Architecture Diagrams into Faster Threat Models."

BSidesRDU: The Chapter elevated its sponsorship level for BSidesRDU from Silver in 2024 to Gold in 2025. Beyond the sponsorship, Shankar and Vinay, supported by their colleagues from Cisco and Red Hat, led a technical, three-hour workshop at the conference on the crucial topic of "Securing the AI Frontier: Mitigating Risks through Threat Analysis and Incident Response” on Sep 12.

Trend Micro: Vinay Bansal and Eric Hart served as panelists at Trend Micro’s World Tour (Raleigh) on the panel “Securing AI at Scale” on Aug 14.

Cybersecurity Summit: The Chapter maintained its strong partnership with CyberRisk Alliance (CRA). At the Raleigh Cybersecurity Summit on Jul 15, Shankar presented on "Building Trust in the Age of AI: Inside CSA’s AI Safety Initiative" and moderated a panel discussion on "Emerging Threats and Security Trends."

NCTECH: The Chapter forged a strategic partnership with another local non-profit organization, NCTECH (NC Tech Association). Shankar joined their advisory board and was a speaker on the "Ethical AI" panel at the State of Tech EXPONENTIAL conference in Durham on May 15, leveraging the collaboration to help relaunch the NCTECH Cyber Security Network in 2026.

GuidePoint Security: The Chapter formalized a new partnership with GuidePoint Security and contributed to the success of their inaugural cybersecurity conference, GPSEC, held in Cary, NC, on Mar 7, through timely promotions to the Chapter members.

ISACA-RTP: The Chapter launched a formal partnership with the ISACA-RTP, featuring two presentations at their monthly Training Sessions on Feb 05—Vinay on “Leveraging AI/ML for Monitoring and Incident Response” and Lauren on “Achieving CSA Certifications: CCSK and CCZT.”

 

Advancing Certifications and Training

TAISE Certification Leadership: The Triangle Chapter became the only CSA chapter worldwide to contribute at the Benefactor level to the TAISE Fundraiser, demonstrating its leadership in AI Safety and community impact. CSA CEO Jim Reavis highlighted this contribution on LinkedIn as a mark of outstanding leadership. In addition, Shankar and Ashish participated as Trusted AI Safety Expert (TAISE) content reviewers and earned their certifications shortly after the program’s official launch. Vinay and Lauren soon followed, bringing the total number of certified chapter board members to 4 out of 10.

Structured Study Groups: Vinay and Lauren launched structured CSA certification study groups in 2025, with a primary focus on CCZT certification preparation. Lauren led approximately six study sessions, which directly contributed to several attending members successfully achieving their CCZT certification immediately following the completion of the sessions.

Recognition Program: To further encourage the community in their professional development, the Chapter initiated a new recognition program in 2025. Members who completed CSA certifications were celebrated during monthly meetups and received polo shirts proudly embroidered with the words "CSA Certified."

 

Tremendous Growth in Membership and Monthly Meetup Engagement

The CSA Triangle Chapter achieved record growth in 2025, expanding membership fivefold since late 2022 and maintaining high engagement across events.

Community Scale: The Chapter now has 2,256 members across platforms, including 851 on LinkedIn and 1,095 on Meetup.com, averaging over 50 new members per month.

Widespread Recruitment: This growth was the result of a concerted effort by all members, especially the Board, who actively recruited new members at various local conferences and educational events throughout the year. Targeted recruitment efforts saw participation from key leadership at major events.

Sustained Monthly Events: The Chapter’s commitment to community learning has led to hosting technical meetups every month since December 2022 without fail, resulting in steadily increasing attendance over the years. Each meetup is scheduled for two and a half hours, beginning with an hour of arrival and networking over snacks, drinks, and dinner, followed by a brief update on Chapter activities from Shankar and then a technical presentation by the sponsoring organization. Every session welcomes both in-person and remote attendees, ensuring broader accessibility. In addition, each presentation is recorded and uploaded to the CSA YouTube channel, further extending the Chapter’s educational reach beyond live participants.

Expanded Footprint & Diverse Venues: Consistent with its strategy to cover the Triangle region, the Chapter successfully added a new venue: Duke University in Durham. The Duke venue hosted a key event on "Gen AI Security Essentials," presented by the SANS Head of Innovation. The Chapter hosted four meetups at the TEKsystems in Raleigh, four at the Varonis in Morrisville, and three at Red Hat in downtown Raleigh.

Virtual Engagement: In addition to in-person events, the Chapter hosted a virtual meetup on March 28th, featuring two topics: "Post-Quantum Cryptography" and "Preparing Cybersecurity Professionals for the AI Threat Landscape."

 

Sponsorships and Industry Support

The CSA Triangle Chapter continued to enjoy strong industry support throughout 2025, enabling it to sustain and expand its wide range of community initiatives. The chapter secured renewals from long-standing sponsors such as Trend Micro, Varonis, and Saviynt, along with continued support from Rubrik and Wiz, who joined as sponsors last year. This year also welcomed new meetup sponsors: SentinelOne, Akamai, and Island.io further strengthening the Chapter’s partnerships and diversity of engagement. Additionally, Red Hat and CyberRisk Alliance (CRA) continued their invaluable commitment as dedicated Chapter sponsors for the third consecutive year.

Behind these achievements were the tireless efforts of the Chapter’s Board members, each playing a key role in nurturing sponsor relationships and growing community support:

• Lou Karwoski, who transitioned into the Treasurer role this year, ensured the renewal of Trend Micro for the fourth consecutive year and helped onboard SentinelOne as a first-time sponsor following his recent career move.
• Elexa Lawrence, our Events & Social Media Director and the event host for meetups held at Varonis, was instrumental in securing Varonis’s third-year renewal.
• Kitson Pereira, who also led the September meetup’s technical presentation, managed the Saviynt renewal, marking its third consecutive year of Chapter support.
• Joe Ekberg, a two-time sponsor turned Sponsorship Director, successfully onboarded Island.io this year and continues to lead advanced discussions with new and renewing sponsors.
• Shankar Chebrolu collaborated directly with Akamai to establish their first-time sponsorship and ensured the continued renewal of Red Hat’s long-standing support.

 

Strong Board and Advisory Leadership

The Chapter's success is underpinned by the dedication and diverse expertise of its leadership. The Chapter currently boasts a strong 10-member Board, and six Advisors with backgrounds spanning technical, sales, and marketing backgrounds in cloud and security solutions. Their extensive networks within the industry and academia significantly strengthen the Chapter’s outreach efforts. The Advisory Board includes co-founders Eric Hart and Kyle Mitchell, along with influential CISOs and security leaders such as Chuck Kesler, Manny Landron, and Thomas Hill. Their collective guidance and professional connections have been instrumental in securing sponsorships, forging key partnerships, and driving the Chapter’s overall growth.

Role Changes: The Chapter saw strategic role changes aimed at leveraging expertise across the board. Lou moved from the Membership Director role to Treasurer, following Kevin Johnson's transition from Treasurer to the Advisory Board. Concurrently, Kitson moved into the Secretary role from the Advisory Board, and Ryan moved into the Membership Director role.

Board Appreciation: Recognizing that it is not all work, for the first time in 2025, the CSA Triangle Chapter board, including advisors and their respective family members, enjoyed a social outing by attending a baseball game at the Durham Bulls stadium (Home Run Derby in August) to celebrate their collective commitment.

 

Looking Ahead

The year 2025 was marked by significant expansion, strengthened partnerships, and deeper community engagement. With an energized board, active sponsors, and an engaged membership, the CSA Triangle Chapter is poised to continue its leadership in Cloud Security, Zero Trust, and AI Safety in 2026 and beyond.