Renée Forney: The 30-Year Cybersecurity Veteran Now Teaching at Morehouse
Let me tell you about Renée Forney.
There’s a Black woman who spent 30 years defending some of the most sensitive systems in the country — the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, Capital One — and she’s now one of the most senior Black cybersecurity leaders in the world. And on the side, she’s teaching the next generation at an HBCU. Her name is Renée Forney.
The Work
Renée is the Director of Information System Security Officer (ISSO) Governance, Risk & Compliance at Meta — where she leads global cybersecurity governance and compliance for one of the biggest companies on Earth. And she’s an Adjunct Professor at Morehouse College, teaching computer ethics and human values.
Before Meta, her resume reads like a tour through America’s most critical infrastructure. She was Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity and Enterprise Operations at the Department of Energy, advising the White House on cyber. She ran the CyberSkills Management Support Initiative at DHS, coordinating cyber workforce programs across the Secret Service, TSA, ICE, and Coast Guard. She worked at GSA. In the private sector, she was Senior Director of Cyber Assurance at Capital One and led Azure hardware and infrastructure security at Microsoft.
She holds a CISSP and an honorary Doctorate of Science and Technology. She’s a 2024 Security Magazine Top Cybersecurity Leader. And she’s testified before Congress on the shocking underrepresentation of minorities in cybersecurity.
The Roots
Renée built her career in the Washington, D.C. area — and she hasn’t forgotten where she came from. She co-founded #ShareTheMicInCyber, the movement that elevates Black voices in cybersecurity. She returned to Tatnall School in Delaware to give the 2026 commencement address. And she works with the Carnegie Mellon–Morehouse partnership on cybersecurity to build pipelines for Black students.
This is a woman who defends the systems that keep America running and spends her nights building the on-ramp for the Black tech talent the field so desperately needs.
Why It Matters
Here’s what I want you to sit with: cybersecurity is one of the highest-paying, fastest-growing fields in tech — and one of the least diverse. Renée Forney represents both the ceiling and the ladder. She’s at the top, protecting Meta and having briefed presidents, and she’s reaching down to pull the next generation of Black professionals up.
She didn’t just get a seat at the table. She’s building the table, and she’s teaching our kids the ethics of the power they’re about to hold.
Quick facts:
- Director, ISSO GRC at Meta + Adjunct Professor, Morehouse College
- Ex-Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity, Department of Energy
- Ran CyberSkills Management Support Initiative at DHS
- Senior Director roles at Capital One & Microsoft (Azure security)
- Co-founder #ShareTheMicInCyber · CISSP · briefed Congress
