Heather Phelps, Recognized By Influential Women, Connects Cybersecurity Skill With A Lifelong Commitment To Service

FORNEY, TX, UNITED STATES, September 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — A U.S. Navy Combat Veteran, Cybersecurity Executive, and Community Leader, Heather Phelps Continues to Protect Critical Systems While Empowering People and Strengthening the Communities She Serves

Heather Phelps, MISM, has built a career at the intersection of technology, cybersecurity, telecommunications, leadership, and service. A U.S. Navy Combat Veteran, cybersecurity executive, and community leader, Heather currently serves as Director of Information Security and Security Operations at Ribbon Communications, where she leads cybersecurity risk management, compliance, security operations, and strategic security initiatives supporting critical global communications infrastructure.

Her professional journey reflects the same values that have guided her throughout her life: honesty, integrity, courage, commitment, curiosity, and a willingness to continue learning. From working as an in-flight avionics technician in the U.S. Navy to leading information security programs within complex enterprise and telecommunications environments, Heather has consistently embraced opportunities to learn, adapt, and contribute.

Her career began in the military, where she worked as an in-flight avionics technician supporting mission-critical aircraft systems. Her Navy experience provided an important foundation for the technical discipline, accountability, and resilience that would later shape her career in information security. Following her military service, Heather transitioned into the technology sector and developed extensive experience across security governance, risk management, compliance, security operations, and the protection of both legacy and modern communications systems.

Over the course of her civilian career, Heather has held leadership roles with organizations including Grainger, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Fortune Brands Innovations, and Ericsson. These experiences allowed her to work across different environments while developing a broad understanding of how organizations approach technology, risk, and security.

Today, her work at Ribbon Communications places her at the forefront of cybersecurity leadership within the telecommunications industry. Her responsibilities encompass security risk management, compliance, security operations, and strategic initiatives designed to help protect complex communications infrastructure. The role requires not only technical knowledge but also the ability to understand how people, processes, systems, and business objectives intersect.

Heather’s academic and professional development has been equally broad. She holds a Master of Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Technical Management and Electrical Engineering from DeVry University. Her professional credentials include Fiber Optics Certified Technician and Installer, CISA, CISM, CMMC Certification, CyberAB Registered Practitioner, ITIL Foundations, and other specialized certifications. She has also completed the Leading for Impact Program.

Her commitment to lifelong learning is closely connected to the way she approaches leadership. Heather attributes much of her success to curiosity, resilience, and a commitment to service. Throughout her career, she has focused on asking questions, developing meaningful relationships, understanding connections between people and systems, and remaining adaptable as technology and organizations evolve.

For Heather, continuing to learn is not simply a professional obligation. It is an essential part of effective leadership.

The advice she has received and now shares with others is straightforward: stay curious and never stop growing. She believes that the moment people assume they have arrived is often the moment they stop learning. Successful professionals, in her view, remain students regardless of their position or level of experience.

Heather also emphasizes that leadership is never an individual accomplishment. Titles and authority do not create meaningful leadership on their own. Instead, leaders earn trust by serving others, helping people move toward common goals, and recognizing the contributions of those around them.

At the heart of this philosophy is the understanding that leadership is fundamentally about people. When individuals place their trust in a leader, Heather believes that trust represents both a privilege and a responsibility.

This people-centered approach also shapes the advice she offers young women entering technology and cybersecurity. As someone who has worked in traditionally male-dominated environments, Heather encourages women not to feel pressured to become someone else in order to succeed.

Instead, she encourages young women to remain authentic while pursuing excellence. Hard work, curiosity, continuous learning, knowledge, character, and consistent results can establish credibility without requiring anyone to sacrifice the qualities that make them unique.

Heather particularly emphasizes that femininity and empathy should not be viewed as weaknesses. In her perspective, these qualities can provide valuable balance and perspective within organizations and teams. Women can contribute their own experiences, talents, and voices while earning professional respect through competence, integrity, and consistency.

She believes there is room for women to succeed without compromising who they are, and that the technology industry benefits from diverse perspectives and approaches to leadership.

Looking ahead, Heather sees significant change taking place across cybersecurity and technology. One of the most prominent challenges is the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and automation alongside an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment. Professionals at every stage of their careers will need to adapt as technology changes the nature of their work.

Automation may reduce many routine responsibilities that previously served as entry points for professionals learning their fields. Administrative and operational functions may also increasingly become automated, requiring organizations and their leaders to reconsider how work is structured.

Yet Heather sees opportunity within that transformation. As technology assumes more repetitive responsibilities, human capabilities such as critical thinking, judgment, communication, leadership, and trust-building become increasingly important.

For Heather, the future of cybersecurity leadership will depend on more than technical expertise. Professionals will need to understand technology while also helping people navigate uncertainty, change, and increasingly complex environments.

She also believes the importance of community, mentorship, and service will continue to grow. As industries transform and people adapt to new technologies, leaders and organizations have an opportunity to help individuals develop new skills, remain connected, and find meaningful paths forward.

Outside her corporate responsibilities, Heather maintains a strong commitment to serving veterans and her local community. She currently serves as Commander of Forney Memorial VFW Post 9180, Senior Vice Commander for Texas VFW District 30, and an active member of the District 30 Honor Guard. She is also involved with organizations including the Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, ISACA, WiCyS, IIA, CompTIA, Electronic Technicians Association, IAPP, and Project Management Institute.

Her community leadership reflects the same service-oriented mindset that has shaped her professional career. Whether she is supporting veterans and military families, participating in community initiatives, mentoring others, or helping organizations strengthen their security practices, Heather approaches each responsibility with a strong sense of accountability.

The principles behind that approach were instilled in her by her mother and reinforced during her years of military service. Honesty, integrity, courage, and commitment remain central to how she defines both personal and professional success.

For Heather, integrity means doing what is right even when it is difficult and maintaining one’s principles regardless of who is watching. Courage means having the strength to step forward when something is wrong, stand up for others, and offer help when it is needed. Commitment means remaining dedicated to responsibilities, teams, and values even when circumstances become challenging.

These principles have followed Heather from military service into cybersecurity leadership and community advocacy. They provide a consistent foundation for navigating an industry characterized by rapid technological change and increasingly complex challenges.

Her story demonstrates how technical expertise and service can exist alongside one another. From mission-critical aircraft systems to global communications infrastructure, Heather has spent her career working to protect systems while recognizing that the people behind those systems are ultimately what make organizations successful.

As cybersecurity continues to evolve, Heather remains committed to learning, adapting, serving, and empowering others. Her career is defined not simply by the positions she has held or certifications she has earned, but by an enduring belief that effective leadership requires curiosity, accountability, trust, and a willingness to serve.

Through her work in cybersecurity and telecommunications, as well as her continued dedication to veterans and her community, Heather Phelps continues to put those principles into practice—protecting critical environments, developing people, and contributing wherever her experience and leadership can make a meaningful difference.

Learn More about Heather Phelps:

Through her Influential Women profile, https://influentialwomen.com/connect/heather-phelps-1

Influential Women

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