Denis R. Hébert Identity Management Scholarship Program
$10,000 in Total Scholarship Awards to Support Young Professionals' Career Development Goals
About the Program
The Denis R. Hébert Identity Management Scholarship program, presented by the Security Industry Association (SIA), annually awards two $5,000 scholarships to young professionals who are current employees of SIA member companies to help further their education in the field of identity management. Award recipients are nominated by industry peers and selected by the SIA Learning and Development Committee.
This scholarship was named after Hébert, chair and investor at Nightingale Security and a past member of SIA’s Board of Directors who served as chair from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, SIA and the Board of Directors established the Denis R. Hébert Identity Management Scholarship program in recognition of the substantial subject matter expertise Hébert offered and continues to offer to SIA members. His input has helped businesses to interpret and influence identity management trends and achieve greater business success. In his role as a leader on the SIA board, Denis Hébert positively impacted SIA’s service to its members in the domain of identity management as evidenced through the development of many of its education, government relations and standards initiatives.
The program is designed to support the professional development goals of young professionals who specialize in identity management – a field involving the systematic control of access, authenticating users, securing assets and protecting privacy. Identity management encompasses many aspects of risk management, public policy, fraud prevention, privacy, data analysis, risk and governance, information technology and security. Innovative advances in the creation, convergence and utilization of identity management security solutions will help to mitigate current and future identity threats, protect the privacy of individuals and enterprises and secure critical assets. The scholarship funds must be used towards post-secondary education programs, including training courses, accredited college courses, certifications or other valid credentialing programs related to the field of identity management.
2024 Denis Hébert Scholarship Winners: Mariana Lima and Samuel Silvamolina
SIA has named Mariana Lima, data privacy analyst, legal, at dormakaba USA, and Samuel Silvamolina, electronic security systems engineer at M.C. Dean, as the 2024 recipients of the Denis R. Hébert Identity Management Scholarship.
With a distinguished legal education from one of Brazil’s most prestigious universities and an LLM degree set to be completed in the United States by December 2024, Mariana Lima brings a global perspective to her role at dormakaba, a leading player in access and security solutions since 2017. As an attorney specializing in corporate law, she offers strategic guidance across Latin America, focusing on business agreements and corporate legal management, including litigation. Lima’s proficiency in data privacy and protection is demonstrated through her development and implementation of comprehensive standards across Latin America, coupled with ensuring regulatory compliance in North America market. Known for her resilience, determination and adept communication skills, she thrives in managing complex issues and delivering successful outcomes while maintaining discretion and adaptability in high-pressure situations.
Samuel Silvamolina is an electronic security systems engineer at M.C. Dean with almost 20 years of experience dedicated to physical security, fire and life safety and networking security plus a wide electrical engineering background from electrical power, power electronics and digital electronics. Besides a solid technical and theoretical background, Silvamolina has been working in the field even longer. The experience collected in all these years is a combination of learning information with practical application of the conceptualization, understanding better how different systems can work or why installation, service or tests must be conducted under a specific protocol, code or standards. Silvamolina is a proud member of the South Carolina Army National Guard since 2008, holding the rank of chief warrant officer 3 as a construction engineering technician, MOS 120A.
Official Rules and Requirements
A complete application, including all necessary supporting documentation (as described below), must be submitted. All application packets will be submitted electronically, without exception. Applications not submitted during the application window will not be considered; there will be no exceptions made to this requirement.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must meet all requirements set forth below to be eligible to apply:
- Each applicant must be either 1) a SIA student member or 2) a full-time employee of a SIA member company holding a current membership and in good standing within the employer organization. Unsure if your employer is a SIA member? Check our member directory or contact membership@securityindustry.org.
- Each applicant must have 1-5 years of professional experience in the security industry (exemptions for students with a verified plan of study in the field of access and identity management).
- Each applicant must complete and submit a signed application, along with all supporting documentation, including an essay and two professional references, by the deadline. The completion of the application form does not create an obligation on the part of SIA to award a scholarship to the applicant.
- Current officers, directors and key employees of SIA and the immediate families of SIA officers, directors and key employees are not eligible to receive scholarships under the program.
Application Process
- Applicant contact information
- Accurate and up-to-date resume/work history
- An essay answering the following questions:
- Why did you choose to apply for the Denis R. Hebert Identity Management Scholarship and how would the scholarship funds be used? (500 words minimum)
- What is the biggest trend in identity and privacy facing the industry today? (250 words minimum)
- What will be the biggest trend in identity and privacy facing the industry in 5 years? (250 words minimum)
- How would this award help you achieve your professional development goals? (100 words minimum)
Scholarship Selection Committee
The Scholarship Selection Committee (the “Committee”) will consist of volunteers from the SIA Identity Working Group. Committee members are volunteers and perform their duties without compensation, financial or otherwise. If the Committee is reviewing the application of an applicant who is an employee of the Committee member’s company, or if the Committee member is otherwise conflicted with respect to the applicant, the Committee member shall recuse him or herself from all deliberation and voting regarding the applicant’s application.
Selection Process
- Only those applicants who meet the eligibility criteria and submit their completed applications and supporting documentation during the application window (“qualified applications”) will be considered in the selection process.
- It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit a complete and signed application, along with all the supporting documentation, which must be received on or before the deadline. The Committee accepts no responsibility for incomplete applications, applications not in proper form, lost applications or any other submission not in compliance with these requirements or the instructions provided with the application.
- The Committee shall review each application and award points based on the applicant grading criteria set forth below. As noted above, a committee member with a conflict with respect to any applicant shall not participate in the review or grading of that applicant’s application and supporting materials.
- The scholarship award will be based on the Committee’s scores of the overall quality of the application and the scholarship essays. The two applications receiving the highest scores shall be awarded scholarships. In the case of a tie, the SIA CEO will make the final decision.
- Scholarship selection shall be made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other category protected by federal, state or local law. Conversely, an applicant will not be selected solely based on one or more of the categories identified above.
- The decision of the Committee is final and not subject to review.
- All deliberations and decisions of the Committee shall be recorded in Committee meeting minutes, which shall be drafted contemporaneously with the review and decisions of the Committee.
Applicant Grading Criteria
The following applicant grading criteria will be followed by members of the Committee in reviewing applications and determining those applicants that will be granted scholarships:
| Grading Criteria | |
|---|---|
| Fulfilled all eligibility requirements | Up to 10 points |
| Essay | Up to 60 points |
| Applicability of the selected course(s) of study toward the stated career goal(s) | Up to 30 points |
| Up to 100 points |
Award Date
All applicants will be notified via email, regardless if selected as a recipient or not, by the award date regarding the status of their scholarship application.
Award Redemption
Each recipient must enroll in the approved degree program or professional development course within 12 months of being awarded the scholarship and coordinate with SIA for course fee payment. SIA will pay for course/program enrollment on recipient’s behalf up to the $5,000 value of the scholarship. If course/program costs more than $5,000, the recipient is responsible for the balance. If cost of course/program is less than $5,000 scholarship award, the recipient will have a credit to use on related professional development within a 12-month period.
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