User:Datagirl 1/sandbox
Kayla Williams[edit]
Kayla Marie Williams (born September 20, 1986) is an American information security expert specializing in IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), security risk management, data privacy programs, vendor management, and information security strategy creation.
Williams was born in Boston, MA and was raised by a single mother in Georgetown Apartments in Hyde Park. Williams mother is of mainly Greek and Turkish decent and Williams father is Irish. Williams attended Lasell University in Newton, MA from 2004-2009, and obtained her bachelor of science in accounting and her masters of science in management (MSM) concentrating in project management.
After graduating with her accounting degree, Williams had a short stint as an external auditor for a Massachusetts municipality auditing firm before moving into financial services external auditing. In 2010, after the birth of her first daughter, Williams joined Computershare, US as an internal auditor. It was in this role that she was able to partake in a variety of regulatory, IT systems, and operational audits and risk assessments.
In 2013, Williams applied for an information security consultant role under the newly formed Global Information Security Group within Computershare. It was in this role that Williams was transferred to Bristol, England for a year long secondment from November 2013 to November 2014 working closely with the leadership team for the information security team.
Upon her return to the United States in 2014, Williams continued working for Computershare however she was promoted twice; once to Global Program Manager and then to Senior Risk Manager - US.
By the end of February 2018, Williams had begun working at LogMeIn, Inc. (now known as GoTo) as the Director, GRC, reporting to the CISO. Creating the information security program framework for the company's product portfolio (23 products at the time spanning communications, remote IT support, conferencing, customer engagement and AI), a corporate-wide risk security management framework, and executing a SOC2TII audit on the majority of the products. Additionally, four products [bold360, bold360ai, Rescue, and RescueAssist] underwent an ISO27001 certification and LastPass attempted an IRAP assessment.
In 2021, during the global coronavirus pandemic Williams transitioned to Devo Inc. as the Vice President, GRC, before being promoted to CISO in August 2022.
Background[edit]
Kayla Marie Williams (neé Jomides) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 20, 1986, to Maria Jomides and Joseph Donovan. Maria raised her daughter on her own, with no monetary or physical support received from Joseph.
Maria Jomides was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts to Jennie Jomides (neé Johnson) and Timothy Jomides, a Greek immigrant. She attended West Roxbury High, where she met Williams' father, Joseph. Maria attended Katherine Gibbs College in Rhode Island, where she specialized in IT Systems.
In November 1994, Maria and Kayla moved from Hyde Park, MA to Wrentham, MA where Kayla attended Wrentham Elementary Schools and King Philip Regional High School, graduating high school in May 2004.
Childhood[edit]
Williams was raised Greek Orthodox, having been baptized at St. Nectarios Church in Roslindale, MA. She spent a lot of time with her grandmother, Jennie Jomides, and grandfather, Timothy Jomides, while her mother worked two jobs to support their family. Timothy was a cook at the Pleasant Café in Roslindale, MA until his death from vascular dementia in 2012. Jennie was a part-time associate at Star Market in Hyde Park, MA and died from complications related to emphysema in 2007, shortly after Williams' first marriage.
Williams thrived in the classroom, receiving A's and B's throughout elementary and junior high school. Upon entering high school however, Williams struggled to maintain her academic record often struggling with symptoms of depression. Her focus was mainly on working her after school and weekend jobs, to make and save enough money to pay for her car.
Being in school the only option was to work part-time. This was relatively easy since the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets had opened in the late 1990's in her home town and was about 3 miles from her house. At the age of 14 she received a work permit for her high school guidance counselor and began working at Levi's Outlet store. In addition to working at Levi's, Williams worked at Nine West, United Colors of Benetton, and Calvin Klein. At the age of 16, Williams began to also work at IHOP in Norwood, MA on Saturdays and Sundays.
Personal Life[edit]
In 2006, Williams met her first husband, Scott Richardson, while working at Napa Valley Grille located at the Providence Place Mall in Providence, RI. After a whirlwind romance, Williams and Richardson married on May 25, 2007 in Warwick, RI before Richardson deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In January 2010, Williams and Richardson welcomed their daughter, Sadie. Williams and Richardson separated in 2012 but continue to co-parent their daughter together.
During Williams' secondment to Bristol, England, she met her husband, Keith Williams, during a night out in Chesterfield. The couple maintained a long distance relationship until they were married in Niagara Falls, Canada, on September 28, 2016. The couple's daughter, Skyler, was born in January 2017. Williams' step-son Olly moved to the United States in September 2022.
Williams, her husband Keith, and their children reside in Massachusetts.