The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named five female biometrics leaders as recipients of its 2023 SIA Women in Biometrics Awards. The 2023 awardees, who will be honored at SIA GovSummit, SIA’s annual government security conference, are:

Larisa Boyko, Director, Quality Assurance, Advanced Recognition Systems, NEC Corporation of America

Larisa Boyko is an information technology professional with more than 20 years of experience in the software development life cycle. She spent over eight years in the biometrics field focused on quality assurance, information security and quality processes and has led a variety of projects, including the implementation and certification of ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System and ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System (ISMS) for NEC Advanced Recognition Systems.

Boyko managed the quality assurance team and led implementations of multiple biometric identification system projects for state and local government and law enforcement agencies. As the director of NEC quality assurance (QA), she is also focused on operations process implementation and improvements, release and configuration management, root cause analysis and process improvements.

Boyko has held a variety of QA roles with NEC and LexisNexis, Inc., responsible for directing QA, supervising the development and implementation of QA processes and procedures. She holds an MBA in finance and financial management and a Bachelor’s degree in economics and is certified as a Scrum Master and Product Owner and lead auditor for ISO:9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013.

Alicia Harrison, Chief, Stakeholder Engagement, Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), US Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Alicia Harrison has more than 16 years of experience as a subject matter expert in the field of biometrics. She currently leads her organization’s Stakeholder Engagement Team in support of OBIM’s role as the principal entity in DHS for biometric identity services that enable mission partner operations.

Harrison is responsible for the co-ordination of stakeholder engagement activities and helps to identify biometric identity management solutions in support of existing OBIM stakeholders. As a business owner of the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) playing a critical role in sharing biometric identity information for the US Government, she leads efforts that directly contribute to US national security.

She also led the co-ordination that established direct interoperability of automated biometric information sharing between the DHS IDENT and the US Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Automated Biometric Identification System for the exchange of identity data. During Operations Allies Refuge and Allies Welcome, Harrison led the effort to stand up OBIM’s 24/7 operational support through the creation of a tiger team of biometric subject matter experts to assist in requests, prioritize support and provide daily operational reports to DHS leadership.

Harrison holds a Master’s degree in public and international affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Gannon University.

Casey Mayfield, Senior Vice President, Justice and Public Safety, IDEMIA

Casey Mayfield leads IDEMIA’s Justice and Public Safety division, which delivers the company’s state and local hardware, software and criminal justice information services- (CJIS-)compliant solutions for criminal justice, law enforcement and enrollment services customers throughout the US and Canada.

Previously, she oversaw the enrollment operations team supporting over 25 state, federal and commercial programs, including the US Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) Transportation Worker Identification Credential, hazardous materials, Flight Training Security Program and TSA PreCheck, along with managing the successful deployment of multiple statewide and agency-specific enrollment programs. 

Mayfield is a charter member of the Customer Advisory Board, organized in collaboration with FBI Compact Council initiatives and serves as the business line leader for the Executive User Board. She is also a member of the Women In Idemia network, in addition to numerous industry advocacy groups. Mayfield holds a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Illinois Springfield.

C. Maxine Most, Principal, Acuity Market Intelligence

Strategic innovator, market visionary and forecasting guru Maxine Most is the founding principal of Acuity Market Intelligence, a strategic research and analysis consultancy recognized as the definitive authority on global biometrics market development.

Throughout her 35-year career, Most has evangelized emerging technology on five continents. Since 2001, she has applied her unique ability to bring clarity to the unpredictable and volatile world of emerging technology to the rapidly evolving biometric and digital identity marketplace. Under her leadership, Acuity has provided strategic guidance to Global 1000s, established technology market leaders, startups and a range of organizations in between.

Previously, Most managed the computer aided molecular design market for Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, directed Pacific Rim operations for a pioneering hospitality-based interactive services company and founded and operated a Silicon Valley-based retail company.

Most is the author of numerous research reports, as well as a contributor to several books. She is a graduate of the University of California San Diego with a multidisciplinary degree in mathematics and computer science and minors in visual arts and economics.

Bethany Retton, Management and Program Analyst, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Bethany Retton has been involved in research and development at the FBI’s CJIS Division for over ten years. Her projects have included latent search best practices using the FBI’s Next Generation Identification system, Universal Latent Workstation software and Latent Quality Metric software and the FBI’s iris pilot.

Retton is a member of the International Association for Identification as a certified latent print examiner and the Organization of Scientific Committees for Forensic Science, working to develop standards for iris recognition. Prior to her employment at FBI CJIS, Retton worked as a forensic entomology research aid, adjunct professor, police officer, detective, biometric examiner and latent fingerprint examiner.

The awards

“The SIA Women in Biometrics Awards program – now in its ninth year – recognizes the inspiring leaders who are driving change and innovation in biometric identity and security and this year’s awardees have achieved tremendous success in biometric technology, quality assurance, stakeholder engagement, research and development across both government and industry,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson.

“SIA applauds Larisa Boyko, Alicia Harrison, Casey Mayfield, Maxine Most and Bethany Retton for their outstanding commitment and contributions to this essential field and looks forward to honoring them at SIA GovSummit.”

The 2023 SIA Women in Biometrics Awards will be presented 16 May 2023 at a special award ceremony during SIA GovSummit, which is will be held 16 – 17 May at the National Housing Center in Washington, DC.