December 3, 2021 — CMMC ANNOUNCEMENT!
As the first CMMC-AB approved CCP training courses roll out, we are thrilled to announce some of the CMMC industry’s best-known experts, Amira Armond, Jacob Horne, Chris Silvers, Tony Buenger, and Sara Deaton are joining the Edwards CCP Instructors as part of our Provisional Instructor (PI) team – delivering you the best CMMC instructor led training available! These industry powerhouses chose to instruct with Edwards to help groom and grow the army of qualified assessors necessary for CMMC to be successful. Amira, Jacob, Chris, Tony, and Sara join Joy Beland and Brian Hubbard of Edwards to bring you dynamic CMMC training, and a wealth of industry knowledge.
These instructors bring more than ten decades of combined cybersecurity experience in assessing and interpreting NIST, CIS, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 standards and guidelines. Our expert management and implementation of security programs throughout the government, commercial, and healthcare industries is well respected and far reaching. As both an LTP and LPP, Edwards taps into it’s lengthy training history, with 23+ years of subject matter experts (SMEs) developing curriculum. Our Training team partnered with our Cybersecurity SMEs to bring you CMMC-AB approved courses and training materials – ensuring you receive the best CMMC education available. Being both a government contractor and commercial provider, we are heavily invested in supporting the contractor community to navigate CMMC.
Haven’t signed up for our CCP class yet? Our seasoned educators are ready to provide your team with the skills to increase your CMMC resume and readiness. Check out our Course Catalog to view our full CCP course offerings, and choose the right dates/instructors for you. We’re all in this together – let’s do it right!
MEET OUR CCP INSTRUCTORS
KATHERINE ADAMS
Katherine Adams is the Director of Compliance Solutions and Services at Cask Government Services, with over 35 years of practical IT experience in Information Systems, Acquisition, and Inspections. Upon retiring from the United States Air Force as a “Cyber Warrior”, Kat determined that letting go of the common sense approach of meeting requirements was not an option. Her goal is to show students how to break down obstacles and impediments and realistically apply classroom lessons to their everyday life challenges.
Kat graduated from Bellevue University with a B.S. in Information Systems Management. She also holds two A.S. degrees from the Community College of the Air Force – Information Systems Technology and Instructor of Technical & Military Science.
AMIRA ARMOND
CMMC-AB PA, PI, RP | CISSP, CISA, MCSE, PMP, MBA
Amira Armond has 20 years’ experience in operating highly secure military networks with strong and repeatable processes.
She is a founder of the C3PAO Stakeholder Forum, an industry group which focuses on standardizing assessment procedures and interpretations among C3PAOs. Amira has been an active voice in CMMC through Amira has been an active voice in CMMC through her blog at cmmcaudit.org, a source of free resources and training for CMMC preparation.
Amira is a CMMC Provisional Assessor, CMMC Provisional Instructor, Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and Project Management Professional (PMP).Students will appreciate her deep understanding of CMMC practices and processes, scoping and boundaries, proving inheritance, and regulatory requirements for CUI.
MATT HOEPER
CMMC-AB PA, PI | CISSP, PMP
Matt Hoeper is an experienced cybersecurity professional with 25+ years of IT experience. Matt holds a Master’s degree in Management Information Systems as well as PMP and CISSP certifications. Prior to joining Edwards, he worked for Fortune 500 companies and small businesses in areas of engineering, financial, marketing, supply chain, manufacturing, and health care. Matt has conducted security assessments against multiple standards, as well as spoken to multiple organizations including the Chamber of Commerce, local colleges, and MEPs.
JACOB HORNE
CMMC-AB PA, PI | CISSP, CDPSE
Jacob Horne is the Chief Security Evangelist for Summit 7 Systems where he specializes in helping customers, partners, and the broader defense industrial base understand how security and process can improve business operations.
As a former NSA intelligence analyst and U.S. Navy cryptologic technician, Jacob has 14+ years of experience in offensive and defensive cybersecurity operations. As a civilian he led cybersecurity compliance and engineering teams at AT&T, Northrop Grumman, and the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).
Jacob has developed and taught numerous cybersecurity training programs for organizations including the NSA National Cryptologic School, UCLA, and UC Irvine. He has a master’s degree in cybersecurity risk and strategy from the NYU School of Law and is an MBA candidate at the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business.
Students will enjoy Jacob’s depth of knowledge in both the history and building blocks of CMMC and navigation of the model practices and processes.
CHRIS SILVERS
CMMC-AB RP, PA, PI | CISSP, CEH, PCIP, CWNA, CEI, SEPP, MLSE, CRISC, CEI
Chris Silvers is founder and CEO of CG Silvers Consulting as well as a DEF CON black badge winner.
His professional history stretches from the Federal Reserve System — where he led building vulnerability management, red team exercises, forensic investigation, and incident response capabilities for 9 years — to top security clearance Department of Defense technical security course instruction for red and blue teams.
Chris’ passion for education and more than 20 years of experience in information security have landed him on the presenter’s stage at conferences such as Defcon, BsidesAtlanta, NolaCon, DerbyCon, and GrrCon. Chris has a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA. Most recently, he has been a C3PAO candidate since September 2020.
TONY BUENGER
CMMC-AB PA, PI | CCISO, CISSP, CISM, CGEIT
Tony is the Practice Lead for Risk and Compliance at SecureStrux, LLC. He was previously with Redspin and co-lead the effort to become the first Authorized Certified Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). He has approximately 15 years of hands-on experience with NIST in many of these roles, including working as a key member of a team at the Pentagon to convert the United States Air Force from a Department of Defense (DoD) static compliance-based framework to the risk-based NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF).
Tony received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland via an Air Force ROTC scholarship. In 2007, he retired from the Air Force after 22 years of service and has over 25 years of experience in the information technology and cyber security arenas.
After retiring from the USAF, Tony fulfilled various roles as an information system security officer, information system security manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) certifying authority, security controls assessor, chief information security officer (CISO), and a cybersecurity consultant.
SARA DEATON
CMMC-AB PA, PI
Sara Deaton is a CMMC Provisional Instructor and Assessor. Her experience spans 30 plus years’ in the commercial and defense industry.
She was first introduced to cybersecurity when working as the sole mission assurance engineer on an FMS Weapon System development effort. Since then, Sara has been involved with cybersecurity activities.
She has a BS degree in Applied Mathematics and a MS degree in Systems Engineering (Operations Research). Sara has extensive experience as an instructor. She owns and operates a small business called Atomic Wombat Inc, that focuses on CMMC, CMMI, Quality Assurance, and Process Improvement, is located in Huntsville, Alabama.
JOY BELAND
CMMC-AB PA, PI | CISM, SSAP
Joy is a Senior Cybersecurity Consultant/Instructor at Edwards Performance Solutions. She is responsible for managing and delivering all aspects of CMMC-AB approved certification training.
Joy’s background includes 21 years as an MSP owner and several years in the MSP vendor industry as a cybersecurity consultant and world-wide cybersecurity professional trainer. Her energy and enthusiasm, coupled with in-depth assessment and industry knowledge provides for a dynamic and engaging training experience.
BRIAN HUBBARD
CMMC-AB PA, PI | CISM, PMP
Brian is the Director of Commercial & Cybersecurity Programs at Edwards Performance Solutions. His extensive cybersecurity background includes serving as the primary author and contractor team lead that supported NIST in the development of the NIST CSF.
Brian’s wealth of cybersecurity knowledge coupled with his humor and in-depth assessor experience brings an engaging perspective to the classroom.
ABOUT EDWARDS
We help smart people do big things. Edwards Performance Solutions helps clients increase operational performance by finding ways to improve productivity, profitability, and security. With two decades of experience working with both government and commercial clients, we ensure operational excellence to drive overall mission success. More than project managers; we’re trusted advisors in healthcare, training, cybersecurity, and business process.
We are committed to ensuring businesses understand cybersecurity is critical to overall business success – helping you develop an awareness of the cyber risks associated with using modern information technology and implement a culture of safety.
*Provisional Instructor Candidates