Over half of this year’s prestigious Life Safety Alliance Top 40 listees hail from more than a dozen nations, with New Zealand making the cut for the first time.
The US-based Life Safety Alliance (LSA) has announced the results of its Second Annual List of Top 40 Global Thought Leaders in Security and Life Safety, a list that includes thought leaders from across life safety, physical security, cybersecurity, risk management, loss prevention, and intelligence, and representing over a dozen countries.
The list represents an effort to bring enhanced objectivity, transparency, and rigour to the process of identifying influencers and thought leaders in the field. Candidates were scored against factors such as number of conference presentations delivered, LinkedIn reach, webinar and podcast appearances, journal articles authored, volunteer leadership positions held, and media commentary published,.
“After an inaugural year that exceeded our expectations for both interest in the recognition and quality of the Top 40 recipients, we are delighted to see both repeat honourees from 2024 as well as a large group of fresh faces,” said Becky Lane, acting CEO of LSA.
“New Zealanders have a role to play in international commentary and debate on security industry and profession matters, and we possess many great security communicators. I would hope and expect to see Aotearoa being increasingly represented in the LSA Top 40 list going forward.”
Among the first-time listees is Nicholas Dynon, Defsec New Zealand’s Chief Editor, who is also Group Brand Strategy & Innovation Director at Optic Security Group, an Australasian security integrator.
“It is an unexpected honour to be named alongside luminaries of the sector who I have long looked up to,” said Nicholas. “It’s particularly exciting to be the first New Zealander to have made it to the list.”
“New Zealand is a long way from the metropolises of security industry debates in North America and Europe, and many would assume we are far removed from the urgency of these debates due to our geographic isolation, our perceived place in the geopolitical food chain, and our ostensibly peaceful society. None of these assumptions are relevant today, and they are indeed absent from researched assessments of our near future.”
First-time Top 40 inductee Nicholas Dynon.
“New Zealanders have a role to play in international commentary and debate on security industry and profession matters, and we possess many great security communicators,” he said. “I would hope and expect to see Aotearoa being increasingly represented in the LSA Top 40 list going forward.”
It is no coincidence that the 2025 Top 40 saw a more international field than 2024, including New Zealand’s first-ever showing, with this year’s program chaired by Auckland-based Andrew Thorburn, an internationally respected security risk consultant and technologist and Enterprise Security & Risk Manager at Wesco Anixter.
“As awareness of and interest in this recognition has grown, 2025 was even more competitive than 2024,” Lane continued, “especially since Andrew Thorburn led an effort to draw in as many candidates as possible from everywhere around the world,” said the LSA’s Becky Lane.
“I’m very proud to lead the LSA Top 40 recognition program because it uniquely reflects the direct and measurable impact of practitioners and academics on thought leadership in security risk management and life safety,” said Andrew Thorburn. “We cast a wide net to identify individuals who have demonstrated impact, innovation, and ethics, while also considering factors such as geography, market size, and market maturity.”
The LSA is a not-for-profit promoting best practices for the Security and Life Safety industry through collaboration with trade associations, academic institutions, and members in areas of standards, professional development, technology innovation, research, and certification.
The 2025 LSA Top 40 Global Thought Leaders in Security & Life Safety are:
- Prof. Obadare Peter Adewale, Digital Encode Limited (Nigeria), 2024 & 2025 Thought
Leader - Melissa Agnes, Crisis Ready Institute (US)
- Farah Benis, FFA Security Group (UK)
- Garry Bergin, Manguard Plus (IE)
- Dave Cohen, Risk 2 Solution (Australia)
- Mike Croll, Buckinghamshire New University (UK)
- Chris Cubbage, MySecurity Media – Space and Earth Partners & Advisory (Australia), 2024
& 2025 Thought Leader - Terry Cutler, Cyology Labs (Canada), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Shawnee Delaney, Vaillance Group (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Nicholas Dynon, Optic Security Group (NZ)
- Jane Frankland MBE, KnewStart Limited (UK), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Michael Gips, Kroll (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Alex Goldenberg, Narravance (US)
- Scott Goldfine, Elite Interactive Solutions (US)
- Florian Haacke, Porsche AG (DE), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Yolanda Hamblen, IFPO / The Security Circle Podcast (UK), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Kasia Hanson, KFactor Global Security Advisory (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Mike Hurst CPP® CPOI, IFPO Global Advisory Board / HJA Consult (UK), 2024 & 2025
Thought Leader - Eduardo Jany, News Corp (US)
- Kathy Lavinder, SI Placement (US)
- Kirk MacDowell, MacGuard Security Advisors (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Taylor May, SVIP (US)
- Tim McCreight, TaleCraft Security Inc. (Canada)
- Bruce McIndoe, McIndoe Risk Advisory LLC (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Don Morron, HighlandTech (US)
- Fredrik Nilsson, Axis Communications (SWE)
- Kevin Palacios, HELPS Latam (US/Ecuador), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Elizabeth Parks, Parks Associates (US)
- Jon Polly, ProTecht Solutions Partners (US)
- Matthew Porcelli, Harvard Protection Services (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Paul Sarnese, Secured & Prepared Consulting (US)
- Tyler Schmoker, Donaldson, Inc. / Maritime Support Concepts LLC (US)
- Dr. Gavriel Schneider, Risk 2 Solution / Institute of Presilience (Australia), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Gastón Hernán Schulmeister, Organization of American States (OAS) (ARG/ES)
- Jeffrey A. Slotnick CPP PSP, Setracon Enterprise Security Risk Management Services (US)
- Confidence Staveley, Cybersafe Foundation (US/Africa), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Christopher Stitt, CrisisLead, LLC (US)
- Tino Urbina, Commend, Inc. (US)
- Tim Wenzel, Kroll & The Kindness Games (US), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
- Alfredo Yuncoza, Smart Management C.A. (VEN), 2024 & 2025 Thought Leader
“I’d like to thank my colleagues within the various organisations I am associated with for their support,” said Nicholas. “In particular, I’d like to express my gratitude to Defsec New Zealand publisher and my good friend Craig Flint. Craig founded New Zealand Security Magazine over three decades ago, and it’s a publication I am proud to have been editor of over the past decade under Craig’s guidance and with his support. He is a true visionary.”
