Bio
With a lifelong passion for leadership and community building, Parham Eftekhari is a cybersecurity executive who has spent the past decade building trusted relationships with the nation’s leading technology and national security leaders. Led by three core values – kindness, respect, and integrity – he regularly engages with policymakers, federal agency executives, and critical infrastructure leaders on initiatives that center around strengthening the resiliency of our nation against digital threats.
Parham served as ICIT’s Founder and Executive Director until April 2020 and now serves as Chairman of the Board. During his time as Executive Director, he was responsible for building and executing the Institute’s mission, including its content and education strategy, community engagement, and fundraising. Currently, Parham is SVP of the Cyber Risk Alliance and Executive Director of its Cybersecurity Collaborative business, a membership community defined by CISO collaboration offering strategic and tactical guidance, CISO career development, and industry advocacy. Prior to ICIT, Parham co-founded the IT collaboration group GTRA and led the technology practice at a boutique competitive intelligence research firm.
Over the course of his career, Parham has led the development of multiple research publications on a broad range of cybersecurity and national security issues, many of which he co-authored and has addressed forums ranging from Congress, the World Bank, RSA, and C-SPAN. He holds a BBA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Business and spent two years at the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris in Paris, France studying international business, and is fluent in French and Farsi.