Security’s Most Influential People in Security 2022 represent a number of professionals protecting their organizations, furthering their missions and elevating the security industry in significant ways.

Security magazine is pleased to announce our 2021 Most Influential People in Security – 10 top security executives and industry leaders who are positively impacting the security field, their organization, their colleagues and peers, and the national and global security landscape.

Ben Brown’s contributions to the security field have had a significant impact in advancing the value of several security programs and enhancing the security posture of various organizations. Through his knowledge in specialized security management domains, Brown has been able to act as a change agent in large organizations, bringing resolution to complex security challenges by generating new frameworks.

In his position as Vice President and Chief Security Officer of Global Security, Claude J. Nebel Jr. has built a team to ensure the safety and security of Cargill Inc. through the programs of Asset/Physical Security, Investigations, Crisis Management and Intelligence. Cargill — a $114.7 billion company — is a major international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial, and industrial products and services. Since becoming a member of the Cargill team in August 2008, Nebel has led various industry and workplace safety standards, which play a critical role in Cargill’s foundational goal to work relentlessly to nourish 70 countries around the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.

Fred Burton has positively impacted the security and intelligence world and is often referred to as the “Father of Protective Intelligence” for developing a framework for the approach and infrastructure of protective intelligence, helping to change the process for how physical security threats are identified and assessed for government, corporate and executive entities. 

Jeff Snyder, Executive Coach at Jeff Snyder Coaching and Founder and President of SecurityRecruiter.com, proudly described himself as a recruiter, coach, husband, father, entrepreneur, great friend and risk-taker.

Joe M. Olivarez Jr. has been an influential leader to Jacobs, a $14 billion multinational engineering company powered by more than 55,000 employees worldwide who deliver innovative, technical, professional and program-management solutions for public and private clients.As Vice President of Operational Centers of Excellence (OpCOE), Olivarez has built and led the company's integrated global security strategy.

As Managing Director and co-leader of the Intelligence Practice, Mary Legere focuses on bringing Accenture’s global capabilities, services and best practices to national defense, intelligence and cyber clients. She brings experience and passion to her role at Accenture Federal Services (AFS), serving senior leaders across the U.S. intelligence community and the Department of Defense to help advance improvements to their community.

Paul R. Kolbe is the Director of the Intelligence Project at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Relations.In his role, Kolbe focuses on preparing a new generation of intelligence leaders for the public and private sectors while advancing policy-relevant knowledge in intelligence areas.

Rebecca Gomez is a Program Manager for the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), a Federal Advisory Committee that promotes security cooperation between U.S. private-sector interests worldwide and the U.S. Department of State. In this role, Gomez manages, analyzes and facilitates the coordination of OSAC’s programs, partnerships and policy activities for membership groups that ensure the exchange of timely, relevant and reliable security advice and guidance to U.S. private-sector interests overseas.