Honoring those who defend the digital world
$200K
Annual Prize Pool
10+1
Category Winners
3.5M+
Workforce Gap
The Problem
A field that protects the world
has no cultural recognition.
The people who stop nation-state attacks, expose critical vulnerabilities, defend hospitals from ransomware, and build the next generation of defenders have no equivalent of the Oscars, the Grammys, or The Game Awards. Cybersecurity has no widely recognized public awards platform on the scale of other major fields.
What has not yet emerged is a broader cultural moment: one that brings the people behind cybersecurity into public view. The Citadel Awards is built to be that moment.
PRINCIPLE_01
People only.
No products, no vendors, no pay-to-enter. Every award recognizes a human career and what their peers say about them.
PRINCIPLE_02
Stories first.
Every nominee is introduced through a cinematic story package. The human narrative is the emotional core of every award.
PRINCIPLE_03
Radical independence.
No sponsor, partner, or funder influences any judging decision. This is a binding contractual term in every agreement.
Top Prize
The Citadel Award
$100,000
One person. One career. One story. Presented last. The first six-figure cash prize in the history of cybersecurity recognition.
Total annual prize pool: $200,000 across all categories
The Awards
Ten Categories. Three Tiers.
One Defining Moment.
From the practitioners who defend the front lines to the policymakers who shape the landscape, every tier of cybersecurity excellence is recognized.
TIER_01
Craft Awards
The Researcher · The Operator · The Rising · The Architect
TIER_02
Impact Awards
The Classified · The Educator · The Humanitarian
TIER_03
Marquee Awards
The Legend · The Defender of the Year · The Mandate
Save the Date
Inaugural Show — 2027
The first Citadel Awards live event and global stream is scheduled for the second half of 2027.
Nominations open Q4 2026
Learn About NominationsLeadership
Anchored by world-class leaders.
SO
Santa J. Ono
Global President, Ellison Institute
SA
Dr. Selim Aissi
2026 CSO Hall of Fame; CEO & CSO, AGA
MC
Matthew P. Cullen
Chairman, JACK Entertainment
DR
Dwayne Rosenburgh
Research Scientist, Parsons
Plus 7 more leaders from defense, law, engineering, and technology.
Why The Citadel
Awards Exists
The Gap
The recognition gap is real.
Cybersecurity is one of the most consequential fields in the world. The people working in it protect hospitals, elections, financial systems, critical infrastructure, and the personal data of billions. They do this work largely in anonymity, often under extraordinary pressure, and almost always without public recognition.
Cybersecurity has no widely recognized public awards platform on the scale of other major fields. Existing awards tend to serve important industry-specific purposes, often focused on products, vendors, or professional recognition within the field. What has not yet emerged is a broader cultural moment: one that brings the people behind cybersecurity into public view, tells their stories with depth, and gives audiences outside the industry a reason to understand and celebrate their work.
The Vision
A cultural institution for cybersecurity.
The Citadel Awards is built on the model of The Game Awards for gaming, the Oscars for film, the Grammys for music. A cultural institution built around an industry that has never had one. People only. Stories first. Radical independence. Global scope.
The Citadel Awards is built to be that moment.
Guiding Principles
What we stand for.
01
People only.
No products, no vendors, no pay-to-enter.
02
Reputation and career excellence.
Recognition is built on who someone is and what their peers say about them.
03
Radical independence.
No sponsor, partner, or funder influences any judging decision.
04
Privacy by design.
No nominee is ever asked to disclose classified or NDA-bound information.
05
Public relevance.
The show must mean something to people who do not work in cybersecurity.
06
Global scope.
The digital world has no borders. Neither do The Citadel Awards.
Why Now
The moment is right.
Boardroom-level urgency.
Nation-state attacks, ransomware on hospitals, election infrastructure threats, and AI-powered intrusions dominate mainstream news.
A talent and recognition crisis.
The cybersecurity workforce gap exceeds 3.5 million unfilled positions globally. Recognition is one of the most powerful tools for inspiring the next generation.
The streaming model is proven.
The Game Awards draws tens of millions of viewers annually without a traditional broadcast deal. The audience is ready.
A cultural moment not yet built.
What has not yet emerged is a broader cultural moment that brings cybersecurity's defenders into public view and gives audiences outside the industry a reason to celebrate their work.
Ten Awards.
Three Tiers.
People and stories only. Every category winner receives $10,000.
Tier 1 — Craft Awards
The Foundation
Presented during the pre-show and early program. Closest to the technical work of the field.
The Researcher
Career contributions to understanding adversary behavior, tactics, and capabilities.
The Operator
The field's highest standard of adversarial thinking in service of defense.
The Rising
Exceptional promise in the first three to five years of a cybersecurity career. Community voted.
The Architect
Built something foundational that the entire cybersecurity field depends on.
Tier 2 — Impact Awards
Broader Stakes
Mid-show. Stronger crossover appeal for general audiences, government leaders, and press.
The Classified
Government, military, or intelligence community cybersecurity leader whose career service has most significantly advanced national defense.
The Educator
Most significantly changed how the next generation learns, enters, and advances in cybersecurity.
The Humanitarian
Cybersecurity work that has most directly protected vulnerable populations.
Tier 3 — Marquee Awards
The Defining Moments
End of show. The highest-profile moments of the evening.
The Legend
Decades of work, leadership, and contribution that have shaped what the cybersecurity field is.
The Defender of the Year
The most consequential contributions to cybersecurity defense during the award year.
The Mandate
The lawmaker, regulator, or advocate whose work has most meaningfully advanced cybersecurity policy.
The Citadel Award
$100,000 top prize · Selected by the Grand Jury from all category winners · Presented last
The Top Prize
The Citadel Award
$100,000
The winner takes the stage, receives the trophy and the prize, and delivers an acceptance speech. That speech is the moment. No cybersecurity award program has ever done this.
$10,000 × 10 categories + $100,000 Citadel Award = $200,000 total
The Show
An annual live event and global stream. Not a conference session. A production designed to be watched.
Format
Built for the screen.
| Duration | 90 minutes to 2 hours |
| Format | In-person live event with simultaneous global stream |
| Pre-Show | 30 minutes streamed only: Tier 1 awards, red carpet, community vote announcement |
| Main Show | Three acts, 60 to 90 minutes: cinematic nominee story packages, presenters, award announcements |
| Finale | The Citadel Award presented last: one person, one career, one story, one speech |
Production
Stories at the center.
Every award is introduced with a nominee story package: a short cinematic documentary segment telling the human story behind the nomination. These packages are the emotional core of the show.
Presenters are drawn from across government, journalism, entertainment, and the broader technology world. The show explicitly reaches outside the cybersecurity industry to signal that this recognition matters beyond the field itself.
Distribution
Global reach by design.
Live Global Stream
Accessible to anyone at no cost.
Full Archive
Available on YouTube and CitadelAwards.com following the event.
Story Packages
Released as standalone content in the weeks before the show.
Press Engagement
Targeting mainstream technology and general interest publications.
Timeline
Inaugural cycle.
Nominations are generated by the Official Nominators Council, an invited group of vetted senior cybersecurity practitioners, educators, and leaders who surface candidates through peer attestation. Each nomination is reviewed by Category Expert Panels and, at the final stage, by an independent Grand Jury.
NOW–Q2 '26
Entity formation
Brand establishment
Brand establishment
Q3 2026
Nominators Council
Title Sponsor talks
Title Sponsor talks
Q4 2026
Website launch
Nominations open
Nominations open
Q1 2027
Nominations close
Nominees announced
Nominees announced
Q2 2027
Inaugural show
Global stream
Global stream
Q3 2027
Post-show content
Year 2 planning
Year 2 planning
How Nominations
Work
Built on the most rigorous peer-based evaluation framework in the world: academic tenure review.
The Peer Attestation Standard
No nominee, nominator, or employer is ever asked to disclose classified information, NDA-protected engagement details, client identities, or operational specifics at any stage. Recognition is based entirely on career excellence and the weight of peer attestation.
The Process
Four stages. Complete integrity.
01
Nomination
The Official Nominators Council — an invited group of vetted senior cybersecurity practitioners, educators, and leaders — surfaces candidates through peer attestation rather than self-nomination.
02
Community Endorsement
21-day endorsement phase. Verified professionals independently attest to nominees' standing. Minimum 3 endorsements required.
03
Expert Panel Evaluation
5–7 domain experts per category. Four-criterion rubric: Career Impact, Peer Attestation Quality, Category Alignment, Community Standing.
04
Grand Jury Selection
15–20 senior leaders select one winner per category and The Citadel Award recipient. All decisions sealed until the live show.
Official Nominators Council
50–100 hand-selected professionals.
Published names and affiliations across five constituencies.
Working Practitioners
CISOs, responders, SOC analysts, pentesters
Academics & Researchers
Department heads, published researchers
Policy & Government
CISA, NSA, DHS, international agencies
Press & Communications
Journalists and editors covering cybersecurity
International Voices
UK, EU, Israel, Singapore, Australia, and beyond
System Status
Nominations are not
currently open.
The Citadel Awards nomination portal is being built on Acceptd and will open when the inaugural nominations cycle begins.
When nominations open, verified cybersecurity professionals will be able to submit nominations through the official portal. All nominations require a work or institutional email address and a structured attestation statement.
Leadership
Advisory Board
Leaders from academia, national security, defense, cybersecurity practice, business, law, and engineering.
SOSanta J. Ono
Global President, Ellison Institute of Technology
Former President of the University of Michigan and the University of British Columbia. One of North America's most experienced academic leaders.
President of the research organization founded by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, developing solutions across health, food security, clean energy, and AI. An accomplished immunologist with a Ph.D. from McGill University, faculty positions at Johns Hopkins and Emory. Brings unparalleled experience leading major global research institutions and deep relationships across science, technology, government, and philanthropy.
SADr. Selim Aissi
2026 CSO Hall of Fame Inductee; CEO & CSO, AGA
One of the nation's most distinguished cybersecurity leaders. Over 100 U.S. and international patents in computer and information security.
Built and led security programs at Visa (Apple Pay, Visa Checkout, Data Protection Program), Ellie Mae (through its $11B acquisition), Blackhawk Network, and Intel. Two-time CISO of the Year. Co-author of Security for Mobile Networks and Platforms. Distinguished Fellow of the Ponemon Institute. Board member across Ten Eleven Ventures, MagicCube, FundingShield, the California Cybersecurity Task Force, the National Technology Security Coalition, the UC Berkeley CISO Institute, and FS-ISAC. Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan.
MCMatthew P. Cullen
Chairman, JACK Entertainment
Led the revitalization of downtown Detroit. Nearly three decades at General Motors. Founding chairman of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy.
Previously CEO of Bedrock and principal of Rock Ventures LLC, overseeing Dan Gilbert's portfolio of 100+ companies. At GM, stewarded the company's 450M sq ft global real estate portfolio and led acquisition of the Renaissance Center. Chairman of Invest Detroit and the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
DRDwayne Rosenburgh, D.Sc.
Research Scientist, Parsons Cyber Warfare Group
Career spanning NSA, U.S. Cyber Command, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Doctor of Science from George Washington University.
Research Scientist, Engineer, and Program Manager at Parsons Corporation's Cyber Warfare Group. Previously at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, supporting national security missions of the NSA, U.S. Cyber Command, and the broader intelligence community. Career spanning cybersecurity, algorithms, decision theory, AI/ML, electronics, and telecommunications.
HMHarold E. Miller
Retired U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel
Division Chief at Joint Special Operations University. Decorated Green Beret with multiple combat tours.
Engagements and Communications Division Chief at JSOU, primary interface between USSOCOM and its global allies and partners. Previously Director of USSOCOM J3 International. Leads curriculum development and professional military education focused on joint military and interagency operations.
JTJack Thompson
Former Dir. of InfoSec, Indianapolis Colts
Led cybersecurity strategy for the NFL franchise. Career began in U.S. military intelligence operations.
Led cybersecurity strategy, threat detection, incident response, business continuity, and disaster recovery for one of the most visible sports franchises in the country. Speaks publicly on cybersecurity leadership, zero-trust architecture, and cyber defense in high-stakes environments.
SJScott Clifford James
President & CEO, Applied Dynamics International
Aerospace and defense technology innovator. Co-chief architect of the ADEPT® edge computing platform.
ADI is a trusted partner to Boeing, Gulfstream, Air Force Research Lab, Rolls-Royce, Boom Supersonic, and JetZero. Published in AIAA Scitech, IEEE Access, and the American Control Conference. CEO at the intersection of aerospace, defense, and cyber-physical systems.
MLMarc Lopata, PE
President, Solar Island Energy
700+ solar installations worldwide. Technical advisor to the World Bank. Former Board President, U.S. Green Building Council.
Licensed Professional Engineer operating across the Caribbean, North America, Central America, and the Middle East. One of only 40 NABCEP Systems Inspector certifications worldwide. Peer reviewer for the U.S. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
JWJeremy West
Staff Software Engineer, Google (YouTube)
Leads highly available data serving infrastructure for YouTube. 20+ years in distributed systems and mathematics.
Over twenty years as a computer scientist and mathematician across distributed systems, social media, real estate, and automotive engineering. B.S. in Computer Science, B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics.
JGJames E. Griffin
Founder, Griffin Capital LLC
Four businesses spanning enterprise IT, software, human capital, and aviation. Deep MSP community ties.
Operates Griffin IT (hardware distribution), Griffin Cloud (custom software), Griffin Resources (HR services), and Griffin Wings (charter aviation). 20+ years building operationally rigorous businesses at the intersection of technology and trusted service delivery.
MMMadeline M. Moore
Pro Bono Director & Counsel, Troutman Pepper Locke
1,600+ attorney firm, 30 offices. Pro Bono Partner of the Year 2025. Magna cum laude, Albany Law School.
Leads pro bono practice across the firm's Northeast and Midwest offices. Former public defender and litigator. Builds partnerships between major institutions and the communities they serve. University of Michigan undergraduate.
Leadership
Founders
The visionaries behind The Citadel Awards.
ADAaron P. Dworkin
Co-Founder
MacArthur Fellow. Founder of the Sphinx Organization. Former Dean at University of Michigan. Co-founded The Citadel Awards alongside his son Amani.
Aaron P. Dworkin is a 2005 MacArthur Fellow and one of America's leading social entrepreneurs in the field of cultural recognition. As founder of the globally recognized Sphinx Organization, he has spent more than two decades building institutions that identify and celebrate human excellence at the highest levels.
He is the longest-serving member of the National Council on the Arts, having advised five presidential administrations, and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His leadership has been recognized with the National Governors Association Distinguished Service to State Government Award, Newsweek's "15 People Who Make America Great," BET's History Makers in the Making Award, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Lifetime Achievement Award.
Aaron has raised more than $50 million for philanthropic causes and is a former Dean and currently serves as Professor of Arts Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan. He is the author of multiple books on creativity, leadership, and entrepreneurship, including The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives, and serves as host of the nationally broadcast Arts Engines show.
Aaron co-founded The Citadel Awards alongside his son Amani to bring to cybersecurity the same standard of independent, peer-attested, individually focused recognition that has defined the most credible cultural awards in other fields.
ADAmani J. Dworkin
Co-Founder
Cybersecurity practitioner and entrepreneur. Presidential Scholar at DePaul University. Member of SecDaemons, the second-ranked collegiate cybersecurity team in the U.S.
Amani J. Dworkin is a cybersecurity practitioner, technology entrepreneur, and member of SecDaemons, the second-ranked collegiate cybersecurity team in the United States. As a SecDaemons competitor, he participates in Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition events at the highest level, specializing in blue-team defense, operational resilience, and live incident response.
A Presidential Scholar at DePaul University and a recipient of national academic distinctions including selection as an NAACP Scholar and the National African American Academic Recognition Award, Amani pursues advanced study in cybersecurity, cyber law, and ethics. His technical expertise spans network architecture, infrastructure design, and threat analysis, with hands-on experience leading large-scale network configuration projects using Cisco technologies. He was the youngest individual ever to earn the University of Michigan Nexus cybersecurity certification.
Amani is the founder of GhostGuard, a cybersecurity initiative focused on proactive defense and modern digital protection strategies, and of Jaise Enterprises, a web development and cybersecurity consulting firm through which he has conducted security audits and built secure digital infrastructure for clients including multi-million dollar national clients.
He is also a BIG EAST Rugby Freshman of the Year, a Division I distinction that reflects the discipline, competitive focus, and team leadership he brings to his cybersecurity work and to building organizations.
Amani co-founded The Citadel Awards alongside his father Aaron to bring to cybersecurity the same standard of independent, peer-attested, individually focused recognition that has long defined the most credible cultural awards in other fields. As a working cybersecurity practitioner and member of the next generation of defenders, he brings to the program a direct line of sight into the people, the work, and the threats that define the field today.
Partnership
Become a
Founding Partner
The inaugural cycle is open. First-cycle sponsors hold a permanent place in the origin story.
Why Partner
More than a brand investment.
Sponsoring The Citadel Awards is a direct contribution to addressing the most urgent structural challenge facing the cybersecurity industry: the global workforce gap of over 3.5 million unfilled positions. Every dollar invested in recognizing the field's best people makes cybersecurity careers more visible, more prestigious, and more aspirational to the next generation.
No other sponsorship opportunity in cybersecurity makes the connection between brand, workforce, and public recognition as directly or as publicly.
What You Get
What partnership delivers.
Cultural Association
Association with the defining cultural moment in cybersecurity recognition, built to reach audiences far beyond the industry bubble.
Workforce Alignment
Direct alignment with the workforce pipeline that every cybersecurity organization depends on.
Four Audiences
Visibility across practitioners, technology leadership, government and policy, and the general public.
Year-Round Presence
Brand presence across a live global stream, digital properties, nominee story packages, and sustained press.
Founding Positioning
First-cycle sponsors hold a place in the origin story and carry that association permanently.
Credible Independence
Association with a program whose independence is binding and public carries weight for every brand attached to it.
Audience
Four audiences. One moment.
Cybersecurity Professionals
~5 million practitioners globally. The core constituency.
Technology Industry
CTOs, CIOs, and senior technology executives.
Government & Policy
Legislators, regulators, and agency leaders.
General Public
The audience that gives the show cultural weight beyond the industry.
Tiers
Partnership tiers.
Each tier delivers all benefits of the tiers beneath it, plus the distinctive benefits at its own level.
Title Sponsor
Holds the defining sponsor association of the program.
$1,000,000+
- Name association with The Citadel Award
- Premier, exclusive placement across all show materials, digital properties, and press
- Prominent on-broadcast recognition during the opening and during The Citadel Award presentation
- Optional presenting role for a category or moment within the live show
- Feature inclusion in a nominee story package sequence
- Premium in-person hospitality: red carpet access, greenroom access, on-stage acknowledgment, VIP ticket allocation
- Co-announced press release at signing, plus coordinated press outreach to trade and business media, interview scheduling with the co-founders, and feature placement throughout the cycle
- Year-round brand presence across the CitadelAwards.com homepage and sponsor page, newsletter communications, social channels, and permanent recognition in the broadcast archive
Founding Partner
Category naming rights and integrated stage and broadcast placement across the award itself.
$250K–$500K
- Category naming rights for one Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 award (subject to availability)
- Stage and broadcast placement during the presentation of the sponsored category
- Feature inclusion in the nominee story package for the sponsored category
- Logo placement across the show broadcast credits, the CitadelAwards.com sponsor page, and cycle press releases
- Co-announced press release at signing
- In-person hospitality package including VIP tickets and premium event access
- Year-round brand association with the sponsored category across digital and archival content
Premier Sponsor
Branded integration within the broadcast and sustained visibility across the cycle.
$100K–$249K
- Branded segment integration within the broadcast
- Logo placement across show materials, the CitadelAwards.com sponsor page, and printed event collateral
- Recognition in all cycle press releases
- Event attendance package with premium seating
- Year-round logo presence on the CitadelAwards.com sponsor page, plus mentions across newsletter and social channels
Supporting Sponsor
Meaningful brand presence and direct association with the program's independence and standards.
$25K–$99K
- Logo placement across website, show materials, and broadcast credits
- Recognition in all cycle press releases
- Event attendance package
- Social channel mentions at key cycle milestones (nominations opening, nominees announced, winners announced) and inclusion in newsletter communications
Community Partner
Entry-level founding-cycle association.
$10K–$24,999
- Logo placement on CitadelAwards.com and in show credits
- Recognition as a community supporter in program communications
- Event attendance package
Non-Negotiable
Independence is the asset.
No sponsor at any tier receives any influence over nomination, judging, or award outcomes. This is a binding contractual term in every sponsorship agreement.
The independence of this program is the reason sponsorship is valuable. It protects both the recipients and the brands associated with recognizing them.
Get In Touch
Start the conversation.
Founding-cycle sponsor conversations are open now.
Or contact directly: info@citadelawards.com
Connect
Contact
Interested in partnering, nominating, or learning more? We'd like to hear from you.
Get in Touch
Let's talk.
Whether you're a potential sponsor, a cybersecurity professional interested in the Nominators Council, a journalist, or just someone who wants to follow our progress.
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