How to Build a Successful Security Champions Program

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About This Training

Do you feel a disconnect between your cybersecurity efforts and engineering activities? A Security Champions Program bridges that gap — by involving engineers in security topics that align with their work, it enhances security awareness and fosters a culture of security across your entire organization.

This highly interactive training equips you with practical tools and actionable insights to design and launch a Security Champions Program that actually works. Through hands-on exercises and team-based activities you'll explore motivation theory, personality types, gamification, metrics, and — critically — how to keep the program running and growing long-term.

This training was developed as part of the OWASP Security Champions Guide project, authored by practitioners who have built these programs at scale across major organizations.

Your Trainers

Juliane Reimann

Founder & Security Community Expert @ Full Circle Security · OWASP Security Champions Guide

Juliane works as a cybersecurity consultant for large companies since 2019 with focus on DevSecOps and Community Building. Her expertise includes building security communities of software developers and establishing developer-centric communication about secure software development. Since 2024 she is a core member of the OWASP Security Champions Guide Community.

LinkedIn Website

Marisa Fagan

Board of Directors @ OWASP · Managing Consultant @ Katilyst · 16 Years in Security Champion Communities

Marisa is a managing consultant at Katilyst with 16 years experience building security champion communities. With a background at Atlassian, Synopsys, Salesforce, Meta, and Bugcrowd, she has been at the forefront of the security champions movement. In 2026, she was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for OWASP.

LinkedIn OWASP Guide

Workshop Outline

Introduction & OWASP Security Champion Guide Principles

Session goals and overview
The OWASP Security Champion Guide 10 Principles

What is a Security Champions Program?

Definition of the term and its scope
The role of security culture for cyber resilient organizations
Key principles for building a Security Champions Program

Personality Types & Motivation Theory

The role of motivation for fostering engagement
Theory of personality types in an organization

Dealing with Different Personality Types 🤝 Group Activity

Group discussion: challenges people of different personality types face in security programs
Strategies and tactics for each type

Strategic Insights: Challenges of Building the Program

Key questions before initiating a Security Champions Program
Key questions during the rollout phase
Key questions after launch — sustaining momentum

— Break —

"Levels, Points & Gamification, OH MY!"

How to improve engagement with gamification
What gamification is — and what it is not

Metrics & OKRs

What does success look like?
How to use metrics and automation to track participation
Pro tips for what to track and when

Practical Exercise: Build Your Own Program 📝 Worksheet

Define goals, stakeholders, and a communication strategy for a fictional company
Develop a strategic rollout plan for your Security Champions Program
Group presentations and discussion

Wrap-up: Resources & Community

What's next after the workshop
OWASP Security Champions Guide community and resources

Who Should Attend

Security engineers, architects, and managers looking to bridge the gap between security and development
DevSecOps practitioners who want a structured approach to security culture
Anyone who has tried to build a Security Champions Program and hit obstacles
Leaders who want to build a more security-aware engineering culture