Niloofar Razi Howe

Niloofar Razi Howe is a seasoned investor, executive, and entrepreneur with over 30 years in the technology industry, including two decades focused on cybersecurity and national security. She is President of The Stratham Group, an alternative asset management firm and an Operating Partner at Capitol Meridian Partners, investing in companies at the intersection of government and technology. Ms. Howe is also a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt University’s National Security Institute.

Ms. Howe serves on the boards of Morgan Stanley Banks, Pondurance (Executive Chair), Tenable (NASDAQ: TENB), and NetSPI.  She also advises several cybersecurity and AI startups, including Hidden Layer, Blackbird.ai, Altana.ai, Dragos, Enveil, Red Queen Dynamics, and Picnic. Ms. Howe’s past board roles include Recorded Future (acquired by Mastercard), Composecure (NASDAQ: CMPO), TAMR, Initiate Systems (acquired by IBM), Courion Corporation (acquired by K1 Investment), Command Information (acquired by Salient), Safeview (acquired by L-3), Neven Vision (acquired by Google), Global Rights (as Chair), Sibley Memorial Hospital (Chair of the Investment Committee), and the Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation (Vice Chair).

She is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow in the International Security Program at New America, a nonpartisan think tank. Her nonprofit work includes serving on the board of IREX, an international education organization operating in over 120 countries, and as a Trustee of the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Ms. Howe has also contributed to other U.S. government advisory boards, including the National Security Agency as well as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Advisory.

Previously, Ms. Howe was Chief Strategy Officer and SVP of Strategy and Operations at RSA, where she led corporate strategy, business development, security operations, and federal business initiatives. Before RSA, she was Chief Strategy Officer at Endgame (acquired by Elastic)., where she drove market and product strategy and led marketing, product management, and corporate development.

Her background includes 12 years in private equity and venture capital, first as a Principal at Zone Ventures and later as Managing Director at Paladin Capital Group, focusing on next-generation security investments. She began her career as a lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers and a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

A graduate with honors from Columbia College, Ms. Howe holds a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. She is a frequent speaker on national security, cybersecurity, technology, innovation, corporate governance, and corporate culture. She delivered a TEDx talk, “The Gift of Exile,” on how childhood adversity can create long-term opportunities for individuals and communities. She also serves as a judge at major innovation competitions, including the RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox Competition and the RSA Conference Launchpad Competition.