Ms. Diedra Padgett is the Deputy Director of Defense Industrial Base (DIB) Operations Directorate, under the DoD Chief Information Officer. She joined the Office of the Secretary of Defense in July 2021. In this role she is responsible for coordinating industry-facing cybersecurity standards, policies, and procedures with other federal agencies and industry. She oversees execution of the DIB Cybersecurity Program to enhance and supplement DIB participants’ abilities to safeguard DoD information and advises on initiatives to further strengthen DoD-DIB partnerships. Prior to returning to the civil service, she worked in the industry as a risk management and cybersecurity consultant.
Mrs. Padgett served for 30 years in the United States Navy retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer-4. She is qualified as a U.S. Navy Information Dominance Warfare Officer for Cyber Security and INFOSEC.

Mrs. Padgett earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of
Maryland University College.

She lives in Maryland with her husband where she enjoys spending time with her family and giving back to the community through supporting fellow veterans.