Sheryl Pinckney-Maas is the CEO and Founder of Guardian Zone, LLC, a technology company in Colleyville, Texas that is a leading provider of crowd-sourced security solutions. Sheryl launched an innovative security mobile app and software platform that fortifies public safety. Her company is first in the market that addresses the public-private challenges at large public venues. The Guardian Zone solution bridges the communication gap between on-site security, law enforcement, and the public during an emergency.
Sheryl created Guardian Zone by leveraging her 25 years’ experience as a U.S. Diplomat living and working in six international countries: China, South Africa, Mexico, The Netherlands, Jordan, and Peru. As a Senior Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commercial Service, a unit within the International Trade Administration, Sheryl created business opportunities for U.S. companies in complex international markets. She was a member of the U.S. Embassy’s Emergency Action Committee and the International Trade Administration’s local representative on the Overseas Security Advisory Council, where she worked closely with U.S. based companies’ overseas operations. Using her experience of living in high threat and high crime countries, she has taken more than two decades of knowledge and created a security solution for today’s corporate, educational and entertainment industries.
On September 11, 2001, while serving at a U.S. Consulate in Mexico, the Consulate was getting bomb threats while terrorists attacked New York City and Washington, D.C., Sheryl learned that the safe world she had always known was over. But it was not until November 2015, during the terrorist attacks in Paris, that she realized she wanted and needed to do something. As she watched a woman hanging from a second-story window during the Bataclan Theater attack, Sheryl knew she wanted to create a solution to empower people during an emergency by supporting security and law enforcement.
Sheryl is an active member of ASIS, Security Industry Association (SIA), Women in Security Forum (WISF), Innovation Institute for Fan Experience (IIFX) and The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4).
