Milada Copeland

Milada Copeland is the Chief Information Security Officer for Progrexion, Inc. She began this role in March 2020 – the same month she retired from the Utah Army National Guard after a 30-year full-time career and just a week after Progrexion sent everyone home to work remotely due to Covid.

Her military leadership training and experience helped her navigate learning a new company, leading a new team and working in a civilian environment while helping Progrexion establish its workforce in a safe, secure remote-work environment.

As an Army officer, Milada held a number of challenging positions, including as the CIO and Chief of Staff of the Utah Army National Guard. One of her proudest accomplishments is being selected as the first commander of the post-9/11 8th FEMA Region’s Homeland Response Force – an organization of soldiers and airmen trained to respond to large-scale domestic disasters. Milada spent two years taking Utah’s HRF from a concept to a fully staffed, fully functioning organization with 560 trained personnel. Under her leadership, the HRF passed the certification exercise with the highest grade nationally. The Utah National Guard HRF most recently assisted with tracking Covid cases and delivering much-needed medical supplies, carrying on with the mission of responding to domestic emergencies.

Milada holds a number of degrees, including a BS in Biology, MBA, BS in Computer Management and Information Science, MS in Strategic Studies, and MS in Cybersecurity – all earned while working full-time. She’s currently a member of the Association of Information Management of Utah.

Like many women in tech, throughout her career Milada was often the only woman in technical, male-dominated fields like Field Artillery and Combat Engineering. As a result, she considers mentoring others one of her biggest accomplishments, honors and responsibilities.

Outside of work, Milada is an accomplished distance runner. She’s competed in eleven (and won three) 100-mile mountain ultramarathons and enough 50-mile races that she quit counting. Lately, she’s shifted her focus from running to scuba diving and underwater photography.