SIA Names Yazmina Rawji as 2025 SIA Progress Award Honoree
The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named Yazmina Rawji of dormakaba as the 2025 recipient of the SIA Progress Award, an honor presented by SIA’s Women in Security Forum (WISF) community celebrating individuals who pave the way to success for women in the security industry. Rawji will be presented with the award on Nov. 19 during the 2025 SIA Celebrates & Honors event.
Yazmina (Mina) Rawji is a relationship manager at dormakaba for the Access Automation Solutions vertical, where she plays a key role in driving customer acquisition, business growth and market expansion for both dormakaba USA, Inc. and Alvarado dormakaba Group. Before entering the security industry, she served as the international market development director for a voice-over-IP startup, where she specialized in global business expansion. Rawji has also worked alongside some of the world’s most renowned speakers and trainers, including Tony Robbins, Les Brown, and Dr. Brian Weiss, helping bring transformative insights to a global audience. A published author, she co-wrote Expert Women Who Speak…Speak Out, a book that provides life and success strategies by women, for women, and she has lent her editorial expertise to numerous books on finance, sales, global business and self-improvement.
Rawji actively champions initiatives that empower women and allies in the security and manufacturing industries, with leadership roles including serving on the SIA WISF Steering Committee and as co-chair of the WISF AmbassadHER subcommittee, serving as chair of the dormakaba Women’s Network Americas, serving on the steering committee of Women in Manufacturing California, serving on the Security LeadHER planning committee, serving as a member of the Lean In Circle and speaking and presenting at a variety of industry events. She was named to the WISF Power 100 list in 2024 and 2025 and received SIA’s Sandy Jones Volunteer of the Year Award in 2025. Rawji is also deeply committed to community service, volunteering with organizations such as the South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency and OneLegacy.
“Being selected for the SIA Progress Award is a profound honor. This recognition is not mine alone—it reflects the work of those who paved the way before me, my mentors and managers who have guided me and the colleagues and cheerleaders who supported me along the way,” said Rawji. “Advancing women in the security industry is not just important—it’s essential for innovation, growth and the future of our field. This award is a celebration of how far we’ve come and a reminder of the work that still lies ahead. I remain committed to opening doors, mentoring others and ensuring every woman has the opportunity to lead and thrive. I am humbled, honored and most grateful for this recognition.”
In addition to presenting Rawji with the 2025 SIA Progress Award, SIA will recognize Sandra Jones with the first-ever honorary Progress Award. Sandra (Sandy) Jones is a 30+-year security industry veteran, insider, deal maker, author and visionary. Fifteen years after founding one of the industry’s first wholesale distribution companies, she started the consulting firm Sandra Jones and Company, where she and her industry affiliates provide a complete range of customized financial and profit development services for investors, manufacturers, service providers and system integrators. Jones was the creator of SIA’s New Products and Solutions Awards and a co-founder and producer of the Securing New Ground conference and served as two-term president of SIA, and she is one of only six industry leaders to have been awarded an honorary SIA membership.
“SIA is proud to recognize Yazmina Rawji as the 2025 recipient of the SIA Progress Award. Mina has been a driver of innovation and business growth at her company and in the broader industry, and her extraordinary leadership in the SIA Women in Security Forum and unwavering commitment to volunteerism have benefited and fostered the careers of so many women and emerging leaders in security. We applaud Mina for her vision, her dedication to mentorship and advocacy and her emphasis on paying it forward,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “We are also thrilled to honor Sandy Jones with an honorary Progress Award in recognition of her decades of impact on and service to SIA and our industry. We sincerely thank and commend Sandy for her remarkable success and contributions to the security field, her active involvement in the association over the course of her career and her longtime service on the SIA board. We look forward to honoring Mina and Sandy with these special awards at SIA Celebrates & Honors this year.”
SIA’s Progress Award recognizes SIA members who have shown excellence in their advancement of opportunities and success for women in the security industry. Each year’s recipient is determined based on their contributions to fostering women in the industry, promotion of women’s professional growth through mentorship and/or sponsorship, recognitions and awards for related activities and demonstration of the highest levels of professionalism and integrity in the security industry.