Leaders in Technology: Meet lululemon's Penny Harton
August 29, 2025
Penny Harton leads lululemon's Cybersecurity Technology team. She reflects on her 20-year journey in the field, from an unexpected start to leading Identity and Access Management efforts. She also discusses her passion for mentorship, innovation, and continuous learning. Outside of work, she enjoys family life with a blended household.
Could you tell us about your career journey and how you ended up in Cybersecurity?
As many of us do, I bumped into information security by accident, and it stuck! I was hired into a role as a Specialist in the Office of Information Security at a large auto supplier nearly 20 years ago. The mission of the role was to roll out and maintain security policies and support security control implementation to align with globally recognized information security control frameworks.
In this role, I dug in to understand the impact of technical security policy on functional processes and business operations. It allowed me to reframe security controls in terms of threat modelling and ‘what if’ scenarios, which led to a deep understanding of the value of security control operation monitoring, complementary and compensating control implementation to meet security objectives.
From there, I inherited IT Service Management and Identity and Access Management technology ownership and was off to the races! Since then, I’ve served large enterprises in various roles such as IT Manager, Security Project Manager, Cybersecurity Program Manager, Cybersecurity Engineering and Operations Director, Cybersecurity Portfolio Director, and Head of Cybersecurity. Today, I serve as a Cybersecurity Technology Director where my passion lies in Identity and Access Management.
What is your advice for someone who is interested in working on the Technology team at lululemon?
Show up with humble confidence in your subject matter expertise along with an open mind and positive disposition. Once you’ve joined the team, be all in and have fun! With so many wonderful ways we continue to evolve our Technology capabilities, the possibilities for success, adventure, and innovation are around every corner.
How do your projects support the business, the company's goals for growth and/or contribute value to the guest?
The Cybersecurity program at lululemon is continuously evolving to protect our brand, guests, employees, and contractors. It is an incredibly satisfying feeling to know that the work we do makes an impact. The Identity and Access Management function at lululemon is accountable for ensuring that our systems are never accessed by unauthorized individuals. Protecting our systems from threat actors is a continuously advancing mission that I’m very passionate about and committed to.
What is something you are passionate about, either in your career or outside of it?
Outside of my family, my work is my greatest love. My energy comes from those around me who share my passion for Cybersecurity. There’s nothing better than building a strategy to enable an idea to grow, transform, and manifest into a hardened, yet flexible way of securing our business. Along with that comes a natural passion for the mentorship mindset. What I don’t know is infinite, but so is what I can learn from others.
Can you share a fun fact about yourself?
I married my high school sweetheart after re-connecting at our 20-year class reunion and we have a large, blended family with six incredible kids ranging in age from 12 to 31!