For more than 30 years, Catherine Allen has been an outstanding leader in technology, strategy and corporate board governance and a key thought leader in business innovation, cybersecurity, and risk management.
Catherine is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Board Risk Committee, a peer exchange and educational 501c3 nonprofit with membership of corporate and nonprofit board directors and Chief Risk Officers. She also was Founder and CEO of The Santa Fe Group (SFG) and Shared Assessments, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The SFG is a strategic advisory company focused on cybersecurity and risk management, specializing in briefings to C-level executives and boards of directors at financial institutions and other critical infrastructure companies. The SFG provided management for the Shared Assessments Program, a membership organization focused on best practices and assessment tools in third party risk management. Shared Assessments has over 425 corporate members, including many of the Fortune 1000. She sold Shared Assessments to OneTrust in 2021, and remains on the Advisory Board. The SFG has received many awards from Cyber Defense Infosec and SC Media for their contributions to cybersecurity and risk management. Catherine was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Cybersecurity in 2019 by Cyber Defense Magazine. SC Media named her one of the 2019 Visionaries in Cybersecurity of the Last 30 Years.
Catherine has served, or continues to serve, as a corporate board member of publicly held and private corporations such as Synovus Financial Corporation, El Paso Electric Company, Stewart Information Services, NBS Technologies, RiskSense, Belief Agency, Houlihan Lokey, AI Layer, and CRI Advantage. She has set up and chaired, or served on, risk, security, and technology committees of boards, as well as serving on compensation, nominations and governance, energy and natural resources, and public policy. In 2018, she was named one of the NACD 100 Most Influential Directors. Catherine sits on the audit committee of Women Corporate Directors, the advisory board of the Executive Women’s Forum, and was President of the New Mexico International Women’s Forum.
Catherine is active politically in national and local spheres and is an advocate for getting more women and people of color onto corporate boards, into the C-Suite, and into public policy. Catherine has received many awards for her contributions to financial services, technology, and mentoring of women. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Missouri in 2007. She has co-authored four books and is a sought-out speaker at industry conferences and in the media.
