HITRUST Announces Changes to Executive Leadership Team

Positions Organization for Growth, International Expansion, and Improved Offerings

FRISCO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HITRUST^®, a leading data protection standards development and certification organization, announced today strategic organizational changes in the form of new leadership appointments as well as new and expanded responsibilities for existing executive management. The changes are aligned with HITRUST’s global expansion and innovative new services aimed at helping organizations implement best-in-class risk management and compliance programs as simply and efficiently as possible. All changes are effective immediately.

Additions to the HITRUST leadership team:

Nikole Davenport joins HITRUST as the Chief Privacy Officer and Vice President of Privacy Programs to fill a critical role responsible for building and strengthening HITRUST privacy initiatives, including the launch of a new HITRUST CSF Privacy Certification program. Davenport has more than 20 years’ experience providing clients and companies with risk-based, regulatory compliance guidance as both an attorney and a consultant. She joins HITRUST most recently from Deloitte.

Vincent Bennekers joins HITRUST as Vice President of Quality, overseeing the integrity of the HITRUST CSF Assurance Program which provides centralized reporting and oversight for all HITRUST CSF assessments and reports. He will be responsible for championing continued improvements to the integrity, transparency, and ultimately the rely-ability of HITRUST reporting. Prior to joining, Bennekers spent 15 years with Ernst & Young LLP in various positions of increased responsibility.

Changes to existing leadership:

Jeremy Huval will move from his previous role as HITRUST’s Chief Compliance Officer to the newly created position of Chief Innovation Officer. He will be responsible for developing and implementing HITRUST’s innovation strategy; ensuring HITRUST’s innovation provides value to customers, assessors, and relying parties; and overseeing the rollout of innovative products and capabilities in support of HITRUST’s Standards Development Organization and HITRUST CSF Assurance Program.

Steve Baram has been promoted from his current role as HITRUST’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Communications to Executive Vice President of Customer Engagement and Operations. In his expanded role, Baram is responsible for the Company’s financial performance, corporate operations, and ensuring that HITRUST programs continue to evolve to consistently meet or exceed customer needs.

HITRUST founder and CEO, Daniel Nutkis, stated: “These organizational updates are key components for continued growth of the Company and are foundational to our commitment to the HITRUST community. With the right pieces in place, we will bring a renewed focus to expansion, strategy, and most importantly, the customers we help each day with their risk management and compliance programs.”

The entire HITRUST executive leadership team can be viewed on the HITRUST website: https://hitrustalliance.net/about-us/executive-team/.

About HITRUST

Since it was founded in 2007, HITRUST has championed programs that safeguard sensitive information and manage information risk for organizations across all industries and throughout the third-party supply chain. In collaboration with privacy, information security and risk management leaders from the public and private sectors, HITRUST develops, maintains, and provides broad access to its widely adopted common risk and compliance management frameworks as well as related assessment and assurance methodologies. For more information, visit www.hitrustalliance.net.