The Security Executive Council (SEC) has added five new members to its team of experts: Amy Ballard, Alan Borntrager, Neil R. Johnston, Jerry D. Vergeront, and Dwight Williams.
The SEC is reportedly the only security risk management firm to exclusively use former corporate security senior executives from leading Fortune 500 companies as subject-matter experts (consultants). They work with SEC staff as a team to blend their many areas of expertise together, resulting in a collective knowledge that encompasses security risk mitigation strategies, organizational experience, and the importance of corporate culture.
Bob Hayes, the SEC’s managing director, said, “Our newest wave of experts brings fresh skills and passions that expand our capabilities to a solve a broader range of problems. We are fortunate to have these high-level people to work with.”
Amy Ballard (Subject Matter Expert, Security Program Facilitation) contributed eighteen years of security-related service and technology knowhow to The Boeing Company, security and fire protection group. She was a founding member of the development and implementation team that assessed, built out and consolidated the company’s first global security operations center. She also coordinated IT requirements for several major security systems. Ballard’s accomplishments include concept development, industry benchmarking, business case development, design and construction reviews, and project/program coordination and communications. Her IT and physical security acumen uniquely qualifies her to assist clients with cross-functional risk competency development, detailed data and trend analysis, metrics development, and project management.
Alan Borntrager, CPP (Emeritus Faculty) has built his career and reputation by helping organizations properly assess risk, create security strategies, and educate employees, leaders, and teams. He brings 30 years of military law enforcement, investigative, security and life safety experience in varied entities/corporations, cultures, geographies, and threat environments. Borntrager’s experience gives him a truly international mindset. His career spans many industries, several of which make up national critical infrastructure, including information technology, banking and financial services, and electric utilities. He also served with distinction in Iraq while in the US Army Military Police Corps, 18th Airborne Corps, 16th MP Brigade.
Neil R. Johnston (Subject Matter Expert, Security Technology Operations) is former security technical operations senior manager of The Boeing Company, with more than 29 years of leadership in emergency dispatch operations, security systems governance, and standardization/consolidation of security systems. Johnston was a key leader in the multi-year development and establishment of The Boeing GSOC in Mesa, AZ, in 2017, developing the business case, leading design and construction reviews, and consolidating more than 63 sites. The GSOC has an ROI of $10 million over 10 years, excluding life safety risk outcomes. Prior to his career with The Boeing Company, Johnston served as a security specialist in the United States Air Force.
Dwight Williams (Emeritus Faculty) is former vice president of global security for DynCorp International, where he was charged with the protection of 25,000 employees stationed in more than 30 countries. He also led Worldwide Protective Services, providing security for Department of State staff and facilities in the Middle East and Asia. Prior to DynCorp, Williams was the chief security officer for the Department of Homeland Security, where he directed and provided oversight to security activities for 32 components and over 200,000 employees. He established the DHS CSO Council to provide a forum for senior DHS security officials to work together to create world-class security performance throughout the Department. He was the director of security for US Customs and Border Protection, where he won the CBP Commissioners Award, and he has held several other high-level federal roles.
Jerry D. Vergeront (Subject Matter Expert, Cyber Risk and Compliance) brings 25 years of experience in information security and privacy and a focus on legal issues surrounding security, privacy, compliance, and risk. A member of the Washington State Bar, he has been responsible for IT security teams and solutions across a wide range of industries, including a Fortune 150 internationally diverse corporation, health care organizations, and one of the world’s largest charitable foundations. Throughout his career, Vergeront sought out partnerships with physical security, legal teams, and risk managers to ensure that security and privacy solutions could be used to the full benefit of an organization. He now uses his combined IT and legal experience help clients deal with data privacy/security compliance and risk analysis consultation.
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