Cathy Allen

For more than 30 years, Catherine A. Allen has been an outstanding thought leader in business innovation, technology strategy, and financial services.

Today, Catherine is Chairman and CEO of The Santa Fe Group, a strategic advisory services company based in Santa Fe, NM. The Santa Fe Group specializes in briefings to C-level executives and boards of directors at financial institutions and other critical infrastructure companies in the areas of cybersecurity, emerging technologies, and risk management. The Santa Fe Group provides management for strategic industry and institutional projects focused on third party risk management, including the Shared Assessments Program.

Catherine currently serves as a board member of Risk Sense, Belief Agency and Pocket PatientMD. She formerly served on the boards of Synovus Financial Corporation, El Paso Electric Company, and Analytics Pros, and was a member of the Risk, Energy, and Natural Resources, External Affairs and Nominating and Governance Committees. She chaired the Security Committee for El Paso Electric. She formerly sat on the Advisory Board of Houlihan Lokey and served as a former board member and Chair of the Technology Committee for Stewart Information Services. In 2018, Allen was recognized as one of the NACD Directors 100 most influential U.S. corporate board directors. She is currently Tri-Chair of the University of Missouri’s Capital Campaign and a member of the Chancellors Board of Visitors. She is also on the advisory board of Women Corporate Directors and the Executive Women’s Forum. Catherine is the former Chair of the Board of Trustees and member of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and formerly chaired New Mexico Appleseed. She is a member of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and International Folk Art Alliance boards. She is formerly a Presidential appointment trustee of the Valles Caldera.

In 2007, after a decade of service, Catherine stepped down from her role as the founding CEO of the financial services industry consortium, BITS to continue her work with The Santa Fe Group and pursue her passion as a corporate board member. During her tenure at BITS, Catherine worked closely with CEOs, CIOs, and executives at the nation’s largest financial institutions on strategic issues, from payments strategies to risk management. BITS’ accomplishments under Catherine’s leadership include creating best practices in more than 30 areas of financial services management.

Earlier in her career, Catherine served in several senior executive positions at Citicorp in the retail, bankcards, and corporate technology divisions. She represented Citibank as founding Chair and President of the multi-industry Smart Card Forum. Prior to joining Citibank, Catherine was Director of Corporate Planning for Dun & Bradstreet, where she created and chaired the Electronic Yellow Pages and Information Association. Catherine was also a consultant to CBS, Inc. on new technologies and international trade while she was a professor at American University’s Kogod College of Business Administration.

Catherine was recently honored by Cyber Defense Magazine’s 2019 Top 25 Women in Cybersecurity; as Director Honoree for 2019 NACD Directorship 100; SC Magazine: 30 Years in Cybersecurity-2019 Visionaries of the Last 30 Years; Cyber Defense Infosec 2019 Cutting Edge Women in Cybersecurity; and the US Banker Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to financial services and technology. In 2013, she was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to technology by the Executive Women’s Forum. An Honorary Doctorate from the University of Missouri was conferred on Catherine in 2015. She holds a B.S. from the University of Missouri, M.S. from the University of Maryland and is A.B.D from George Washington University.

Catherine is married to Paul Rooker and lives between Santa Fe, NM and Cape Cod, MA.