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Recent Author of: “Revolutionary Retirement: What’s Next for You”

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

Catherine stepped down from her role as the founding CEO of the financial services industry consortium, BITS, in 2007 after a decade of service. During her tenure, Catherine worked closely with CEOs, CIOs and executives at the nation’s largest financial institutions on strategic issues facing the financial services industry, 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.

Today, Catherine is Chairman and CEO of The Santa Fe Group, a strategic consulting 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, and provides management for strategic industry and institutional projects, including the Shared Assessments Program, focused on vendor risk 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 and 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. She is a co- chair of the University of Missouri’s Capital Campaign and sits on the Research and Development Committee.

Today, Catherine is a board member of Synovus Financial Corporation and El Paso Electric Company and is a member of the Risk, Compensation, Energy and Natural Resources, External Affairs, and Nominating and Governance Committees, as well as former board member and Chair of the Technology Committee for Stewart Title. She is also on the board of Women Corporate Directors and the Executive Women’s Forum. She sits on the Advisory Committee for Houlihan Lokey and Chairs the Board of Trustees for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. She is also a member of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, International Folk Art Alliance, Appleseed NM, Lensic Center for Performing Arts, Communities for Schools in NM, Valles Caldera Trust, and the Mark Twain Research Foundation boards. Catherine is active politically in national and local spheres, including being a former member of President Barack Obama’s Economic Development and Small Business Committees and the New Mexico State Investment Council.

Catherine was honored by US Banker magazine with the 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. She is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Missouri, recognizing her professional achievements in financial services and technology.  

Nancy Bearg has a distinguished career in national security, foreign policy, and international economic development in the government and non-profit sectors. She is the former National Security Advisor to the Vice President of the United States, National Security Council staff member, and President and CEO of an international development non-profit organization, EnterpriseWorks/VITA. Currently, Ms. Bearg is a consultant, and she teaches a leadership seminar at George Washington University. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Alliance for Peacebuilding.

Also in the non-profit sector, she has worked at the Project on National Security Reform, on US-Muslim relations at Search for Common Ground, and at the Aspen Institute as the Director of the International Peace, Security and Prosperity Program. She is the author and editor of five national security books, including two on conflict management and prevention and three on global poverty (Aspen Institute Press). Her passion is conflict prevention and post-conflict peacebuilding.

Before joining the non-profit world, Ms. Bearg was Director of International Programs and Public Diplomacy at the National Security Council for President George H. W. Bush. She served as Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs in 1982 and 1983, the first woman to hold this post. Previously, she had been Director of Policy Analysis for the Near East, Africa and South Asia in the Department of Defense, worked at the Congressional Budget Office, and was on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee. She holds an undergraduate degree from Willamette University and a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Nancy is Co-Author of Reboot Your Life: Energize Your Career and
Life by Taking a Break and Co-Founding Partner of Reboot Partners LLC.