New US CIO appointments, November 2024

Movers & Shakers is where you can keep up with new CIO appointments and gain valuable insight into the job market and CIO hiring trends. As every company becomes a technology company, CEOs and corporate boards are seeking multi-dimensional CIOs and IT leaders with superior skills in technology, communications, business strategy, and digital innovation. The role is more challenging than ever before — but even more exciting and rewarding! If you have CIO job news to share, please email me!

SunLife appoints Maya Beri as CIO

SunLife is an international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance, and health solutions to individual and institutional clients. Beri brings decades of experience in technology and IT strategy to the SunLife US business, most recently serving as senior managing director, CIO, for SLC Management, a SunLife company. She earned a BSc from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and an MSc from the University of Denver.

Jennifer Charters named CIO of Lincoln Financial

Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial helps people to plan, protect and retire through their four core businesses — annuities, life insurance, group protection, and retirement plan services. Since 2018, Charters served as EVP and CIO at Flagstar Bank, where she led the full breadth of the IT organization there. Prior to that, she was CIO of Corporate Technology at Ally Financial. She holds a BS from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Hershey welcomes Gene Kholodenko as CIO

The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, is a food manufacturer with more than 90 brands and products, including chocolate, sweets, mints, and other snacks. Kholodenko spent more than two decades at Procter & Gamble, working in several IT, CTO, and CIO roles across the company’s homecare, fragrances, chemical, and global businesses. He holds a BS from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business.

Lynnette Clinton returns to BayCare as CIO

BayCare is a nonprofit healthcare system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 16 hospitals and hundreds of other locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. Clinton departed from BayCare in 2023 to be SVP and CIO at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Earlier in her career she held leadership roles at Lehigh Valley Health Network and started at BayCare in 2016 as director of financial/ERP applications. Clinton holds a BS from Albright College and an MBA from the University of Tampa.

Medica appoints Keith Tanski as CIO

Medica is a nonprofit health plan, and the company serves communities by providing healthcare coverage and related services in the employer, individual, Medicaid, and Medicare markets. Tanski joins Medica after serving as VP of health and wellness technology at Walmart. His career journey includes progressive roles at Travelers, Target, Deluxe, and UnitedHealth Group. He holds a BS from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

Flagstar Bank names Christopher Higgins CIO

Headquartered in Hicksville, New York, Flagstar Financial, Inc. is the parent company of Flagstar Bank, N.A., one of the largest regional banks in the country. Most recently, Higgins served at US Bank, where he led 13 post-merger systems conversions, integrating 1.2 million customers and 57 systems. Previously at MUFG Americas, he served as chief operations and information officer, enhancing operations, technology, and risk management. He also held key roles at Bank of America and Shawmut National Bank.

Ken Piddington joins RelaDyne as CDIO

RelaDyne, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a distributor of lubricant and fuel intended for industrial, commercial, and automotive businesses. Piddington was most recently CIO at US Silica Company. He held prior positions as CIO for SGR Energy, and MRE Consulting, and holds a BS from Northeastern University.

AIR Control Concepts welcomes Amit Shankar as CIO

Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, AIR is a company that partners with and supports leading commercial HVAC solutions providers. Shankar’s career includes his role as CIO at United States Infrastructure Corp. (USIC), where he led IT strategy and operations for nearly a decade. Prior to this, he held leadership positions at Granite Services, a subsidiary of General Electric, where he spearheaded IT advancements in power generation, and oil and gas sectors. He holds a degree in computer science and economics from Rutgers University.

Dan Hedstrom joins Modine as CIO

Modine, a global company based in Racine, Wisconsin, is a supplier of thermal management technology and solutions, and provides the commercial, industrial, and vehicular markets with systems and solutions to manage heating and cooling, and improve air quality while conserving natural resources. Prior to Modine, Hedstrom held the CIO role at Cubic Corporation. He earned a BS from California Polytechnic State University.

Sorenson announces Maria Lensing as Global CIO and CTO

Sorenson is a language services provider, combining patented technology with human-centric solutions. They provide call captioning and video relay services, video remote and in-person sign language and spoken language interpreting, translation, real-time captioning, and post-production language services. Prior to Sorenson, Lensing served as chief strategy and transformation officer at Walgreens, where she oversaw the company’s digital transformation and led the development of the technology operating model. Before that, she was CTO at McKesson. Lensing earned a BS and MS from Christian Brothers University (CBU).

Matt Keen announced as CIO for Bremer Bank

Founded in 1943, Bremer Bank provides a comprehensive range of banking, mortgage, investment, wealth management, and insurance products and services throughout the Upper Midwest. Keen’s three decades of business technology experience includes four years of consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers and 14 years with Ameriprise Financial, where he led architecture, development, and experience for brokerage and banking services. He holds a BS from the University of St. Thomas.

Soleo Health taps Jason Weems as CIO

As a provider of complex specialty pharmacy services, Soleo Health delivers high-cost therapies for conditions requiring focused clinical monitoring and interventions regardless of the site of care, route of administration, or health benefit design. Weems’ expertise over the past decade spans senior leadership roles at Cigna and Evernorth, where he led technology innovation efforts across various patient care and pharmacy business segments. He previously held senior leadership positions at Express Scripts and Citi, and holds a BS and an MBA from Saint Louis University.

RELI welcomes Saeed Elnaj as CIO

RELI Group is a management consulting firm that supports federal, state, and local programs in the health, safety, and security sectors. Before joining RELI Group, Elnaj served as a senior customer success manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he helped organizations leverage cloud services to achieve business goals. His career also includes roles as CITO at HealthKey Technologies, VP of IT and CIO at the National Council on Aging, and VP of global information and communication technology at Project Concern International. Elnaj holds a master’s degree and a doctorate from George Washington University.

Nick Harness joins Fringe Benefit Group as CIO

FBG designs, implements, and administers benefit plans for government contractors, restaurants, retail, and staffing companies. Over the past two decades, Harness has served in various technology leadership roles across JPMorgan Chase’s asset management division, and Morgan Stanley’s research division in New York City, where he delivered technology solutions on a global scale. Most recently, he served as CIO at Kestra Holdings. Harness received a BEng from South Bank University, London, and an MBA from New York University.

New CIO appointments, October 2024

Daikin Applied Welcomes Ashish Srivastava as CDIO

Navistar announces Robert Oh as CDIO

Jacqui Nevils joins Fresenius Medical Care as CIO

MDU Resources promotes Dyke Boese to CIO

Gagan Sinha named CIO of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc.

K. Hovnanian Companies announces Sri Arumugam as CIO

Matt Belanger joins Republic Airways as CIO

NW Natural Holdings announces Brian Fellon as CIO

Gemological Institute of America names Neil Jadhav CITO

Paul Roche named CIO for Transdev US

University of Oklahoma welcomes Nishanth Rodrigues as CIO

DocGo names Eiwe Lingefors CIO

Brigham Young University appointed Brian Radford CIO

New CIO appointments, September 2024

Truist names Steve Hagerman CIO

Mike Guhl appointed CIO at PulteGroup Inc.

Norfolk Southern welcomes Anil Bhatt as CIDO

Nelly Jefferson named CIO of Avangrid

Marjorie Hutchings joins Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies Workers Compensation Division as CIO

Itamar Albek joins American Jewish Committee as CIO

HEICO welcomes William Velez as CIO

First Watch names Rob Conti as CIO

Winston & Strawn appoints Robert Kerr as CIO

Jovan Marconi joins Inland as CIO

CoolSys appoints Danny Rodriguez as CIO

Justin McWhirter named CIO for CCC Intelligent Solutions

TAB Bank appoints Tami Fisher as CIO

Queens University of Charlotte names Kenitra Horsley CIO

New CIO appointments, August 2024

Nike appoints Cheryan Jacob CIO

Mondelēz International named Filippo Catalano CIDO

Keith Credendino named CIO of Macy’s, Inc.

Kyndryl appoints Kim Basile as CIO

Neeru Arora named CIO for Mazda North American Operations

Dan Shull joins Hasbro as CDIO

REI Co-op promotes Guillaume Ledieu to CTO

Marco Deutsch named CIO at Baker McKenzie

Adolfo Rodriguez appointed CTIO at Guitar Center

Yeman Collier to join UChicago Medicine as CIO

Subaru of America, Inc. appoints Aurelian Sin as CIO

Alliant Credit Union welcomes Jamie Warder as CIO

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. appoints Bhupesh Arora as CTO

Jamie Head joins Parts Town as CIO

Lloyd Boyd named CIO for Park Lawn Corporation

Ryan McEnroe named CIO at Reed Smith

Unison Risk Advisors appoints Tony Martinez as CIO

Martina Schubert joins Van Meter Inc. as CIO

Atlas Van Lines promotes Ryan Parmenter to CIO

New CIO appointments, July 2024

BNY names Leigh-Ann Russell as CIO

Charles (Rusty) Patel joins Baxter as CIO

Clayco names Jeff Miller as CIO

Kevin Ruggiero named CIO of Parsons Corporation

Urmila Menon joins Tri Pointe Homes as CIO

Signature Aviation appoints Al Lettera as CDIO

Boart Longyear names Niel Nickolaisen as CIO

Jordan Ruch named CIO at AtlantiCare

Holley Performance Brands names Charan Mann CIO

Heath Tuttle named CIO at the University of Buffalo

MEC appoints Daniel Bourquin as CIO

George Haddad joins North American Partners in Anesthesia as CIO

New CIO appointments, June 2024

Madhu Narasimhan named CIO of DaVita

Cleveland Clinic announces Sarah Hatchett as CIO

Quest Diagnostics appoints Murali Balakumar as CIDO

Guncha Mehta joins Beyond as CDIO

Gulfstream Aerospace appoints Anthony Newlin as CIO

David Ugan named CTO for AAA, Inc.

Mieko Shibata named new R&T Deposit Solutions CIO

Keith Jones promoted to CIO at Cone Health

Lendmark Financial Services announces Zaheer Khan as CIO

Keith Correia named CIO at Portillo’s

Freshworks appoints Ashwin Ballal as CIO

Bill Shuler joins Planet Home Lending as CIO