The Chertoff Group, a premier global advisory firm that provides security risk management, business strategy and merchant banking advisory services, today announced staff promotions for 2018.
“We are proud to recognize each of these individuals for their hard work, incredible dedication and continuous contributions to the firm,” said Michael Chertoff, executive chairman and co-founder of The Chertoff Group. “Not only have they contributed their time and talent to support the growth of the firm, but they continue to deliver best-in-class services and value to our clients.”
Katy Montgomery to Principal – Katy Montgomery has been with The Chertoff Group since 2010, when she joined as a senior public affairs official focused on creating thoughtful and strategic communications plans to help clients prepare and navigate through both anticipated challenges and unpredictable events. During her career, she served as a strategic communications advisor and spokesperson for senior government officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, The White House and U.S. Department of Education with her last position in public service as the deputy assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As a principal, Katy will continue to provide strategic advice and support to The Chertoff Group clients, including Fortune 500 companies and national trade associations, in the areas of public relations, issues management, executive engagement and stakeholder outreach, thought leadership and emergency incident response. Katy received her B.A. from California State University, Sacramento.
Chris Duvall to Senior Director – Chris Duvall focuses on cybersecurity and organizational risk management as part of the firms Security Risk Management Advisory Practice. A security and risk management expert with more than 20 years of experience, Chris has been integral in helping clients assess and improve security operations and build effective enterprise-wide risk management capabilities. Prior to joining The Chertoff Group, Chris spent two years as a federal employee, and 10 years as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in their Offices of Cybersecurity and Communications and Infrastructure Protection. During this time, he helped lead the development and coordination of DHS’ efforts to promote understanding and adoption of effective risk management strategies like those found in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. He helped establish DHS’ new cybersecurity program, the Critical Infrastructure Cyber Community Voluntary Program (C3VP), charged with helping organizations recognize available cybersecurity resources to improve their overall security postures. Chris is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CeH), and Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSK). He earned an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of the University of Maryland, an M.A. from American University’s School of International Service and a B.A. in Psychology from Dickinson College.
Ben Joelson to Director – Ben Joelson joined the firm in 2016 as a senior associate where he utilized his broad converged security expertise to help clients manage risk. As a director in the Security Risk Management Advisory Practice, Ben will continue to develop comprehensive risk management strategies for Fortune 500 Clients, critical infrastructure providers and leading global manufacturers. Prior to joining The Chertoff Group, Ben served as a security forces officer in the United States Air Force. In this capacity, he was responsible for the protection of some of the most critical assets and installations within the Department of Defense (DoD). Ben has led hundreds of force protection and risk management professionals on three continents as the senior off-installation nuclear convoy commander for an alert missile wing, a military police officer in Italy and as an antiterrorism officer in the Middle East. Ben is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he earned a B.S. in legal studies. He holds an MPS in Homeland Security from the Pennsylvania State University, and is a Board-Certified Protection Professional (CPP) as designated by ASIS International.
Alan Wehler to Director – Since joining The Chertoff Group in 2013 as an analyst, Alan has provided strategic support to the firm’s clients seeking to strategically grow and diversify their offerings in the technology, telecommunications, defense, retail and financial services sectors. As a director, Alan will continue to leverage his technology and security expertise to help clients manage risk and navigate complicated domestic and international policy environments. Prior to joining The Chertoff Group, Alan worked as an assistant project manager at Armed Forces Services Corporation and in a variety of national and homeland security-focused research positions. Alan received his B.A. in international relations from The College of William and Mary. He received his M.A. in security policy studies from The Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University with concentrations in transnational security and weapons of mass destruction.
About The Chertoff Group
The Chertoff Group is a premier global advisory firm that provides security risk management, business strategy and merchant banking advisory services. We apply our insights into technology, threat and policy to help our clients improve their resiliency, build competitive advantage and accelerate growth.
With a particular focus around security and technology, The Chertoff Group provides a broad array of professional services to help our clients at every stage of the business lifecycle. We leverage our deep subject matter knowledge around important policy matters and security operations to build and execute effective strategies that enable companies to capture new opportunities and create lasting competitive advantage. For those organizations that require tactical security support, we work hand-in-hand with clients to better understand today’s threats and assess, mitigate and monitor potential dangers and evolving risks in order to create more secure environments for their business operations.
Headquartered in Washington D.C., The Chertoff Group maintains offices in Menlo Park and New York City. For more information about The Chertoff Group, visit https://www.chertoffgroup.com.
