ISACA expands its leadership team
Global technology association ISACA has added two roles on its leadership team that are the first of their kind at the organization— welcoming its first Chief Learning Officer, Nader Qaimari, as well as first Chief Technology Officer, Simona Rollinson.
As CLO, Qaimari takes on ISACA’s learning and certification offerings for individual professionals, including the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) and the CSX Cybersecurity Practitioner (CSX-P) certifications.
He also is charged with ISACA editorial and publishing efforts, including the ISACA Journal.
“I am excited to be working with ISACA, a global and well-recognized brand in the tech space,” said Qaimari. “What’s especially exciting to me personally is the ability to address the skills gap dilemma that exists right now, building solutions and leading teams that will educate and train existing and future professionals for jobs that do not even exist yet – globally.”
Most recently, Qaimari served as Group President of Follett School Solutions, a multi-billion-dollar education company. While there, he launched a new book fair business and a digital curriculum business, while also running Follett’s software and service platforms, leading 1,700 associates globally.
Prior to Follett, Qaimari was a senior executive at Cengage, a leading higher education company. At Cengage, he led sales and marketing across global markets, after many years of product management and strategy roles.
In Rollinson’s role as ISACA’s CTO, she will be leading ISACA’s technology team, drive the organization’s continuing digital transformation, and explore new opportunities for harnessing technology to elevate the educational and professional development experiences for ISACA’s members and enterprise customers.
She will be key in transforming ISACA’s learning technology platform to support the professional community at all levels and stages, from individual development to enterprise solutions.
“Though my career has evolved over the past 17 years, one constant has remained—my focus on improving education through technology,” said Rollinson.
“I am excited to drive collaboration across many levels in my role—within the technology teams, across ISACA, and across our global footprint—to help ISACA become a force for innovation as a learning organization for members and enterprises.”
Rollinson brings a wealth of technology leadership and strategy experience to ISACA, from her earlier roles as software engineer and developer, to president of Follett Software Company and later as CIO for Cook County Government in Chicago, Illinois—a role for which she was named CIO of the Year.
Most recently, she served as CIO for Clayco, a real estate development, architecture, engineering and construction firm. Throughout her executive career, Rollinson has led successful complex digital transformational change and evolution.
The hallmarks of her recent tenure are establishing an enterprise architecture capability, modernizing many foundational systems and legacy platforms and a focus on improved vendor and project management. She holds ISACA’s CISM certification.
“During ISACA’s 50th anniversary year, we are not only celebrating our past, but setting in motion our innovative future,” said David Samuelson, ISACA CEO.
“We have to transform to continue to be relevant, valued and trusted as a global organization. Simona and Nader will play instrumental roles in getting us there, by driving innovation at ISACA and taking our learning and technology solutions to the next level.”