CHICAGO, May 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2026 ChicagoCISO ORBIE Awards honored leading chief information security officers (CISOs) from CNA Financial, Paychex, Inc., Intermountain Health, Fitch Group, Hagerty Insurance & Chicago Trading Company for their exceptional leadership. Hosted by ChicagoCISO, a chapter of the Inspire Leadership Network, the prestigious awards honor CISOs who drive business transformation and industry impact.
Held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, the ceremony brought together top executives and industry leaders to honor excellence in security leadership across six award categories.
“Behind every successful cybersecurity strategy is a CISO leading the vision,” said Angela Williams, ChicagoCISO Chair. “The ORBIE Awards are the ultimate recognition program for the leaders behind the work.”
Meet the 2026 ChicagoCISO ORBIE Award Winners:
Walter Lefmann, Director of Security, Chicago Trading Company (ret), received the Leadership ORBIE.
Mahmood Khan, SVP & CISO, CNA Financial, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $9 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Bradley Schaufenbuel, VP & CISO, Paychex, Inc., received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $5 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Erik Decker, VP & CISO, Intermountain Health, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue.
Devin Rudnicki, CISO, Fitch Group, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $2.5 billion annual revenue.
Greg Bee, CISO, Hagerty Insurance, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $2.5 billion annual revenue.
About the ORBIE:
The ORBIE is the preeminent executive recognition for C-suite leaders. Since 1998, the ORBIE Awards have recognized leadership excellence, building relationships between executives and trusted business partners, and inspiring the next generation of executives. Finalists and winners are selected through an independent peer-adjudicated process led by prior ORBIE recipients based on the following criteria:
- Leadership and management effectiveness
- Business protection created by enterprise security
- Engagement in industry and community endeavors
ChicagoCISO ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:
The keynote address for the ChicagoCISO ORBIE Awards was delivered by Walter Lefmann, Director of Security, Chicago Trading Company (ret), & Michael Phillips, Adjunct Professor, DePaul University, Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM). Over 300 guests attended, representing leading Chicagoland organizations and their technology partners.
The following partners made the 2026 ChicagoCISO ORBIE Awards possible:
- Underwriters: Comcast Business & MajorKey
- Gold Partners: Chainguard, Rubrik, Tata Consultancy Services & Tenex.AI
- Silver Partners: Cloudflare, DigiCert, Island, Okta, Red Canary, SentinelOne, Sublime Security, Thales Group & Wiz
- Bronze Partners: 7AI, American Digital, Between Pixels, ForeScout Technologies, Horizon3.ai, IDMWorks, Trace3 & Varonis
- Media Partner: Crain’s Chicago Business
- Nonprofit Partner: Year Up United
To learn more about partnership opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.
About ChicagoCISO:
ChicagoCISO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information security officers (CISOs) in Chicagoland. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, ChicagoCISO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.
ChicagoCISO is led by a CISO Advisory Board, with support from an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives support the chapter and ensure the programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CISOs and members.
About Inspire Leadership Network:
Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With nearly 2,000 members across more than 40 local chapters, Inspire members serve public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit institutions. Inspire exists to help leaders thrive in today’s most challenging executive roles.
Media Contact
Nicole Lammes
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b3480735-6224-4454-b0e9-71355043ce8a
