NASHVILLE, May 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The 2026 Tennessee ORBIE Awards honored leading chief information officers (CIOs) and chief information security officers (CISOs) from FedEx (ret), Nissan Americas, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Meharry Medical College, University of Tennessee, and National HealthCare Corporation for their exceptional leadership. Hosted by TennesseeCIO and TennesseeCISO, two of over 50 Inspire Leadership Network chapters, the prestigious award honors CIOs and CISOs who drive business transformation and industry impact.
This exclusive event brought together top executives and industry leaders from Tennessee. The morning honored excellence in technology leadership across seven award categories at the Omni Nashville.
“The ORBIE Awards recognize CIOs and CISOs who drive meaningful impact through leadership excellence. Finalists and winners highlight the business value of technology and security initiatives transforming Tennessee’s economy,” said Al Smith, TennesseeCIO Chair.
“Behind every successful technology and security strategy is a CIO or CISO leading the vision,” said Nagi Kudithini, TennesseeCISO Chair. “The ORBIE® Awards is the ultimate recognition program for the leaders behind the work.”
Meet the 2026 Tennessee ORBIE Award Winners:
Rob Carter, EVP & CIO (ret), FedEx, received the Leadership ORBIE.
Lesley Ma, CIO, Nissan Americas, received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $10 billion annual revenue.
David Jacques, SVP & CIO, ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $2.5 billion annual revenue.
Matt Williams, CISTO, University of Tennessee, received the CISO Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $1.5 billion annual revenue.
Ben Hicks, CISO, National HealthCare Corporation, received the CISO Enterprise ORBIE for organizations up to $1.5 billion annual revenue.
Kim Wismer, CIO, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $800 million annual revenue.
Charles Cooper, CIO, Meharry Medical College, received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $800 million 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 leaders. 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 value created by technology innovation and enterprise security
- Engagement in industry and community endeavors
Tennessee ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:
The keynote address for the Tennessee ORBIE Awards was delivered by Rob Carter, EVP & CIO (ret), FedEx, who was interviewed by Carman Wenkoff, EVP & CIO, Dollar General. Over 400 guests attended, representing leading Tennessee organizations and their technology partners.
The following partners made the 2026 Tennessee ORBIE Awards possible:
- Underwriters: AHEAD, Cresta, Fortinet, Google Cloud, Kanini, Trinetix, & Wavicle Data Solutions
- Gold Partners: C Spire Business, Comcast Business, Cyera, Island, Nutanix, Veeam Software, & Zendesk
- Silver Partners: Cisco, Cognizant, KPMG, Palo Alto Networks, Slalom Consulting, T-Mobile for Business, & Tata Consultancy Services
- Bronze Partners: Arctic Wolf, Amazon Web Services, Between Pixels, Dell Technologies, Deloitte, HP, HPE, Insight, Quinnox, SonicWall, Tech Mahindra, Vaco by Highspring, & World Wide Technology
- Media Partner: Nashville Business Journal
- 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 TennesseeCIO & TennesseeCISO:
TennesseeCIO and TennesseeCISO are the preeminent peer leadership networks of chief information officers (CIOs) and chief information security officers (CISOs) in Tennessee. As two of over 50 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, TennesseeCIO and TennesseeCISO belong to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.
TennesseeCIO and TennesseeCISO are led by a CIO and 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 CIOs, CISOs, and members.
About Inspire Leadership Network:
Inspire Leadership Network is the preeminent peer leadership network of C-suite executives. With over 2,000 members across over 50 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
nicole.lammes@inspirecxo.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b9171d48-06bf-43e8-8b65-94aac3d4d78f
