IAPP Appoints Caitlin Fennessy Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer

The organization’s former Research Director to bring key skills to senior leadership team

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – October 4, 2021 - The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), the largest and most comprehensive global information privacy community and resource, today announces the appointment of Caitlin Fennessy, former IAPP Research Director, as Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer.

The position was previously held by Omer Tene, who is leaving the IAPP after an impressive eight-year tenure to join the Goodwin law firm as a partner. While Tene will be departing the IAPP in his role as Chief Knowledge Officer, he has been appointed IAPP Senior Westin Research Fellow and will continue to work closely with the research team.

“Omer’s remarkable career at the IAPP has paved the way for Caitlin to successfully take on this role as a leader in advancing the knowledge and skills of the privacy profession,” said IAPP President & CEO J. Trevor Hughes. “We are tremendously grateful to Omer and look forward to Caitlin’s contributions to our global profession.”

As Chief Knowledge Officer, Fennessy will guide the strategic development of IAPP research, publications, communications, and programming. Drawing on over a dozen years of privacy expertise, Fennessy will lead IAPP’s efforts to provide privacy professionals the practical, reliable and timely information they need to understand the operational impacts of global data protection developments.

Before joining the IAPP in 2019, Caitlin was the Privacy Shield Director at the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA). Caitlin joined ITA in 2009 and spent the next ten years working on international privacy and cross-border data flow policy issues. Caitlin served as an adjunct professor of international privacy law at the University of Maine School of Law in 2015 and 2016 and at the University of New Hampshire School of Law in 2014. Before her time at ITA, Caitlin worked in the National Security Division of the Office of Management and Budget and with the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I’m thrilled to take on this new role,” said Fennessy. “For the past three years, I’ve been struck by what makes the IAPP tick – our ability to draw on the expertise of privacy professionals globally to grow and inform our rapidly-evolving profession. I look forward to working more closely with our senior leadership team to support and engage privacy professionals around the world.”

To learn more about the IAPP, visit www.iapp.org.

About the IAPP

The International Association of Privacy Professionals is the largest and most comprehensive global information privacy community and resource. Founded in 2000, the IAPP is a not-for-profit organization that helps define, promote and improve the privacy profession globally. More information about the IAPP is available at iapp.org.