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AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakwater Solutions, a leader in information governance and data risk management, announced new leadership hires in the company's consulting organization led by Jim Vint, chief revenue officer, and Rebecca Patterson, managing director. Mr. Vint and Ms. Patterson are co-founders of Breakwater Solutions. The global investment in consulting is driven by client demand in data risk management expertise for information governance, privacy, cybersecurity and legal. As part of this investment, the company has opened new consulting offices in Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. These new offices complement the existing office locations in the United States (New York, Chicago, Austin), Ireland, Germany, Croatia and India. Breakwater is backed by JLL Partners, a growth focused private equity firm.

"Our clients are demanding practical expertise to solve their problems, not to increase their number of business partners who compound their governance challenges," said James Schellhase, chief executive officer, Breakwater. "Breakwater uniquely offers both consulting expertise and our own software solutions. Our consultants are mandated to solve our clients' problems, regardless of which company provides supporting technology."

New strategic leadership hires in the expanding consulting organization include:

Rajitha Boer joined as managing director, based in Basel, Switzerland. Ms. Boer is responsible for leading the company's market development strategy and execution in the EU and UK. Ms. Boer has deep experience in global market-making and relationship development, with subject matter expertise in technology-enabled solutions and legal data risk management. Prior to Breakwater, Ms. Boer was the founder and CEO of Yerra Solutions AG, a legal and eDiscovery company, now a part of Elevate Services, Inc. Ms. Boer has a MBA, Financial Management and Information Systems and a M.S. in Computer Information Systems.

Kate Chan joined as managing director, based in Hong Kong. Ms. Chan is responsible for leading consulting growth and market development strategy and execution in the Asia-Pacific market. Ms. Chan is an expert in data-intensive, cross-border litigation, complex regulatory investigations, and legal technology solutions. Prior to Breakwater, Ms. Chan was a senior managing director at Ankura and a managing director at Navigant Consulting. Prior to Navigant, Ms. Chan was the regional managing director at KLDiscovery.

Noriswadi Ismail joined as managing director, based in London, UK. Mr. Ismail is responsible for leading the global Data Privacy practice. Mr. Ismail is a subject matter expert in global data privacy laws and regulations, data privacy and security strategies and data privacy technology. Mr. Ismail is a frequent author and guest speaker in global data privacy and an active member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Ismail was a managing director at Ankura and led GDPR consulting for EY UK. Mr. Ismail has degrees and certificates from multiple universities including doctoral research at the Brunel Law School, Brunel University London. Mr. Ismail is a Certified Information Privacy Professional Asia (CIPP/A) and has a Practitioner Certificate in Data Protection (PC.dp).

Kevin Novak joined as managing director, based in Chicago, IL. Mr. Novak is responsible for the growth and delivery strategy of the Cybersecurity practice. Mr. Novak has deep expertise in technology security, information security, technology risk management and fraud and forensics. Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Novak was the chief information security officer of Northern Trust Corporation. Mr. Novak has a B.S., Accounting from Western Michigan University, Haworth College of Business. Mr. Novak is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and a Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE).

George Tziahanas joined as managing director, based in Chicago, IL. Mr. Tziahanas is responsible for the growth and delivery strategy of the Information Governance practice. Mr. Tziahanas is a subject matter expert with deep expertise in data governance, risk and compliance and legal technology. Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Tziahanas held executive positions at Arbor Ridge Partners, Morae Legal, HP Software, Iron Mountain and Intel. Mr. Tziahanas earned a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a M.S. in Biological Sciences and Molecular Systematics from DePaul University. Mr. Tziahanas is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association.

Dale Waterman joined as managing director, based in Dubai, UAE. Mr. Waterman is responsible for consulting growth and market development within the global Data Privacy practice with a specific focus on the MEA region. Mr. Waterman is an expert in data privacy, data protection, public policy and regulatory affairs. Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Waterman was a partner at White Label Consultancy. Prior to that position, Mr. Waterman was a corporate attorney at Microsoft, based Dubai, working on regulatory strategy, digital crimes and software privacy. Mr. Waterman has a LLB, Law from Rhodes University. Mr. Waterman is a Certified Information Privacy Professional / Europe (CIPP/E), a Governance, Certified Risk and Compliance Management Professional (CRCMP), and a OneTrust Certified Professional.

Baba Bedi joined as a director in the Cybersecurity practice, based in New York, NY. Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Bedi was the chief information security officer (CISO) and chief security officer (CSO) at CIBC U.S. Mr. Bedi has a Master of Computer Applications from the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology and a B.S.c from Punjabi University. Mr. Bedi is a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMLS).

Marc Jenkins joined as a director in the Legal Data & Technology Solutions practice, based in Nashville, TN. Mr. Jenkins is an expert in legal operations transformation, risk and compliance and legal technology. Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Jenkins was the CEO of Adappt.legal, a legal consultancy focused on the intersection of people, process and technology and was a faculty member at Vanderbilt University. Prior to Adappt.legal, Mr. Jenkins was the director of legal operations at Asurion. Mr. Jenkins has a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, a LLM in Taxation from the University of Alabama and a B.A., Philosophy from the University of Mississippi. Mr. Jenkins is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association.

Stacy Williams joined as a director in the Cybersecurity practice, based in Las Vegas, NV. Prior to Breakwater, Mr. Williams was the chief information security officer (CISO) at the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Prior to this position, Mr. Williams was the CISO at Zappos. Mr. Williams is currently a board member of the Lexicon Bank. Mr. Williams has a B.S. in Computer Science from Jackson State University.

"Many of our client challenges are multidisciplinary and may start within one area of expertise but often require cross-functional expertise in governance, privacy, cybersecurity and legal. While the initial challenge begins within a single country or region, the holistic solution often requires global coordination." said Jim Vint, chief revenue officer, Breakwater.

"We are very excited about the exceptional leaders joining our consulting organization and the cross-discipline expertise they bring.  Each is rapidly recruiting to expand their teams and meet client demand," said Rebecca Patterson, managing director, Breakwater.