HOUSTON, April 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2026 HoustonCISO ORBIE Awards honored leading chief information security officers (CISOs) from Medtronic, Nabors Industries, Texas Children’s Hospital (fmr), City of Houston, Cornerstone OnDemand, Odfjell Terminals USA, Inc., & SLB for their exceptional leadership. Hosted by HoustonCISO, a chapter of the Inspire Leadership Network, the prestigious awards honor CISOs who drive business transformation and industry impact.
Held at the Hilton Houston North, the ceremony brought together top executives and industry leaders to honor excellence in security leadership across seven award categories.
“Every strong cybersecurity program is the result of leaders who guide their teams through complex work,” said Annessa McKenzie, HoustonCISO Chair. “The ORBIE Awards recognize CISOs who strengthen their organizations every day through disciplined execution, teamwork, and a commitment to supporting their people.”
Meet the 2026 HoustonCISO ORBIE Award Winners:
Mario Chiock, Schlumberger Fellow, SLB, received the Leadership ORBIE.
Dr. Stephanie Franklin-Thomas, PhD, VP & CISO, Medtronic, received the Super Global ORBIE for organizations over $14 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Ming Yeo, Senior IT Director of Cybersecurity, Governance, Cloud Architecture & Operations, Nabors Industries, received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $3 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Gordon Groschl, CISO & Dir. Healthcare Technology Management, Texas Children’s Hospital (fmr), received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $6.5 billion annual revenue.
Dr. Christopher Mitchell, CISO, City of Houston, received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $2.5 billion annual revenue.
Apurva Dhanwantri, SVP & CISO, Cornerstone OnDemand, received the Large Corporate ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue.
Lee Scott, Cybersecurity Officer, Odfjell Terminals USA, Inc., received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $1 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
HoustonCISO ORBIE Keynote & Attendance:
The keynote address for the HoustonCISO ORBIE Awards was delivered by Mario Chiock, Schlumberger Fellow, SLB, & Annessa McKenzie, CISO, VP of Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure of ConocoPhillips. Over 215 guests attended, representing leading Houston organizations and their technology partners.
The following partners made the 2026 HoustonCISO ORBIE Awards possible:
- Underwriters: BlueSky IT Partners powered by Bridgepointe, Fortinet & Google Cloud
- Gold Partners: Optiv, SentinelOne & Tata Consultancy Services
- Silver Partners: Armis, Cloudflare, DigiCert, Dragos, SailPoint, SynerComm & Zscaler
- Bronze Partners: Abnormal Security & Between Pixels
- Media Partner: Houston Business Journal
To learn more about partnership opportunities and how to connect with leading C-suite executives across North America, click here.
About HoustonCISO:
HoustonCISO is the preeminent peer leadership network of chief information security officers (CISOs) in Houston. As one of over 40 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, HoustonCISO belongs to a national membership organization exclusively comprised of C-suite leaders from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofit institutions.
HoustonCISO 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
nicole.lammes@inspirecxo.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/14ebb6d4-8382-4430-a367-a56f3edacc04
