Coalfire Names New CFO and General Counsel

Coalfire, the largest global cybersecurity firm, recently appointed Merri Chandler as chief financial officer, and Aparna Dasai Williams as general counsel.

Ms. Chandler joins the company after serving over 26 years in corporate finance, having held key leadership positions at premier professional service and technology companies, most recently as CFO with The Chartis Group, the nation’s leading healthcare advisory firm. With her track record in strategic transactions, high-growth consulting, and as a trusted partner in the private equity space, Ms. Chandler augments the company’s scalability and growth trajectory.

Ms. Williams brings extensive corporate legal experience to the team after 20 years in cybersecurity at AXENT Technologies, Symantec, and Imperva. She comes to Coalfire from her most recent position building the legal function from the ground up at e-commerce shipping platform, Shippo.

“With the shift to the cloud and rise in remote working, cybersecurity is a boardroom priority, and world-class risk management is now driven with military precision and by human intuition,” said CEO Tom McAndrew. “The mission of cybersecurity is to keep the world safe, and we’re accomplishing this by attracting top talent, like Merri and Aparna, and through Coalfire’s dynamic growth plans with our private equity partner Apax.”

“I’m proud to become part of Coalfire; I’m inspired by Tom’s leadership style and his naval service and am excited to work at the top tier of private equity excellence with Apax Partners,” said Ms. Chandler. “This company and its investors are at the top of their game, and it’s an honor to serve with one of the industry’s most diverse and effective leadership teams.”

Ms. Chandler earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Ms. Williams received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law.

“I’m pleased to get back to my cybersecurity roots with Coalfire, and to reinforce the company’s legal foundation for future growth organically and by acquisition,” said Williams. “This is an exciting time for change in our industry, and I’m looking forward to changing the game with Tom and the executive team.”