Matt Wright

Matt Wright was born in Minnesota, growing up in the St. Paul area. He attended the University of Wisconsin where he served in various senior editorial roles for the weekly campus newspaper, The Student Voice, and the annual literary magazine, Prologue. From Wisconsin, he moved back to Minnesota and made the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area his home. For over 20 years, he has worked in the graphic design, advertising and publishing, and information technology fields. His accomplishments in the corporate arena include launching and managing the first web sites for Lifetouch Inc., creating the first formal IT processes based on the international ITIL standard, and creating and managing the company's first information security and compliance program. He currently works in the Minneapolis area as a compliance executive.

Matt has over a decade of experience in data privacy and information security. As a people manager and as a project manager, Matt has led multi-million dollar initiatives that include PCI (credit-card security) compliance and privacy compliance initiatives. Matt is also a published author on PCI compliance.

Matt has been a CIPP (Certified Information Privacy Professional) since 2005 and has extensive experience with privacy laws and privacy regulations. He has helped medium to large-sized organizations align their privacy practices with regulations and industry best practice.

As a thought leader, Matt also draws on his background that includes marketing, social media, journalism, art history, and Asian culture. Matt is comfortable with multiple languages aside from English, including Russian and a growing proficiency in Thai as well as basic French, Spanish, and Latin.

Matt is adept at identifying strategic opportunities and managing change within an organization.

Language Skills

- English

- Russian

- Thai

- Lao

Education

- BA, University of Wisconsin

- MBA, University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management

Certifications/ Licenses/ Designations

- CIPP - Certified Information Privacy Professional

- CISM - Certified Information Security Manager

Community Involvement

Board Member, Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC), City of Carver, MN

Social Media and promotions for Wat Thai of Minnesota

Advisor for Thai Student Association at University of Minnesota

Infragard Member, Joint FBI and US Dept. of Homeland Security program

Interests

International cuisine; Thai, Lao, Japanese

Language - I speak English, Russian, Thai and Lao

History

Tea

Matt Wright can be found on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/mdwright) and you can follow him on Twitter (matthewdwright).

Matt lives in the Minneapolis area with his wife Wasana and son Parker.