At SimpleRisk, our leadership team brings together deep expertise in security, compliance, and technology with a shared mission: to make risk management accessible, affordable, and effective for every organization. We believe strong leadership starts with listening to our customers and delivering solutions that empower them to succeed.
Josh Sokol graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in 2002. Since that time, he has worked for several large companies including AMD and BearingPoint, spent some time as a military contractor and ran the Information Security Program at National Instruments for over a decade. In that role, Josh managed all compliance, security architecture, risk management and vulnerability activities.
Josh formed SimpleRisk in 2013 after searching for a tool to meet his risk management needs with a limited budget and being unable to find a match. He began by giving away what is now known as the "SimpleRisk Core", the world's first open source GRC platform, but quickly expanded to provide support, hosting services, and additional premium features and functionality. Josh continued to work a full-time job at National Instruments while bringing on employees to support the SimpleRisk business during the day until he finally made the switch to join SimpleRisk as its full-time CEO and CISO at the beginning on February 2020.
Today, Josh handles many of the business operations of SimpleRisk, drives the product roadmap, is an escalation point for customer support and ensures that company and customer data is secure.
Josh is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and is widely considered a subject matter expert in the realm of Information Security.
Jeff Gall brings a wealth of management experience and a successful track record to SimpleRisk, with a history of executing go-to-market strategies in early stage startups pioneering innovative technologies in the cybersecurity space. Over his career, Jeff has been instrumental in contributing to six successful exits, including four acquisitions and two IPOs.
During his five-year tenure at WhiteHat Security, he guided the company through its early phase growth, where its valuation increased from under $15M to over $100M, ultimately leading to a successful acquisition by NTT Security in 2019.
As employee #3 at ThreatModeler, Jeff created the initial go-to-market strategy in this nascent segment and was responsible for laying the groundwork for the company's subsequent success by acquiring its first customers including two Fortune 50 companies, a large F500 subsidiary, and the 6th largest electric utility company in the US. Jeff is also an investor in ThreatModeler.
As COO at SimpleRisk, Jeff is primarily focused on executing the company's long-term sales and marketing strategy, including building out its partner program, along with managing many of the day-to-day business activities.
With more than 15 years in IT and a decade in the wireless industry before that, Joel Koenig brings a proven track record of driving business growth and building high-performing teams. His career spans global enterprises like Dell and SHI, where he most recently served as Regional Director overseeing SHI’s largest commercial region, with a focus on delivering advanced security solutions to hundreds of customers.
Earlier in his career, Joel was at the forefront of the wireless industry’s explosive growth, serving as Director of Training for a 5,000-seat company during the era when mobile adoption skyrocketed. That experience shaped his reputation as a leader who thrives in fast-moving industries and knows how to scale organizations during times of rapid change.
As COO of SimpleRisk, Joel is focused on executing the company’s long-term sales strategy, expanding its global partner program, and ensuring operational excellence across day-to-day business functions. Known for cultivating a culture of execution and accountability, Joel is committed to elevating SimpleRisk’s innovative GRC platform to new levels of growth and market impact.
Alan Proctor, CISSP (2000), graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991. He has over 30 years experience with information security across over 50 companies (mostly as a consultant) and most industry verticals. Alan's significant information security experience includes advising CISOs on the regulatory impacts of PCI, SOX, GLBA, and ISO27001/2; security architecture, security integration with SDLC, vendor assessment/management, policy and standards, incident response, security infrastructure, and disaster recovery. Alan has a talent for process optimization including stakeholder buy-in and consensus building. He has a demonstrated ability to lead through influence with proven negotiation skills interfacing effectively with business leaders, key stakeholders, and senior management. Alan is able to achieve knowledge transfer, mentoring, and training of both technical and business oriented audiences.
Alan's initial interest in Simplerisk occurred as a prospect in late 2022 where he was so enamored with the product he reached out to Simplerisk leadership to see if there could be a fit for him to contribute in their internal GRC management. He officially came aboard as Simplerisk's Chief Compliance Office in April 2023.
Since that start date Alan has mostly worked the tasks necessary to get Simplerisk internal processes ready for an ISO27001 certification in early 2024. Alan also participates in partner calls, demos, and continues to learn how all the fantastic features of Simplerisk's flagship product can benefit all businesses looking to build or mature their GRC programs.
Alan has also held the CISM, QSA, ABCP, Novell CNA, MCSE, 6Sigma Green Belt, and original FAIR practitioner certifications over the years.
Dorian began his early Information Technology career as a Desktop Support Analyst at Genesis Networks and was drawn to all things security after spending time in both the computer repair and repair management fields. After meeting SimpleRisk Founder and CEO, Josh Sokol, Dorian jumped at the opportunity to join SimpleRisk in a shared vision of making risk management more accessible while still providing all of the tools and features necessary for organizations of all sizes.
Since joining SimpleRisk as the Client Success Manager in 2017, Dorian has been laser focused on delivering the highest quality of support on all occasions and across the SimpleRisk customer base. Dorian is responsible for the upkeep of documentation, everyday support and ensuring that our customers are successful with their GRC deployments. He also stays involved in the development process and is able to provide a development highway between clients and new features.
In addition to a well-established set of broad troubleshooting skills, Dorian is currently working toward getting his Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification and stays engaged with learning all things security. With a strong commitment to equal and in-depth support, he is happy to answer any questions about all things SimpleRisk.
Helen is a Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate, holding a Bachelor of Science with a Business Specialization. Her passion for flowers led her to a successful 17-year career in the floral industry, where she excelled in various sales and procurement roles.
In 2022, Helen embraced a new challenge and transitioned to a Project Management role at SimpleRisk, a move inspired by a connection with SimpleRisk Founder and CEO, Josh Sokol, whom she had met in 2017. Leveraging her extensive experience, Helen's skills seamlessly translated to her new role.
At SimpleRisk, Helen manages a diverse range of responsibilities including creating quotes, invoices, and onboarding documents, handling administrative tasks, and tracking customer renewals. She collaborates closely with the marketing team to craft effective emails and workflows, while also running and analyzing monthly reports to ensure operational excellence.
