Employee Spotlight: Elena Ames, Data Privacy Officer and Master Pianist!

Employee spotlight elena

What’s your title/role at BrightInsight? 

As a Data Privacy Officer, my role is to decode all that complexity, bring definition to all those gray areas and to create or supply my business with appropriate tools and solutions so that they make sensible decisions regarding privacy risks. I want to keep my focus on comprehensive initiatives and on the removal of obstacles so that business can meet their objectives while using data in an ethical and compliant way.

Can you share a bit of background on yourself?

I was born and raised in Kazakhstan, Immigrated to the US in 2000. I have 3 higher degrees – linguist, economist, and a Russian lawyer. My first job was as a translator/interpreter. When I interpret a new privacy regulation, I mentally return to the times in which my primary goal was to help two parties communicate effectively and efficiently. In that way, I became a link in their mutual success. Likewise, I now see that laws are constantly evolving, and these changes have significant business impacts. Using a risk-based approach enables a company to be faster and to engage in change management with significantly less pain. This approach will also help to quickly identify the best place to place boundaries around impacted operations, assess the extent of the impact, and help the relevant stakeholders develop a solid plan to achieve their business objectives. The most important part of being a privacy professional is coming to the realization that we are not applying privacy principles in a vacuum. We must engineer solutions that generate value in a responsible way.

What is your favorite food?

I love to cook, and I love to try new things. I would eat almost anything, but of course, my comfort food is my Central Asian cuisine.

Where is your favorite place on earth?

Minnesota and Kazakhstan

Which of BrightInsight’s Values most resonates with you and why?

Real world impact – we aim to positively impact healthcare globally by executing every day on our mission of accelerating digital health innovation for our biopharma and medtech customers 

This one really resonates with me. I believe in our mission and I believe in saving lives and improving health of individuals.

What is your favorite part about working at BrightInsight?

Our team is amazing! Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Volunteer locally to help women and children, runner, piano player, spending time in a cabin up in the woods of Minnesota.

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