Gwen Thomas is the president and founder of the Data Governance Institute, which offers consulting and training services in the areas of data governance and data stewardship as well as a variety of information resources on those topics. As a consultant, Thomas has helped companies such as American Express, Sallie Mae, Wachovia Bank and Disney to build or upgrade their data governance and stewardship programs. She also is a frequent speaker at industry events, a regular contributor to IT and business publications, and the author of the book Alpha Males and Data Disasters: The Case for Data Governance.