Katherine Avery is the Founder of Chimayo Consulting LLC, a boutique advisory firm specializing in AI governance, model risk management, operational risk, and regulatory compliance.

Prior to founding Chimayo Consulting, Katherine served as Global Head of Operational Risk at StoneX, a Fortune 50 financial services firm, operating across commodities, securities, and foreign exchange markets globally. In that role she held enterprise-wide accountability for operational risk strategy, governance, and execution across trading and clearing operations in a complex, multi-jurisdictional organization.

Previously, Katherine held senior risk management positions at S&P Global, BOK Financial, and BBVA, spanning operational risk and enterprise risk management. Earlier in her career she held roles in structured finance at a GE Capital and CBRE joint venture and SitusAMC, formerly The Situs Companies. She has worked across institutions regulated by the OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, CFTC, NFA, FINRA, FCA, MAS, BaFin, and other international jurisdictions, with direct experience navigating supervisory examination processes across banking, capital markets, and commodity markets environments. 

Her advisory practice spans enterprise risk management, operational risk, model risk management, AI governance, third-party risk, and regulatory compliance across banking, capital markets, and commodity markets.

She holds a BBA from the University of Mississippi, an MBA from UT Tyler, and the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Certified Risk and Compliance Management Professional (CRCMP) designations, along with certifications in operational risk management from PRMIA and vendor risk management from Compliance Education Institute.

Katherine is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and Houston ACFE, Financial Women in Texas (FWIT), Women in Financial Markets (WIFM), Association of Women in Cryptocurrency (AWIC), Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA) and Risky Women. She is part of the mentor pool at MassChallenge, TechStars, the University of Mississippi Business School and the University of Mississippi Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Chimayo Consulting is a member of the Texas Bankers Association (TBA) and Futures Industry Association (FIA). Chimayo Consulting supports the Corporate Guild of Dress for Success Houston.