Stuart Alderoty

General Counsel,
Ripple

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Stuart Alderoty is General Counsel at Ripple. Stuart brings more than 30 years of legal experience to the role with expertise in financial services and regulatory affairs. He’s been General Counsel and part of the executive leadership teams at CIT Group and HSBC North America Holdings. Stuart also was Managing Counsel at American Express where he served on the leadership team of the President and CEO of American Express’ Consumer Card Business. Stuart began his career in private practice and was a partner with the international law firm of LeBouef, Lamb, Greene and MacRae where he specialized in litigation.

Fallon Banks

Deputy General Counsel,
UnitedHealth Group

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Fallon DePina Banks serves as Deputy General Counsel at UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. Her practice focuses on data use, privacy, and cybersecurity. She has extensive experience managing Fortune 10 privacy programs, driving data use strategy, and ensuring enterprise compliance amidst complex regulatory regimes. She provides guidance on HIPAA; GLBA; CCPA; biometric information privacy laws; cybersecurity laws; and myriad state and federal privacy, security, and consumer protection laws. She also serves as Chair of UnitedHealth Group’s Culture, Inclusion, and Diversity Council, where she helps advance its mission of fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace where all employees can thrive. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Fallon served as Privacy Counsel at Aetna (now CVS Health) and as an associate at a leading New England law firm. She graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern University and the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Danielle Coleman

Senior Litigation Counsel,
VMware, Inc.

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Danielle Coleman is Senior Litigation Counsel at VMware, where she oversees global litigation, including commercial and intellectual property matters. She also is Global Co-Lead of the Black@VMware Power of Difference group. Before joining VMware, Danielle was Director, Global Litigation at Applied Materials. She previously was an attorney at Morrison & Foerster and a law clerk for the Honorable William H. Alsup, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California.

Danielle earned an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana, and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center. Before law school, she worked at pharmaceutical companies performing biochemical research, and she is an inventor on four U.S. patents.

Danielle recently was recognized as a 2020 MCCA Rising Star, and she received “Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Lawyers Under 40” and “Excellence in Innovation” awards from the National Bar Association.

Alesha Dominique

Chair, Trademark Prosecution Practice Group,
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP

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Alesha M. Dominique represents clients in intellectual property litigation, with an emphasis on patent, trademark, false advertising, and unfair competition matters. Alesha’s experience includes representing clients before federal district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She also counsels clients on trademark clearance, prosecution, and enforcement matters. Alesha’s experience cuts across multiple industries, including the entertainment, music, fashion, beauty, food and beverage, software and e-commerce industries. Effective June 1, 2020, Alesha will be named the Global Chair of the Trademark Prosecution Group at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP. In 2019, Alesha was chosen as a “Women Worth Watching,” in Profiles in Diversity Journal (2019).

Susan Garcia

Associate General Counsel,
Thomson Reuters

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Susan is Associate General Counsel for Thomson Reuters, overseeing the legal function for software solutions and commercial transactions. Over the course of Susan’s career at Thomson Reuters, she has been responsible for a variety of commercial and corporate transactions including mergers & acquisitions, global commercial contracting and partnerships. Susan manages a team of high performing lawyers and legal professionals across the US and in the UK. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Susan was a Senior Corporate and Transactions Counsel for NBC Universal, handling a variety of corporate transactions, including global program distribution, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliation agreements. Prior to NBCU, Susan was a corporate associate at two major New York law firms (Clifford Chance LLP and Cadwalder, Wickersham and Taft), working on corporate finance, securities and M&A transactions. Susan received a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Susan lives in New Jersey with her husband and three children.

Kayvan Ghaffari

Counsel,
Crowell & Moring LLP

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Kayvan M. Ghaffari is an attorney in the San Francisco office of Crowell & Moring. He is a member of the Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Privacy & Cybersecurity groups. Kayvan’s areas of emphasis include technology-related litigation, involving cybersecurity and digital crimes, blockchain, competition issues, copyright/DMCA, CDA 230, trademark, and trade secrets disputes, and complex commercial matters. He has handled numerous disputes involving cybersecurity technologies, cybercrime, fraud and hacking. He has litigated numerous Lanham Act, false advertising, unfair competition, and trade disparagement claims.

Kayvan is regularly called upon to represent clients in RICO actions. He has successfully litigated RICO as a plaintiff in complex cases involving parent-subsidiary relationships, extraterritoriality, and the DMCA. In addition, Kayvan has successfully defended clients facing bet-the-company RICO claims, including most recently, dismissing with prejudice a RICO claim against one of the world’s largest ticket marketplaces.

A Bay Area native admitted to practice in California and New York, Kayvan has substantial experience developing successful strategies that addresses all aspects of a major crisis in a high-profile setting — the legal issues; congressional and general investigations; civil litigation; media and investor scrutiny; and the long-term business or career implications. With deep relationships amongst a myriad of legal, media, and government stakeholders, Kayvan uses a unique blend of creativity and technical know- how to relentlessly protect his clients. In addition to being procedurally meticulous and a compelling writer, he focuses on unearthing ways to unravel the opposing side’s case. Using his litigation insight, Kayvan provides counseling on an array of technology and cyber-related issues for companies ranging from market leaders to start-ups.

Kayvan believes it is important to give back to his community by using his legal skills to assist those in need. He litigates pro bono cases involving civil and constitutional rights. While attending law school, he started a chapter of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), where he worked with attorneys and other law students to provide legal representation to refugees and their families in an effort to help them obtain resettlement.

Kayvan graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where he also served as senior submissions editor of the Southern California Law Review.

Prior to joining Crowell, Kayvan spent over five years of his career as an intellectual property attorney at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in San Francisco and New York.

Mark Grider

Partner,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

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Mark Grider is a partner in Cadwalader’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group and leads the firm’s Crisis Management and Congressional Investigations Practice.

Mark has worked across multiple administrations, most recently serving as a Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office of the Associate Attorney General in the Department of Justice, where his portfolio included criminal matters relating to the Antitrust Division, Civil Division, the Consumer Protection Branch, Environment and Natural Resources Division and the Tax Division. He is a subject matter expert on the False Claims Act, healthcare fraud, the opioid crisis, and competition and consumer harm in the online marketplace. Mark liaised on policy initiatives relating to elder fraud and financial exploitation as well as criminal antitrust procurement collusion. Prior to that, he served in the Executive Office of the President as Senior Associate Counsel and Special Assistant to the President in the Office of the White House Counsel, advising White House Counsel and senior administration officials on broad oversight and regulatory matters involving the White House, Health and Human Services, and federal agencies contributing special expertise on health care regulatory and litigation matters and science and technology oversight and policy issues. Between early 2019 and September 2020, he assisted on congressional oversight and investigations and coordinated responses to related litigation, FOIA requests, and Inspector General investigations.

Mark also worked as a deputy compliance officer in a Fortune 500 healthcare company that was under a HHS-OIG Corporate Integrity Agreement. He knows firsthand how to counsel companies and boards on effective detection of fraud, waste and abuse and how best to refer or disclose possible fraud matters to government agencies. In addition, Mark managed False Claims Act and bribery investigations for the DOJ’s Civil and Criminal Fraud Sections, was a member of DOJ’s Medicare Fraud Strike Force, and also served as Deputy General Counsel for the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. As the executive director of the Justice Department’s Task Force on Intellectual Property, Mark spoke internationally on government enforcement strategies for corporate and small-business trade secret and intellectual property protection. Mark also has extensive experience on capitol hill, having served as a staffer to Senator John Ashcroft and later on a Special House Investigations Committee.

Mark received his J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law, where he was a Thurgood Marshall Scholar. He received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Truman State University.

Mark is a member of the D.C. and Missouri Bars, and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Norene Lew

Senior Corporate Counsel,
Salesforce.com, Inc.

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Norene Lew is Director, Senior Corporate Counsel at Salesforce, where she manages attorneys and contracts negotiators on the commercial team. Before joining Salesforce, Norene was the head of legal and corporate secretary for a privately held global fitness company. She also previously practiced in the litigation department of the law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass. Norene began her legal career in 1997 at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office.

Karthika Perumal

Partner,
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

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Karthika Perumal is a Technology Transactions Partner with Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP. Karthika’s practice involves all aspects of technology law with an emphasis on the protection, acquisition, and monetization of intellectual property. She advises clients on patent and transactional matters in the energy and healthcare sectors across a wide range of technologies. She leverages her background in scientific research and technology transfer to help clients meet their business objectives at every stage of product development. Karthika handles a variety of transactions, including multiparty collaborations, joint ventures, manufacturing, supply, distribution, and software development, service, and support agreements. She has developed commercialization strategies for several technologies, and participated in the structuring and financing of six startup companies for various pharmaceutical, medical device, and informatics products.

Karthika has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Baylor College of Medicine and a JD from the University of Houston Law Center. She has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star in Intellectual Property for 2018-2021. Karthika serves on the Board of Directors of the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada) and also serves as the Secretary of the Honorable Nancy Atlas Inn of Court. Karthika was also part of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows class of 2020.

Justin Pierce

Co-Chair Intellectual Property Division,
Venable LLP

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Justin Pierce is co-chair of Venable’s Intellectual Property Division. Justin has significant experience advising companies and their executives on how best to acquire, develop, and apply their intellectual property to achieve their business objectives. He has guided clients through a wide range of matters involving patent litigation, trademark and brand protection, anti-counterfeiting initiatives, copyright, design rights, trade secrets, and licensing. Justin is also well versed in strategies for handling rights of publicity, domain name, and social media disputes, and he routinely engages in international government affairs work involving intellectual property.

Justin’s practice includes:

• Representing clients in litigation involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and advertising claims in a variety of industries, including apparel, consumer goods, electronics, food and beverage, footwear, media, mobile device, pharmaceutical, software, and telecommunications. Justin has handled cases in U.S. federal courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission
• Developing and implementing worldwide brand protection strategies for companies around the world, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations. Justin regularly assists clients in identifying vulnerabilities in their business model and devising innovative solutions to protect their brands and content, and their company’s reputation in the international marketplace
• Working with regulatory and law enforcement agencies in the United States and abroad to address counterfeiting issues. Justin has helped brand owners recover substantial damages through enforcement actions and litigation aimed at high-value counterfeiters, and worked with clients to facilitate the seizure and destruction of numerous counterfeit products
• Working with clients to maximize and better leverage the value of their intellectual property through licensing and other transactions. Justin has managed complex intellectual property licensing on an international scale in matters dealing with patents, trademarks, and copyrights
• Providing counsel regarding cross-border trade, customs, and outreach to foreign governments on intellectual property matters. Justin has worked with a number of U.S. agencies responsible for intellectual property and trade enforcement issues on behalf of clients

Prior to joining Venable, Justin served as an in-house counsel to a major multinational corporation for a number of years. In this role, Justin led a government relations initiative that enhanced company intellectual property enforcement efforts in key markets around the world. This experience gave him substantial knowledge of the business and strategy issues that challenge executives and their in-house legal teams.

Justin is also an inventor who currently holds a patent and a number of published applications dealing with mobile applications, augmented and virtual reality, gaming, and anti-counterfeiting technology.

Before law school, Justin served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, and attained the rank of captain.

Alexandra Ross

Director, Global Privacy and Data Security Counsel,
Autodesk, Inc.

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Alexandra Ross is Director, Global Privacy and Data Security Counsel at Autodesk, Inc. and an Advisor to BreachRx. Previously she was Senior Counsel at Paragon Legal and Associate General Counsel for Wal-Mart Stores. She is a certified information privacy professional (CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT, FIP and PLS) and practices in San Francisco, California. She holds a law degree from Hastings College of Law and a B.S. in theater from Northwestern University. Alexandra is a recipient of the 2019 Bay Area Corporate Counsel Award – Privacy.

Alexandra launched The Privacy Guru blog in 2014 and has published an ebook Privacy for Humans (available on Amazon and iTunes).

Adrienne Valencia Garcia

Senior Executive Counsel,
IBM

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Adrienne Valencia Garcia is currently IBM’s Senior Counsel for Blockchain Solutions, a first-of-a-kind role created in April 2017 while she was completing a three-year assignment in Latin America. As the Senior Counsel for Blockchain, Adrienne is the worldwide legal executive focal for all blockchain engagements and oversees the global members of the law department who support blockchain transactions. She is a trusted adviser the senior leadership relies upon to navigate complex legal, policy and regulatory issues. Consequently, Adrienne has become a recognized thought leader in establishing IBM’s positions in these areas and is a sought-after speaker in the space.

Adrienne joined IBM in June 2006 after practicing as a litigator in NYC for 10 years. After various client-facing roles focused on closing key strategic deals around IBM’s varied portfolio, in August 2014, she relocated to Mexico City to be the Lead Counsel for IBM’s Latin America Global Consulting Services business and co-leader for IBM’s internal Latin America law department education efforts.

Adrienne holds a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in NYC and received her B.A from the State University of NY at Stony Brook. She is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion; and is an active alumni Fellow of the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity (LCLD) which works to identify high-potential attorneys from diverse backgrounds and set them on the path to leadership in their organizations. Adrienne is also a proud co-founder of the NYC Chapter of Diversity in Blockchain (https://diversityinblockchain.com/), a non-profit organization focused on empowering everyone from all walks of life to engage with blockchain technology to ensure equal participation and distribution. In 2020, Adrienne became an advisory council member of the Glamour Gals Foundation, a non-profit that organizes teenage volunteers to spend time with the elderly in senior homes and provide complimentary makeovers, which facilitate multi-generational conversations that empower women across generations.

A first-generation American, Adrienne speaks Spanish fluently.

Bryan Brantley

Partner,
McGuireWoods LLP

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Bryan C. Brantley is a member of the firm’s Board of Partners and the leader of the firm’s Transportation Industry Group. He is a well-rounded litigator with national experience in a wide range of industries including transportation, retail, construction equipment, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. Bryan’s practice is centered upon understanding clients’ business needs and legal challenges, ultimately balancing the two to deliver favorable business results and litigation outcomes.

Bryan has successfully resolved client’s issues through dispositive motions, mediation, arbitration and favorable settlements. He currently serves as National Coordinating Counsel and manages a significant portfolio of litigation for a Fortune 50 transportation company as well as a major technology platform. Bryan was a key driver in creating a litigation management dashboard with analytics components to give clients greater insights and predictability into their litigation. Bryan also serves as a member of the firm’s Finance Committee and its Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Mylan Denerstein

Partner,
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

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Mylan L. Denerstein is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Ms. Denerstein is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Public Policy Practice Group and a member of the Crisis Management, White Collar Defense and Investigations, Financial Institutions, Labor and Employment, Securities Litigation, and Appellate Practice Groups. Ms. Denerstein is a member of the Firm’s Executive, Diversity and Community Affairs Committees, and serves as co-hiring partner for the New York office.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, from 2010 to 2014, Ms. Denerstein served as Counsel to New York State. In this role, she acted as the Governor’s chief counsel. From 2007 to 2010, she served in the New York Attorney General’s Office as the Executive Deputy Attorney General for Social Justice and managed approximately 100 attorneys statewide. From 2003 to 2007, she served as Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs for the New York City Fire Department. From 1996 to 2003, Ms. Denerstein served first as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, prosecuting complex securities, money laundering and organized crime cases, and then as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

Ms. Denerstein graduated from Columbia Law School.

Andrew Droste

Board Advisory Specialist,
Russell Reynolds Associates

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Andrew is a member of the firm’s Board & CEO Advisory Partners. Based in Boston, he has significant experience working with Named Executive Officers (“NEOs”) and Board Members across all sectors on Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (“ESG”) matters.

Professional Experience
Prior to joining RRA, Andrew was a member of the Proxy Voting Management Team at BNY Mellon. Andrew served as an ESG expert on the stewardship and proxy voting teams at both BNY Mellon and Nuveen.

At BNY Mellon, Andrew led ESG engagements, research, and risk analyses for the firm’s Proxy Voting and Governance Committee. This included setting internal ESG engagement priorities, conducting bespoke ESG risk assessments for each of the company engagements, and providing recommendations to portfolio managers vis-à-vis ESG-related shareholder proposals.

Prior to BNY, Andrew was a member of the Responsible Investing Team at Nuveen (TIAA’s investment services arm). While at Nuveen, Andrew generated and executed ESG engagement policies, crafting recommendations for executive compensation and shareholder proposals, proxy contests, “vote-no” campaigns, and other governance matters.

Andrew has participated in over 1,000 investor-NEO-director engagements with roughly 700 different U.S. and international public companies across all market sectors.

Education
Andrew has a B.S. in Government from Suffolk University, and a Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law.

Mareesa Frederick

Partner,
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP

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Mareesa Frederick is a partner in the Washington, DC office of Finnegan, a global intellectual property firm. Her practice focuses on complex patent complex, high-stakes intellectual property litigation, with a particular emphasis on Section 337 proceedings before the International Trade Commission (ITC). She was named by The Legal 500 U.S. as a Next Generation Lawyer for ITC patent litigation. Mareesa also has extensive experience counseling clients on pre-trial strategy, strategic licensing opportunities, and patent portfolios. She is the partner-in-charge of Finnegan’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department and co-chairs its Black attorney affinity group. Mareesa is also a member of the IPO Diversity Outreach Committee.

Donna Haddad

Global Senior Counsel, IBM Data and Watson AI,
IBM

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Donna is currently Global Senior Counsel for IBM Data and Watson AI with worldwide responsibility for supporting IBM’s AI solutions business. Donna has served on IBM’s AI Ethics Board since its inception three years ago. Donna has also led IBM’s Global Pro Bono Program for the last three years. From 2011 to 2014, Donna spent three years in Dubai on international assignment as Senior Regional Counsel, IBM Middle East, North and West Africa. Donna has over 20 years of experience in advising her senior business clients on legal issues related to intellectual property, privacy, software licensing, services, artificial intelligence in complex technology transactions, as well as more than 20 years of non-profit board service in a variety of leadership, advisory and committee roles. Donna holds a JD from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University.

Community and Board Involvement
Donna is a member of the Law Board at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and serves on the Joint Committee of Law Firm Partners and Corporate Counsel of The National Judicial College. She is Past President and current member of the Board of Directors of the Arab American Bar Association of Illinois.

Charles Imohiosen

Of Counsel,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

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Charles S. Imohiosen is Of Counsel in the Morgan Lewis eData Practice Group. Charles brings to his practice a unique and diverse set of professional experiences and skills to help his clients analyze and manage their electronic data and to deliver greater efficiencies to their legal processes, including electronic discovery. A litigator by training, Charles has managed all aspects of commercial litigation, from eDiscovery review to witness preparation and related motion practice for large commercial enterprises in complex matters across multiple industries. He also leads the eData team’s growing contract analytics service and has expanded eData’s investigations and information governance service offerings to include early case assessment and cyber breach incident response, respectively.

In addition to his legal advisory practice, Charles provides day-to-day operational support and leadership to eData’s large, multi-disciplinary team of legal, technical and business professionals, including 40 senior attorneys, tech and business leaders, 55 technologists, software engineers, data scientists and over 100 legal analysts. To support this aspect of his role, Charles leverages a broad-based change management background, which includes having assisted hundreds of customers across multiple industries in their migration to the cloud while working in a global operations and customer success role for a large enterprise software technology company, as well as in senior operations and strategic advisory roles within federal and state government. Trained in LEAN and Six Sigma, Charles applies design thinking and customer-centric principles to all of his client engagements.

Finally, Charles has substantial experience working on regulatory matters in US federal, state, and local government, including having previously served as a senior advisor for the White House Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and counselor in the Office of the Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Charles complements his practice with a long-standing commitment to social justice. He serves as a member of Morgan Lewis’ Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is co-lead of the Morgan Lewis Voting Rights & Engagement Working Group. He has co-authored two amicus briefs for voting rights cases involving strict voter ID laws and maintains an active pro bono practice. Outside of work, Charles is a member of the Board of Directors for the Andrew Goodman Foundation, a non-profit organization which promotes voting on college campuses.

Charles earned a B.A. with honors in Philosophy and Physics from Williams College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He served as a law clerk to Judge Colleen McMahon in the Southern District of New York.

Mike Jackson

Assistant General Counsel/Senior Director for Microsoft’s Global Workplace Investigations Team (WIT),
Microsoft Corporation

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Mike Jackson is Assistant General Counsel/Senior Director for Microsoft’s Global Workplace Investigations Team (WIT). As a member of the WIT leadership team, Mike leads a team of seven ethics and compliance attorneys responsible for conducting complex workplace investigations for the U.S. and Canada, and he also leads WIT’s data governance team. Mike is also the current Global D & I lead for Microsoft’s Corporate, External, Legal Affairs (CELA) department. In this role, Mike and his team are responsible for supporting and advancing CELA’s D & I initiative globally.

Prior to Microsoft, Mike was Director, Employee Relations Counsel at Target Corporation where he led the employment team for Target’s Central US region. Before Target, Mike led an Employee Relations and Labor Relations team for all of Smucker’s U.S. manufacturing facilities. Prior to Smucker, Mike was global labor and employment counsel at McDonald’s Corporation, joining from Fisher & Phillips LLP.

Outside of work, Mike is a member of the Board of Directors for the National LGBT Bar Association and is co-chair of the Bar’s Lavender Links corporate counsel learning series. Mike was recognized by the LGBT Bar as one of its 2019 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers under 40, and he was also recognized as an LCLD Fellow in 2019.

Mike lives in Seattle, WA with his husband, Chad.

Seth Krauss

Chief Legal Officer,
Endeavor

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Seth Krauss has served as the Chief Legal Officer of Endeavor since June 2014. At Endeavor, Mr. Krauss oversees the global legal function, government relations, risk management and physical security, managing a department of professionals located around the globe. Mr. Krauss is also a member of the executive team responsible for managing the day to day affairs of the company.

Mr. Krauss currently serves as a Director on the Board for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA), a non-profit organization that promotes and supports diversity, inclusion and equity in the legal profession.

From 2007 until 2014, Mr. Krauss served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ TTWO).He joined Take-Two from Morgan Stanley, where he served as an Executive Director in the Legal and Compliance Division from 2004 until 2007. At Morgan Stanley, he was responsible for coordinating all significant regulatory and law enforcement matters in the U.S. and served as one of the firm’s senior liaisons to its regulators.

From 1995 to 2004, Mr. Krauss served as an Assistant District Attorney and Senior Investigative Counsel in the New York County District Attorneys’ Office. At the DA’s Office, Mr. Krauss was responsible for leading complex, long-term investigations into violations of securities, banking, accounting, and taxation laws and regulations, working closely with US Federal and State regulators and law enforcement agencies as well as numerous international regulators and agencies. Among other matters, he co-led the Office’s investigation of the role of financial institutions in Enron’s collapse.

From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Krauss served as a Trustee on the Board of Duke University. He has also served as a Director on the Board for the legal services organization, the Center for Family Representation, as well as on the Board of Advisors for the Asian American Bar Association of NY and the MacDella Cooper Foundation. Mr. Krauss received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1992 and his law degree in 1995 from the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis.

Jill Louis

Dallas Office Managing Partner,
Perkins Coie LLP

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Jill Louis focuses her practice on advising companies with growth-oriented, liquidity-creating, and transformational strategies. Her experience includes leading strategic transactions for entrepreneurs, private equity sponsors, and portfolio companies, as well as members of the Fortune 50® with a particular emphasis on infrastructure, multi-location retail, transportation, manufacturing, and industrial sector matters.

In addition to her experience in private practice, Jill served as the general counsel for a large private equity portfolio company with over $1 billion in annual revenue, operating heavy duty parts distribution and service locations in 45 states. She also served as general counsel for a multinational shared workspace company with $600 million in revenue and operating both owned and franchised locations in all 50 U.S. states, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, and Mexico. For more than ten years, she led the transactions group for the retail operating company of a global courier delivery service, managing commercial and technology transactions in North America and Asia and launching the same-day transportation delivery service.

Active in both her professional and personal communities, Jill is a member of the board of trustees of Howard University. She also serves on the executive committees of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc. (KERA/KXT).

Marie Ma

Vice President & Deputy General Counsel,
Gap Inc.

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Marie Ma is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Gap Inc., where she leads the Corporate & Finance Law, Corporate Secretary’s Office, Global Equity Administration and Legal Operations teams, reporting directly to the Chief Legal Officer. She provides legal advice on a wide range of corporate, securities, finance, governance, compliance, transactional and nonprofit issues. She also sits on the Gap Inc. Political Action Committee. Marie leads Gap Inc.’s Legal Diversity Committee, whose mission is to help drive increased diversity among legal leadership across the profession through recruiting and hiring practices, engagement with its law firm providers, and partnership with key diversity organizations like Minority Corporate Counsel Association, Diversity Lab, and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). Marie is a 2018 LCLD Fellow. She serves on the University of San Francisco School of Law’s Board of Governors and on the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area’s (AABA) Law Foundation Board. She previously served on the AABA Board and as co-chair of its In-House Lawyers Committee. She served on the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Justice and Diversity Center Board of Directors, and as Chair of its Mock Trial Committee. In 2013, Marie was named a Rising Star by Minority Corporate Counsel Association. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Rick McFarland

Chief Data Officer,
Lexis Nexis, a RELX Company

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Rick McFarland is the Chief Data Officer for LexisNexis. He is a data evangelist with a broad background in publishing, digital media, financial services, and management consulting. Rick joined LexisNexis in 2017 and is responsible for how LexisNexis collects, uses, manages, and monetizes its data.

Before joining LexisNexis, Rick was the Chief Data Scientist for the Hearst Corporation where he focused his efforts on centralizing all of Hearst’s enterprise-wide data assets in the cloud and building a world-class Data Science and Machine Learning capability at Hearst to leverage this new “big data” resource throughout the organization.

Prior to Hearst, Rick was with Amazon for 6 years where he led analytics teams in both the global marketing and Kindle departments. These teams were responsible for building and utilizing large-scale data resources focused on customer analytics and marketing effectiveness measurement. Significant contributions included: patenting a process for analyzing customer data from multiple sources while preserving customer anonymity and establishing the Business Intelligence Engineer job family which now includes over 150 employees.

From 1998 to 2008, Rick took on lead analytical roles in the financial services and management consulting industries. He managed data platforms and analytics teams for Bank of America and Washington Mutual Bank; he was a partner with the financial services consulting firm, Novantas; and a Director at Digitas.

Rick is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a PhD in Statistics in 1998, Stanford University in 1992 with a MS in Engineering, and the University of Kansas in 1990 with a BS in Mathematics.

Lorraine McGowen

Partner,
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

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Lorraine McGowen is a finance/restructuring partner at Orrick. For more than 30 years, she has represented clients from the US and internationally seeking to maximize their recoveries or reduce their exposure. She also advises investors and acquirers of companies. She interfaces with auditors, government regulators, investment bankers and others, and develops and implements mediation and litigation strategies and negotiates reorganization plans and complex corporate and finance documents.

She is a member of Orrick’s Management Committee, and serves as Partner In Charge of its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives and also co-leads Orrick’s Automotive Technology & Mobility Group.

As a leading DEI advocate, Lorraine creates programs for the legal profession and for the community. She was selected as a 2019 Rainmaker by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and as one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers for 2018 and 2015, and as Savoy’s Most Influential Women in Corporate America, 2019, and received Legal Outreach’s Pipeline to Diversity 2017 Champion Award and the New York City Bar Association Diversity and Inclusion 2012 Champion Award.

Lorraine received her B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.

Julie Reiser

Partner,
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC

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Julie Goldsmith Reiser, a Partner and Co-Chair of Cohen Milstein’s Securities Litigation group, has been named one of Law360’s “25 Most Influential Women in Securities Law,” one of The National Law Journal’s “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar,” and, annually, one of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America.” In October 2020, she was recognized as a “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer for a groundbreaking $310 million settlement in In re Alphabet Shareholder Derivative Litigation.

In the wake of the #MeToo movement corporate scandals, Ms. Reiser has been pioneering the use of shareholder derivative lawsuits to hold corporate boards accountable for failing to prevent systemic discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace. Two of these lawsuits, Alphabet and Wynn Resorts, Ltd. Derivative Litigation settled in 2020, generating more than $400 million in financial relief and establishing groundbreaking corporate governance reforms to improve board oversight in addressing such issues, eliminating practices that have silenced victims, such as mandatory arbitration clauses, implementing measures to hold even the most senior executives to a higher standard of responsibility, and instituting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Ms. Reiser is now leading a third shareholder derivative lawsuit against the board of directors of Pinterest.

Belinda Vega

Partner,
Venable LLP

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Belinda Vega is a partner in Venable LLP’s Los Angeles office. She focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, including matters involving unfair business practices, securities litigation, intellectual property, contract disputes, and fraud. Belinda also counsels clients on corporate compliance and conducts internal investigations in response to government inquiries and allegations of misconduct. She has been actively involved in handling litigation and providing confidential pre-litigation advice for entertainment clients defending against sexual harassment charges.

A frequent speaker and author, Belinda has established herself as a thought leader in the realm of diversity and inclusion. Belinda earned her B.A. in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies from UCLA and her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Central and Northern Districts of California and for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Debbie Walters-Francique

Vice President, Assistant General Counsel,
Pfizer Inc.

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Debbie Walters-Francique is a Vice President, Assistant General Counsel, and a member of the Legal Division Executive Team. She is the Chief Counsel for the Pricing and Access Legal Team (P&A Legal). P&A Legal provides legal support to key functions across the enterprise, including supporting day-to-day activities related to managed access, drug pricing and government reimbursement programs, patient access programs and innovative transactions with healthcare stakeholders globally. Mrs. Walters-Francique also provides expertise and counsel to a broad range of clients across the entire organization related to the federal and state Anti-Kickback laws, as well as provides key strategic counsel into the development and evolution of key commercial and medical roles and interactions.

Mrs. Walters-Francique has been with Pfizer since October 30, 2000.

Prior to joining Pfizer, Mrs. Walters-Francique was in private practice with the law firm of Shearman ＆ Sterling in their Mergers ＆ Acquisitions Group. Prior to law school Mrs. Walters-Francique worked for GTE (now Verizon) as an accountant in their financial group and prior to GTE as a Certified Public Accountant for Deloitte ＆ Touche.

Mrs. Walters-Francique received her undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University of Connecticut and her law degree from Fordham University.

Neil Wilcox

Executive Vice President & Head of Corporate Social Responsibility,
Fiserv, Inc.

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Neil H. Wilcox is Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Fiserv, Inc., leading the company’s focus on corporate citizenship and social responsibility, including strategies to build upon its success in community and non-profit engagement, diversity and inclusion, and global philanthropy and volunteerism. He oversees sustainability commitments for the organization and helps govern and measure the impact of these initiatives and their value to the business and key stakeholders.

Wilcox joined Fiserv in September 2020 as Chief of Staff for the Office of the CEO, gaining a deep understanding of day-to-day operations across the organization and working closely with the Fiserv leadership team on a wide range of operational effectiveness initiatives.

Prior to joining Fiserv, Wilcox served as interim General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer at USAA, providing strategic counsel and legal advice to the CEO, Board of Directors and Executive Council. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, Enterprise Shared Services Counsel at USAA. Previously, Wilcox was Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel at First Data. He has also held division general counsel and senior compliance roles with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Marsh & McLennan.

Over the course of his career, Wilcox has developed significant expertise with bank and insurance regulatory matters, corporate real estate, intellectual property, procurement, litigation, and mergers and acquisitions. He serves on the boards of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and New York’s Hale House Center, and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council.

Wilcox received his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

William Wilson

Senior Corporate Counsel,
Autodesk, Inc.

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William Wilson is an attorney, technology, and investment executive in Silicon Valley.

William is the Senior Counsel for the Entertainment and Media Solutions (EMS) business at Autodesk, Inc., an U.S. based multinational software corporation that makes software for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and media verticals. William advises in the areas of product development, business strategy, corporate venture capital investments, and in mergers and acquisitions. He serves on Autodesk’s Data Ethics Core Team, setting strategy and directing initiatives in the area of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Prior to joining Autodesk, William was head of Business and Legal affairs at Common Sense Media where he structured data integrations with the largest telecommunications, cable, satellite and media companies globally. Before joining Common Sense Media, William was a law partner at Dillingham & Murphy, a boutique law firm in San Francisco, where he represented Fortune 500 companies, startups, and investment fund clients in investment and technology transactions, as well as commercial and antitrust disputes. William was an extern law clerk for the Honorable Martin Jenkins, United States District Court Judge for the Northern District of California.(Honorable Jenkins has recently been appointed to the California Supreme Court).

William is a graduate of the University of California (BA), Santa Clara University (Juris Doctor), and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School. He is involved with numerous civic and philanthropic activities including advancing access to capital for underrepresented investment managers, technologists, and entrepreneurs, and diversity and inclusion within the technology and venture capital ecosystem. William is a member of the Board of Directors and Investment and Finance Committee of the Peralta Colleges Foundation.

Kim Yapchai

Senior Vice President, Chief ESG Officer,
Tenneco Inc.

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Kim Yapchai is currently Senior Vice President, Chief ESG Officer at Tenneco, a $17 billion automotive component manufacturer with around 74,000 employees and locations in more than 20 countries. She is an experienced global leader with substantial track record of dealing successfully with complex legal issues in multi-national, public companies, including Ford, Whirlpool, Masco Corporation, and Tenneco. She is known as a business-oriented advisor who counsels senior leaders on legal issues of major importance and designs pragmatic solutions to achieve strategic results. She combines more than 25 years of commercial legal experience with her knowledge of the business to protect the company and advance its strategy. At Tenneco, she leads a cross-functional team to set and achieve the company’s ESG strategy and report progress to stakeholders. She also manages Tenneco’s Legal Operations and Global Compliance Program. She was named a Top Mind by Compliance Week Magazine and she led Whirlpool’s efforts to achieve “World’s Most Ethical Company” designation by Ethisphere.