Wanji Walcott

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel,
Discover Financial Services

—

Wanji Walcott is Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Discover Financial Services, and a member of the company’s Executive Committee. She is a high-impact global financial services executive with a proven track record of building and leading diverse teams and fostering a culture of collaboration as a trusted advisor. Ms. Walcott is responsible for Discover’s Legal Organization, Government Relations and the company’s Patent & Innovation Program.

With a passion for helping others, Ms. Walcott is committed to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) and serves as executive sponsor of HOLA, Discover’s Latinx Employee Resource Group. She leads the company’s DE&I Task Force and is an active participant in the Legal Organization’s pro bono program, which provides free, high-quality legal services to those in need.

In 2021, the Pro Bono Institute honored Discover and Ms. Walcott with the Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award. She was also recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a Notable General Counsel in 2021.

Prior to joining Discover in 2019, Ms. Walcott was Senior Vice President and General Counsel at PayPal Holdings, Inc., where she provided counsel to senior management and the board of directors, was accountable for all areas of the global legal department and provided legal support to corporate affiliates, including a bank. She has also held senior positions at American Express, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, DSET Corporation and Lockheed Martin.

Ms. Walcott serves on the Board of Directors of Foresight II (NASDAQ: FACQU) and has served on a number of non-profit boards, including her current role as Board Chair for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and director roles at movement.org and The Gunnery School. She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, the Chicago Network, and the Economic Club of Chicago and holds a B.A. and J.D. from Howard University. She is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey and has a Limited License as In-House Counsel in Illinois.

Sherrilyn Ifill 

President and Director-Counsel,
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)

—

Sherrilyn Ifill is the President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality. LDF was founded in 1940 by legendary civil rights lawyer (and later Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall and became a separate organization from the NAACP in 1957. The lawyers at the Legal Defense Fund developed and executed the legal strategy that led to the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which is widely regarded as the most transformative and monumental legal decision of the 20th century. Ifill is the second woman to lead the organization.

Ifill began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, before joining the staff of LDF as an Assistant Counsel in 1988, where she litigated voting rights cases for five years. In 1993, Ifill left LDF to join the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore. Over 20 years, Ifill taught civil procedure and constitutional law to thousands of law students and pioneered a series of law clinics, including one of the earliest law clinics in the country focused on challenging legal barriers to the reentry of ex-offenders. Ifill is also a prolific scholar who has published academic articles in leading law journals and op-eds and commentaries in leading newspapers. Her 2007 book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” was highly acclaimed and is credited with laying the foundation for contemporary conversations about lynching and reconciliation. A 10th anniversary edition of the book was recently released with a foreword by Bryan Stevenson, the acclaimed lawyer and founder of the national lynching memorial in Montgomery, AL.

In 2013, Ifill was invited back to the Legal Defense Fund – this time to lead the organization as its 7th Director-Counsel. In that role, Ifill has increased the visibility and engagement of the organization in litigating cutting edge and urgent civil rights issues and elevating the organization’s decades-long leadership fighting voter suppression, inequity in education, and racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. At critical moments during national political and civil rights crises Ifill’s voice and vision have powerfully influenced our national dialogue. Ifill is a frequent public commentator on racial justice issues, known for her fact-based, richly contextualized analysis of complex racial issues. She is a trusted and valued advisor to civic and community leaders, national civil rights colleagues, and business leaders.

Ifill graduated from Vassar College in 1984 with a B.A. in English and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1987. She is a recipient of numerous honorary doctorate degrees and awards. In 2019, Ifill was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2020, she was named Attorney of the Year by The American Lawyer and was a 2020 Glamour Magazine Woman of the Year. In 2021, Ifill was appointed to President Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court. She serves on the boards of the Learning Policy Institute, the NYU Law School of Trustees, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Profiles in Courage Advisory Board.

Paula Boggs

Founder,
Boggs Media, LLC

—

Paula Boggs is the founder of Boggs Media, LLC, a business that manages her music, speaking, and other creative business activities. She is a Musician, Public Speaker, Writer, Lawyer and Philanthropist. She is also a Board Member of numerous for-profit and non-profit organizations.

Paula Boggs served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Law and Corporate Affairs at Starbucks Corporation from 2002 to 2012. Her prior professional experience includes serving as Vice President Legal for Products, Operations, and Information Technology at Dell Computer Corporation, and as a partner at the law firm of Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP. She also had a 14-year career in public service, including as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and in various capacities as an attorney for the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense and the White House Office of Legal Counsel. She served eight years as a Regular Officer in the United States Army, earned Army Airborne wings and a Congressional appointment to the US Naval Academy – among America’s first women to do so.

Paula Boggs is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) and earned a bachelor’s degree in International Studies (economics, energy policy) from Johns Hopkins University. She was also an adjunct professor at the University of Washington School of Law.

Since leaving Starbucks, Paula Boggs has volunteered for a presidential campaign, serves on for-profit and non-profit boards, raises money in support of causes she champions, gives speeches across the United States and beyond, writes music, coproduces albums for, and tours extensively with, Paula Boggs Band. In 2013, President Obama appointed her to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and in 2018 she received the Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award.

Paula Boggs owns several U.S. Copyrights and is a Voting Member of The Recording Academy, Pacific Northwest Chapter.

Stuart Alderoty

General Counsel,
Ripple

—

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.

Ricardo A. Anzaldua

Former Executive Vice President & General Counsel,
Freddie Mac

—

Ricardo A. Anzaldua is Former Executive Vice President and General Counsel at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”).

From December 2012 to December 2017, Anzaldua served as General Counsel and as Special Advisor to the CEO of MetLife. In that role he led the 1,000+ person team comprising the company’s global legal operations, corporate secretary’s office, corporate ethics and compliance group and government affairs operation. He designed and led the execution of the Company’s one-of-a-kind successful legal challenge of its too-big-to-fail designation under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Anzaldua joined MetLife from The Hartford Financial Services Group, where he was Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel. There, he led the Company’s efforts to qualify for TARP funding and to raise more than $10 billion of capital in the throes and the aftermath of the Great Recession. After the financial crisis, he led the legal teams advising the Company’s two largest operating divisions, Commercial and Consumer Markets. Prior to joining The Hartford, Anzaldua was a partner with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York. He began his legal career with the firm upon graduation from Harvard Law School in 1990.

Before law school, Anzaldua was the publications director and senior editor at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, a University of California think tank focusing on research relating to Mexico and U.S.-Mexican relations, as well as Latin America more generally.

Anzaldua currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, an international nonprofit focused on economic and community development and empowerment in the developing world, as well as on the Boards of MCCA, the New York City Bar Fund, and LatinoJustice/PRLDEF. From 2007-2018, he served on the Board of the Greater Hartford Legal Aid foundation (and as its President from 2015-2018).

Damien Atkins

Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary,
The Hershey Compnay

—

Damien Atkins is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for The Hershey Company, where he was responsible for leading the corporate secretary, government relations, legal and security functions.

Prior to joining Hershey in August of 2018, he was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the Panasonic Corporation of North America. At Panasonic, he managed the company’s full litigation portfolio and led global legal teams in several multi-jurisdictional Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and antitrust investigations, lawsuits and claims. He also led a global legal team in the $1 billion acquisition of the Hussmann Corporation in 2016.

Before Panasonic, Damien was Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Corporate and Chief Compliance Officer for AOL, Inc., leading a range of high-profile legal matters for the company, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate and real estate legal matters, including AOL’s spin‐off from Time Warner.

In 1998, Damien began his legal career as a corporate associate at Chadbourne & Parke (now known as Norton Rose).

Damien holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University where he was Senior Class President and a Mellon Scholar, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Anne Lee Benedict

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary,
Summit Materials, Inc.

—

Anne Lee Benedict serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Summit Materials, Inc. (NYSE: SUM), a leading U.S. based construction materials company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Ms. Benedict serves as the primary legal advisor for the company, responsible for all legal matters.

Prior to joining Summit Materials in October 2013, Ms. Benedict was a corporate partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she had practiced since 2000. Her practice involved a wide range of corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic transactions, securities offerings, securities regulation and disclosure issues, and corporate governance matters. She began her legal career with Chadbourne & Parke in New York in 1999.

Ms. Benedict currently serves as Chair of the N-Gen Advisory Board of MCCA and serves on the Board of Directors of the Colorado Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, co-chairing its Chief Legal Officers Committee. She has previously served on the boards of directors of APABA DC and KABA DC and as Co-Chair of the Mergers & Acquisitions Committee of the DC Bar Association.

Ms. Benedict graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1995.

Darrell Gay

Partner,
Arent Fox LLP

—

On behalf of management, Darrell handles employee-related issues, including hiring/discharge, discrimination matters, traditional labor/management relations, diversity, internal investigations, workplace training, privacy, restrictive covenants, wage and hour, and issues related to international labor and employment concerns.

Darrell focuses on assisting his clients with compliance with national and local labor/employment laws and the institution of management best practices to proactively avoid operational problems. Darrell has developed and provided client unique training to the management teams of his clients on issues ranging from “Management Techniques – Enhancing Employee Performance,” “Conducting Internal Investigations,” “Navigating Leave Laws,” and “Sexual Harassment Training.” He has also worked with his clients to ensure they have the proper personnel policies to satisfy statutory requirements and best practice management standards.

Darrell’s extensive work for clients with regard to traditional labor matters includes management of union and pre-union environments, union negotiations, NLRB matters including unfair labor charges and representation petitions, negotiation and management of neutrality agreements and elections, and arbitrations. In addition, he serves as chief negotiator for his clients during collective-bargaining sessions and has negotiated several agreements spanning a host of industries.  Pertinent to all institutions, Darrell is seasoned in guiding his clients relative to addressing protected concerted activity issues.

Darrell has also led several internal investigations of senior-level executives, including several C-Suite level matters, on behalf of his corporate clients, frequently being retained by the entities’ Corporate Board of Directors. Darrell uses his experience working with the City, State, and Federal Governments and as a New York State Commissioner in helping his clients navigate claims before governmental agencies.

With respect to non-traditional work, Darrell has handled and managed significant cases involving single and multiple plaintiffs, single and multiple defendants, cases with allegations of serious continuing violations, and high profile media cases. He not only has experience before administrative agencies as well as Federal and State courts, but has also handled investigations conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s office.

Craig B. Glidden

Executive Vice President & General Counsel,
General Motors Company

—

Craig B. Glidden is executive vice president and general counsel of General Motors Co., a position he has held since he joined GM in March 2015.

Prior to joining GM, Glidden had been executive vice president and chief legal officer for LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies.

Prior to joining LyondellBasell in August 2009, Glidden served as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. Prior to joining Chevron Phillips Chemical, he was in private law practice.

Glidden received a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 1980, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He obtained a Juris Doctor with high honors from Florida State University in 1983, where he served as editor-in-chief and managing editor of the Florida State University Law Review.

Glidden is licensed to practice law in Texas and Florida. He is a member and past chair of The General Counsel Forum and serves on the board of the Houston Bar Foundation.

SAMANTHA C. GRANT

Partner,
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

—

Samantha C. Grant is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm’s Century City office.

Areas of Practice

Samantha represents employers in administrative, arbitration and trial proceedings in labor and employment matters, including single-plaintiff, class and collective actions. She has extensive experience litigating discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, breach of contract, fraud, defamation, trade secret, covenants not to compete, and unfair competition cases, among others. She also advises clients on litigation avoidance strategies and local, state and federal compliance matters, as well as conducts management and workforce training. The insight and experience she gained while on a two-year secondment, as in-house employment counsel for a Fortune 50 company, was invaluable in her becoming a particularly pragmatic outside counsel.

Willie Hernandez

Director & Associate General Counsel, Product,
Facebook, Inc.

—

Willie is an executive with substantial international experience (at IBM, Amazon, HPE and Facebook) leading global public companies through complex, high-impact crises and opportunities worldwide to enhance and restore credibility with governments, customers, investors and the public.

Willie is currently head of legal for Facebook’s core app with 3.0+B users globally and facing one of the most challenging regulatory and public policy environments. Previously he served as Deputy General Counsel for Hewlett Packard Enterprises ($30B revenues) and general counsel for Aruba ($3B), an HPE company, overseeing a matrixed team of 100+ indirect global reports.

Willie’s prior career experience includes three years living and working in Shanghai, China, leading IBM’s services legal team across growth markets in the APAC, EMEA and LATAM regions, serving as general counsel and advising the general manager and executive team.

Willie is experienced in navigating highly competitive and heavily regulated environments globally and working across all legal functions, including crisis management, enterprise risk management, M&A, cybersecurity/privacy, regulatory compliance, investigations, board advisement, litigation and securities law.

Willie started his practice as a litigator with Jackson Walker, LLP.

Willie is Board Chair of the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL) and Board Member of Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School, both organizations working to elevate life outcomes for high school students in under-resourced areas.

DUANE HOLLOWAY

Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer,
U.S. Steel Corporation

—

Duane D. Holloway joined U. S. Steel in April 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary. He was appointed the additional role of Chief Ethics Officer in September 2018. At U. S. Steel, Mr. Holloway holds executive responsibility for all legal, ethics and compliance matters across the company. He is also responsible for environmental affairs, corporate governance and managing relations with the company’s Board of Directors.

Before joining U.S. Steel, Mr. Holloway served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Ascena Retail Group Inc., then the largest women’s specialty retail and fashion company in the U.S. During his time at Ascena, Mr. Holloway served as Global Chief Legal, Compliance, Sustainability and Diversity officer. As a member of the company’s senior leadership team, Mr. Holloway played a key role in the development and execution of the company’s revised business strategy and transformation program. He also led the transformation of those departments under his purview, significantly improving processes, service levels, outcomes, expense controls and levels of engagement. Mr. Holloway also oversaw the development of Ascena’s first-ever enterprise diversity function and strategy, in addition to a comprehensive corporate social responsibility and philanthropic program.

Previously, Mr. Holloway served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Corelogic Inc., the leading global residential property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. He oversaw members of the U.S. legal department advising on transactional, litigation, intellectual property, regulation, employment, antitrust, and governance matters. He also led the development of the department’s first-ever strategic plan.

Prior to joining CoreLogic, Mr. Holloway spent nine years at Caesars Entertainment Corp., the world’s largest gaming company at the time, where he progressed through increasingly responsible roles in the legal department before being named Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel, Operations and Litigation. In this role, he functioned as general counsel for the company’s global operations division, which included all casinos, resorts, hotels and other related holdings around the world, and helped lead the department’s continuous improvements to its operating model and strategy.

Mr. Holloway also practiced law at the firm now known as Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.

A native of Baltimore, Md., Mr. Holloway earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Seth Krauss

Chief Legal Officer,
Endeavor

—

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.

Sandra Leung

Executive Vice President & General Counsel,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

—

Sandy Leung is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. She leads the worldwide Law Department and is responsible for a wide range of legal areas including intellectual property, commercial and regulatory law, litigation, corporate governance, securities and transactions including licensing, acquisitions and divestitures. She also has responsibility for Environment, Health & Safety, Compliance & Ethics Corporate Security and Corporate Philanthropy.

Sandy joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1992 as a staff attorney in the litigation department. She was promoted to positions of increasing responsibility and was elected Corporate Secretary in 1999. In September 2006, she was appointed Interim General Counsel. In February 2007, she was named General Counsel.

Sandy began her legal career as Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York City where she was an original member of the Child Abuse Bureau. She ended her prosecutorial career, after trying more than 40 jury trials to verdict, as a member of the prestigious Homicide Investigations Unit where she conducted investigations of unsolved homicides linked with drug gang activity.

Sandy is on the board of directors of the Asian-American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the board of directors of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.

Sandy is a graduate of Tufts University and Boston College Law School.

Additional Awards

• 2009 Recipient of the Justice in Action Award from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
• 2013 Recipient of the Excellence in Corporate Practice Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel
• Named one of America’s 2014 and 2016 Top 50 General Counsel by the National Law Journal

Hannah Lim-Johnson

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary,
Meritor, Inc.

—

Hannah Lim-Johnson is senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Meritor, Inc. She joined Meritor in August 2020.

In this position, Lim-Johnson has responsibility for Meritor’s legal affairs, which includes oversight of legal activities related to corporate governance, acquisitions and divestitures, litigation, business standards compliance, regulatory compliance and intellectual property. She also manages the global corporate legal and compliance department.

Lim-Johnson was most recently a senior vice president and chief legal officer at Kelly Services, where she was responsible for leading the strategic direction of the Law Department and Global Security functions. She also held senior-level roles at PSEG, the ADT Corporation and TYCO International, and served as deputy attorney general for the Attorney General’s Office in Trenton, New Jersey.

Lim-Johnson holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers University School of Law, where she served as the Managing Editor of the Rutgers Law Review, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Illinois. She also serves as a board member for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and the Leadership Institute of Women of Color Attorneys.

Linda Lu

Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel – Litigation, Enforcement & Strategy,
TransUnion

—

Linda Lu is Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Trans Union.  She and her team are responsible for global litigation, government enforcement, strategy, legal counseling for HR, IP, real estate, and insurance risk management.  Prior to Trans Union, Linda was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Nationwide Insurance Personal Lines, and previously, it’s Chief Litigation Officer.

Linda is currently a Board Member of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel Foundation. Linda is past Vice President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, past President of the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago, and an Alumni Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.  She is also past Vice President of The University of Chicago Board of Governors. Linda is the recipient of NAPABA’s Best Lawyers Under 40 Award, and recognized as a R3-100 by Inside Counsel Magazine. Linda was recognized by the National Diversity Council as one of the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Ohio, received the Transformative Leadership Award from Inside Counsel, awarded the Diversity Leadership Award by NAPABA, and received the Ohio Asian Award.

Linda graduated from the Georgetown Law Center and The University of Chicago, where she was captain and MVP of the tennis team.

Suzan A. Miller

Former Corporate Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, & Corporate Secretary,
Intel Corporation

—

Suzan (Sam) A. Miller was a Corporate Vice President, Intel Corporation. Currently working on a corporate governance consulting project, Ms. Miller’s previous roles at Intel include Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and Deputy General Counsel, Intel Corporation. In this role, Ms. Miller led Intel’s worldwide Corporate Legal Group, providing legal support for corporate governance, security law, corporate finance, and treasury; Vice President of the Business Legal Group and General Counsel of Intel Capital. Ms. Miller was an active advocate within Intel and externally for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and the technology industry. She was the executive sponsor for the Santa Clara Women at Intel Network, a member of Intel’s Network of Executive Women Leaders, and on the Board of the National Association of Women Lawyers (“NAWL”). Ms. Miller is currently on the Boards of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, US National Committee for UN Women, Silicon Valley, the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services, and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (“MCCA”). She received her B.S. from Bryn Mawr College and her J.D. from Santa Clara University. Ms. Miller can be reached at suzan.miller@me.com.

Lanesha Minnix

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary,
Flowserve Corporation

—

Lanesha Minnix currently serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Flowserve Corporation (NYSE: FLS), an S&P 500 manufacturer of engineered and industrial pumps, seals and valves operating in more than 50 countries. As Chief Legal Officer, Ms. Minnix is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and oversees all legal, governance, compliance, and regulatory affairs globally for the company.

Prior to joining Flowserve, Ms. Minnix served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for BMC Stock Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BMCH), a Fortune 700 provider of diversified residential building products. As General Counsel, she was responsible for all legal matters of the company as well as the risk management function.

Prior to joining BMC, Ms. Minnix was Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE: ABM), a Fortune 500 facility solutions company with 100,000 employees worldwide. Before her tenure with ABM, Ms. Minnix held significant legal leadership roles at Royal Dutch Shell/Shell Oil Company including roles in the downstream business and an expat role based in Qatar. Ms. Minnix began her career as a corporate associate at the law firm of K&L Gates and then as Corporate Counsel for Sprint Corporation.

Ms. Minnix earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from the University of Tulsa and Bachler of Science from St. Louis University. She serves on the Board of Directors for Minority Corporate Counsel Association and previously served on the Board of Trustees and for the National Urban League and the Girls Scouts of San Jacinto Council in Houston. She is a member of the Texas and Pennsylvania Bars.

Dan Neff

Partner,
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

—

Daniel A. Neff is the co-chairman of the Executive Committee and partner in the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which he joined in 1977.  He is a corporate and securities lawyer, and has focused on mergers and acquisitions and advice to boards of directors and board committees.  Throughout his career, Mr. Neff has been extensively involved in negotiated as well as hostile acquisitions, and has represented bidders and targets, public and private companies, private equity firms, leveraged acquirers and special committees of directors.  He has represented companies in divestitures, cross-border transactions and proxy contests, and has counseled managements and boards of directors concerning acquisition matters, responses to shareholder activism, conflict transactions, corporate governance and other significant issues.

Mr. Neff lectures frequently on topics relating to his professional interests, was featured in American Lawyer’s “Dealmaker of the Year” article in 2001, 2012 and 2015 and is listed in Chambers Global Guide, Chambers USA Guide, The Best Lawyers in America and Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers of America.

Among the significant matters he has handled are the successful defense of Airgas against a hostile takeover bid by Air Products and Chemicals (2009-2011), the sale of Airgas to L’Air Liquide S.A., the merger of Anadarko Petroleum with Occidental Petroleum and Anadarko’s response to acquisition proposals from Chevron and the $130 billion acquisition by Verizon Communications of the 45% interest in Verizon Wireless owned by Vodafone plc.

Amy Fliegelman Olli

Executive Vice President & General Counsel,
VMware, Inc.

—

Amy Fliegelman Olli is the Executive Vice President & General Counsel for VMware. With more than 20 years of legal experience, Amy leads VMware’s Global Legal team, which includes VMware’s Ethics & Compliance and Global Government Relations organizations, and she champions the company’s commitment to integrity, ethics, compliance and risk management practices.

Prior to joining VMware, Amy served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Avaya. She led the Avaya Law and Global Contracting organization. Prior to Avaya, Amy held a similar position at CA Technologies and spent more than 18 years at IBM.

In 2010, Amy was the winner of Burton’s “Legends in Law” award and was named by the Diversity Journal as a “Woman Worth Watching” in 2011. She was a 2014 winner of the “Aiming High” Award from Legal Momentum, and in 2017, was included in Corporate Counsel’s list of Transformative Leaders in Technology, Media & Telecom and Collaborative Leadership. In 2021, Amy was named to Financial Times “Top 20 General Counsels,” and she was recognized with a “2021 Women, Influence & Power in Law, General Counsel of the Year—In House” award by Corporate Counsel.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego and a Juris Doctor degree from Western New England School of Law.

Natalie Pierce

Partner,
Gunderson Dettmer

—

​Natalie represents technology and life sciences companies at all stages of growth, from the earliest stages of financing to public companies. Her practice focuses on the needs of start-up and emerging growth companies. She proactively works with her clients to develop workplace policies and procedures to avoid future problems with employment matters. If problems do arise, Natalie is also a litigator who has successfully defended clients against a variety of employment claims.

Natalie is a trusted advisor to her clients on all employment-related matters, including: recruiting, hiring, managing and compensating employees; compliance with all relevant regulations at the federal, state and local levels; and avoiding issues such as harassment, discrimination and pay inequity. Natalie has handled the workforce-related aspects of numerous transactions and reorganizations, including maximizing value through smooth transitional plans for service agreements and pre- and post-closing integration activities. In addition, she is focused on counseling companies on incorporating robotics, biometrics, telepresence, artificial intelligence, and other enhancement technologies into the workplace, as well as re-skilling workforces to facilitate tech adoption.

Prior to joining Gunderson Dettmer, Natalie was a litigator at Littler representing corporations in all types of employment litigation matters involving discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge and retaliation. Natalie is fluent in Spanish. 

Rodney Pratt

Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary,
Converse Inc.

—

Rodney C. Pratt is the Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Converse Inc. He is responsible for leading and managing the company’s global legal team, strategy, and operations. Pratt also serves on the Converse Executive Leadership Team. In addition to his legal responsibilities, Pratt is charged with administrative oversight and budgetary management of Converse’s global security and brand protection (anti-counterfeiting) functions. Prior to joining Converse, Pratt was an Assistant General Counsel at Nike. In that role, Pratt served as a business and legal advisor to many of Nike’s and its affiliate brands’ (Jordan, Nike Golf, and Hurley) internal business teams on commercial, sales and competition related issues. While at Nike, Pratt also served as the Corporate Secretary of, and operated as the general counsel for, the Nike Foundation. Pratt began his legal career as a corporate, finance, and M&A attorney with a major law firm in Washington, D.C.

Pratt serves and has served on the Boards of Directors of a variety of civic and non-profit organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, the Board of Directors of the George Washington University Law School Alumni Association, and as a member of the Advisory Board of Directors of Boston College Law School’s Rappaport Center for Law & Public Policy. Pratt also serves on the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Next Generation Advisory Board. Pratt previously served as Chairman of Portland, Oregon’s Legacy Emanuel Medical Center Foundation.

In 2016, Pratt received the George Washington University Black Alumni Association IMPACT Award. In 2015, Pratt was recognized by Savoy Magazine as one of the Most Influential Black Lawyers in corporate America. In 2012, Pratt was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of America’s Top 40 Lawyers under 40. Pratt has also been profiled in numerous publications, including Modern Counsel magazine (2017) and Blackenterprise.com (2014). He has also served on numerous panels at various conferences focused on enhancing the personal and professional development of practicing and aspiring lawyers.

Pratt is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and received his law degree from the George Washington University Law School. While in law school, he served as an Executive Officer of the Moot Court Board. During law school, Pratt also served as a White House Intern in the Office of the Chief of Staff under the Clinton Administration.

Tom Robertson

Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel,
Microsoft Corporation

—

Robertson leads the Corporate, External & Legal Affairs team that supports the Experiences and Devices Group, which is responsible for Office, Windows, Office 365, Microsoft Surface devices, Skype, Teams and many other products and services. He has led other teams in Seattle, Tokyo and Hong Kong since joining in 1997. Before Microsoft, Robertson was Associate General Counsel in the Office of the United States Trade Representative within the Executive Office of the President, where he was responsible for intellectual property issues and general trade issues with U.S. trading partners in the Asia Pacific region. Before that, Robertson practiced law at Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C., and London, England, and was a law clerk to the Honorable Albert Bryan, Jr., then Chief Judge in the U.S. Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Virginia.

Robertson holds both Bachelor of Science and Law degrees from the University of Virginia. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Washington State. He serves on the Boards of Greater Seattle Partners, the Coalition of Services Industries, the National Bureau of Asian Research and Town Hall Seattle. He is a Life Member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program.

Thomas L. Sager

Partner,
Ballard Spahr LLP

—

​Tom Sager is the former General Counsel and Senior Vice President at the DuPont Company. In 2014, Tom joined Ballard Spahr as a Partner, where he leverages his experience steering the legal department at a heavily regulated, Fortune 100 global corporation to a broad portfolio of areas at the firm, including litigation and trial practice, internal investigations, environmental issues, and mergers and acquisitions. Tom began his career with the DuPont Company as an attorney in the Labor, Benefits & Corporate Security Group and spent more than a decade as chief litigation counsel before being named Senior Vice President and General Counsel in 2008. During his tenure, he oversaw significant litigation involving governmental investigations, product liability, environmental, toxic tort, labor and employment, securities, antitrust, and tax issues.

Tom was a strong and early proponent of diversity in the legal profession and helped pioneer the DuPont Company Convergence and Law Firm Partnering Program, or the DuPont Company Legal Model—an industry benchmark that has received national acclaim for its innovative approach to the business of practicing law. The program redefined the way in which clients and law firms measure success, encourage creativity and collaboration, increase efficiency, and retain and promote women and people of color. Many of his early innovations, including use of preferred providers and flat or fixed-fee billing, have become commonplace in corporate law departments. In naming him in 2013 as one of “The Top 50 Big Law Innovators,” The American Lawyer wrote: “Thomas Sager and the DuPont Legal Model are to the legal industry what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees.”

Tom received The American Lawyer’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. In addition, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Thomas L. Sager Award is given annually to law firms that demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Robin H. Sangston

Vice President, Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer,
Cox Communications, Inc.

—

Robin Sangston is Vice President, CIPP/US Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer for Cox Communications, Inc. She leads the company’s Ethics and Compliance organization, which is responsible for the company’s Ethics and Doing Business Right compliance program. In addition, she has responsibility for privacy, antitrust compliance and employment law. In 2015, Cox was a recipient of a MARCOM award – Platinum Winner – for its Code of Conduct.

Robin is a native of Washington, D.C. where her father was an announcer for NBC and Voice of America. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania where she was a member of the Mortar Board Honor Society. She received her J.D., with high honors, from George Washington Law School where she graduated Order of the Coif and was a member of the Law Review. She practiced First Amendment law with a D.C. firm before joining Cox in 1995.

Robin is passionate about helping people succeed at Cox, in the legal profession and in the community. She served as founding co-Chair of Cox’s Women’s Employee Resource Group, which has over 1,100 members, and is the Executive Sponsor of Cox Enterprises’ 25 year-long mentoring relationship with Chamblee High School in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, she currently serves on the board of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. She is also board President of Jerusalem House, Atlanta’s oldest and largest provider of free and subsidized housing and wrap around services to HIV/ AIDS infected individuals and their families.

Robin has also served on numerous boards that promote diversity, inclusion and equality for everyone, including Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), Cable Positive, The Atlanta Legal Diversity Consortium, Page Turners Make Great Learners, the Atlanta Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the Boy Scouts of America, Atlanta Area Council, where she focused on the Scout Reach program to bring scouting to underprivileged youth in Atlanta.

She is also an active mentor and has participated in many formal and informal mentoring relationships, including the Pathbuilders Achieva mentoring program, the Georgia Association of Women Lawyer’s Leadership Academy, the J. Mack Robinson College of Business women’s mentoring program, WICT’s mentoring program and various Cox mentoring programs.

Robin is a graduate of the Class of 2014 of Leadership Atlanta.

She has been recognized nationally and locally for her leadership and efforts to advance others by various organizations, including WICT, the Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Association of Corporate Counsel, Atlanta Chapter, Counsel on Call, OnBoard, Womenetics, and the Atlanta Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League.

Teena-Ann Sankoorikal

Partner,
Covington & Burling LLP

—

​Teena Sankoorikal is a commercial litigator who has handled numerous high-profile, complex civil litigation, and intellectual property disputes.

Teena is a member of Covington’s Evaluation Committee, and she serves as the Ombudsman for the New York office.

She has advised multinational companies on a variety of matters relating to the following:

• Misappropriation of trade secrets
• Breach of contract
• Business torts
• Fraudulent misrepresentation
• Tortious interference
• Unfair competition
• Patent litigation
• Trademark infringement
• Copyright infringement

In addition, Teena is a fellow of the Yale Science and Engineering Association, Inc., a member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York, a member of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, and a member of the selection committee for the Don H. Liu’s Scholars’ Program.

DAWN SMITH

President & Chief Operating Officer,
Cologix, Inc.

—

Dawn is President and Chief Operating Officer of Cologix, where she leads the company’s strategic initiatives, real estate development, human resources, legal, all other administrative functions, and corporate strategy. She also serves as Corporate Secretary to the company’s Board of Directors.

Prior to Cologix, Dawn was most recently the executive vice president and chief legal officer of McAfee, where she led the legal and government relations organization globally. Prior to McAfee, Dawn was the senior vice president and chief legal officer at VMware.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Dawn graduated from Stanford Law School. Dawn joined Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and then became partner at Morrison & Foerster with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and debt financings, board advisory, and corporate governance.

Dawn currently serves on the board of directors of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Her leadership has earned numerous recognitions in the field of law, including: Top 50 Women Lawyers in the U.S. by the National Diversity Council, Value Champion Award by the Association of Corporate Counsel, Most Innovative In-House Legal Team in North America, and Top 20 General Counsel by the Financial Times.

In addition to her JD from Stanford Law School, Dawn earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, where she also received the Vice Admiral Lawrence Award for most outstanding woman athlete. As a commissioned officer, Dawn was chosen for the highly competitive naval nuclear submarine program founded by Admiral Hyman Rickover, and while in the Navy she earned an MBA from Providence College.

MICHAEL TANG

Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary,
Agilent Technologies, Inc.

—

Michael Tang is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Agilent Technologies. He is responsible for leading Agilent’s global legal organization and advising the board of directors and management team on all aspects of the law, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and securities matters.

Tang has served in the Legal and Corporate Development departments of Agilent since joining the company in 2006. In 2013 he was named Agilent Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. Tang was the lead attorney on Agilent’s spinoff of its electronic measurement business to form Keysight Technologies.

Prior to Agilent, Tang represented public and private technology companies in a broad range of corporate and securities matters at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a Palo Alto, California, law firm and Fenwick & West LLP, a Mountain View, California, law firm.

Tang is a graduate of Columbia Law School. He also holds a B.S. in economics from The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. He is an active member of the State Bar of California.

ALAN K. TSE

Global General Counsel & Corporate Secretary,
Jones Lang LaSalle, IP, Inc.

—

Mr. Tse is the Global Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc the Fortune 500 Real Estate Services Company. Prior to JLL, Mr. Tse was the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Petco. Prior to Petco, Mr. Tse was the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Churchill Downs, Inc. Tse was formerly Vice President and General Counsel of LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. Mr. Tse serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel and chaired its Advocacy Committee and is the co-founder and serves on the Board of the Asian American Legal Foundation. Mr. Tse was named one of the best lawyers under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association in 2005 and was named as a Top General Counsel to Watch by NYSE’s Corporate Board Member magazine in 2012. Mr. Tse holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley where he earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Neil Wilcox

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

—

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.

Benjamin F. Wilson

Chairman,
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.

—

Benjamin F. Wilson is the Chairman of Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., a top-ranked law firm focused on environmental and natural resource law and litigation. He represents major corporations, developers, and municipalities in complex litigation matters involving Clean Water Act enforcement, wetlands development, Superfund and environmental justice matters. He served as the Deputy Monitor for Emissions & Environmental in the Volkswagen AG emissions proceedings and served as the Court-Appointed Monitor for the Duke Energy coal ash spill remediation project.

A tireless advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, in 2020, Mr. Wilson was inducted into the Washington Bar Association’s Hall of Fame, awarded the Cora T. Walker Award from the National Bar Association Commercial Law Section, and featured in the National Law Journal’s cover story “The Vanguard and the Vision.” In 2019, he received the National Bar Association’s Presidential Award, and in 2018, NAWL’s Lead by Example Award and the UNCF’s MASKED Award. He founded and leads the African American General Counsel and Managing Partner Networks and Diverse Partners Network.

Mr. Wilson graduated from Dartmouth College and from Harvard Law School. He has served as Chairman of the Environmental Law Institute since 2016. Mr. Wilson serves on the Judicial Nomination Commission for the District of Columbia and the Board of Directors of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and of PG&E Corporation. He previously served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College and the Board of Governors of the District of Columbia Bar. Mr. Wilson is also an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Law at the Howard University School of Law.