Lila Acharya is an experienced compliance and investigations attorney with a unique skillset developed from private practice, the public sector, and in-house compliance roles in the life sciences and manufacturing sectors. In her roles as an in-house compliance attorney at Rolls-Royce plc and Pfizer, she investigated significant matters across EMEA and Asia, developed policies and procedures, trained employees and third parties, and led the implementation of an automated third-party due diligence platform. Before going in house, she was an associate at Ropes & Gray LLP and a state prosecutor in Massachusetts. She is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Elizabeth Ames Contract Attorney in Ethics and Compliance
Delta
Elizabeth is experienced ethics and compliance counsel, who uses innovation and technology to create compliance programs to meet business needs while minimizing frustrations to operations. In addition to overseeing corporate policies, hotlines, training, communications, and investigations, she has provided legal advice on a wide array of subject matters including antitrust, bribery, international trade, mergers and acquisitions, third party due diligence, and data privacy.
Erin Brown Vice President, Third-Party Risk Operations Manager
MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Erin Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in International Studies with a focus on economic development in the Middle East and North Africa, and a double minor in Arabic and Anthropology, from Emory University, and her law degree from the University of Georgia. She is currently a Vice President of Operational Risk Management at Mitsubishi UJF Financial Group (MUFG), providing second line-of-defense governance and oversight for Third-Party Risk and Change Risk Management.
Erin is an active member of various professional organizations, including the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys (GABWA) and Mediators without Borders. She also serves as a Law School Alumni mentor, volunteers with the Georgia Radio Reading Service (GaRRS) and is a member of the Dogwood City Chapter of the Links, Inc. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and pups, as well as cooking, kickboxing and traveling.
Stephanie Cherny
Director, Global Enterprise Compliance Officer and Counsel
Stephanie Cherny Director, Global Enterprise Compliance Officer and Counsel
Intuit
Stephanie Fleischman Cherny is a fourth-generation Arizonan born and raised in Tucson. She is the Associate General Counsel, Legal Compliance for Intuit. Prior to her current role, she was Chief of Staff and Special Counsel at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. Stephanie spent the bulk of her career representing some of America’s largest companies and most prominent individuals in a wide variety of white-collar prosecutions and government and internal investigations, including export control, sanctions, and anti-bribery and corruption investigations, as well as designing and implementing legal and ethical compliance programs.
Stephanie graduated from the University of California, San Diego (B.A. in History) and the University of Southern California School of Law (Juris Doctorate). Stephanie is admitted to practice law in Arizona, California, and Washington, D.C.
Beth Colling is Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer for CDM Smith, an employee-owned Engineering Design and Consulting firm headquartered in Boston, MA. She is responsible for the development and oversight of the firm's global Compliance Program, reporting directly to the CEO and the Board of Directors. Beth is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience in employment and business law, risk management and compliance. She has worked in both private practice as a litigator as well as in-house for a number of international publicly-traded organizations. Her roles have ranged from Managing Attorney to Chief Risk and Compliance Officer. Recently, Beth's focus has been on creating and implementing compliance programs for organizations without a formal structure in place. She is a regular speaker at numerous forums on topics ranging from leadership and female empowerment to implementing legal compliance measures for multinational companies. She holds a law degree from the University of Virginia and is a member of the Virginia State Bar and a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP). She is a member of her firm's Engineers Without Borders Board of Directors, a member of the Women's Leadership Network, and chair of the Board for Bethany Global, an international nonprofit dedicated to providing refugee resettlement services for immigrant children. In her spare time, Beth is an avid runner whose bucket list includes finishing all six of the Abbott World Major marathons. She has three to go.
Michelle Davis CPA, CFE, CCEP is the founder of Artemis Advisory, a boutique consulting firm that focuses on helping business leaders accomplish their strategic compliance and risk management goals. Michelle founded Artemis Advisory to provide a nimble, cost-effective solution to address what she observes as a growing gap between the pressures on the legal, compliance and risk management departments at organizations to accomplish more, with less. Michelle’s professional background includes over 16 years experience in PwC’s Forensic Investigations consulting practice and on Cox Communication’s Ethics & Compliance team. Michelle’s diverse experience as an outside consultant and in-house advisor to business and legal teams allows her to share unique perspectives on strategy, evaluating risks and processes, and solving organizations’ most pressing problems.
Michelle is active in the Atlanta business and legal community as a frequent speaker and thought leader. She is passionate about giving back to her community and spends her time supporting organizations that promote the arts and public education. Michelle is a proud wife and mother of two young children and one sweet puppy. She loves tennis, yoga, and any excuse to be out on the water.
Virgene Foreman earned both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. With over twenty years of audit experience, she has been a practicing Certified Public Accounting and Certified Fraud Examiner for twenty-three and twelve, respectively.
Starting her career at a prominent regional public accounting firm, Virgene conducted Governmental Compliance Audits (Yellow Book) and external audits of various financial institutions in accordance with Generally Accepted Audit Standards. As the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 introduced new requirements for public companies to identify, document and test key financial controls, she recognized that her skillset aligned with a transition to the financial services sector. Virgene played a pivotal role in establishing a Sarbanes Oxley Audit and Compliance program at GMAC Insurance. She continued her involvement in the evolution of Sarbanes- Oxley initiatives at the Bank of North Carolina and Lincoln Financial Group.
Her career took yet another path as she became intrigued by the emerging risks linked with third- party vendor relationships. Presently, Virgene serves as a Director of the Vendor Management Organization within Lincoln Financial Group’s Insurance Solution Operations. In this capacity, she oversees compliance audits mandated by the North Carolina National Association of Insurance Commissioners for Life Insurance Third Party Administrators.
Kristy Grant-Hart is an expert at making compliance officers in-demand business assets. She's the author of the best-selling book, “How to be a Wildly Effective Compliance Officer” and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Compliance Week, and on the cover of Compliance and Ethics Professional Magazine. She is CEO of Spark Compliance Consulting, and a former professor at Delaware School of Law, Widener University, teaching Global Compliance and Ethics.
Before launching Spark Compliance, Ms. Grant-Hart was the Chief Compliance Officer at United International Pictures, the joint distribution company for Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures in 65+ countries, where she was shortlisted for the Chief Compliance Officer of the Year at the Women in Compliance Awards.
Karen Moore is an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School, where she teaches a foundational course in corporate compliance for MSL and LLM students. She has held senior legal, compliance and privacy positions in multinational companies, including Philip Morris International, Nasdaq and Inchcape Shipping Services. Most recently she served as the Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer at Unisys, a global technology service and solutions company, responsible for the design and implementation of the company’s global compliance program and oversight of the cross-functional privacy program. Prior to moving in house, Mrs. Moore served as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Thomas J. Aquilino, Jr. at the US Court of International Trade, and in private practice with Baker & McKenzie.
Currently based in the Washington DC metro area, Mrs. Moore has also lived and worked in Moscow, Russia, and Lausanne, Switzerland. A member of the New York Bar, she holds a BA from Middlebury College, a JD from Emory University, and a certificate of European legal studies from Leiden University (Netherlands).
Mrs. Moore is a frequent speaker on compliance and privacy matters. An avid skier, she teaches beginner level skiing at a local resort during the winter season.
Ling-Ling Nie Deputy General Counsel, Chief Compliance & ESG Officer
Aura
Ling-Ling Nie is Deputy General Counsel, Chief Compliance & ESG Officer, and Head ofGovernment Affairs at Aura, a leading provider of proactive all-in-one digital safetysolutions for consumers. She previously served as General Counsel and Vice Presidentfor Ethics and Compliance at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and prior to that wasthe Chief Compliance Officer & Assistant General Counsel at Panasonic Corporation ofNorth America.In 2021, she received the General Counsel award from the Atlanta Business Chronicleand the Georgia Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. In 2019, she wasselected as a “40 Under 40” honoree by both the Atlanta Business Chronicle and theUniversity of Georgia, and was the recipient of the Women’s Leadership Award from theGeorgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association (GAPABA). She is a former divisionPresident of Panasonic’s Women Connect and served as a Global Mentor for the SportIntegrity Global Alliance (SIGA). Ling-Ling serves on the Board of Directors for GAPABA,the Board of Trustees for the Georgia Tech Applied Research Corporation, and is anAdvisor to Cloud Court, Inc. She is a former Board member of the Georgia Lawyers forthe Arts, the Atlanta Bar Foundation, and the Actor's Express Theatre.
Cricket Snyder is the Chief Compliance Officer for the Jefferson County Commission located in Birmingham, Alabama. Cricket’s role implements the very first compliance office function within Jefferson County Commission. She oversees all compliance activities, including establishing, implementing, and monitoring policies, procedures, regulations, laws and support systems. Her team is responsible for conducting internal investigations of alleged violations of the organization’s ethical standards for the employees who work within the Merit System at the county. In addition to her compliance functions, she also leads the organization’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives.
Cricket has more than 18 years of professional experience in compliance, customer service and supplemental staffing in various industries and organizations including Southern Company, Southern Nuclear, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. She has led compliance initiatives in both the utility and healthcare insurance industries. In August of 2022, she was recognized by the Birmingham Business Journal as a Top 40 under 40 honoree for her work accomplishments within the Magic City.
Cricket earned her Bachelor of Arts in Educational Services from Birmingham-Southern College and her Masters in Business Administration from Strayer University. She is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP).
Rebecca Walkeris a partner in the Santa Monica, California office of Kaplan & Walker LLP. Rebecca has practiced exclusively in the area of compliance law for over twenty years. She has helped hundreds of companies design compliance programs that are tailored to their legal risks and business needs and that conform to applicable government standards. She has also served as a monitor for the Department of the Air Force and as an independent consultant reviewing programs for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the World Bank.
Rebecca chairs the Practising Law Institute's Compliance and Ethics Essentials Institute in New York and co-chairs PLI’s Advanced Compliance and Ethics Workshop. She serves on the Advisory Board of Compliance and Ethics Professional magazine and the Editorial Board of the Complete Compliance and Ethics Manual. She is a member of the faculty of SCCE’s Compliance and Ethics Essentials workshop. For seven years, Ms. Walker served on the Advisory Board of the SCCE.
Rebecca is the author of Conflicts of Interest in Business and the Professions: Law and Compliance, published by Thomson West. Rebecca received her B.A. (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Georgetown University and her J.D. (cum laude) from Harvard Law School.