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Plus DeFi Technologies, Bristow Group and Flotek Industries expand their governance teams Unilever has named Prakash Kakkadas its new chief legal officer and group company secretary, succeeding Maria Varsellona who exited the role at the start of the month. Before his appointment, Prakash was Unilever’s general counsel, corporate and deputy group secretary. Prior to joining the company, he held senior governance and legal roles at BHP Group and Barclays. He began his career at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP. Over at online video-sharing platform Rumble, Maurice Edelson has been appointed as the company’s new general counsel and corporate secretary. Edelson…

Plus Baxter International, Viper Energy and Charles River Laboratories grow their legal teams American Water Works Company has promotedJeffrey Taylor to the role of SVP, chief SEC counsel and secretary. Confirmed in a LinkedIn post, Taylor previously served as VP, chief SEC counsel and secretary, a role he has held since February 2021. Before that he was chief SEC & corporate governance counsel and assistant secretary, having joined American Water in 2015. Taylor has also held tenures at the likes of Blank Rome LLP, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP and Gunster Yoakley. Over at medical tech company Baxter International, Courtney…

Plus Gemini, Martin Marietta Materials and Markel Insurance bolster their legal teams Irving Gomez, VP, deputy general counsel and secretary at PagerDuty, has left his role at the cloud computing company. Announcing the move in a LinkedIn post, Gomez confirmed his departure after four and half years with the company. He will join NYSE-listed Teradata as its new SVP, global head of legal and corporate secretary. Speaking on his time with PagerDuty, he writes: ‘I’m deeply thankful to our CEO, CFO and the entire leadership team for their trust, partnership and steady leadership. And to the broader PagerDuty team: thank…

Plus Cloudflare, Milestone Pharmaceuticals and Viatris make new leadership changes IT Infrastructure services provider Kyndryl has appointed Mark Ringes as interim general counselfollowing the departure of Edward Sebold. Prior to his appointment, Ringes has served as the company’s SVP, deputy general counsel since 2024. Before joining Kyndryl, he served as VP, assistant general counsel at IBM for over 25 years. Sebold’s exit coincides with the departure of CFO David Wyshnerand a change in role for Vineet Khurana, who has stepped down from his position as SVP and global controller to assume a different role at Kyndryl. They are succeeded respectively…

Plus Stanley Black & Decker, SiriusXM and Rolls-Royce add to their legal teams Global consulting firm Korn Ferry has promoted Jonathan Kuai to the position of chief people and legal officer. Kaui was formerly general counsel, corporate secretary and managing director of ESG and business affairs at the company. After joining Korn Ferry in 2010, it was under his tenure that the company won the trophy for best proxy statement (mid-cap) at the 2025 Corporate Governance Awards in New York. In a LinkedIn post, Kuai writes: ‘I am deeply humbled and honored to step into the role of Korn Ferry’s…

Plus LB Pharmaceuticals, Central Garden & Pet Company and Homeland Nickel expand their legal teams Thinking back to last year, it was during the WSJ Leadership Institute’s inaugural Board of Directors Council Summit that Dan Schulman, CEO of Verizon Communications, captured the defining governance challenge now facing boards. As AI accelerates into every corner of enterprise decision-making, he warned that leaders are operating in unfamiliar territory. ‘I’ve never seen technology change as fast as it is right now,’ Schulman told The Wall Street Journal. That pace has moved AI from an operational experiment to a board-level mandate. In the past…

Jeffrey Lipschutz reflects on his personal awards nomination Governance Intelligence recently presented its18th annual Corporate Governance Awardsat a gala ceremony this past November in New York City. Live from the red carpet, we spoke with several esteemed guests from across the world of GRC, including Jeffrey Lipschutz, senior director, associate general counsel & assistant secretaryat Sallie Mae. Lipschutz shares his advice for companies wanting to enter the awards this year and credits his making the shortlist forGovernance Professional of the Yearto his amazing team while praising colleague Megan Smegala on her Rising Star nomination. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements by…

Plus First Citizens BancShares, NatWest and Leidos refresh their compliance line ups The SEC has named Russell McGranahan as its new general counsel to oversee the market regulator’s legal function. McGranahan replaces Jeffrey Finnell, who has served as acting general counsel and will remain at the commission as deputy general counsel. Prior to joining the SEC, McGranahan served as general counsel of the US General Services Administration (GSA). Before that, he was general counsel of Focus Financial Partners, a wealth management firm and spent nine years with BlackRock, serving as managing director, M&A Counsel and corporate secretary. ‘I have known…

Fernando Contreras on his governance professional of year nomination Governance Intelligence recently presented its18th annual Corporate Governance Awardsat a gala ceremony this past November in New York City. Live from the red carpet, we spoke with several esteemed guests from across the world of GRC, includingJohn Kim,assistant corporatesecretaryand lead counsel at GeneralMotors. Kim reflects on what being nominated for Best Proxy Statement (small cap) means to his team, what changes they made to their proxy in 2025 and the increasing importance of cybersecurity and disclosures. The awards celebrate outstanding achievements by the governance profession in areas such as hosting AGMs, compliance…

Plus FuelCell Energy, SPX Technologies and Knight-Swift Transportation grow their legal teams NYSE-listed Chipotle Mexican Grill has confirmed the promotion of Ilene Eskenazi, formerly chief human resources officer, to a new joint role of chief legal and human resources officer. She succeedsRoger Theodoredis, who has retired from his role as chief legal officer and general counsel but will remain with the company in an advisory role to support the transition. Before joining Chipotle in 2023, Eskenazi held joint roles as chief legal and human resources officer at the likes of Petco Health and Wellness Company, Boardriders andRed Bull North America.…