Agnès Charpenet leads the Employee Benefit and the Wealth Management practices in Baker McKenzie’s Paris office.
She advises multinational companies, start-ups and key executives on their incentive programs and on confidential executives compensation matters. Her employee benefits-related experience particularly focuses on compensation of employees and executives, employees share schemes, mobility of employees and key executives, in domestic and international contexts. She also assists private clients, including families, entrepreneurs and trustees with respect to structuring their assets and activities, both in France and in a context of global mobility.
Agnès is involved in Global Equity Organization (GEO), a member-founded and member-driven not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of equity compensation worldwide through a global community of well-informed professionals, as the French Chapter Coordinator Leader. She is active in the ID&E initiatives in Paris and organizes concrete actions such as mentoring programs and external aspirational conferences.

Alvaro joined the Delivery Hero Equity Team in 2021 and has gained expertise in equity plan administration and solving legal hurdles. Since his time at the company, he has been involved in the launching of the employee share purchase plan and equity plan rollovers in multiple jurisdictions and leads the area of equity compliance and filings.

Over the years, he has cultivated a deep expertise in equity plan administration, becoming a go-to specialist within the company for navigating complex legal hurdles related to employee compensation.

With over a decade of experience in the field of compensation, with specific technical experience in equity compensation, Amanda has become a technical expert in accounting, valuation, tax, etc. for various compensation vehicles. Surrounded by a team of experts in securities law, SEC reporting, shareholder engagement, and proxy analytics; the teams solves all problems surrounding technical compensation matters. Amanda is a frequent industry speaker and serves on the Board of Directors for the Global Equity Organization.

Amanda holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, as well as a Certificate from MIT in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy. She is the Executive Sponsor for the Parents with New Additions BRG within Aon, and a Crisis Counselor for the Crisis Text Line.

Highly skilled Certified Payroll and Stock Equity Compensation Professional with 30 plus years of proven success in implementing processes that are compliant, proactive, standardized, and scalable to align with strategic business goals.

AmyLynn Flood is a Partner at Vialto Partners specializing in compensation and rewards. She primarily focuses on equity reward planning and implementation while also considering the financial accounting and corporate tax implications of such programs.  

AmyLynn has significant experience addressing the impact of corporate restructuring (mergers, spin-off, etc) on global equity-based compensation plans as well as cross-border equity reporting and payroll issues. Before joining Vialto, AmyLynn was a Partner in the Workforce Transformation practice at PwC and an auditor for a regional accounting firm.  

AmyLynn is a member of the Executive Advisory Committee of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, serves on the Advisory Board of the Certified Equity Professional Institute and is a member of the Leadership Team for the NYC Metro chapter of the Global Equity Organization. AmyLynn is a member of the Advisory Board for the Rutgers University Center for Employee Ownership. She serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for La Salle University and recently joined the Forum of Executive Women in Philadelphia.  

AmyLynn is a graduate of La Salle University and received her Masters of Science in Taxation at Drexel University 

Andrea Kagan is Senior Project Manager, Stock Administration with NVIDIA Corporation and is based in the Bay Area. Andrea has close to than twenty five years of experience working with multi-jurisdictional tax issues facing internationally mobile employees and has specialized in equity compensation for the past twenty years, with a focus in recent years on implementing and leveraging technology solutions. Andrea has experience in the share plan industry from multiple perspectives. She has worked at stock issuer companies as part of the stock administration team; at a share plan administrator leading the tax and cross-border workstream for their proprietary information database; and at several of the Big 4 Accounting Firms consulting with companies to help manage employer and employee compliance obligations and cross-jurisdictional issues for equity awards. Andrea was fortunate enough to have worked in England for 3 years, resulting in a unique understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing mobile employees. She has published articles in both the US and the UK and is a frequent speaker at local and national industry conferences. Andrea is a Certified Equity Professional (CEP), IRS Enrolled Agent, and is a member of NASPP, and GEO.

Anna Fletcher is the Group Head of Reward at Rentokil Initial plc, based in the UK and has more than 18 years’ experience in reward. Prior to her current role she held similar roles in consumer goods and financial services organizations. Anna has been with RI for 5 years and in her current role is responsible for overseeing a wide range of reward initiatives across the group, including share schemes, executive remuneration compensation, and global mobility.

Annemarie Kalsbeek is a seasoned professional with extensive expertise in global mobility, immigration, equity, and payroll services. Currently serving as Vice President Pay Services, Global Mobility, and Immigration at S&P, Annemarie leads strategic initiatives to optimize payroll operations and facilitate seamless global mobility for employees across borders.

With a career spanning 30+ years in the industry, Annemarie has demonstrated a keen understanding of the complexities of international workforce management and compliance. Her leadership has been instrumental in developing innovative solutions to navigate regulatory landscapes and streamline payroll processes on a global scale.

Annemarie holds three master's degrees, including one in Leadership and an MBA from Capella University, and a Business and Payroll master’s from the University of Derby. Her academic background has equipped her with a strong foundation in business management, leadership principles, and specialized knowledge in payroll services.

Prior to her role at S&P, Annemarie held key positions in leading organizations, where she honed her skills in payroll management, compliance, and talent mobility. Her collaborative approach and commitment to excellence have earned her recognition as a trusted advisor and thought leader in the field.

Blake is an associate partner in Aon’s Chicago office where he serves as the Midwest Practice and Global Equity Compliance Leader of the Equity Services group, which is part of Aon’s Rewards Solutions business. He has nearly 15 years of experience providing assistance to multinational and midsize corporations with the design, implementation and maintenance of domestic and international equity compensation programs, including the execution of tax-qualified plans and corporate chargeback arrangements. Blake also specializes in advising clients on the tax and regulatory requirements, securities, and foreign exchange controls associated with the implementation and ongoing maintenance of a global equity program. He regularly assists clients on the employer withholding and reporting compliance and employee tax liability for employees who are working in various foreign jurisdictions during the life of an equity award.

In his current role, Blake oversees the design and technical matters surrounding equity compensation for a wide variety of companies. Blake specifically assists companies with plan design considerations, valuation, and financial reporting requirements under ASC 718, and more. He also frequently works with his clients to create global communication strategies and support, including the preparation of employee communications outlining the country-specific taxation consequences of participating in an equity plan along with communications designed to educate employees about their equity compensation.

Brett Andersen is the Manager of Global Equity Services at Confluent. He has worked in equity compensation for over 10 years working on both the vendor and issuer sides working with smaller companies offering equity to a handful of folks privately, or with large public companies of over 50,000 equity participants and helping those in between to transition. Brett holds his CEP certification as well as a bachelor’s degree in marketing management.

Cathy is a Partner in EY’s People Advisory Services practice and focuses on HR strategy, risk management, compliance and operational efficiency and change management with financial services, fintech, technology and media companies.  She primarily concentrates on elevating the employee value proposition via flexibility programs, global rewards, risk and internal controls, HR and payroll efficiency and mobility issues. Cathy also co-leads EY’s Equal Pay offering.  More specifically, Cathy’s experience includes:

• Reimaging how work is performed with embedded workforce planning and inclusive and adaptive rewards;
• Identifying opportunities to mitigate HR risk and further improve business processes and systems, including worker classification considerations;
• Developing communications and change management programs to support transformational efforts;
• Reviewing the compensation programs, levels, and underlying policies and processes to address Equal Pay globally;
• Designing tax-efficient and competitive long-term and short-term incentive programs for senior management and broad-based groups;
• Analyzing compensation and benefit programs for cost and process efficiencies;
• Assisting companies in the assessment of service delivery models related to the delivery of payroll, equity and other benefits, including the modeling of future state processes to support the new administrative arrangements;
• Identifying control gaps and opportunities to further the efficiency and effectiveness of current payroll and HR processes based on established knowledge of best practices; and
• Outlining and auditing the payroll implications for delivering compensation, benefits and perquisites to employees and non-employees in over 100 countries.

Cathy is a graduate from the University of Iowa having received a BBA in Accounting.  Cathy is an Advisory Board member of the Certified Equity Professional Institute and a member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.  She is a Certified Public Accountant in California.

Cherie Curry is the Director of Global Equity at Hilton.  She has overall management responsibilities for Hilton’s Global Equity Plans. She has a broad depth of experience in all facets of equity compensation with responsibility for strategic planning, worldwide regulatory and tax compliance in over 100 countries, global communications, vendor management, overhang, burn rate and stock plan reserve analysis.  Cherie's issuer experience includes oversight of employee stock plans in various M&A transactions, development and implementation of ESPPs, working with internal and external partners on best practices for share plan requests, new vendor implementations, insider trading compliance, accounting and valuations, and overall plan administration. Cherie holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences and has earned her CEP.

Chris is a partner with over 24 years of service with KPMG UK and is KPMG’s global Head of Reward.  KPMG’s UK Reward practice specifically consists of over 60 people, providing tax, legal, reward consulting, accounting and valuation advice to a broad range of clients.  The global practice extends this to over 400 reward professionals working in different capacities across the Americas, ASPAC and Europe.  He works with a broad range of businesses around both strategic and tax efficient compensation design, with a particular focus on domestic and global businesses in the private capital space. 

Chris Dohrmann is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Global Shares, a J.P. Morgan company and host of the Global Shares equity compensation podcast, Own Up. Chris has over 30 years’ experience and has worked with companies ranging from startups to pre-IPO, from small to mid-cap companies in the US, and with international Fortune 500 firms. Chris’ career has spanned all areas of the industry, including investment banks, issuers, brokers, and platform providers. Chris was formerly Executive Director at Equatex, and prior to that spent 20 years in positions at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Citigroup and AST. He is experienced in managing high profile, high revenue relationships, as well as large client bases. Chris is a Fellow of Global Equity as well as a current member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, a former Board Member of Global Equity Organization as well as the CEPI Advisory Board.

Chris joined Fidelity in January 2023, his primary focus is developing the product and strategy as Fidelity expand their SPS offering to support Clients and Participants around the world. 

 With over 25 years of experience in the equity industry, Chris has worked at a number of providers, including Head of Stock Plans at both Barclays and Buck. He has also held roles across the board in Implementation, Business Development, Client Management and Product Development. 

 Chris is also very active in the wider Share Plans community; he has spoken at many events in the UK and internationally and has served on the Board of GEO and as a member of the ProShare Advisory Panel. He has also been a Judge for the ProShare Annual Awards.

Christopher Potash is an executive compensation lawyer with broad-based experience in tax, corporate, securities, and other laws and regulations affecting executive compensation, and is the head of the Firm’s executive compensation practice. He represents both public and private companies, both US and international, from closely held businesses, to private equity funds to Fortune 100 companies.

Chrissie is a Fellow Chartered Governance Professional. She’s worked in-house for various large, listed companies, managing UK and global all-employee and discretionary share plans. She was frustrated people didn’t love share plans as much as she did, and felt this was a communication issue. To bridge this gap, she founded Eximia in 2012.

Over the last 12 years, Chrissie has created a team that blends the technical knowledge of share plans and rewards with the creative talents of copywriting, graphic design, animation, and digital development. They have a proven track record of producing award-winning campaigns that engage, educate and empower to improve their financial resilience.

Based in Barcelona, Christian is Director in EMEA Equity Services. With the client in focus, he helps companies make better decisions in the world of share plans.

Christian joined from Morgan Stanley where he was a Vice President helping companies on a variety of equity compensation issues and successful develop Morgan Stanley share plan financial reporting solution to unlock its true potential. Prior to this, Christian was Product manager (in UK) and Senior client manager (in Denmark) at Computershare, supporting share plan clients and developing new/existing products.

Christian has over 12 years’ experience in employee share plans. Christian holds a master’s in accounting from Copenhagen Business School, subject IFRS2. Earned the Advanced Equity Compensation Accounting (AECA) Certificate from Santa Clara University in 2020.

Christian is a regular attendee and speaker at share plan industry events and is Board chapter liaison for Global Equity Organization Spain chapter.

Cory Anderson is a Senior Manager in KPMG’s Global Reward Services practice with more than 19 years of experience in global mobility tax and reward compliance. She has worked with a wide array of U.S. multinational clients across most major industry sectors, with an emphasis in technology, mining, automotive and hospitality. She has strong technical proficiencies in complex cross-border employee mobility tax issues; workforce planning; long-term incentive program corporate and individual tax structuring, permanent establishment planning; and other long-term incentive plan advisory with an over-riding objective of assisting organizations with the evolution of their long-term incentive programs to support their talent agendas. She has assisted multi-national companies with their complex reward compliance objectives and helped them to automate their program.
She has been focused on helping companies prepare for T+1 settlement through automation and process reviews, including both internal stakeholders and external service providers. She manages many company’s equity tax processes for determining both tax settlement for participants, and payroll reporting and withholding compliance for global companies, including the broader corporate and individual tax implications involved in delivery of share-based compensation.
Cory is a member of GEO, and NASPP. She is a regular speaker at trade conferences and national tax training. She is an Enrolled Agent with the IRS.

Dan Kapinos is a Partner and the Global Practice Leader for the Equity Services Team, a division of Aon 
Human Capital Solutions, that provides expertise, service and advice around equity compensation, 
including plan design considerations, valuation and financial reporting requirements under ASC Topics 
718 and 805 and IRC 280G, global equity compliance, special one-time events (such as M&A), employee 
education and more. He is responsible for the team’s strategic direction and global presence in helping 
companies with all things equity.

Dan has a degree in statistics from the Pennsylvania State University. He also maintains the Certified 
Equity Professional (CEP) designation through Santa Clara University and the Certified Executive 
Compensation Professional (CECP) designation through World@Work. He is a frequent national and 
international speaker and published author on a variety of equity compensation topics. He has also sat on 
the Curriculum Committee for the CEP Institute and served as the President of the NASPP Philadelphia 
Chapter. In 2020, Dan became a Fellow of Global Equity (FGE) through the Global Equity Organization. 
He currently sits on the Executive Advisory Committee for the NASPP.

Additionally, Dan has served as a member of the Alumni Board of Directors for the Eberly College of 
Science at the Pennsylvania State University, specifically as Chair for the Student Engagement 
Committee, and also started the For The Glory Scholarship Fund to benefit students in the fields of 
Science and Education. Through his work with Penn State, Dan also received the 2015 Joan M. McLane 
Recent Alumnus Award and the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award. 

Daniel Szpyrc is an associate in the Commercial, Regulatory, and Disputes team and the Head of the Data Privacy practice at CMS Prague. He has a strong focus on employment law, providing comprehensive support to both local and international clients. Daniel advises on a wide range of employment matters, including day-to-day HR advice, preparing template documentation, employee transfers, and managing contentious issues such as workplace investigations and redundancies.

In addition to handling complex employment law issues, Daniel regularly advises on strategic projects related to compliance with employment regulations and workplace policies. His expertise includes guiding clients through restructuring processes, employee rights, and employer obligations, ensuring full legal compliance.

Daniel also leverages his data privacy expertise in the employment context, advising on data protection aspects related to employee records, internal investigations, and the handling of personal data in HR processes. He is a trusted advisor on navigating both employment law and data protection challenges effectively.

Danyle Anderson is a Director of Industry and Consultant Relations for the Retirement & Personal Wealth Solutions group at Bank of America. With a focus on employee share plans, ESPP and executive compensation, Danyle is responsible for fostering connections among clients, consultants, influencers, and banking partners, and shaping ideas around employee ownership within the share plan community.

In her prior role as the Executive Director of the Global Equity Organization (GEO), Danyle led GEO for more than 10 years, establishing industry-leading global share plans education, networking and programming for the global share plans industry. Prior to GEO, Danyle served as Programs Director at the NASPP, Head of Investor Relations and Shareholder Services with Tech Data where she had responsibility for global stock ownership programs in 40+ countries and as an Auditor with Deloitte.

Danyle has over twenty-five years of experience in the equity compensation field and is a Fellow of Global Equity (FGE) and an Executive Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida, is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Global Management Accountant, a Certified Equity Professional and Series 7, 63 and 66 licenses.

As Head of Global Advanced Solutions, Darren leads a comprehensive offering that delivers solutions to complex problems employers encounter when offering workplace benefits domestically and globally. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Darren was a leader in several international companies and was a Professor of Finance. 

Darren holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from both the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Alberta, as well as a master’s degree in finance and strategic management.

David Voggeser joined hkp/// group beginning of 2011. He advises companies on the design and implementation of compensation systems and on job evaluation. Another focus lies in the areas of employee participation, benchmarking as well as company car guidelines. His consulting mandates range from specialized support of start-ups to global, long-term projects, e.g. in the context of IPO implementations. David Voggeser is a sought-after speaker at professional events and lead author of numerous studies, including the Global Equity Insights Survey. He is also responsible for the hkp/// group Top Management Survey.

Dom is responsible for business development at EQ, specialising in multiple types of employee share plans for all companies. This includes discretionary share plan administration, UK and international Sharesave plans, UK and international share purchase plans, fund plans, Global Nominee and Employee Benefit Trust services, Investment and High Net Worth accounts, as well as execution only services for companies administering their plans in-house. Dom has been with Equiniti since 2020, and has spent 17 years in the share plan industry.

Eaton is a seasoned professional serving as the Director of Executive Compensation & Equity at Seagate. With more than ten years of dedicated experience in executive compensation and equity administration, Eaton has honed her expertise in this specialized field. She is recognized for her proficiency in data analytics, a skill she leverages to propel HR practices into the realm of data-driven decision-making.

Eaton holds a Master’s degree in Data Analytics, augmenting her educational background with an MBA and a CPA license. Her academic achievements reflect her commitment to staying abreast of industry trends and equipping herself with the necessary tools to excel in her role.

Eileen Liu is a taxation lawyer based in Melbourne, Australia.  She works in Arnold Bloch Leibler’s market leading taxation practice. She acts for private groups, public and listed companies, tech startups, high net worth individuals, and not-for-profits.  Eileen advises on a broad range of tax matters and has a particular interest in employee share schemes.  She was a recipient of the 2023 GEO Star Award and has also authored numerous papers including in the Australian Tax Review and for The Tax Institute, Australia's leading professional association in tax.

Global Head of Share Schemes with several years experience in the Financial Services Industry.

Specialising in cash and equity based deferred compensation, all employee local and global plans, employee engagement and also get involved with remuneration committee activities.

Active member of the share plans industry currently chairing an issuer only Share Plan User Group (more commonly known as SPUG), also sit on the ProShare advisory panel and the Global Equity Organization Board.

Elena Thomas is the COO for Plan Management Corp. | OptionTrax, a full-service equity plan and securities administration software and services provider. Elena leads the operations and product development of PMC's leading equity management platform, OptionTrax. In this capacity, she works closely with both private and public company clients to ensure delivery of best practice plan administration software and services. She is also the spearhead of the OptionTrax Gender Equity in Equity Compensation study and Equity Inclusion Initiative. Areas of expertise include best practice performance award administration, financial reporting, and workplace equality. She currently serves as a Board Member of the Philadelphia chapter of NASPP and is a Certified Equity Professional.

Elena is passionate about helping clients to leverage equity compensation and technology to attract talent, drive performance, and as a tool to promote workplace equality. Prior to joining Plan Management, Elena was a Project Manager with McKinsey & Company, in their Philadelphia, Paris, and Mexico City offices. Elena focused on strategies for growth and development and promoting women in business, and built deep expertise in access to capital and financial services for micro to mid-cap companies in both developed and developing economies. Elena has also worked extensively in M&A and Corporate Sustainability.

In addition to the U.S., Elena has worked across Latin America and Europe. Elena has her MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler School of Business, and her BBA from The College of William & Mary.

Elizabeth is the principal and founder of Equity Plan Solutions, LLC (EPS), providing equity compensation consulting services to companies from startups to large public corporations. Previously, Elizabeth was a Vice President for Stock & Option Solutions, Inc. where she led the Professional Services team. Prior to SOS she held product management roles in stock plan services at BNY Mellon and ETRADE Corporate Services. She started EPS at the beginning of 2016 and has been in equity compensation since 1998. Elizabeth became a Certified Equity Professional in 1999 and co-authors the chapter on accounting in The Stock Option Book. She was honored with the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) Individual Achievement award in 2012 and the NASPP 10-year service award in 2017.

Elliot is Associate Director, Relationship Management at Computershare and has over eight years of experience in the share plans industry. He holds a Bachelor of Business Studies and Finance degree as well as a Certificate in Employee Share Plans (Cert. ESP), and he is also a member of the Global Equity Organisation UK Chapter.

Emily Cervino, CEP, FGE, Head of Industry Relationships and Thought Leadership, Fidelity Stock Plan Services

As head of Fidelity Stock Plan Services' Industry Relationships and Thought Leadership, Emily drives connections with the stock plan industry and focuses on developing data-driven insights on equity compensation plan design, usage, and effectiveness based on quantitative and qualitative research to help plan sponsors make more informed decisions about their equity plans and processes. 

Emily has spearheaded work to develop deep understanding of Employee Stock Purchase Plans and the impact of design on participation, conducted analysis on the relationship between Performance Award payouts and corporate performance, and shared extensive data on employee selling behavior, participant perceptions, and participant communications and engagement. 

In her former role as executive director of the Certified Equity Professional Institute (CEPI) at Santa Clara University, Emily was involved in all aspects of certification, research, and program marketing. She also managed all the equity compensation programs at National Semiconductor, and held various roles at E*TRADE/ShareData. 

With over 20 years in the industry, Emily is recognized for deep knowledge of and enthusiasm for equity compensation. She is a frequent speaker and author on topics to help educate employers, advisors, and the media. Emily is a board member for the Certified Equity Professional Institute, member of the NASPP Executive Advisory Committee, recipient of the NASPP Individual Achievement Award, a Fellow of Global Equity, and a representative on GEO’s Partner Alliance Council. She is a Certified Equity Professional and holds Series 7 and 63 securities registrations. 

Erina Costantini has extensive experience in the equity compensation profession, beginning her career in the field with Intesa Sanpaolo, before moving to Generali in 2018. Erina began her current role as Global Equity Compensation Senior Manager with Prysmian in 2022. In this time, Erina has managed the end-to-end design, development, implementation, communication, and administration of Prysmian’s three equity based plans; LTI, ESPP and broad-based stock grant. Under her management, Prysmian’s BE IN Plan was awarded Best Use Of Employee Share Plans In An Emerging Market at the 2024 GEO Awards in Nashville.
Erina graduated with a BSc Linguistic and Cultural Mediation from the University of Milan, and completed her MSc in Labour Studies as a 110 cum laude through a joint degree with University of Milan and London School of Economics.

Gemma is a Director specializing in the area of cross-border incentive compensation. Her particular focus area is equity compensation, working with multinational corporations helping them manage their global compliance for employer reporting and withholding on incentive compensation in relation to internationally mobile employees.

Gemma has worked extensively with clients on their end-to-end processes for compensation with large multinational companies, covering a number of core elements such as tax and legal due diligence, data specifications, technology integration and implementation, employee communications, global mobility equity policy consulting, process/design documentation, global corporate recharge policies, payroll compliance and consulting, assignee consulting, internal controls documentation, obtaining tax rulings, annual filings and project management.

Along with experience of working on the end-to-end compliance process, Gemma has spent a great deal of time assisting clients with rectifying payroll compliance failures, from tax authority investigates to voluntary disclosures.

Gemma joined the firm in 2008 in our London office and has spent nearly 10 years in our New York and California markets before moving back to our London office at the end of 2021. She graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in Accounting and Finance and received her Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA) and Associate Tax Technician (ATT) qualifications from the UK. In addition she is certified as a Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR).

She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (UK), National Association of Stock Plan Professionals and the Global Equity Organization.

Board Member and Legal Director, Tapestry Compliance

Hannah is a Legal Director and on the Board of Directors at Tapestry Compliance, an award-winning UK law firm specialising in global equity incentives. She advises on the implementation and operation of all forms of global executive and employee equity and incentive plans, including the design and establishment of new plans, global compliance, managing grants and maturities under existing plans and on technical tax and legal matters. Hannah has significant experience with tax-qualified and non-tax-qualified arrangements and the use of employee trusts. She also advises on the impact of corporate transactions that may affect a company's global incentive arrangements.

Hannah is heavily involved in GEO. She is a GEO Fellow (so recognised as an industry leading professional), is a member of the Board and on the UK & Channel Isles Chapter’s organising committee. She also co-chairs and sits on other leading industry Boards / Committees in the UK, including the Share Plan Lawyers’ Governance and Regulatory Committee and the Practical Law Company Share Schemes and Incentives Consultation Board.

Hayley is a strategic reward leader with extensive reward, benefit and share plan experience in complex multi-national organisations. Passionate about designing affordable reward frameworks and solutions that are aligned to business strategy, meet business needs and attract and retain talent. Experience includes grading, benchmarking, global pay reviews, incentive design and implementation, global share plan management, policy development and executive remuneration. A true believer that reward strategy, programmes and interventions can only be leveraged when truly embedded into the organisation and well understood by colleagues, and so needs to be underpinned by simple and engaging employee communications.

Jalaj Sinha is a seasoned expert with over 20 years of professional experience, including 14 years in the field of equity compensation in India. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive experience in ESOP plan design, administration, strategy, and business development, assisting organizations in creating and implementing effective equity compensation solutions. Jalaj's knowledge and insights have made him a popular speaker at national conferences, where he has spoken on a variety of equity compensation-related topics, sharing his expertise and contributing to the evolution of industry best practices.

He has a degree in commerce from the University of Allahabad and is a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Jay Christiansen is the Vice President of Finance Operations at Block, Inc., where he leads the Stock Administration, Payroll, Insurance, and People Safety teams. With over 15 years of experience in equity compensation, Jay holds the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation. Prior to joining Block, he spent more than a decade at E*TRADE, where he led a service team that supported global issuers in all facets of equity compensation, including plan design, financial reporting, regulatory filings, process automation, and more. Jay is dedicated to driving efficiency and implementing scalable solutions across all areas of the business he oversees.

Jennifer Thomas is currently Director, Global Equity Management at ServiceNow. There she is responsible for all things equity, including growing the team and undertaking some upcoming strategic projects to improve the employee equity experience! Before joining ServiceNow, she held positions as Head of Equity at Stripe and Director of Stock Services at Oracle. Prior to that, she held various roles on the Alphabet / Google Global Equity Management team, including nearly three years based in London! Jennifer spent the earlier part of her career in financial services, having worked in many different roles at both Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab. Jennifer has an Executive MBA from California State University, Northridge, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. She serves in various capacities at several non-profits as well.

Jeremy Edwards is a partner and the head of the Employee Benefits Group in Baker McKenzie’s London office. He advises on all aspects of employee share plans and employee taxation. Jeremy has over 20 years’ experience as a share plan lawyer and two years’ experience as a corporate lawyer. He is currently serving on the advisory panel of ProShare and is a regular speaker at share plan conferences held in the United Kingdom.

Jeremy has substantial UK experience, including implementing plans for UK-listed companies and dealing with issues arising for UK-listed companies, including advising on executive remuneration developments, UK tax issues and the position on cessation of employment and dealing with share plans in the context of corporate transactions.

Jeremy has extensive experience in connection with the implementation of share plans globally and working with multinational clients.

Jon is a Partner and practice leader at Infinite Equity. Jon has a passion for equity compensation with over 20 years of experience guiding companies from initial idea to full execution with the ability to maximize the value of the programs offered. Jon leverages an extensive actuarial background to apply an added rigor and discipline to the design, valuation, and implementation of employee equity compensation programs.

Julia Tensfeldt is an Executive Director within the Workplace Wealth Solutions (WWS) business of UBS Global Wealth Management. She is the Head of Client Relationship Management responsible for the strategic direction and development of the corporate client experience for organizations around the globe. Driving client service and satisfaction for the WWS corporate equity clients while helping employees’ better value and connect their workplace benefits to their broader life goals for financial well-being. 

Julia is a 25-year veteran of the equity compensation industry focused on global product development, client relationship management and wealth management. Julia led the development and launch of the first US broad-based stock plan system incorporating full-service brokerage, recordkeeping, and administration capabilities. In addition, she has worked with international equity plan providers managing the complexities of country specific challenges faced by issuers with global plans trading on multiple exchanges. Her experience with US brokers, European banks and Fortune 500 companies gives her the unique ability to understand and consult on the entire process from plan development through brokerage transactions impacting both the individual participant and corporate plan sponsor. 

Julia is passionate about employee ownership, holds a BA from Rutgers University, a FINRA Series 7 license, is a long-time active member of GEO and the NASPP and resides with her family in North Central Florida.

Julie has worked in the share plans industry for 20 years in both provider and issuer roles. Having worked previously for the Abbey National building society, and then Computershare as an Account Manager responsible for both existing client relationships and business development opportunities, Julie moved to her first issuer role as an interim in the share plan team at Kingfisher in 2014. In 2016, she joined The Sage Group plc, where she is now Director – Share Plans, responsible for the management of all the company’s equity plans including a Global Employee Share plan in 17 countries supported by a team of two share plan specialists. Julie was appointed as a GEO Fellow in December 2019, is a regular speaker at conferences and chapter events and is the current Vice Chair of the Proshare Global Focus Group.

Katja Haeferer is a partner with more than 15 years of experience in labor and employment law. She co-heads the German Employment & Compensation practice and is an active member of the Firm's European Labor Law and Global Labor Law practice groups. Recognized as a Stand-out Legal Talent by Acritas in 2021 and listed among Wirtschaftswoche’s most renowned employment law practitioners from 2021 to 2024, Katja’s experience is well-regarded in the legal community. Her international perspective is enriched by her tenure in the Firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices.

Katja provides strategic and comprehensive employment advice on domestic and multi-jurisdictional projects, including pre- and post-merger corporate restructurings, collective dismissals, negotiations with works councils and unions, cross-border secondments, global equity plans, and gender pay audits. She supports several multinational clients in the management of their global workforce regarding, addressing global working conditions, cross-border personnel deployment, and global HR compliance matters. Katja often leads multi-jurisdictional employment projects.

Katja has extensive experience advising companies on employee representation in Societas Europaea (SE) supervisory boards and works councils, as well as European Works Councils (EWCs). She also provides strategic guidance on navigating the complex process of transforming into a Societas Europaea (SE). Katja authored a legal commentary on German SE-legislation “SEBG,” published in â€œAR - Kommentar, Kommentar zum gesamten Arbeitsrecht” (2021). She is also an experienced litigator in complex employment and SE law matters, including cases before the Federal Labor Court (BAG) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Katja's client base ranges from Germany- and EMEA-headquartered clients with global operations to local subsidiaries of multinationals.

Kelly Geerts supports the Morgan Stanley at Work (MSAW) Global Public Market Equity Solutions team as Head of Strategy and Operations for Service Delivery, driving organization initiatives and business resiliency. In her prior role, Kelly led the Advanced Solutions professional services team at E*TRADE Financial Corporate Services, Inc. (ETCS), where she focused on enabling clients to reduce internal risks and scale their business by building efficiencies into their processes.

 Prior to joining ETCS, Kelly spent more than two decades deploying end-to-end equity and payroll best practices at Apple Inc., both strategically and operationally. While at Apple, she managed global process and strategy for Apple's equity programs, in addition to many aspects of payroll, tax, accounting and equity administration.

 Kelly is active in the Global Equity Organization (GEO) and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), and she is a frequent presenter at NASPP and GEO Annual Conferences, in addition to E*TRADE’s Directions Conferences. She is a past board member of GEO, and also served on the board of NASPP’s Austin Chapter as well as ETCS’ Client Advisory Board. Kelly received a BBA in Business Management from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Equity Professional (CEP). In her free time, Kelly enjoys the music scene in Austin and adjusting to an empty nest with her partner, Brian.

Ms. Hackman is the Senior Director of Global Equity Programs at DoorDash base in San Franscisco, California and has more than 20 years of experience in equity compensation. 

Prior to joining DoorDash, she was the Director of Financial Wellbeing and Employee Investment Services at Amazon.com. In her role at Amazon, Ms. Hackman is responsible for Amazon’s global equity compensation and retirement/savings programs to over 400k employees in 49 countries. As the global leader, Ms. Hackman develops the administrative and educational strategy of all equity and savings plans worldwide, including adherence to corporate governance and policies, regulatory tax and legal compliance, technology development, and enhancing the employee experience through education, communication, and vendor management. Prior to joining Amazon, she led the strategy for Starbucks Coffee Company’s international stock plans and managed Expedia Inc.’s global stock plans. 

Ms. Hackman served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Global Equity Organization (GEO) from 2012-2015 and currently sits on GEO’s Issuer Advisory Council. She held various leadership positions at the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) Seattle Chapter (President, 2006-2012; Vice President Programs, 2004-2006). Ms. Hackman speaks regularly at many equity compensation events including GEO and NASPP, and a winner of the 2016 and 2014 Global Equity Organization award for “Best Use of Technology” at Amazon and 2008 award for â€œBest in Financial Education” at Starbucks Coffee Company.

Throughout her 15+ years in equity, Laura has spent time working with software providers and issuers in the US and overseas and provided a deep level of professional services to the industry, clients, and participants as well as acquired a wide knowledge base and expertise with public corporations, private corporations, and even alternative entity like LLCs. Laura has served as a Certification Council for the Certified Equity Professional Institute at Santa Clara University for over 10 years and received the NASPP Distinguished Equity Fellow award in 2024.

Leann Balbona is a Tax Managing Director of KPMG’s Global Reward Services practice where she is responsible for KPMG’s Global Equity Tracker deployment and services around global equity administration. She has more than 25 years of experience in international tax technology, tax planning and mobility strategy for the world’s leading companies. She has developed award-winning approaches for her clients to mobile employee tracking and income sourcing processes for equity compensation recognized by trade organizations, Global Equity Organization and Forum for Expatriate Management.

Leann is a Certified Public Accountant in New York and Texas. She has been published in the International Tax Review, Expatriate Advisor and Expatriate Administrator. Leann regularly presents at trade association conferences and teaches at KPMG’s national business tax training. She is a GEO Fellow and serves on the Global Equity Organization Board where she is the Chair of the Chapter Development Committee focused on growing GEO membership/involvement at the local level. She has served on the board of the KPMG’s NYC Network of Women representing the Tax Service line from 2010 – 2015. Leann was recognized for her efforts with KPMG when inducted into the New York City YWCA Academy of Women Leaders in 2013.

Lee-Ann serves as the Head of Equity Plans within the Legal Division at Delivery Hero, a leading global enterprise in the online food ordering and delivery sector. With a presence spanning 70+ countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, Delivery Hero operates on an international scale from its headquarters in Berlin.

In her role, Lee-Ann leads the legal oversight and strategic administration of the company’s global equity plans, ensuring compliance and alignment across diverse jurisdictions. Her team works in close collaboration with the Total Rewards and Tax functions, collectively forming the Global Equity Team that drives the success of Delivery Hero's expansive equity programs.

Lori is Director, Equity Programs at Outset Medical, a medical technology company pioneering a first-of-its-kind technology to reduce the cost and complexity of dialysis.  At Outset, Lori manages all aspects of Equity compensation, including plan design, new plan rollout, and equity strategy. 

She has over 34 years of experience in the Equity field, having managed the global equity departments at various Silicon Valley corporations, most recently at Intuitive Surgical.   In 1993, Lori was one of the first 18 individuals to obtain a CEP designation from Santa Clara University and has since been a key member of eight IPOs, three stock splits, and numerous mergers and acquisitions.    She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and enjoys sharing her knowledge and experiences with her peers   

Lorna is a Senior Associate and on the Board of Directors at Tapestry Compliance. Lorna specialises in all aspects of global and UK employee share plans and executive remuneration. She advises many leading global companies and banks on their global share plans including advising on global due diligence and securities filings, stock plan design and drafting plan documents. Lorna also advises companies on the impact of transactions on their global share plans. Lorna leads on a number of our large global clients such as Dell Technologies, Morgan Stanley, Rolls-Royce and TripAdvisor.

Lucia is the Group Total Reward and International Mobility VP at Prysmian, a global cabling solutions provider leading the energy transition and digital transformation. Listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, Prysmian operates across more than 50 countries and nine regions.

Lucia joined Prysmian in October 2023, bringing over 20 years of experience in rewards and broader human resources consulting. Prior to her corporate role, Lucia has held advisory roles in WTW, PwC Italy and Korn Ferry (formerly Hay Group), working with clients across different industries.

Marianne is the Director of Global Stock Administration at Dolby Laboratories, Inc., overseeing the comprehensive management of Dolby’s Equity Compensation Plans across approximately 20 countries. With 25 years of experience in the Equity Compensation field, Marianne has extensive expertise in all aspects of Stock Plan Administration, including Global Stock Plan Management (Options, RSUs, Performance Awards, ESPP), Employee Communications, Internal and External Systems/Platforms Integrations, Financial Reporting/Accounting, Global Mobility and Taxation, SEC/Proxy filings, Option Exchanges, and M&A. In addition to her primary role, Marianne has held various positions in Investor Relations, HR, and Compensation. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz and an M.A. in Counseling from San Jose State University. Marianne is also a Certified Equity Professional.

Mark is a principal with Deloitte Tax, specializing in global employment tax, compensation, and benefits consulting for multinational employers.

Mark has 20 years of experience consulting in the field of employee equity compensation, advising multinational clients on all aspects of remuneration including core plan design and administration, communications strategies, investor relations, tax and regulatory compliance and tax minimization strategies.

In addition to his client responsibilities, Mark has various leadership roles within Deloitte, including serving as the U.S. leader of our Equity and Incentives practice, and the global lead partner for Deloitte’s proprietary mobile employee equity calculation engine GA Incentives. Mark is an active contributor and former board member for the Global Equity Organization.

Mark has been an active speaker at various UK, US and International conferences and events for over 15 years. Mark began his career in the UK, specializing in UK and global compensation before moving to West Coast to lead the Global Rewards practice. Mark is a Certified Equity Professional (CEP) in the US and a Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA, ATT) in the United Kingdom.

Marlene Zobayan is a partner at Rutlen Associates LLC. She has over thirty years of international tax and benefits experience including global equity plans, mobile employee taxation, global compensation and benefits. Her clients range from start-ups to Fortune 10 companies. She provides a range of services including remote work policy, mobile employee policy, global equity plan design, mobility compliance, compliance reviews, assistance with local approvals and filings, communications, employer tax compliance advice and designing administrative processes; she is known for her expertise with mobile employee issues. 

Marlene has a Physics degree from Oxford University; she was a member of the U.K. Association of Tax Technicians when she practiced in the U.K. Marlene is a U.S. Enrolled Agent, and a Certified Equity Professional (“CEP”). She is a regular speaker and author on global stock plan, mobility and remote work issues; edits the Global Equity GPS book for the CEPI and authored the chapter on State Mobility in the Selected Issues For Equity Compensation book. Marlene is currently a member of the Curriculum Committee for CEPI.

Matt is currently the head of the Global Equity Management team at Lucid Group, Inc. who went public via SPAC in July 2021. I am also serve at he Vice Chair of the GEO Board of Directors. In 2020, Matt was also honored to be selected to part of the exclusive Global Equity Fellows. Before joining Lucid in September 2020, he was the head of global share plans at trivago NV. Trivago is a German issuer, registered in the Netherlands and trade ADS on the NASDAQ in the USA. Matt moved from USA to Germany December 2018 to take up this role at trivago. He was tasked with building the team, improve controls, review feasibility of global share purchase plan and education to their talents. Prior to trivago, he worked for Solium from December 2014 to December 2018 as Senior Relationship Manager on the Large Market team. Matt handled most of Solium’s top US client relationships. He managed some of the most complex and challenging share plans for issuers who use the Shareworks platform. 

Prior to joining Solium, Matt worked at Morgan Stanley (formerly Smith Barney) for 14 years. At Morgan Stanley, he held various positions most recently as Vice President Senior Relationship Manager for top tier key clients. At Morgan Stanley he was trusted with the some of the most sensitive key relationships. Before his relationship management role, he was the International and Tax Product Manager coordinating the US and Non-US business platforms and providing best practices. Matt also had managed the Global Implementation Team. In that role, the team handled all new client implementations across all platforms for Stock Options, Restricted Stock and Stock Purchase. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Matt worked for Towers Perrin as a Benefit Consultant on US Defined Contribution, Defined Benefit and Health and Welfare plans while graduating from Columbia University. 

Matt has provided consulting for business processes, applications, and data analytics solutions since 1995. He helps his clients address regulatory and compliance challenges and leads cross-functional teams comprised of human resources, accounting, tax, and data management professionals to solve the challenges created by regulation. Matt consistently leverages his experience in business process controls, IT audit, data management, and application development to help his clients build comprehensive, resilient, auditable, and well-documented solutions to address recordkeeping and regulatory challenges.
Over the last decade, Matt has dedicated much of his career to solving complex employee stock-based compensation data conversion, accounting, and tax challenges. He is a Certified Equity Professional and has deep experience working with the major equity administration platforms (Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, Solium, Certent, and Morgan Stanley). Matt specializes in addressing high-risk merger, divestiture, and corporate transaction support; data conversion and setup due to vendor or platform changes; federal income tax provision setup; and implementing US and global tax mobility tracking functionality.
In recent years, Matt has spearheaded the utilization of advanced data visualization tools in the financial accounting and stock-based compensation industry. These tools have helped his clients further unlock the value of their data by enabling them to quickly monitor trends and risks as well as identify and correct gaps and errors within their underlying data platform.

Megan Hunt is the Director of Equity Administration at Samsara, where she oversees the company’s expanding equity programs. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, Megan brings a broad range of expertise to her role. Before joining Samsara, she worked for both vendors, such as Charles Schwab, and issuers like Nordstrom, Inc., gaining valuable perspectives. Her background includes advising on equity administration best practices, developing processing solutions, and designing programs that adapt to the evolving demands of the equity landscape.

MichaÅ‚ Tutaj is an Associate in CMS Employment Team and a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Law and Administration at Warsaw University. 

He specialises in labour law, civil law and the regulatory aspects of remuneration regimes. 

MichaÅ‚ advises clients on collective labour law cases including layoffs and labour disputes. He also has experience in assisting financial sector entities with matters related to prudential regulations on variable remuneration (CRD, Solvency II). His expertise includes supporting clients covered by laws on salary limitations for state-owned entities. 

He regularly advises on cross-border cases that are affected by conflict of laws’ and posting of workers’ regimes. He also has experience in day-to-day services for businesses.

His articles and manuscripts are frequently published in both daily newspapers and specialist legal press.

Nancy Kobs is the Sr. Director of Global Equity Programs at Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (“PANW”), where she oversees the global enablement, administration, taxation, and compliance of PANW’s equity programs, as well as the associated policies and programs, which include a complex deferred compensation plan. 

Nancy has been in the global equity field for nearly 16 years, including 6 years at Cisco Systems, Inc. and almost 7 years at Twitter, Inc. (RIP). Nancy’s expertise is in tackling challenges and coming up with innovative solutions to effectively grow and scale equity programs, while ensuring compliance.

Prior to working in the equity field, Nancy worked as a paralegal and project manager for multinational companies’ global expansion and M&A integration projects where she worked with a global network of attorneys and paralegals to structure and maintain subsidiaries and offices around the world. This work and Nancy’s expertise in building and reconfiguring compliant functions led her to join the global equity field at Cisco Systems.

Nancy is originally from Chile, where she earned her degree in Business Administration from the University of Santiago. She immigrated to the U.S. following the completion of her university studies, to follow the footsteps of her father who was a professor of math at UC Berkeley.

Narendra Acharya focuses his practice on matters relating to US and international employee benefits and executive compensation — including global stock plans and pensions, as well as matters pertaining to pensions, executive compensation and employment issues in mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Acharya has particular expertise dealing with cross-border compensation issues, including issues raised in corporate reorganizations and inversion transactions. Mr. Acharya has been selected as a BTI Client Service All Star, which recognizes "innovative attorneys who are leveraging market changes to stand out with corporate counsel and deliver superior client service."

Mr. Acharya assists US and non-US companies – both publicly traded and private – in the design and implementation of employee stock plans. He has extensive experience advising clients on income tax, social security, payroll withholding and reporting, local corporate tax deduction, employment law, securities and other regulatory issues applicable to equity awards in numerous jurisdictions. Mr. Acharya advises companies on the application of deferred compensation rules under Code Sections 409A and 457A and the impact of recently enacted FATCA requirements on compensation plans and participants, as well as a broad range of tax and compensation issues related to international mobile employees.

Nicholas Greenacre is a partner in our global Employment, Compensation & Benefits group based in London and leads the EMEA Employment, Compensation & Benefits team.

Nicholas has extensive experience in a broad range of employment, executive compensation, incentives and pensions matters for clients of all sizes, from technology start-ups to global investment banks. Nicholas has handled the ECB aspects of a variety of major corporate transactions, including a number of high profile IPOs and M&A deals (both public and private). He regularly advises clients on the establishment of management incentive plans in a private equity context.

Nicholas also frequently advises on pensions and other ECB issues in the context of major corporate reorganisations, financial restructuring and insolvency proceedings.

Oksana is a Senior Manager in EY People Advisory Services practice based in San Jose, California. During her more than 15 years in professional services Oksana served a big number of prominent multinational and hyper growth startup companies in the areas of tax, employment law, HR risk management and process design, including M&A due diligence and integration support. Oksana has an extensive experience in a wide range of People Advisory Services with the current focus on global equity and rewards.

Oksana has MA in Law and is an IRS enrolled agent.

Olga Belyakova is a Partner in the Commercial practice group in Kyiv office of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang and a Co-head of the Technology, Media and Communications (TMC) sector group in Central and Eastern Europe. With over 20 years of focus in these sectors, Olga is best-placed to deliver innovative solutions and pragmatic advice on IT outsourcing, data protection, cybersecurity, cloud technology, IP and employment issues, as well as operational issues regarding data centres, AI, fintech and social media platforms. Specifically, Olga is constantly involved in the structuring of employment relations between the companies and software developers, including suggesting and creating proper equity incentive schemes at various management levels, non-solicitation and confidentiality commitments of IT staff and tax structuring of the IT businesses with the use of appropriate foreign jurisdictions for purposes of creation of enforceable shareholders relations. Importantly, as a highly-acclaimed specialist in data protection, Olga constantly advises clients on legal issues in relation to the processing and protection of personal data, including with the help of cloud-based technology. In particular, Olga’s expertise includes drafting data protection policies and data transfer agreements, different types of consents in various sectors. Olga also assists leading IT outsourcing and product companies on the transfer and protection of IP rights, as well as software development services agreements.

Pam Chernoff is a writer and editor who is a consultant in Aon Human Capital Solutions Communications Practice. Pam specializes in employee education, print communications, and video creation in the stock plan, benefits, and total rewards space. She is a co-author of The Stock Options Book, a textbook for the Certified Equity Professional exams. Before joining Aon, she was the Curriculum Coordinator for the Certified Equity Professional program at Santa Clara University’s Silicon Valley Executive Center. Prior to working at the CEPI, she was director of equity compensation projects at the National Center for Employee Ownership, where she managed the prep course for the CEP exams. Before starting in equity compensation, she spent 10 years in journalism, including a stint as copy desk chief for Pensions & Investments newspaper. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Pat has been part of the share plan community for over 20 years.Originally as a share plan consultant at Mercer, and then in 2002 she joined Orange as part of the in-house share plan team.

Pat then moved to Rio Tinto in 2009, and in January 2015 moved into freelance and consultancy work. Since then, Pat has provided support to several global companies on their share plans, and related projects. This includes Pearson, Vodafone, AstraZeneca, BT, Nokia, J Sainsbury's and Rio Tinto.

Pat is an active member and supporter of GEO, and speaks at their conferences and other conferences and } seminars on a regular basis.

Paul J. Arens is a seasoned C-level executive based in Palo Alto, California, with extensive leadership experience across startup and established enterprises in both Europe and North America. With expertise in strategic planning, business development, and mergers and acquisitions, he has led organizations to significant growth. Arens has held leadership roles at Astrella, Computershare, and Monidee Group, among others. He holds master’s degrees in Business Management from Nijenrode Business University and Business Economics from Erasmus University. Fluent in English, Dutch, German, and French, Arens is also a fellow of the Global Equity Organization

Paul joined Unilever PLC in 2010 and is based in their Kingston office. He is a member of Unilever’s Global Equity team that is responsible for managing the operations of their global employee share plans. 

During his tenure at Unilever, Paul has had a variety of roles including the UK & Ireland Reward Manager where he was responsible for all compensation and benefit activities across the UK and Ireland markets and global reward roles partnering various divisions and functions in the delivery of their strategic reward and talent objectives. More recently, Paul has also been part of a central operations team focusing on the successful implementation of the annual pay review following changes to Unilever’s overall reward framework. 

Prior to joining Unilever, Paul worked in the financial sector undertaking reward roles at Barclays and American Express and has also worked for a number of consultancies including Towers Watson, Mercer and ORC.

Rachel Ulep is the Director of Stock & Equity programs at eBay. She has administered global equity programs for large, public companies for over 20 years. She leads equity-related initiatives navigating regulatory and operational challenges for a global and mobile workforce. Rachel is a collaborative leader with a penchant for innovation and technology. She takes much pleasure in problem-solving and often quotes her high school trigonometry teacher with, “Think simple thoughts, my dear!” 

Rachel attended San Francisco State University and earned her CEP designation in 2006. Rachel is a member of the Global Equity Organization (GEO) and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP).

Outside of her professional career, Rachel is a soprano in her church choir and is an aspiring writer. She is currently based in San Jose, California.

Rahul Somani brings a robust background in Plan advisory , operations and accounting, with over 20 years of professional experience, including 13 years specialising in equity compensation. He has been instrumental in conceptualising and designing more than 500 equity compensation plans for companies ranging from start-ups to large conglomerates in India. In addition, Rahul has provided expert guidance to companies navigating the IND AS transition, particularly in areas such as options valuation, accounting, re-pricing, and corporate actions, including mergers and de-mergers. His expertise has helped businesses of all sizes optimise their equity compensation strategies.

Rahul, is a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered accountants of India.

Rebecca Kargl is Equity Manager for Zillow Group. In this role, she works on the Corporate and Securities Legal team and manages equity administration and analysis, employee education, and collaborates with various internal and external teams on all matters related to equity planning, processing, accounting, and administration. Rebecca formerly worked as Payroll Manager as well as Senior Executive Compensation and Stock Plan Administrator for Concho Resources Inc., prior to the company’s acquisition by ConocoPhillips in early 2021. Prior to joining Concho in 2011, Rebecca worked as an auditor for Weaver.

Rebecca is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and Certified Equity Professional. She is a member of the Global Equity Organization (GEO) and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) and is President of the Dallas Chapter NASPP. She is also part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce with NASPP. Rebecca graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Northwood University and a master’s in business administration from Texas Tech University. She currently resides in Texas with her two children.

Rob Miceli has been a member of the AwardChoice Financial Reporting team since 2006. Rob brings to the AwardChoice Financial Reporting team a background in Finance, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Finance from the Barrett Honors College, W.P. Carey School of Business, at Arizona State University. Prior to his current role at the firm, Rob began his career in equity compensation in 2005 with Equity Methods, ultimately serving as the Director of Business Development for Equity Methods before the company was acquired by Merrill Lynch in 2006. Rob earned his Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation from Santa Clara University in 2015 and received his Advanced Equity Compensation Accounting Certificate through SCU’s Certified Equity Professional Institute in its inaugural program year in 2021. Rob resides in San Diego, California with his wife Carmen and their two children, Dominic and Sofia.

Robyn is a Partner at Infinite Equity, specializing in global equity compensation consulting for multinational employers. She has over 20 years of experience advising companies on all aspects of their equity compensation programs, including plan design and implementation, employee communications strategies, and administration efficiencies and optimization. Prior to joining Infinite Equity, Robyn held various leadership positions with Computershare, the Global Equity Organization (GEO), the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), and several San Diego based technology companies. Robyn is an active board member for the Certified Equity Professional Institute, a frequent speaker on equity compensation topics, and co-author of the book, “If I’d Only Known That.” Robyn has a Bachelor of Arts in English from San Diego State University, a Paralegal Certificate (with honors) from the ABA Paralegal Program at the University of San Diego, and is a Fellow of Global Equity (FGE) and a Certified Equity Professional (CEP). She is based in San Diego.

Rodney Bolden, Executive Director, is the Head of Industry Engagement and Learning for Morgan Stanley at Work. In this role, Rodney works with a variety of industry organizations to develop and present thought leadership research on current trends in workplace financial benefits. Additionally, Rodney is the host of the award-winning[1] Morgan Stanley at Work Invested at Work Podcast. He is also the Chairperson for the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council.

Rodney’s speaking engagements include the World Economic Forum, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Global Equity Organization, National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) and many others. He has also been published in MarketWatch, BenefitsPro, and AARP. Rodney is an Equity Compensation Associate (ECA), Qualified Plan Financial Consultant (QPFC), and Accredited Financial Counselor®.

Sam has been working in equity compensation for 9 years and has experience working on both the service provider (Fidelity and E*trade) and issuer side (Lyft) of equity plans. Sam began working at Lyft in 2019 and has focused on creating efficiencies in current processes. Some of his recent projects include implementation of a new payroll system, automation of ESPP enrollment and changes, automation of mobility and equity tax withholding, and Federal equity tax elections.

Sandra is a seasoned professional with 30 years of experience in global equity compensation, global stock plan services management and administration, and legal and corporate governance administration. In her role at SAP, Sandra is responsible for global equity compensation strategy and the design of best-in-class global equity compensation programs to facilitate SAP's attraction and retention of key talent.

Sandra holds a BA degree in political science from the University of Virginia, and began her professional career as an active-duty officer in the US Army Transportation Corps. She is a Certified Equity Professional and a Fellow Global Equity, sits on the board of directors of the Global Equity Organization and is an active member of the NASPP and WorldatWork.

Sarah Fearnley is a Client Relationship Manager for Equity Plan Services at J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions. Sarah has 17+ years’ experience in share plans, focusing on broad-based plans globally and specialising in UK Share Incentive and Sharesave Plans. 

Sarah applies her long history in the share plan industry to support her clients with achieving their employee share ownership goals. 

Sarah joined the Employee Incentives Team of CMS as an Of Counsel in 2019. Sarah has over 20 years’ experience in dealing with all aspects of employee incentives and employee share schemes, from a legal, tax and reward perspective. She works with a broad spectrum of clients, ranging from FTSE 100 companies to private companies and start-ups.

Sarah also assists global groups with the extension of their share plan arrangements into multiple jurisdictions and cross-border employee taxation questions.

Sinead Kelly is a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Compensation practice. Sinead focuses her practice on executive compensation and global equity, advising on the design, administration, governance and implementation of executive and director compensation arrangements, including equity and incentive plans, deferred compensation plans, severance and employment agreements, change in control plans, bonus plans, and director compensation programs. Sinead also frequently speaks and publishes on compensation-related topics and is a contributing author to Lexis Practice Advisor and Wolters Kluwer's "Practical Guide to SEC Proxy and Compensation Rules," and a founder of the Firm's Compensation Connection blog. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Certified Equity Professionals Institute (CEPI) of Santa Clara University and serves on the Firm's International Benefits Committee. Sinead has been recognized by Chambers USA for Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, where clients have described her as "extremely intelligent, responsive and solution-oriented." She is a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer for 2024 and is ranked by Legal 500 as a "Leading Lawyer" for Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plan Design.

Sophie Boucher has been overseeing all labor & employment matters in EMEA for Palo Alto Networks, the next-generation security company, leading a new era in cybersecurity by safely enabling applications and preventing cyber breaches for tens of thousands of organizations worldwide, since January 2017 with a special focus on driving inclusion & diversity. Sophie has specialized in legal support of HR functions since 2013. She is also the deputy employer representative on the Netherlands works council and employer representative (chairman) on the France Comité Social et Economique and previously led global legal strategy for two fiscal years.

Stephen Popowski is a Director in Aon’s equity valuation practice. In his current role, Stephen consults directly with management and Compensation Committees on issues related to share-based compensation programs. He frequently produces financial reporting information for a broad range of equity-based compensation instruments, especially employee stock options, stock appreciation rights, and performance units/shares. Stephen frequently performs valuations under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (“Topic 718”) as well as under International Financial Reporting Standard 2 (“IFRS 2”) using Monte Carlo simulation.

Stephen previously served as the interim Head of European Equity Services, where he led Aon’s equity valuation practice in the UK and European markets. Prior to that he was the Associate Practice Leader for Aon’s CEO Pay Ratio market offering, where he advised over 100 US-based clients on compliance, modeling, statistical sampling, and communications relating to CEO Pay Ratio.

Stephen is a member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (“NASPP”) and served as the Treasurer of the Wisconsin NASPP Chapter from 2019 to 2022. Additionally, Stephen publishes thought leadership around a variety of topics and is a frequent speaker at regional, national, and international conferences on Topic 718, IFRS 2, and CEO Pay Ratio. Stephen received his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and received his master’s degree from Temple University’s Fox School of Business. Stephen is a Certified Equity Professional (CEP), Certified Executive Compensation Professional (CECP), and is an FSA Credential Holder through the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (Value Reporting Foundation).

Suzie Bentley, CPP, is the Director of Global Stock Administration at NVIDIA Corporation in Santa Clara, CA where she began as the Payroll Manager over 19 years ago. Working in the Silicon Valley Hi Tech Industry for over thirty years, her experience includes domestic and global workforce mobility issues, system conversions, M&A activity, developing and delivering educational materials for over 26,000 NVIDIA employees in 34 countries and collaborating with Benefits to offer financial wellness programs.

Suzie holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education from the University of Oklahoma, an Oklahoma Teaching Certificate and has been a Certified Payroll Professional since 1999. She enjoys learning about new countries’ requirements through networking with members of the National Association for Stock Plan Professionals, Global Equity Organization, and the American Payroll Association.

Tereza is a Partner in the Global Employer Services team in Deloitte Czech Republic. She joined Deloitte in Prague in 2002. Besides her focus on a broad range of topics related to global mobility, she is also intensively involved in helping companies with setting up suitable and tax-effective benefit structures, including equity-based compensation.

Tom Paleka joined Gallagher in September 2008 as Vice President of Global Compensation, a newly created role. Promoted in 2016 to lead the global rewards function, he has overall responsibility for guiding the company’s equity, compensation, benefit, mobility and payroll organizations. In 2018, he was named an officer of the company.

Prior to Gallagher, Tom had twenty years of extensive background in human resources, sales compensation, sales management, and sales operations, with such companies as AT&T, Ameritech, and Tellabs.

Tom has served on the Global Equity Organization (GEO) Board of Directors since 2017, and serves as Secretary of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Issuer Advisory Council, and as Lead Judge for the GEO Awards. He also has been an active member of the Fidelity Stock Plan Services Client Advisory Board. He has spoken at conferences for such organizations as GEO, NASPP, IBIS, CEPI, Equilar, World at Work, and the Conference Board. Tom has also been involved with Junior Achievement for over 40 years, and has served on the Junior Achievement DuPage County Board of Directors for nearly 20 years.

Tom is a Managing Associate at Tapestry Compliance. Tom advises on all aspects of global and UK employee share plans and executive remuneration. This includes the establishment of new share plans, plan rule drafting, reviewing the global legal and tax implications of various awards, and advising on the implementation and operation of employee trusts. Tom is a teacher on Tapestry’s Certificate in Employee Share Plans.

Veerle Lerut is a counsel in the Tax Practice Group in the Brussels office. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2023. Before joining Baker McKenzie, Veerle worked as a lawyer, as the in-house legal tax advisor of a highly reputed Flemish University, in the advisory tax department of a Big Four firm and as an academical researcher.

Veerle advises on the national and international individual income tax and social security aspects of compensation & benefits granted to resident and non-resident individuals, including the structuring of cross-border employment situations and transfers of employees and directors. Veerle has a specific focus on equity based compensation and cross-border government services.

Vicky is responsible for the development and execution of participant focused engagement strategies across Workplace Wealth Solutions. She collaborates with internal partners and corporate clients to create programs that meet the needs and expectations of their employees so they better value their workplace provided benefits. Prior to this, Vicky launched and managed equity plan based training for the Workplace Wealth Solutions teams and corporate clients.

Vicky is a respected leader, team builder, and subject matter expert in equity plan education and communication. Her 20+ years of experience in the finance industry working with financial wellness and equity plan teams have provided her with a unique perspective on client experiences, internal organization and participant needs. Her vast knowledge allows her to quickly assess pain points and synchronize them with organizational goals and objectives that lead to exponential growth. Vicky enjoys focusing on confidently navigating, translating and delivering effective communications between internal and external stakeholders at all levels.

Before joining UBS, Vicky’s professional background was in equity plan participant communication and education, financial wellness education, financial market analysis and communication consulting. She has developed and executed complex, strategic initiatives for clients with employees all over the globe while striving for continuous improvement.

Vicky has a BA in Communication from University of Colorado at Boulder and a MS in Professional Counseling from Georgia State University. She is a Certified Equity Professional (CEP) and Series 7, 63, and 66 registered.