Developing a Healthy Appetite for Risk

Diane Brayton became executive vice president and general counsel of The New York Times Company in January 2017.

Previously Ms. Brayton served as deputy general counsel since May 2016. In addition to these roles, Ms. Brayton has served as The Times Company’s corporate secretary since 2011. Ms. Brayton had previously served as assistant secretary and assistant general counsel beginning in 2009. Ms. Brayton joined the Times Company in 2004 as counsel and was promoted to senior counsel in 2007.

Previously, Ms. Brayton was vice president and counsel in the legal department of Credit Suisse First Boston from 2002 to 2004 and an associate at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York, Moscow and London from 1997 to 2002. From 1996 to 1997, she was a clerk for the Honorable W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals, for the Fifth Circuit.

Ms. Brayton received a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Nebraska in 1991 and a J.D. degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1996, where she graduated with honors.

Marla Kanemitsu is a Managing Director with Tusk Strategies, a campaign consulting firm focusing on corporate and issue campaign strategies. At Tusk, Marla provides strategic consulting on legal, risk management, and complex dispute resolution matters.

Prior to joining Tusk, Marla practiced law in the private sector, where she counseled clients in a wide array of industries, including energy, manufacturing, financial services, retail, and insurance. Her broad experience includes counseling clients on risk management strategies for cyber, privacy, transactional, and political risks, as well as providing advice on state and federal regulatory issues concerning privacy, healthcare, insurance, consumer protection, and trade statutes and regulations. Marla also has extensive experience representing companies in complex, multi-party disputes, including government investigations, regulatory proceedings, class action litigation, mediation, and other proceedings across the country and internationally.

Marla previously practiced law as a partner at Dickstein Shapiro LLP, where she was recognized for her work by Washington DC Super Lawyers, The Legal 500, Benchmark Plaintiff, and Best Lawyers in America. She was also awarded a “Women Worth Watching” distinction by Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Erin Abrams is the Vice President for Legal Affairs at Via Transportation, Inc., a technology startup in the on-demand shared ride space. As the Head of Legal at Via, Erin’s portfolio covers corporate transactions, venture-backed financing, cybersecurity and data privacy, technology licensing, commercial agreements, transportation regulatory and licensing issues, employee and independent contractor matters and litigation. Erin also manages Via’s patent portfolio and oversees Risk, Insurance and Compliance functions at Via.

Prior to joining Via, Erin was a Senior Vice President in the Compliance Department of Citigroup in New York, where her group was tasked with preventing and detecting insider trading and maintaining information barriers for material non-public information within the investment bank.

Before going in-house, Erin worked as an Associate in the white collar criminal and securities litigation division of Fried Frank for seven years, where she developed expertise in insider trading, financial crimes, and internal investigations relating to anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, anti-corruption laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Erin serves on the Board of Directors of Urban Pathways, a non-profit that provides services to homeless New Yorkers. She also maintains an active pro bono practice representing low income women who are victims of domestic violence in family law proceedings in partnership with the non-profit Her Justice.

Erin holds a B.A. from Duke University in Political Science (magna cum laude) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude).

Heather McAllister serves as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Penn Foster. Heather has overall responsibility for Penn Foster’s legal, compliance and governance matters. She is also a member of the executive management team that sets strategic direction for the company. Heather most recently was Vice President, Legal and Compliance of K12 Inc. (LRN) where she counseled the company on a wide range of legal, compliance and business matters.

Prior to K12, Heather served as Counsel for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and worked for two prestigious law firms based in Washington DC and New York City. She has also served as Special Counsel to public companies including Unilever (UL) and Hilton Worldwide (HLT).

Heather has a strong and proven record in effectively promoting strategic business goals in a variety of sectors including education, biotech, hospitality, energy and manufacturing and tech, working with multidisciplinary teams across business functions, supporting domestic and international business relationships, and managing day-to-day legal, compliance and business issues. She is also a frequent speaker on legal, compliance and governance issues at a variety of conferences, law schools and firms and has lectured at Georgetown Law School.

Heather earned a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and a MBA from The George Washington University. She also holds a certification from the Harvard University Program on Negotiation and CCEP and CIPP licenses in compliance and privacy, respectively.