Global Risk Management & Compliance Strategies

Noel Elfant is Vice President and General Counsel of DeLaval Inc., a leading maker of dairy farm production equipment and cleaning solutions for the food processing industry, part of the $17 billion privately-held Tetra Laval Group.

From 2003 through September 2009, Mr. Elfant served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Zebra Technologies Corporation, the international bar code printer company. He also was Zebra’s Chief Compliance Officer.

From 2001 to 2003, he served as Associate General Counsel and Secretary of Philip Services Corporation, a company specializing in industrial engineering, environmental services and scrap metals.

Prior to that, from 1990 to 2001, Mr. Elfant served in the Legal Department of Fortune Brands, Inc., a diversified consumer products company, most recently as Assistant General Counsel. Mr. Elfant began his career in the real estate and corporate and securities departments of the Chicago-based national law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery.

Mr. Elfant earned his JD degree from Northwestern University School of Law and his BA degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Christine M. Castellano is the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer for Ingredion Incorporated, a NYSE listed company. In this capacity, Christine is responsible for the worldwide management of the company’s legal affairs. Christine provides advice and counsel to the company’s Board of Directors, officers and management, and directs activities of internal and outside legal counsel around the world.

She is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Illinois State Bar Association, The Conference Board Council of Chief Legal Officers, the MAPI Law Council, and the North Shore General Counsel Association. She has served as a member of the American Bar Association International Section Publications Committee and Corporate Counsel Committee, and was formerly Communications Officer and Division Chair of the Americas and Middle East Division of the Section. She was named by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the 2016 Attorneys Who Matter and by the Illinois Diversity Council in 2017 as one of the Top 15 Business Women in Illinois. In April 2017, Christine received the Anti-Defamation League’s Women of Achievement Award.

Christine serves on the Board of Trustees of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (Chair of Grant Committee), and The John Marshall Law School, and is a member of the Womens’ Board of the Chicago Zoological Society (Co-chair of Education and Outreach Committee). She is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network.

Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE: INGR) is a leading global ingredients solutions provider specializing in nature-based sweeteners, starches and nutrition ingredients and bio-material solutions. With customers in more than 100 countries, Ingredion serves approximately 60 diverse sectors in food, beverage, brewing, pharmaceuticals and other industries.

Luis Avila is a distinguished attorney and general counsel with over fifteen years of experience.

He received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois – Champaign Urbana. Upon graduation, Mr. Avila worked as an associate at Lord, Bissell & Brook, now known as Locke Lord LLP.

Thereafter, he opened his own practice before joining Kluever & Platt LLC as an associate. He transitioned into an in-house role as Senior Counsel for Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. and, in 2010, was promoted to Assistant General Counsel. In 2013, Mr. Avila joined US Foods, Inc., a $23 billion dollar Fortune 150 foodservice distribution company, as Assistant General Counsel and was promoted to Associate General Counsel managing the Purchasing & Operations team in 2015. He stepped into the role of Interim General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary for US Foods in 2016 and thereafter managed the business transaction, M&A and regulatory work until his departure in 2017. Mr. Avila is now a consultant helping companies define and build their global compliance frameworks and assess their risk profiles.