Suzanne Rich Folsom is a seasoned independent board director, C-suite executive, and influential business leader, who brings a distinctive global perspective. She is an internationally recognized corporate governance and compliance expert with extensive transformation and restructuring experience, assisting public and private companies as well as multilateral organizations during challenging and unprecedented times.
Ms. Folsom has worked across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America enabling her to develop an impactful global business, regulatory, and political network. Domestic and international C-Suite and board experience includes: SVP and General Counsel at Philip Morris International; General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, SVP Government Affairs at United States Steel Corporation; EVP, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Academi LLC (formerly known as Blackwater); VP, Chief Regulatory & Compliance Officer and Deputy General Counsel at AIG; Advisor to FinTech start-up EqualFuture; Advisor to AI-native business development analyst for law firms start-up, Elego; current board service with Ecore International (M&A Committee), Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chair of the Board; former Compensation Committee Chair), and Defense Metals (TSXV: DEFN) (Chair, Nominations and Governance Committee; Member of Compensation, and Health, Safety and Sustainability Committees); previous service on boards of AMG Critical Materials N.V. (NL: AMG), Veluxe LLC, Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and myriad non-profit boards. Ms. Folsom practiced law with three global firms: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.
Distinctive public administration roles Ms. Folsom has held include: Counselor to the President & Director of Institutional Integrity at the World Bank; Private Secretary to H.M. Queen Noor of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Special Assistant to Barbara Bush; Advisor, U.N. Commission on the Status of Women; Advisor, U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Women’s Conference in Kenya; and Chief of Staff to Maureen Reagan, Co-Chair, Republican National Committee
A graduate of Georgetown Law and Duke University, Ms. Folsom has been recognized in the areas of governance, legal, compliance, and cybersecurity. She is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law.