Marla Persky is CEO and President of WOMN LLC, a company dedicated to helping women succeed in the business of law by increasing their knowledge of and acuity with financial drivers, client development, and leadership. Throughout her professional life, Ms. Persky has had the opportunity to understand and practice business principles that lead to personal and company success. Ms. Persky retired in 2013 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Boehringer Ingelheim Inc., where she oversaw a department of over 70 individuals.  She also was a member of Boehringer’s executive management team and a director of the company and several of its subsidiaries. Prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim, Ms. Persky spent 19 years at Baxter International Inc. where she held numerous business and legal positions, the most recent of which was Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.  During her career at Baxter, Ms. Persky managed global legal services, was General Manager of an international medical device business, led international crisis management teams, acquired and integrated international businesses, and designed/implemented strategies to manage global mass torts. Ms. Persky currently serves on the Audit and Chairs the Governance Committees of Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: XERS), a specialty pharmaceutical company that leverages proprietary non-aqueous formulation technology platforms.  She is also on the Audit and Strategic Planning Committees of the Board of Directors of YGEIA, a medical informatics technology company, and is on the Board of Advisors of Text IQ, a technology company that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to prevent legal, compliance and reputational disasters.  Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of Cytyc Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTYC) a device and diagnostics company. She was also on the Board of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, the world’s largest privately owned pharmaceutical company. Ms. Persky was a director of Watermark, Inc. a private publisher and broker of children’s literature. In addition to her corporate activities, Ms. Persky is on the Board of several not-for-profit organizations such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Primary Stages (Off-Broadway Theater Company) and World Neighbors Inc. Ms. Persky is a frequent speaker on a variety of subjects including: leadership principles, career development, mentoring, diversity, crisis management, and negotiation techniques. She is a graduate of Washington University School of law and Northwestern University. Throughout her career, Ms. Persky has focused on improving diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.  She has been awarded for her contributions by elite organizations such as the Lawyer's Collaborative for Diversity and the Connecticut Appleseed Foundation. She was recognized as one of the ten most innovative in-house counsel for her strategy and efforts to increase the opportunities and visibility of women in high profile litigation.

Karyn Smith is a seasoned public company executive with more than 30 years of experience working with and for high-growth companies, having spent the last several years helping to scale companies focused on innovating and disrupting established industries. Karyn has held a variety of operational roles and has led multiple companies through initial public offerings, helping to build high-performing teams and guide companies through the operational and legal challenges associated with growth, scaling, and global expansion. She has been a facilitator and participant in the boardroom for over 25 years, bringing particular expertise in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and risk management. Karyn also has extensive experience with global expansion, talent management, compensation, regulatory compliance and cybersecurity. Karyn has engaged extensively with domestic and international regulators and policy makers across a range of issues, including privacy, telecommunications and cybersecurity. She is qualified to serve on the board of directors of domestic and foreign corporations, as well as any of the three board committees mandated for U.S. public companies. From 2014 to 2022, Karyn was General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Twilio (NYSE:TWLO), where she built the legal team from one person when she joined to more than 140 attorneys and legal professionals, supporting Twilio’s growth to a publicly traded global organization with nearly $3B in revenue and 7,500 employees. Karyn also led Twilio’s Trust and Security team for several years, served as interim Chief People Officer during Twilio’s first year as a public company, and established Twilio’s ethical use team and policies. Prior to Twilio, Karyn was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Zynga, an online game company, where she oversaw all corporate and commercial matters and led Zynga through its $1B IPO in 2011. Prior to Zynga, Karyn was a partner of Cooley LLP, an AmLaw 100 firm, where she represented emerging growth companies at all stages of growth, from formation through liquidity event and beyond, with a particular specialty in IPOs, guiding dozens of companies through public offerings. Karyn currently sits on the boards of Icertis, a leading contract lifecycle management company, and Halcyon, a non-profit incubator whose mission is to accelerate the impact-driven future of business. She is also a member of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and a founding member and board member of The House at 1229, and previously sat on the boards of the Business Software Alliance and USTelecom. Karyn earned her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and her JD cum laude from Santa Clara University School of Law. Karyn is mother to two grown daughters and lives in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Zopp is an accomplished executive and board member. She has been a transformational CEO at two organizations and has served as General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer in large, public companies. Her expertise includes business strategy, change management, crisis and risk management, human capital, transactions and litigation. Moreover, her background, which includes senior roles leading corporate governance and compliance in the private sector as well as community engagement and advocacy in the public and nonprofit sectors, makes her particularly well suited for board service. She also brings substantial experience in a broad range of industries including banking, consumer products, retail, manufacturing and utilities. In her current role at Cleveland Avenue Ms. Zopp leads the company’s work investing in and supporting minority and women entrepreneurs and their businesses. Ms. Zopp has worked in and with numerous global companies and has managed teams located overseas. In her prior role as the President and Chief Executive Officer of World Business Chicago, the city’s economic development organization she worked closely with the Chicago Consular Corps, international chambers of commerce and multinational companies to attract foreign direct investment and facilitate company relocation and expansion. Under her leadership Chicago continued to lead the country in corporate expansions and relocations and in foreign direct investment. Ms. Zopp currently serves as a director of Relativity, a global e-discovery and data management software company, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, a $75 billion wholesale bank and Intelligent Growth Solutions, a Scotland based agricultural infrastructure developer and supplier. She previously served as a director of Empowerment & Inclusion Capital I Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (EPWR-NYSE) and Andrew Corporation (ANDW-NASDAQ $2B), a global communications cable and equipment manufacturer. Ms. Zopp also served on the board of Urban Partnership Bank a privately-held community bank with over $600 million in assets where she chaired the Human Resources Committee. Ms. Zopp has also served on several non-profit and public boards. Ms. Zopp is a seasoned business leader and attorney with significant transaction, litigation and human capital experience, serving as a direct report and trusted advisor to the CEO and member of the executive leadership teams at three publicly traded companies, Sara Lee Corporation, Sears Holdings Corporation and Exelon Corporation. Ms. Zopp led the security and crisis management functions at both Sara Lee and Exelon and developed and implemented crisis management plans at both companies. This work was informed by her substantial experience as a prosecutor at both the federal and state level. Ms. Zopp also has significant expertise in government relations and community development. She served as Deputy Mayor and Chief Neighborhood Development Officer for the City of Chicago and was President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, a 100 year old nonprofit that promotes strong sustainable communities and works for economic and educational progress for African Americans. She also served a 6-year term as a Trustee of the National Urban League. Ms. Zopp holds a BA in History of Science from Harvard College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School and she served on the Harvard Alumni Association Board and the board of the Chicago chapter of the Harvard Alumni Association. She enjoys working out in the gym, reading, theater and spending time with her family.