Leslie Benton is the Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at Ethisphere, where she engages with global companies on assessing and benchmarking anti-corruption programs and building capabilities across organizations and with third parties. Additionally, she is one of the ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management Systems Standard drafters as a member of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to the ISO committee developing ISO 37001.
Previously, she was the Senior Policy Director for the U.S. chapter of Transparency International, where she spearheaded the chapter’s outreach to the U.S. Government, international institutions, and the private sector. A lawyer by training, Ms. Benton is widely recognized for her experience in navigating the complex legal and regulatory landscape for Fortune 500 companies, and her expertise in corporate compliance and governance, anti-corruption reform, and trade policy. She has also practiced law with Hogan & Hartson, LLP and is a Vice Chair, Anti-Corruption Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law. She received her LL.M from Harvard Law School and her J.D. from Emory University School of Law.
Douglas Allen is the Vice President of Data Strategy at Ethisphere where he leads benchmarking, certification, and partnership efforts. Previously, Douglas spent six years with providing compliance- and ethics-related advisory services, including developing compliance and ethics risk assessments, codes of conduct, corporate policies and procedures, and communication and training curriculum plans. Douglas received his Bachelors from the University of Arizona and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.
Kevin McCormack is the Executive Vice President and Executive Director for the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) where he guides the strategic advancements for the BELA community in the US and key international markets, the expansion of executive leadership participation across the community, and the immersion of BELA members in global programs.
Kevin has a history of working with the BELA community and additional business and compliance leaders around the world as he continues to oversee Ethisphere-hosted assemblies throughout the United States and regionally in Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
Prior to joining Ethisphere in 2013, Kevin spent 12 years at Thomson Reuters, most recently as the Manager for Online Content & Partner Relations for West LegalEdcenter, an award winning Thomson Reuters business featuring the most comprehensive online collection of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) content in the world.
Kevin holds a JD from the University of North Dakota School of Law and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. Kevin is based in Denver, Colorado.
Udit Pillay is the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Transformation of Ethisphere. In this role, Udit is responsible for leading the people development, finance and administration functions within the company and driving strategic and operational initiatives across the business.
Prior to joining Ethisphere, Udit was a management consultant with Bain & Company where he worked with multinational businesses across the Asia-Pacific region to support them on areas such as corporate strategy, performance improvement, organizational design, product development, and growth. Udit also gained deep experience in the ESG sector, as both an investor and an operator, working with early stage businesses across Australia, India, the US, East Africa, and Latin America.
Udit holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a combined Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (International & Global Studies) from the University of Sydney.
As Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair, Erica Salmon Byrne is responsible for ensuring continuous and strong growth for the company while maintaining Ethisphere’s founding ethos that good businesses do better. Ms. Salmon Byrne also serves as the Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance; she works with the BELA community to advance the dialogue around ethics and governance and deliver practical guidance to ethics and compliance practitioners around the globe. Ms. Salmon Byrne previously served as CEO, leading the company through its most significant advancements and transitions, while being sought among the most trusted voices and authorities on corporate integrity. Prior to becoming CEO, Ms. Salmon Byrne served as President, where she had responsibility for the organization’s data and services business and worked with Ethisphere’s community of clients to assess ethics and compliance programs and promote best practices across industries.
Prior to joining Ethisphere, Ms. Salmon Byrne served as the Executive Vice President of Compliance & Governance Solutions for NYSE Governance Services, Corpedia, a leading ethics, compliance, and risk assessment consulting company and licensed credentialing partner of Ethisphere. Ms. Salmon Byrne worked closely with Corpedia’s varied clients in addressing their compliance needs, including evaluating compliance programs, assisting companies in measuring peer practices and drafting training programs. She hosted the on-demand web video series, Inside Compliance, and shared the host chair of another on-demand web series from NYSE Governance Services, This Week in the Boardroom. She was also responsible for product strategy for NYSE Governance Services.
Prior to joining Corpedia, Ms. Salmon Byrne practiced with DLA Piper in Washington, DC, where she focused in the areas of internal investigations, enforcement actions, government audits, and international law. Ms. Salmon Byrne has advocated on behalf of clients in front of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Northern District of Georgia, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the House of Representatives’ Permanent Subcommittee’ for Oversight and Investigations. In addition, she assisted multinational companies in complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and U.S. Export Controls.
Ms. Salmon Byrne received a Bachelor of Arts degree from George Washington University, a Master of Arts degree with Highest Distinction from Northeastern University and a Juris Doctor cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. She is a regular columnist in The Compliance and Ethics Professional and a contributing editor to the Compliance and Ethics blog. She previously served as adjunct faculty, teaching business ethics in the Department of Business Ethics and Legal Studies in the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.