From Grassroots to the Boardroom: Taking Charge of Your Organizations ESG Initiatives

Julie Mediamolle is a partner on Alston & Bird’s Corporate & Business Transactions Team. She focuses her practice on representation of private and public companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions and securities transactions. She counsels companies on corporate governance, SEC reporting and disclosure requirements, and other general securities compliance. She also regularly advises hedge funds and other investment groups regarding the beneficial ownership rules and investments in public and private companies. Her experience also includes limited partnership and limited liability company formation and structuring.

Samantha leads the TriNet Legal, Compliance, Regulatory Affairs and Risk teams; experts who serve TriNet across the breadth of its offerings. She is a trusted thought leader in the areas of diversity, equity & inclusion, workplace benefits, the shared economy, as well as GRC and ESG related topics.

Samantha joined TriNet in 2016 as Vice President and Associate General Counsel. Prior to joining TriNet she was at Oracle Corporation where she was managing counsel for Oracle’s Corporate, Securities & Acquisitions Legal Team. She also served Oracle’s interests on the board of directors of Oracle’s publicly held subsidiaries in India and Japan.

She holds bachelor’s degrees in creative arts and laws from Wollongong University, as well as a master of laws in communication and technology law from the University of New South Wales. Samantha is admitted to practice law in both California and New South Wales, Australia.

Elizabeth Small is Chief Legal Officer and Head of ESG.

She is a mission-driven leader committed to changing the trajectory of the climate crisis and supporting sustainable and just livelihoods across the globe. Elizabeth is adept at forging and protecting unprecedented solutions across governments, finance, philanthropy, communities, business and innovation.

Prior to GEAPP, Elizabeth served as General Counsel and Head of Policy at CDP the global data and disclosure platform, focusing investors, companies, and governments on building a sustainable economy by measuring and understanding environmental impacts. As a thought-leader on ESG, Climate Change and Environmental Justice, Elizabeth led on legal and strategic business matters, advising C-Suite executives, boards of directors, and overseeing CDP’s annual investor request, the CDP Supply Chain program, CDP policy, Cities, States, and Regions (CStaR), data and technology operations; the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) partnership; and served on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Accessibility (JEDIA) global task force.

Previously, Elizabeth worked as a Global Litigator with Howrey LLP and with Hemenway & Barnes, focusing on complex commercial litigation, antitrust and intellectual property law. Elizabeth has a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law, where she trained in the International Sustainable Development program in London, Paris and Geneva. Elizabeth also holds a B.A. in Philosophy from The College of the Holy Cross.

Elizabeth is also an adjunct professor of Bioethics and Logic.