The Great Power and Responsibility of Connections: Building, Maintaining, and Leveraging Your Network

Ashley Jones is currently Commercial Counsel, at Boston-based LinkSquares, Inc. Ashley has prior experience working in-house as well as serving founder led companies. Ashley specializes in technology agreements and legal operations with a focus on contracts management and efficiency driven process development and management utilizing the philosophy that introducing fresh perspectives and new techniques is what allows businesses to evolve and grow.

Ashley received her Juris Doctor from New England Law | Boston and is a practicing artist imparting creative thought processes, critical thinking, and collaboration throughout all facets of her professional career.

Djenne B. Clayton is General Counsel for Barilla America, Inc.

In this role, Clayton provides legal leadership for the Italian pasta maker’s North and South American operations. Clayton’s responsibilities include regulatory, risk, employment and other legal matters.

Before joining Barilla in 2021, Clayton worked for National Express, LLC as the SVP, Deputy General Counsel North America, where she was responsible for facilitating closure of acquisitions and divestitures, handling multimillion-dollar government contracts, managing a team of 15 lawyers and sta? and supporting 20,000 employees in the United States and Canada.

Prior to National Express, Clayton was Deputy General Counsel for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, responsible for legal matters of Navy Pier? and McCormick Place? (the largest convention center in North America). Prior to that, she developed extensive international experience and cross-cultural agility during her tenure with Rotary International.

Clayton received a B.A. in Art History and a J.D. from Northwestern University. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion advocacy and engagement. Clayton is a current member of several nonpro?t Boards in the Chicago community.

Erin Rosenberg is a partner in the Firm's Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Practice.

Her experience includes representation of chapter 11 debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, and Official Unsecured Creditors' Committees in bankruptcy proceedings. She also has significant experience in commercial litigation and appellate matters.

Prior to joining White & Case, Erin served as staff counsel at the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and as a law clerk to the Honorable Martin L.C. Feldman on the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Lakeshia Ekeigwe is an internationally renowned Leadership Coach & Consultant. She believes Leadership is Personal, Business is Human. As a result, Lakeshia facilitates coaching and consulting services from a whole-person perspective. She supports clients in law and business with teachings, tools, and exercises designed to help them create lives they love and lead firms, businesses, and teams that thrive.

Lakeshia supports law firm Partners, In House Counsel, C-Suite Executives and emerging high potentials to elevate their emotional intelligence, identify their Zone of Genius, and build strong personal and professional relationships with intention and integrity.

Lakeshia's clients include: Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, Boies Schiller Flexner, The State Bar of California, Accenture, Kaiser Permanente, CSL Behring, Kantar Media, The City of Los Angeles, The County of Los Angeles, The University of Texas, Virginia Tech, The Association of Corporate Counsel, Global Leaders in Law, and others.

Lakeshia is a respected and influential thought leader on the topic of leadership among her 15,000 followers on LinkedIn.

As the General Counsel of Zoro, Aimee is responsible for developing and advising on a risk-aware legal strategy aligned with Zoro’s fast-paced, high-growth endless assortment model. She leads the Legal, Procurement, Product Compliance, Data Privacy, and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) teams.

Before joining Zoro in 2024, Aimee served as the Vice President and Associate General Counsel for W.W. Grainger, Inc. Her team was responsible for legal support of technology and eCommerce matters as well as privacy, data protection and security, and all aspects of Grainger’s IP portfolio. These included patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, and domain names.