Novi, Michigan-based Cooper Standard has appointed Joanna Totsky as the company’s new senior vice president, chief legal officer (CLO), chief compliance officer (CCO) and corporate secretary. She reports to chair and CEO Jeffrey Edwards.
Totsky has been promoted from her role as vice president and deputy general counsel for the company. She succeeds Aleksandra Miziolek, who has been senior vice president, general counsel, secretary and CCO for Cooper Standard since 2014. Miziolek has instead taken on the newly created role of chief transformation officer, effective July 1. The new position is intended to help push change at the company amid an evolving industry, according to the firm. Miziolek continues to report to Edwards.
Totsky joined Cooper Standard in 2016. As deputy general counsel, she advised the company on issues such as SEC and NYSE public company reporting and compliance, corporate governance, securities regulation, executive compensation, M&A and finance transactions. She previously worked at Ford Motor Company for almost 17 years. Prior to that she held senior legal positions in the corporate secretary’s office and was legal director of FCE Bank in the UK and legal director of Ford Credit Asia Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand.
Miziolek joined Cooper Standard in 2014. Before that, she worked at law firm Dykema Gossett in management positions such as director of the automotive industry group and director of the business services department. Before joining Dykema in 1982, Miziolek was a law clerk for James Churchill of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Cooper Standard supplies systems and components – such as sealing, fuel and brake delivery and fluid transfer systems – for the automotive industry.
‘As we manage through the global automotive industry transformation, it is essential to dedicate resources to ensure we are fully prepared for the future,’ Edwards says in a statement. ‘Aleks is ideally suited to help lead the organization’s transformation, given her deep global automotive industry and transactional experience and leadership capabilities.
‘Thanks to our robust succession planning, we are able to smoothly transition Joanna to the role of senior vice president and [CLO]. In this position, her extensive automotive legal background, public markets experience and tenure with Cooper Standard all provide a strong platform for continued success.’
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
