Kristina Fink, vice president, deputy corporate secretary, American Express
As the Deputy Corporate Secretary, Kristina is an advisor and resource to the American Express Board of Directors and to senior management providing strategic advice and counsel on board responsibilities and corporate governance matters. Kristina leads a team that provides governance support to the American Express National Bank, its committees, as well as American Express’s global subsidiaries. In addition, she drafts and oversees the annual proxy statement process for the Corporate Secretary’s Office. Kristina joined American Express on June 2017 as Corporate Governance Counsel and Assistant Secretary and she was promoted to Vice President and Deputy Corporate Secretary in May 2020.
Kristina is an Officer and Advisory Board member of the NY Chapter of the Society of Corporate Governance Professionals, and a member of the Shareholders Relations Society as well as an active participant in several other governance groups and forums.
Kristina joined American Express from The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America in June 2017 where she was Assistant Corporate Secretary supporting the Board of Directors, its Committees and subsidiaries for three years. Before joining Guardian, Kristina was a senior associate at Clifford Chance US LP for six years where she was part of the Capital Markets group, and provided corporate governance advice to clients and worked on company periodic reports and securities offerings. She began her legal career at Bear Stearns as an in-house securities lawyer where she worked for five years.
Kristina grew up in Westchester County, NY and graduated from Tulane University cum laude majoring in History and graduated from Brooklyn Law School where she served as an Articles Editor of The Journal of Law and Policy. Kristina resides in New York City with her husband Zack, her daughter Serena and their dog.
Marion Lewis, founder and CEO, Govenda
Marion P. Lewis, founder and CEO of Govenda, is a results-driven entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and success in the online world.
Prior to founding Govenda, Ms. Lewis was co-founder of Tachyon Solutions, a web development and digital marketing firm, and served as its CEO for 21 years. As such, she was responsible for setting the vision for the fast-growing firm, executing its strategic plan and headed up the award-winning Tachyon Interactive Group. She also co-founded WeDoCommerce, a Salesforce Commerce Cloud partner who developed award-winning ecommerce solutions for a wide variety of retailers across North America.
Ms. Lewis has won a number of awards for her work and involvement in the entrepreneurial community, including the 1997 Susan B. Anthony Leadership Award and in 2005, she was named among the Best 50 Women in Business in Pennsylvania.
An active philanthropist, Ms. Lewis is a founding partner and past chair of Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners, a network of individuals who invest time, money and expertise in organizations that solve problems facing at-risk youth in Allegheny County. She is also a past member and Secretary of the board of Social Venture Partners International and a past member of the Pittsburgh Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Pittsburgh, Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the Executive Women’s Council of Pittsburgh, the Women’s Group of the American Forest Foundation, and the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh. Her current activities include membership in Women Presidents Organization (WPO).
Edythe Nipper, corporate secretary, South Jersey Industries
Edythe Nipper has been corporate secretary with South Jersey Industries (SJI) since 2018. Prior to joining SJI, Ms Nipper held the role of vice president and assistant general counsel at Heartland Payment Systems. She has also served as vice president, assistant general counsel, SEC and governance at Alpha Natural Resources and as a contract attorney with US Foods. In each of these roles, she was responsible for providing legal counsel to CEOs, boards of directors and executive leadership regarding securities regulations, corporate governance and executive compensation.
Ms Nipper earned her BSBA in finance from the University of Florida and her JD from Western Michigan University. She also received her LLM in securities regulation from Georgetown University.
Ben Maiden, editor-at-large, Corporate Secretary
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Corporate Secretary, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. He had previously been managing editor of Compliance Reporter since January 2007, covering regulatory and compliance issues affecting broker-dealers and asset management firms. Before that, Ben was editor of International Financial Law Review and IFLR’s Americas editor, working in London and New York.
