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.
Elizabeth Bieber, counsel, head of shareholder engagement & activism, New York, Freshfields
Leza focuses on corporate governance issues, including activism and takeover defense preparedness. She also advises on debt and equity capital markets transactions, including IPOs, SPACs and de-SPACs.
Leza advises boards of directors and management on governance and crisis management, including stakeholder engagement; sustainability trends; board and disclosure issues, including director independence, board and committee structure, securities law compliance, board leadership structures, board composition, listing standards, shareholder proposals, annual meetings; ESG issues; proxy season trends; and succession planning.
Leza is a recognized thought leader on governance and activism matters, and recently appeared on CNBC to discuss activism trends and Thomson Reuters Practical Law to discuss climate change requirements under the Biden administration. In 2020 and again in 2021, Lezaco-hosted Freshfields’ annual post-proxy season event with leading institutional investors to demystify investor views and expectations on sustainability disclosure and reporting requirements with hundreds of public company clients. She also chaired a panel in 2020 at Corporate Board Member’s Boardroom Summit on shareholder activism and engagement trends. She is the co-editor of Freshfields’ annual Board Memo, co-host of our webcast series on governance and disclosure updates and co-host of Freshfields governance podcast series.
Robyn Koyner, vice president, deputy general counsel, communications and assistant secretary, Coeur Mining
Robyn joined Coeur in June 2013 as senior counsel. Before joining Coeur, Ms.Koyner was a partner in the corporate and securities group of the Chicago office of DLA Piper. She has extensive experience in public and private mergers and acquisitions transactions and securities offerings, joint ventures and other strategic agreements, corporate finance, SEC compliance and corporate governance matters. Before joining DLA, Ms Koyner was an associate in the capital markets group at Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz in Chicago and an associate in the corporate group of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York. Ms Koyner holds a BA in international studies from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Marion Lewis, co-founder and CEO, Govenda
Marion P. Lewis, co-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).
