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Advisory Board
Antonio Alvarez
Crypto.com
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Mary Katherine Ashmore
Counsel, Netflix
Mary Katherine Ashmore serves as Counsel at Netflix, where she oversees all legal aspects of Netflix Experiences, including the upcoming Netflix Houses in Dallas, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas, the Netflix Bites Restaurant at the MGM Casino, and Licensed Experiences around the world. Prior to joining Netflix, Mary Katherine was an Associate at Raymond Legal, where she specialized in production legal for unscripted television and documentaries.
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Emilie Lavirotte
Senior Advisor, Intellectual Property at SEPHORA
Emilie Lavirotte is Senior Advisor of Intellectual Property at Sephora. Ms. Lavirotte coordinates the IP strategy for Sephora in North and Latin America. After working at Sephora in France with the IP team, she joined Sephora USA Inc. legal team several years ago. She has 17+ years of experience working in house in France and in the U.S.
Ms. Lavirotte holds a master’s degree in Intellectual Property Law from Grenoble University School of Law (France).
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Johan Cho
Microsoft
Johan Cho leads a team of AI product attorneys at Microsoft, providing counsel on frontier AI technologies. He strategizes with Microsoft leadership on AI policies and engages with regulators to shape global AI and privacy regulations. His work aims to harmonize AI legal counseling across Microsoft, while ensuring regulatory compliance and risk mitigation.
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Dyann Heward-Mills
CEO - HewardMills
Dyann is a UK-qualified barrister of Ghanaian heritage, with over 25 years of expertise in data protection and cybersecurity. She is the founder and CEO of HewardMills, a B Corp certified global data protection, cyber and AI compliance business. Appointed ethics expert for the European Commission in research and innovation, Dyann is a sought-after speaker at industry panels, conferences, and media events. She is also a passionate advocate for social change and using business as a force for good. Dyann co-founded Protect Black Women, a grassroots organisation dedicated to amplifying the voices, rights, and well-being of Black women and girls. Dyann champions several initiatives that support inclusion and drive HewardMills’ impactful Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. Beyond her accomplished legal career, Dyann is a qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor, Board Advisor and golf enthusiast.
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Michael Hewitt
Sideman & Bancroft LLP
Michael Hewitt is a Partner at Sideman & Bancroft, where he leads the Blockchain and Digital Assets Practice Group and is a member of the firm’s Brand Integrity and Innovation, Litigation and Appeals, and Intellectual Property groups. He specializes in helping clients protect their brand portfolios through creative and effective enforcement strategies, working with clients of all sizes from startups to the largest tech companies in the world.
Michael is active in the USF and SF IP communities, serving as the Co-Chair of the Bar Association of San Francisco, IP and Internet Law Barristers Section, as a member of the Board of Governors for the USF School of Law, and as an advisory board member for the Center for Law, Tech, and Social Good.
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Liza Levitt
Intuit
Liza Emin Levitt serves as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel of Intuit Inc. She is responsible for the legal and compliance strategy for Intuit’s Platforms and Emerging Technology, supporting Intuit’s mission of powering prosperity around the world. She also leads Intuit's Responsible AI governance program in close partnership with Intuit’s technology leaders.
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Tom Meister
Grizzly Peak Ventures
Tom Meister is an entrepreneur, investor and attorney whose work is grounded at the intersection of capital markets and financial technology. After starting his career as a debt finance attorney at Wilson Sonsini and Goodwin Procter, he moved into executive leadership roles at three venture-backed online lenders -- Funding Circle, NepFin and Zilch -- two of which exited, and two of which achieved "unicorn" status.
Today, Tom leads a venture studio, Grizzly Peak Ventures, which incubates payments, specialty finance, fintech and blockchain projects, and a credit firm, Credit Pacifica Asset Management, which focuses on funding specialty finance companies in frontier markets. Outside of his ongoing work in financial technology and credit, he is a co-founding partner of Brightpoint Law, LLP, a law firm that specializes in financial services, financial technology and blockchain.
Tom received his BA, cum laude, from Columbia and his law degree from Berkeley.