HONOREE
Teri Leigh Witteman
Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
Beyond Meat, Inc.
UCLA School of Law
Teri L. Witteman is an established C-suite legal professional with demonstrated leadership negotiating and implementing complex commercial and business transactions on behalf of public and private companies. With more than 25 years of experience, she serves as a trusted board advisor on business strategy, legal compliance, and corporate governance.
Witteman joined Beyond Meat, Inc., a multi-billion dollar leader in plant-based meat, as its general counsel and secretary in May 2019 and has served as its chief legal officer and secretary since April 2021. In this role, she oversees the company’s global legal operations, including developing and implementing enterprise legal strategy, advising on global expansion, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, commercial contracts, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting. She also advises all business units, including Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality/Regulatory, Innovation, Marketing, Brand, Creative, and Human Resources, on cross-functional execution of Beyond Meat’s global initiatives which include helping humans eat healthier, fighting climate change, preserving natural resources and helping animals live better lives.
Prior to joining Beyond Meat, Witteman was a partner with the Los Angeles law firm of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP from April 2016 to May 2019, where she represented food service, insurance, and technology clients in connection with securities offerings, SEC filings, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.
She started her career with Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, where she focused on representing media and retail companies in M&A transactions and securities offerings, and representing underwriters in public offerings of equity, debt, and sophisticated derivative securities by technology, media, and retail companies.
From 2012 to 2018, Witteman served as secretary of Farmer Bros. Co., a national coffee roaster, wholesaler, and distributor of coffee, tea, and culinary products. She received her Juris Doctor degree, Order of the Coif, from UCLA School of Law, and her B.A. degree in Economics, with honors and distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley.
PUBLIC COMPANY: 501-1000 EMPLOYEES FINALISTS
Reena R. Desai
Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary
Mirati
California Western School of Law
Reena R. Desai is chief legal officer for Mirati. She has built a successful legal organization from the ground up during the COVID-19 pandemic, and manages the company's overall legal matters and enterprise risk in addition to the building compliance program. Under her oversight, the company successfully completed three financings in the last two years, raising over $1.75 billion in public stock offerings and $500 million ATM. She also manages business development activities from the transactions side, closing a China commercial collaboration with Zai Labs.
Desai brings over 20 years of legal experience to Mirati, having held legal positions across the pharmaceutical industry. Uniquely, she has a B.S. degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology/Genetics from UC Davis, and completed her graduate coursework in Molecular and Cellular Biology at San Francisco State before embarking on her legal career.
Janna Sidley
General Counsel
Port of Los Angeles
LMU Loyola Law School
Before retiring in February 2022, Janna Sidley served as general counsel for the Port of Los Angeles, where she oversaw all litigation and supervised the attorneys who provide general legal advice to the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, and Intermodal Container Transfer Facility. Her legal team also drafts contracts, reviews projects and advises the port on property management, marketing, international trade, maritime, fishing, environmental, and railroad operating matters.
In March 2020, as the world faced an unprecedented pandemic, Sidley postponed her retirement to provide legal assistance while the port remained open and operational. Her years of experience in environmental, contracts, employment and regulatory compliance law practices were an invaluable asset to the city and port through this period of uncertainty.
Christine Son
Senior Vice President, Legal, General Counsel and Secretary
Dine Brands Global
UCLA School of Law
Having worked at Dine Brands for more than 10 years, Christine Son has developed a positive reputation as being a brand-focused attorney that’s in touch with the company’s franchisees, which played a critical role in her ability to navigate the pandemic with empathy.
When the pandemic hit, Son understood that Applebee’s and IHOP’s franchisees’ businesses, as well as the livelihoods of their restaurant team members, were on the line. With her leadership, Dine’s legal department worked around the clock to monitor, interpret, and advise on the huge legislative bills, local and state guidelines, and government regulations that were changing seemingly by the hour for the last two years. All of which is not an easy task for a company with over 3,483 locations in 17 countries, but Son and her team made it a priority to help Dine’s restaurants and franchisees navigate the challenging landscape.
