WWCDA Award Winner Biographies 2025

WWCDA 2025 Awards Gala

Congratulations to the 2025 WWCDA Award Honorees 
Find their full biographies here.

Rachel Brand

Julie Gruber

Rita Mitchell

Kit Addleman

Jennifer Lieser

Annie Hong

Michele Roberts


WWCDA Champion Award

Brand
Rachel Brand
Executive Vice President of Global Governance, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary
Walmart Inc.
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Rachel Brand is Walmart’s executive vice president of global governance, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary. She oversees the company’s global legal, compliance, ethics, corporate governance, digital citizenship, aviation, investigative, and corporate security functions, including Walmart’s Global Security Operations Center. 

Immediately before joining Walmart in 2018, Rachel served as the United States Associate Attorney General. She had previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy during President George W. Bush’s administration. Also during the Bush administration, Rachel served as Associate Counsel to the President at the White House. Her other government service includes an appointment by President Obama to serve as a Member of the U.S. Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.  She served as a law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court of the United States and Justice Charles Fried on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. In the private sector, she was a lawyer in private practice at two law firms in Washington, D.C. and served as the Vice President and Chief Counsel for Regulatory Litigation at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center. 

Rachel serves on the boards of directors of the Walmart Foundation and of Walmart of Mexico and Central America. Outside of Walmart, she serves on the board of directors of the International Justice Mission and the board of trustees of the National Constitution Center. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute. 

Rachel earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota-Morris and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

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WWCDA Group Award

Gap Inc., a purpose-driven house of iconic brands, is the largest specialty apparel company in America. Its Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands offer clothing, accessories, and lifestyle products for men, women and children available worldwide through company-operated and franchise stores, and e-commerce sites. Since 1969, Gap Inc. has created products and experiences that shape culture, while doing right by employees, communities and the planet through its commitment to bridge gaps to create a better world. For more information, please visit www.gapinc.com.

Phillips
Julie Gruber
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer
on behalf of Gap Inc.

Julie Gruber is a seasoned Fortune 200 C-suite executive with deep boardroom experience and a track record of strategic leadership at Gap Inc. Reporting directly to the CEO, she has played a pivotal role in guiding the company through global transformation, multiple CEO transitions, and acquisitions, all in a disrupted retail landscape.

Julie’s leadership spans the enterprise, including Legal, Compliance, Sustainability/ESG, Government Affairs, Real Estate, Labor Relations, , Asset Protection, Security and Business Continuity. She manages global teams and is on the front lines of risk management and cybersecurity, co-founding Gap Inc.’s Risk Committee and establishing its Cybersecurity and Privacy Council. She is a trusted board advisor, working closely with the CEO and Board Chair, and currently serves as Director and Audit Chair at Susan G. Komen. Julie holds degrees from Yale (B.A.) and UC Law San Francisco (J.D.), and previously clerked for a U.S. District Court judge.

 

WWCDA Laurie A. Miller Leadership Award

Mitchell
Rita Mitchell
Partner
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
WWCDA Roles: London Chapter Leader
 

Rita Mitchell is a partner in Willkie’s Investigations & Enforcement and White Collar Defence Practices in London.  Dual-qualified in the US and the UK, she advises and defends clients in a variety of criminal and civil investigation and enforcement matters, conducts complex, worldwide internal investigations in relation to bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering, sanctions, and human/business rights, and helps clients develop best-in-class compliance programs and procedures. Rita is ranked in Chambers UK and Legal 500 UK for Corporate Crime and Investigations with clients describing her as having a “very approachable style” and as being “simply fantastic—she’s knowledgeable, with keen insight and a great strategic thinker” and “able to get into the weeds and distil issues, providing sensible, pragmatic and helpful advice.”  Rita has co-led the London Chapter of the WWCDA since January 2020 alongside the fabulous Claire Halstead, a partner at PwC.

Kit Addleman
Kit Addleman
Partner
Haynes and Boone, LLP
WWCDA Roles: Vice Chair of North America Midwest, Dallas Chapter Leader

 

Known as a “powerhouse lawyer” in securities enforcement defense, Kit Addleman has built her nationwide practice advising public companies, officers and directors, investment advisors, private funds and broker-dealers concerning securities investigations.  She has successfully defended clients in civil and criminal investigations and litigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, advised clients on compliance with securities regulations, and conducted internal investigations of suspected corporate misconduct. Kit is a partner at Haynes and Boone where she chairs the firm’s government investigations defense group.

Prior to joining Haynes and Boone, Kit served at the SEC for 22 years which experience guides her advice to clients today. While at the SEC, Kit was the regional director of the Atlanta Regional Office leading the enforcement, examination and bankruptcy programs for the SEC in five Southeastern states. Kit also served the SEC in the Atlanta, Fort Worth, Denver and Philadelphia offices.

 

WWCDA Catherine M. O’Neil
Mentoring Award

Jennifer Lieser
Jennifer Lieser
Partner
Kaplan Marino
WWCDA Roles: Los Angeles Chapter Social Media Coordinator, Social Media & PR Committee
Co-Chair, Junior Professionals Committee Vice Chair

Jennifer Lieser is a partner at the boutique Los Angeles defense firm Kaplan Marino, where she leads the firm’s internal investigation and corporate compliance practice. Renowned in legal and academic circles, she brings a unique perspective shaped by her early career in corporate public relations and courtroom exposure at the Orange County Public Defender’s Office. Jennifer’s notable successes include securing dismissal of property fraud charges previously denied by another judge, preventing charges against a young entrepreneur in a complex tax fraud probe, negotiating a Deferred Prosecution Agreement for an attorney and City Council member under federal wire fraud investigation, and shifting a physician’s status from target to witness in a multimillion-dollar Medicare fraud case. Her background in PR enhances her strategic approach to complex litigation, making her a formidable advocate in white-collar defense.

WWCDA Justice Ginsburg
Law Student Award

Annie Hong
Annie Hong
MPA, J.D. Candidate '26
University of California, Irvine School of Law
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A Los Angeles native, Annie Hong is a third-year law student at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. She serves as the Lead Articles Editor for the UC Irvine Law Review and is a Research Fellow with the UC Irvine Korea Law Center. Annie is also an Admissions Ambassador and volunteers with the Veterans Legal Institute, providing pro bono support to veterans with discharge upgrades and family law matters. Previously, she worked as a summer associate at Allen Matkins, LLP and externed in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Annie earned her Master of Public Administration and B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Southern California and currently serves in the United States Army Reserve as a Finance Officer for a brigade-level command.

Master of Ceremonies

Michelle Roberts
Michele Roberts
Renowned Attorney and Former Executive Director
of the National Basketball Players Association
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Prior to her retirement in January 2022,  Ms. Roberts had since 2014  served as the Executive Director of the National Basketball Players Association [“NBPA”].  In that role she was tasked with working on behalf of NBA players to ensure their rights are protected and they were fairly compensated for the value they bring to the sport and their impact on the community. Prior to joining the NBPA, she was an esteemed trial lawyer with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.  Her practice focused on complex civil and white-collar criminal litigation before state and federal courts and in administrative proceedings. Ms. Roberts has tried more than 150 cases to jury verdicts, representing clients in a wide variety of areas, including products liability, white collar, racketeering, securities regulation violations, Title VII issues and premises liability. She is a top-ranked attorney who has received numerous accolades from Chambers Global, Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation, among other notable publications. 

Ms. Roberts is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She worked for eight years in the office of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where she was named Chief of the Trial Division.   Ms. Roberts is a frequent lecturer and presenter to both the bench and bar on a variety of topics related to litigation and trial practice. She taught trial advocacy as an adjunct member of the faculty at Harvard Law School and as an instructor with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. 

Ms. Roberts currently serves on the boards of Cresco Labs, The Marshall Project, The Southern Center for Human Rights and  Wesleyan University, her alma mater.


About The WWCDA Awards

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