How are General Counsel Shaping ESG Strategy

Todd Sheldon, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, PulteGroup, Inc.

Todd Sheldon is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of PulteGroup, Inc. He is a member of the Company’s senior leadership team and reports directly to President and Chief Executive Officer Ryan Marshall.Sheldon joined PulteGroup from Atlanta-based Americold, the world’s largest provider of temperature-controlled storage and distribution logistics solutions, where he was executive vice president and general counsel responsible for legal department and administrative functions including real estate, M&A and risk management. During his career, Sheldon served as senior vice president and general counsel for SUPERVALU, one of the nation’s largest food distributors, and vice president and senior legal counsel for Medtronic Spine, a division of Medtronic, Inc. Prior to moving in-house Shelton practiced corporate and securities law at the Chicago law firms of Chapman & Cutler LLP and Fagel Haber.Mr. Sheldon earned his B.A. in International Relations from the University of Michigan and his J.D. from DePaul College of Law.

Paul D. Gilbert, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Rite Aid

Paul Gilbert is Rite Aid's (NYSE: RAD) Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary. Paul serves on Rite Aid's Executive Leadership Team and is responsible for all legal, compliance, ESG, government affairs, ERM, internal audit, and privacy functions of the enterprise, including those of its affiliates Health Dialog (population health) and Elixir (pharmacy benefit manager).Before joining Rite Aid in March 2020, Paul was a Health Care & Life Sciences partner at Epstein Becker & Green, where he represented leading private equity firms, healthcare providers, and payors in transactional, compliance program, and board oversight matters. Before that, for more than ten years, Paul was the EVP, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Governance Officer of LifePoint Health (NASAD: LPNT), a national integrated health system. While at LifePoint, he also served as the system's Chief Development Officer, among other roles. During his development leadership, the company formulated and implemented its industry-leading joint venture with Duke University Medical Center to form Duke LifePoint Healthcare.Before that, as an M&A and Securities lawyer in private practice, Paul led a wide range of complex transactional matters for healthcare provider clients, including large hospitals and health systems, physician practice management organizations, and behavioral and addiction health providers.

Jennifer Hightower, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Cox Enterprises

As senior vice president and general counsel of Cox Enterprises, Jennifer Hightower is a critical strategic partner, leading legal function and serving as corporate secretary in support of CEI’s board of directors. She advises on policy, legal and strategic initiatives related to all of Cox’s lines of business. Prior to her current role, Hightower was the senior vice president and general counsel of law and policy for Cox Communications where she oversaw Cox’s compliance, legal operations, litigation, regulatory and corporate government affairs. She was responsible for being a strategic legal advisor to the CCI executive leadership team. She advised on policy and strategic initiatives related to all CCI’s lines of business. In previous roles, Hightower was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs which oversaw compliance with federal and state rules, regulations, and management of external policy relationships. Hightower joined Cox in 1997 as Legal Counsel and later was promoted to Assistant General Counsel where she oversaw all transactional and operational legal support. Prior to joining Cox, she served in various legal positions at BellSouth Corporation, RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc. and Drew, Eckl & Farnham. In 2005, she was honored as a Rising Georgia SuperStar Attorney. Hightower is the recipient of the Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) Wonder Woman Award, Woman to Watch Award, Mentor of the Year Award and has been recognized as one of the topmost Influential Woman in Cable and as a CableFax Top Lawyer multiple years in a row. Hightower was also honored as the Top General Counsel of Large Departments by the American Corporate Counsel Association Chapter of Georgia. Hightower has served as Chair of the Georgia Federal Bar Association and a Director of the Greater Metro Atlanta YMCA. She has served on the Board of the WICT Southeast chapter and has been a Director of the National WICT Board. She is also a graduate of Betsy Magness Leadership Institute Class XVI and was co-chair for the 2008-2009 BMLI Class. Hightower, previously served on the Board of Covenant House Georgia; and recently served as the Board Chair of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation. She is the former Chair of the Georgia Corporate Counsel Bar Association and is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Alumni class of 2012. In 2021, Hightower was seated on, the Emory Law School Advisory Board. Hightower is admitted to practice in Kentucky and Georgia, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. She earned her Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, and her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. She is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Management Program. She is the wife of an entrepreneur and the mom of three active boys.

Bill Ide, Of Counsel, Corporate Governance, Akerman

A veteran corporate strategist and trusted advisor to public and private companies, nonprofits, and public sector agencies, clients turn to William “Bill” Ide for counsel on crisis response, corporate stewardship, reputation and risk management strategy and corporate governance. With an extensive history of representing boards and senior leadership in crisis and risk situations, Bill’s practice focuses on providing independent counsel to clients by investigating facts, providing critical legal guidance and, when appropriate, objective remediation recommendations. A leader in the business and legal communities, Bill previously served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Monsanto Company, counsel to the United States Olympic Committee and president of the American Bar Association. Within the business community, he serves on the boards of MetaJure and Rimidi Diabetes and previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE, ALB) where he chaired the Governance Committee and served on the Audit and Compensation Committees. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLKI), where he chaired the Executive and Governance Committees, while also serving on the Audit Committee. Committed to thought leadership and education, Bill is co-chair of the Advisory Board to the Conference Board’s Governance Center and Program Chair for the Conference Board Chief Legal Officers Council. Bill was a senior fellow and co-founder of Emory University’s Directors Institute. He currently serves on the Audit and Governance Committees of the Clark Atlanta University Board of Trustees and is General Counsel and Secretary of the EastWest Institute, where he also is chair of the Executive Committee.