Chair, Membership Committee

Adrian Atilano

Adrian leads the HUB CA Executive Liability Practice. He is well-versed in the complex issues facing public, private and non-profit organizations in the realm of Executive Risk, strategically advising clients on a broad spectrum of management liability coverages, including directors and officers liability, employment practices liability, data security, and errors & omissions programs.

Adrian understands the stakes are higher now more than ever for his clients. He and his team take a forward-looking view of each client’s unique risk profile ensuring that not only the right coverages are put in place, but that corporate governance issues are also incorporated.

Adrian has several years of experience managing executive liability programs for companies ranging from mid-sized to Fortune 500. Prior to joining HUB, Adrian served as President of Intercare Insurance Solution’s Executive Risk Division. He also served as Practice Leader of the Marsh San Diego Financial & Professional Products (FINPRO) department.

Prior to Intercare and Marsh, Adrian gained an “insider’s” perspective of executive liability issues as Territory Manager for Chubb’s Executive Protection department in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Partner, Cooley LLP

Matthew Browne

Matt Browne’s practice focuses on transactional and general corporate matters, with Matt typically serving as his client’s first point of contact at Cooley for all matters and regularly working with them on mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings, public company reporting and disclosure issues, corporate governance matters and other commercial matters. Matt also has expertise in the drug royalty space, having advised clients on numerous drug royalty transactions involving many different transaction structures and with aggregate proceeds in excess of $2.3 billion.

Dean of the School of Law, University of San Diego

Stephen Ferruolo

Stephen C. Ferruolo is the 10th dean of University of San Diego School of Law. He assumed his duties on August 1, 2011.

Before joining USD, Ferruolo served as the founding partner and chair of the San Diego office of Goodwin Procter LLP, an international firm with 850 attorneys in nine offices in the United States, Asia and Europe. In addition to his continued service as chair of the office, Ferruolo was a member of the firm-wide executive committee since 2009.

Ferruolo’s practice focused on transactional work, with a special emphasis on corporate finance and governance and mergers and acquisitions. Much of his practice involved representing technology and life science companies in San Diego, nationally and internationally. In 2011, Ferruolo was elected vice chairman of BIOCOM/San Diego, the largest regional life sciences association in the world, which represents more than 550 member companies. From 2003 to 2011, he served as vice president and general counsel, and from 2011 to 2014 as vice chairman, of BIOCOM.

Prior to joining Goodwin Procter in 2007, Ferruolo was a partner and co-chair of the Corporate/VLG Practice Group at Heller Ehrman LLP in its Palo Alto and San Diego offices. At Heller Ehrman, he also served terms on the firm’s Policy Committee and Compensation Committee and served as the Co-Chair of the Life Sciences Practice Group.

Ferruolo has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the Life Sciences category and in The Best Lawyers in America in the Biotechnology Law category. In 2011, he was listed as one of the “Top 25 Biotech Lawyers in California” by the Daily Journal. In 2006, BIOCOM awarded him with the William W. Otterson Service Award, presented for outstanding support of the life sciences industry in San Diego.

Ferruolo is a 1971 graduate of the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University where he earned a Masters in Philosophy in 1973. Ferruolo received his MA in 1975 and PhD in 1979 in History at Princeton University, then served on the faculties at Bennington College and Stanford University. His book, The Origins of the University: The Schools of Paris and Their Critics (Stanford University Press, 1985) has been widely cited and remains the authoritative work in the field.

Ferruolo graduated with honors from Stanford Law School in 1990. Upon graduation from Stanford Law School, Ferruolo clerked for the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Office Managing Partner, KPMG San Diego

Cathy Gonzales

Cathy Gonzales was recently named the managing partner for the KPMG San Diego office. Cathy has been with KPMG for over 22 years and has over 24 years of experience in supporting clients with Internal Audit services, Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance, IPO assistance, Corporate Governance and Business Risk issues. Cathy works with clients in the Energy, Technology, Life Sciences, Healthcare and Financial Services Industries.

Cathy started with the firm’s Los Angeles office in 1996. In 2000, she transferred to San Diego to start the San Diego based Advisory Service Practice. Since this time, Cathy has had responsibilities for Business Development and Client Service Delivery and helped grow the practice to over 90 professionals. Cathy is the leader for the San Diego Chapter of KPMG’s Network of Women and is responsible for implementation of the program and events for the office.

Cathy has been on the Athena San Diego Board for the last 6 years and currently is the Treasurer and sits on the Executive Committee. She has a Bachelor of Accountancy Degree from the University of San Diego and is a CPA in the State of California.

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) | Strategy Marketing Consultant, Chief Outsiders

Angela Hill

A 30-year marketing expert, Angela enables B2B companies to build strong lead gen systems, refresh brand architecture, and launch products and services. With extensive experience building integrated martech systems for lead generation, she revs up marketing engines to support sustainable income streams, increasing brand value pre and post M&A. A C-level marketing leader with experience in global business transformation, building brands for Fortune 500 clients, she helps CEOs navigate the challenges of modern marketing to create the right strategy with Blue Ocean differentiation and maximum ROI from marketing budgets.

How Angela has Helped Businesses Grow

• Prepped and facilitated client acquisitions, ranging in value from $50 million to $200 million for publicly disclosed valuations at Incitrio. Leveraged marketing strategy and targeted campaigns to increase brand valuation for maximum ROI and sales benefit, working with global clients as the chief brand strategist.
• Redefined branding and marketing strategy, built a fully integrated CRM and marketing automation system from scratch, and created a marketing engine at Andrews Cooper. Improved tradeshow ROI by 233% using a lean, targeted marketing spend.
• Led a team of UX/UI designers in Europe and partnered with the software development team in Australia and India to take Repositax from concept to complete build-out and helped launch the product within the US.
• Optimized marketing and sales performance at Managed Solution, partnering with the C-suite. Refined processes, systems, and budget; managed and optimized the internal marketing team. Oversaw a complete brand refresh, redefined event tradeshow, improved channel strategy, and partnered with the sales team to increase revenue.
• Assessed, managed, and optimized marketing leveraging an outsourced marketing team at Hall Private Wealth Advisors. Worked with the CEO and Founder to clarify ICP, brand positioning, and marketing strategy to achieve the firm’s marketing and sales goals.
• Led creative strategy and development at eBank Communications to build the brand from scratch and launched a service line of comprehensive marketing services for the banking industry, including integrated online marketing strategies paired with anonymization that adhere to strict privacy rules, security, and data integrity concerns.

Executive Experience

• Fractional CMO, Andrews Cooper
• Fractional CMO, Charbon Plus
• Fractional CMO, Repositax, Inc.
• Fractional CMO, DVC Dry Vapor Cleaner
• Fractional CMO, Managed Solution
• Fractional CMO, Hall Private Wealth Advisors
• CMO/COO, eBank Communications

Education

• BFA, Visual Communication, Washington University

Vice President, Operations Support, San Diego Gas & Electric

Jennifer Jett

Jennifer Jett is vice president of operations support for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), one of Sempra’s regulated California utilities. In this role, Jett oversees supply management, supplier diversity, logistics, fleet, real estate, land services, tribal relations and facilities.

Prior to her current role, Jett served as vice president, governance, and corporate secretary for Sempra. In that role, she was responsible for advising the board of directors and senior management on a broad range of governance matters.

Over the past 17 years, Jett has held various positions of increasing responsibility within the law and finance departments at Sempra, where she worked on a wide range of securities, transactional, governance and financing matters for Sempra and its subsidiaries.

Jett serves as a board member of the Corporate Directors Forum.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and anthropology from the University of Vermont, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Partner, Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP

Paul Johnson

Paul B. Johnson helps entrepreneurs and their investors get companies formed, funded and sold, including initial formation of corporations and LLCs, negotiation of seed, early and mid-stage equity financings and buy and sell-side mergers and acquisitions.  Paul is also adept at venture capital investments, public and private securities offering and compliance and general business counseling.  Paul has also counseled some of San Diego’s most successful companies in Securities and Exchange Commission compliance and general corporate governance.

Recognitions

• 2016 and 2017 BNY Mellon M&A Advisor of the Year (sell-side legal representation in a sale to a public company)
• Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent Rating
• San Diego Business Journal “Best of the Bar” – 2015
• “Top Lawyers,” San Diego Magazine, 2015-2017
• The Daily Transcript Top Attorney – 2012 (Corporate Transactional)

Education

• JD, BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School, cum laude, 1996 (Law Review Editor)
• MBA (International Finance), Brigham Young University, cum laude, 1996
• BS (International Finance), Brigham Young University, 1992

Publications

• Co-author with Aaron Sokoloff, “How Your Company’s Valuation Can Be Impacted by Convertible Notes,” December 7, 2017.
• Co-author with Aaron Sokoloff, “When Investors Require Side Agreements,” September 21, 2017.
• Co-author. “The Trouble with Strategic Financings,” June 16, 2015.

Managing Partner, DAL Consulting Group

David Lang

David Lang serves as the Senior Development and Community Relations Officer for Bastyr University’s California campus in San Diego. In this role, Lang connects philanthropy and organizations to the university in support of its vision to bring “health and wellness to the human community” as the nation’s leading natural health arts and sciences institution. Lang also advises early stage companies focused on environmental agriculture, natural health and wellness, and alternative and renewable energy in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Earlier, he was the founding executive director of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, the collaborative body and collective voice for 26 cultural institutions in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park. Prior to joining the partnership, he was director of government affairs for KSA Industries, parent company of a diverse group of businesses (including the NFL’s Tennessee Titans) in Houston, Texas. Lang serves on the YMCA of San Diego County Board of Directors, Corporate Directors Forum Board of Directors, Association of Fundraising Professionals Board of Directors, and USA Triathlon Foundation Board of Trustees.

Assurance Partner, BDO

Jamie Mason

Jamie Mason is an Assurance Partner in BDO’s San Diego office and has over 17 years of professional experience serving public and private audit clients in the technology, manufacturing, software, life science, pharmaceutical, medical device, automotive, insurance and service industries. Jamie has worked with a wide range of clients, from start-ups to large multinational Fortune 500 companies.

Jamie has extensive experience in revenue recognition, business combinations, share-based compensation, foreign currency translation, consolidations, non-controlling interests, accounting for exit and disposal activities, and Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) 404 audits of internal controls. He has served as a firm-wide specialist in financial accounting for income taxes and facilitates local and national trainings on a variety of topics.

Prior to joining BDO, Jamie was a Senior Manager with a Big Four firm. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Managing Director, Global Capital Markets, Donnelley Financial Solutions

Mike Metz

Mike Metz is in the Global Capital Markets segment within Donnelley Financial Solutions. He has been involved in the industry for over twenty years – with Bowne, RR Donnelley and now Donnelley Financial Solutions. Mike transitioned from the managing the Operations prior to taking on his current Sales and Business Development role. He has been actively involved with the business community, working with local legal, finance and executive professionals. He provides consulting services to public and private companies, specifically in the areas of IPOs, Mergers & Acquisitions, SEC filings, Virtual Datarooms, Translations, XBRL, Annual Reports and Proxy Statements. He has partnered with companies in many industries, including life sciences, software, telecommunications, software and defense. His clients rely upon his unique mix of financial, legal and SEC expertise, and many clients view him as a friend and a trusted member of their core decision-making team.

Mike graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Communication. Mike is an active sponsor and member of Century Club, CDF, ACG, FEI, Biocom, SDVG, NIRI, Rady Children’s Hospital and Surfrider Foundation. Mike was born in Denver, CO and grew up in Irvine, CA. He currently lives in Torrey Hills with his wife Paige, daughter and son.

Dean, Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego

Lisa Ordóñez

Lisa Ordóñez became the Dean of the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego beginning September 2019. She previously served for 25 years at the University of Arizona as a research faculty member and later as vice dean for over four years.

As vice dean at the University of Arizona, Ordóñez significantly impacted the operations of the Eller College of Management. At Eller, Ordóñez supported the development of an online undergraduate program, an international program, and six master’s programs. Ordóñez cultivated research by increasing funds and activities, successfully restructured the college-wide financial allocation model, initiated diversity and inclusion activities, and headed a successful AACSB review. She also co-chaired the university-wide strategic plan.

As dean of the Rady School, Ordóñez will apply her operational skills to lead the school and build on the strong foundation laid by founding Dean Robert Sullivan. As the second dean of the Rady School, she intends to transition the school from a start-up to focus on growth and further cement the school’s global business research prominence and impact as an innovation focused, economic engine within the San Diego business community and beyond.

Ordóñez’s academic interests are in the areas of decision making and behavioral ethics. Her research examines the negative aspects of goal setting. In particular, she has found that pursuing performance goals can lead to unethical behavior to meet those goals. She has published several scholarly articles and chapters in this field. She received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to support her work on ethical decision making and is a recognized expert in the field of ethical behavior in organizations. She has also examined the impact of emotions and other factors on decision making. Her research has been cited in numerous media outlets including Money Magazine, New York Times, The Economist, CNN, Forbes, Running Magazine, and Real Simple Magazine and on NPR Marketplace.

Ordóñez holds a Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology, a Master’s in Marketing, and a Bachelor’s degree all from the University of California Berkeley.

Global General Counsel and Secretary, ResMed, Inc.

Michael J. Rider

Mr. Rider is the senior vice president, deputy global general counsel for ResMed, a global manufacturer ResMed is a San Diego, California-based medical equipment company. It primarily provides cloud-connectable medical devices for the treatment of sleep apnea (such as CPAP devices and masks), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other respiratory conditions. ResMed also offers comprehensive out-of-hospital software platforms to support the professionals and caregivers who help people stay healthy in the home or care setting of their choice. ResMed is traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol RMD.  Since its founding in Sydney, Australia in 1989, ResMed has grown to $40.0 billion in market capitalization, with global sales of more than $3 billion.  Mr. Rider is the legal business partner for the sleep and respiratory care business, accounting for approximately 80% of ResMed’s global revenues.  Mr. Rider works with a team that provides day to day legal work for ResMed’s sleep and respiratory business, including contracts, antitrust, regulatory compliance, privacy, and litigation. Mr. Rider is also responsible for managing assertion of ResMed’s intellectual property rights through litigation, and defending the company from suits by others.

Before joining ResMed, Mr. Rider served as the senior vice president, general counsel of Callaway Golf Company, providing legal guidance on a number of issues, including intellectual property litigation, antitrust counseling, general commercial litigation and employment law issues. Callaway Golf manufactures and sells golf clubs, balls and accessories, under the Callaway Golf®, Odyssey and other brands.  Prior to joining Callaway Golf, Mr. Rider was a senior attorney in the litigation department of American Airlines and was responsible for the airline’s antitrust litigation. Mr. Rider was also an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, specializing in antitrust, intellectual property and trade secret litigation. After completing his law degree, Mr. Rider clerked for the Honorable George C. Pratt, of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in New York.

Mr. Rider earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law and his B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Arizona.  During law school, Mr. Rider served as the executive editor of the San Diego Law Review. Mr. Rider is a past recipient of USD’s distinguished alumni award, serves on the law school’s board of visitors, and is a frequent lecturer on intellectual property enforcement.

Mr. Rider lives in San Diego with his wife, Deborah (a USD School of Law alumna), and their three children.

Director of Business Development - West Coast Region, Mintz

David Salisbury

David is the Director of Business Development for the West Coast Region at Mintz Levin, where he is responsible for managing the firm’s California branding and business development efforts.

Before joining Mintz Levin, David served as the Director of Marketing and Business Development in the San Diego office of a nationally recognized law firm, where he strategically advised the firm and its attorneys on community involvement, marketing, public relations, and business development.

David’s broad-based experience includes advertising, public relations, business development, and corporate communications campaigns. In his career, he has held several senior level marketing leadership roles in the San Diego business community, including National Marketing Manager for ARRK Product Development Group and Marketing Director of HOIST Fitness Systems.

He regularly speaks about marketing, networking, and business development topics, and he has served as a mentor to MBA students at the University of San Diego for more than six years. David is also active in the CONNECT, BIOCOM, and CommNexus community organizations as well as participates in fundraising for local charities, such as the San Diego Bar Foundation and SHARP HospiceCare – Homes for Hospice Program.

David received his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of San Diego, with an emphasis in marketing and management (1995).

Professional & Community Involvement:
Former chair, University of San Diego School of Business Alumni Council
Chair, Resources Development Committee of the Center for Community Solutions
Director, Center for Community Solutions Board
Director, Corporate Directors Forum Board

Education:
University of San Diego, BBA

Audit Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP

Hiral Shah

Hiral is a partner with Deloitte and Touche LLP and has over 18 years of public accounting experience serving a wide range of clients, including both publicly held and privately owned companies.

Hiral has worked her entire career in Deloitte San Diego. Hiral is industry agnostic and has served clients in life sciences (public and emerging growth companies), healthcare, insurance for profit education, real estate and manufacturing industries. Hiral works with and advises her clients on complex or specialized accounting processes. Known for her rapid grasp of issues and quick responses, she has advised C-suite executives and audit committees on a broad spectrum of issues. Her ability to identify risks early and determine a clear path for resolution helps her clients avoid unwelcome surprises.

Hiral is passionate about the people and local community; She has led the Inclusion Council Leader for Deloitte San Diego and is involved with several WIN (women’s initiatives) in the office. She is currently serving as a Board Member of YWCA – San Diego. Hiral is the Board Readiness Program leader C-suite executives and aspiring board members to prepare them for board service and amplify Deloitte’s relationship with board members.

Hiral actively mentors’ young colleagues (especially diverse colleagues) and is respected for her direct communication style and strong coordination skills.

Hiral is a graduate of California State University – San Marcos and belongs to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP

Colleen Smith

Colleen Smith is a member of the Securities Litigation & Professional Liability Practice, representing public companies and corporate officers and directors in securities class actions, shareholder derivative litigation, mergers and acquisitions litigation, SEC investigations, internal investigations and other complex, high-stakes litigation.

Ms. Smith is experienced in all aspects of complex litigation, including major motion practice, fact and expert discovery, trial and appeals. In recent years, she led a six-week jury trial in federal court involving claims totaling nearly US$200 million which the jury returned a unanimous verdict for her client. Ms. Smith has successfully briefed and argued appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and in the California Courts of Appeals.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Smith served as a law clerk to David R. Thompson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and to James H. Michael of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Prior to law school, Ms. Smith served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy.

Ms. Smith is on the Business Development Committee for the San Diego office and oversees the Securities Litigation Practice Mentor Program.

Managing Member, Mintz

Scott Stanton

Scott is a corporate attorney with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, corporate governance, and general corporate matters. His experience includes: structuring and negotiating M&A deals of all sizes; leading public and private securities transactions; serving as primary outside counsel to public and private companies; and advising clients on SEC compliance and other governance matters. He represents companies, boards of directors, and board committees in a wide variety of industries, including software, medical devices, life sciences, semiconductors, manufacturing, consumer products, insurance and financial services.

In the M&A side of his practice, Scott handles public company mergers, tender offers, hostile takeovers, and many other types of strategic acquisitions and divestitures. His capital markets capabilities include representing issuers and underwriters in public and private offerings of debt and equity securities. He also guides clients through initial public offerings (IPOs), private investment in public equity (PIPE) transactions, registered direct offerings, bond offerings, private placements, and venture financings.

Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Scott was a partner in the San Diego office of a global law firm, where he served as chair of the firm’s global corporate practice group from 2010 to 2013. Earlier, he practiced at a California law firm that focused on serving technology and biotechnology clients.

Recognitions & Awards

• Recommended by The Legal 500 United States (2012–2014)
• Best Lawyers in America: Mergers and Acquisitions Law (2007-2018)
• Best Lawyers in America: Securities / Capital Markets Law (2013-2018)
• Included on the Super Lawyers list: (2007-2016, 2018)
• C. Hugh Friedman Director of the Year award, Corporate Directors Forum (2015)