The Governance Matrix: Focusing the Board & Executive Team on Key Corporate Risks

Jean Weng is the Corporate Secretary of Voya Financial, Inc., a Fortune 500 company that provides retirement, asset management and insurance solutions. In her current role, she works closely with the Board of Directors, advising it on corporate governance practices and trends, overseeing the organization and operation of all Board and Committee meetings and spearheading the company’s shareholder engagement program. In addition to her role as Corporate Secretary, she also oversees Federal and State Government Affairs and Legal Operations for the Law and Compliance department.

Prior to joining Voya, she was counsel in the Capital Markets Group of Davis Polk & Wardwell, LLP, where she worked on numerous capital raising transactions including IPOs, debt and equity follow-ons and derivatives transactions, as well as advising companies on 33 Act and 34 Act disclosure. She received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College, a master’s degree in musicology from Columbia University and a J.D. from Columbia Law School. She was chosen as the Corporate Governance Professional of the Year for a small/midcap company in the 2015 Corporate Governance Awards by Corporate Secretary magazine.

Uche Ndumele is currently Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Pinnacle Foods Inc. In his role, Mr. Ndumele is responsible for Pinnacle’s public disclosures, securities law and New York Stock Exchange compliance and corporate governance policies. Mr. Ndumele also provides legal support on issues related to employment matters, regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisition transactions and general corporate matters.

Prior to joining Pinnacle, Mr. Ndumele was an Assistant General Counsel at AOL Inc. and he provided counsel and advice regarding AOL’s securities and corporate governance matters. Before he transitioned to in-house counsel, Mr. Ndumele was a corporate associate whose practice focused primarily on advising clients with respect to securities laws, private placements and corporate governance matters, including the representation of clients in public offerings.

Mr. Ndumele serves on the Board of Directors of Practicing Attorneys for Law Students (PALS) as its Vice Chairman. Mr. Ndumele was named a 2017 General Counsel Award Winner in the Rising Star Category by NJBIZ in May 2017. The NJBIZ awards honor New Jersey’s best general counsel and chief legal officers who are making a difference for their companies and the state as a whole. The New Jersey Law Journal recently selected Mr. Ndumele as one of the 2016 New Leaders of the Bar for establishing himself as a leader within his organization as well as within the larger legal community. Mr. Ndumele was also named to the Lawyers of Color Hot List in 2014, which recognized minority attorneys excelling in the legal profession.

Mr. Ndumele is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York, the Bar of the State of New Jersey, and he is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

Roger O’Sullivan is General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer at Cogstate, a cognitive science company focused on optimizing the measurement of cognition. Mr. O’Sullivan has broad, frontline experience establishing strategic alliances and structuring and negotiating complex commercial and corporate transactions. At Cogstate, Mr. O’Sullivan serves as key legal advisor on all major business transactions, reporting directly to the CEO and board of directors. He also oversees certain regulatory compliance and development and protection of the company’s intellectual property portfolio.