Corie Barry served as CEO of Best Buy, a leading provider of consumer technology products and services, for seven years.

As the second-longest-tenured CEO in Best Buy’s history, Corie guided the company through the pandemic, inflationary pressures, and rapid shifts in consumer technology while strengthening its competitive position and advancing its long-term growth strategy. Over her 27-year career, she held a variety of leadership positions and played a key role in shaping and executing the company’s Building the New Blue strategy and related transformation.

A Minnesota native, Corie earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and management from the College of Saint Benedict, where she serves on the Board of Trustees. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Domino’s Pizza.

Cynthia Brinkley is an experienced C-suite senior executive and board director recognized at the state and national level for her accomplishments in the corporate, public, educational and nonprofit sectors.

She has over 30 years of executive leadership experience at large, global blue-chip companies. At Centene Corporation, she served in several roles including President and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Administrative and Markets officer, where she oversaw the markets (P&L for the company), international operations, business integration activities, government relations and was responsible for the transformation efforts for Centene.

Prior to Centene, she served as Chief Human Resources Officer(CHRO) for General Motors, where she led the GM post-bankruptcy team in transforming the corporation’s human capital model, developing its talent strategy, and in recruiting critical new talent to lead GM into the future. She began her career at AT&T(SBC) where she held various senior roles, including Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer. In that role, she led the creation of AT&T University and as its first CDO, rapidly advanced AT&T’s recognition as a leader in diversity. She also served as President of AT&T/SBC for Missouri and Arkansas, and Area Vice President for the Los Angeles region.

As Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Officer at Travelers, Lisa Caputo oversees marketing, digital, customer experience, corporate communications, creative services and research. She serves on the Management and Operating Committees and Travelers Foundation Board.

Lisa spent 11 years at Citigroup managing global marketing, public affairs and community relations as Executive Vice President, Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs. She was also Chairman and CEO of Women & Co.

Before Citi, Lisa held senior executive marketing and communications positions at Disney and CBS. She was Deputy Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Press Secretary to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and worked in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Lisa is a Best Buy Board Director and graduated with a B.A. from Brown and an MSJ from Northwestern.

Dr. Maria Azua Himmel is an Independent Director of Pan-American Life Insurance Group, serving on the Audit and Finance Committees, and a former Fortune 50 technology executive. She previously held senior leadership roles at Bank of America, Fidelity Investments, Barclays, and IBM, leading global organizations across financial services, technology, data, cybersecurity, and enterprise transformation. Her board expertise includes audit and finance oversight, enterprise risk management, AI governance, cybersecurity, data governance, regulatory compliance, and digital transformation. Dr. Himmel holds a Doctorate in Computer Science and an MBA, is an NACD Certified Director, author of The Social Factor, holder of 51 U.S. patents, and a Women in Technology International Hall of Fame inductee.

Sophia Hudson is a corporate partner in the New York office of Kirkland and Ellis, LLP and leads the firm’s global Capital Markets practice. Most recently recognized as a 2023 Law360 MVP, one of the legal industry’s rarest and most prestigious awards, Sophia’s experience spans numerous industries, public clients and private equity sponsors.

Deborah Lifshey is a managing director at Pearl Meyer, where she specializes in advising clients on compensation matters from a legal perspective including securities disclosure, taxation and corporate governance issues, negotiation contracts, and reasonableness opinion letters.

Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, Deborah practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where she specialized in executive compensation, ERISA matters, and corporate transactions, and at Holland and Knight, where she specialized in employment litigation matters. She has authored and/or co-authored the following works: “The New Qualified Plan Minimum Distribution Rules,” The New York Law Journal (Winter, 1996); “IRS Changes Rules Through Field Service Advice – This Time on FICA and ESPP,” Journal of Taxation of Employee Benefits (January/February 2000); Perquisites, Executive Compensation and Benefits Handbook, BNA Publications (2002); Negotiating and Drafting Employment Agreements, Executive Compensation and Benefits Handbook (2004); and Executive Compensation: The Perspective of the Compensation Consultant, Chapter 15 of Corporate Governance: Law and Practice (2005). Deborah is a frequent speaker and panelist on disclosure and taxation issues, and is regularly quoted on executive compensation best practices.

She is a graduate of the Industrial and Labor Relations School at Cornell University and the University of Florida College of Law, and served as a federal clerk for the Honorable Judge Susan H. Black on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Deborah is a member of the New York and Florida Bars.

Sharon Podstupka is a managing director at Pearl Meyer with more than 25 years of consulting experience. She advises boards and senior leadership teams on executive compensation, governance, and strategic communication, with a particular focus on translating complex pay and leadership decisions into clear, effective stakeholder communications. Sharon works with organizations across the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors on executive compensation disclosure, employee education, and communication strategies that connect pay and performance with business and talent priorities. Prior to joining Pearl Meyer in 2013, she spent 17 years with Towers Perrin/Towers Watson, where she led executive compensation communication services across the Americas. She is a frequent speaker and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business.