Sara Anderson serves as Director, HR M&A and Executive Compensation at Thermo Fisher Scientific.  The Company has a very acquisitive track record spending over $7B in acquisitions per year on average, completing nearly 60 transactions in the last 10 years, including Patheon, PPD, and most recently, in 2023, acquisitions of The Binding Site and CorEvitas.  In her role, Sara is responsible for Total Rewards Due Diligence across all acquisitions.  This includes risk identification and analysis, 280G assessment, financial impact modeling for the deal and future Total Rewards impacts, and she is accountable for all deal negotiations in the Total Rewards space.  Additionally, she develops and champions deal retention strategies, securing buy-in from C-Suite executives and strategically positioning retention proposals with target company leadership.  She is passionate about HR M&A best practice sharing, internally and externally, and improving Thermo Fisher’s HR M&A capabilities aligned with evolving market trends. Sara also enjoys navigating the unique challenges that come with each deal regardless of size, engaging in people strategy development, assessing and addressing change management challenges, and leveraging her experience to minimize financial, deal, and people-related risks and maximize deal value.

Sara has developed her HR M&A expertise over the last six years with prior experience at Eli Lilly & Company working in the same capacity.  Over her almost 20-year career, Sara has had a variety of experiences spanning the Finance and HR functions allowing her to effectively bridge these cross-functional needs in the M&A deal context.  She has previously served as Director – Global Benefits, Advisor – Retirement Operations & Investments, Finance Leader for Connected Care division within Diabetes Business Unit, and Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Leader.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from Indiana University and obtained her MBA from Butler University.  She is a licensed CPA in Indiana and Six Sigma Certified Black Belt. 

Sara’s skills and learnings in M&A work translate well in her personal life (and vice versa).  She is a proud wife, mother of five children and three fur-babies and appreciates that there is never a dull moment in her blended family household or in the world of M&A!

Lindsay Lentz (she/her) joined Airbus in December 2021 as the Head of Rewards, Global Mobility, Payroll and People Operations with over 15 years of experience spanning aerospace and defense, outdoor sporting goods and financial organizations. Lindsay prides herself in educating and supporting employees through creative reinvention of employer offerings, including standing up HR functions. Carrying a passion for education into her personal life, Lindsay serves as a reading tutor for children with learning challenges.

Jason is a Managing Director in the People Advisory Services practice of EY, with 19 years of experience related to the analysis, design and implementation of compensation and benefit matters for both US domestic and internationally mobile employees. His expertise is in the compensation and benefits space for both US and multinational companies, equity compensation, global equity, annual & long-term incentive plan and design, payroll and tax withholding, and US tax technical matters, including but not limited to Section 162(m), Section 280G golden parachutes, and Section 409A.

Jason has also presented courses to various client stakeholders and professional groups focusing on US compensation and benefits issues, global equity, and the Executive Compensation Proxy Disclosure Rules.  Jason has also participated in workshops with the Women’s Commission on Equal Pay for the City of Columbus Ohio, and has presented on equal pay initiatives at the request of the Commission.

Credentials: Jason has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics (with Honors) from the University of Cincinnati; Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of New Brunswick (Canada) Faculty of Law where he served as an Associate Editor of the University of New Brunswick Law Review; and an L.L.M. in Taxation from the University of Washington School of Law. 

Jason has also attained the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation through Santa Clara University’s Executive Development Center and is a member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. 

Jason is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association and the United States Tax Court.  Jason is proficient in oral and written French and has a Certificate in French Immersion Studies for completion of French studies from grade school through high school.  Jason has also studied elementary oral and written Irish.

Dustin Lewis is a principal in Deloitte Tax’s Global Employer Services in practice group, specializing in global equity compensation consulting for multinational employers. Dustin has experience advising companies ranging from private startups to publicly-traded multinational corporations on all facets of equity compensation, including plan design and implementation, tax/regulatory compliance and strategy, employee communications strategy, and stock administration efficiency and optimization.  Dustin holds a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the UCLA School of Law and is a California-licensed attorney.

Kim is an accounting professional with 20+ years of experience in retail and transportation industries, with experience in equity compensation, benefits accounting & audit, financial reporting, P&L analysis, and tax.

Kim has worked for Walmart since 2013, and joined equity compensation in 2016, quickly becoming a strong advocate in the accounting and equity compensation world. Her skills span regulatory knowledge, corporate disclosures for Proxy, deep knowledge of SEC requirements, equity communications, and business planning.  Kim consistently gives back to the equity compensation industry by sharing her experience through industry presentations, benchmarking with other companies, and providing valuable insights through conference panels.

Kim’s issuer experience includes oversight of new vendor implementation, equity communications, insider trading compliance, accounting rules and regulations, and SOX controls.

Kim is a member of GEO, NASPP, and AICPA, and is a licensed CPA and CEP in the state of Arkansas.

Karol is an Account Manager for Stock and Option Solutions. Additionally, she is a member of the Global Equity Organization and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. She has been providing stock plan administration services to a variety of clients for over 6 years.  Karol came to the world of equity compensation after 20 years managing her own successful electronic tool manufacturing business. Much of her current ability to negotiate challenging situations, identify creative solutions, and relate to her client’s ultimate needs can be attributed to her former experience as a business owner.  Karol is known for her “hands on” approach, and comprehensive expertise for plans utilizing multiple equity software programs. She attended San Jose State University for business administration and today still resides in San Jose, CA. 

Brandon is the Senior Treasury Analyst for American Woodmark Corporation and administers the equity compensation for the company as part of his responsibilities.  He has overseen administering the corporate equity compensation for the past four years.  American Woodmark is a market leader in the cabinet-making industry, employing 10,000+ employees across the globe, headquartered in Winchester Virginia.  Prior to his role at American Woodmark, Brandon worked in the banking industry, for 15 years, as a Bank Manager.  Brandon has an BS from West Virginia University, in Business Management, and an MBA from Shepherd University.

For the past two years, Ashlee has worked as a Global Stock Plan Administrator managing ESPP for Lucid Motors. During this time, she has successfully managed the compliance of stock purchase plans, while ensuring accuracy and regulatory compliance globally. Ashlee has successfully launched ESPP in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. She prides herself on meeting employees where they are at and creating excitement through innovative plans in education. Lucid has gone through 4 ESPP resets and still maintains an above average ESPP participation rate.

In her former role as IPO specialist, Ashlee became a SME on Shareworks by Morgan Stanley. At the time, the number of Private to Public companies had substantially surpassed that of 2018 and 2019, due to this she recognized the pace in which work needed to be done and developed a passion for process development, audit controls, checklists, and documentation. Today Ashlee uses her 5 years of combined experience on the vendor and issuer side of equity compensation to build streamlined processes within Lucid's equity management platform. With her expertise and knowledge, Ashlee is able to provide valuable insight into how to increase employee engagement through stock ownership plans.

Nadine is currently Director of Stock Plans & Payroll with Amyris, Inc., a biotechnology firm with vision to make the best products available and help humanity at the same time. Stock programs include, ESPP, NQ’s, RSUs, and performance grants. In addition to the day to day operations for global stock programs, Nadine is responsible for managing the US payroll team. Current projects include stock administration and payroll related system and reporting improvements as well as system integrations. 
 
Prior positions in equity compensation most recently include 5+ years with ServiceSource as Director of Global Equity Programs and NALA Payroll, 7 years at Avago Technologies, a leader in the semi-conductor industry, MarketWatch/Dow Jones, and over 4+ years with AdForce/CMGi. Nadine has a strong background in developing, implementing and managing processes as well as preparation for IPOs (VC and private equity backed) and Secondary Offerings. She held prior positions outside of the stock administration field as Controller of an educational publishing and training company, and various financial positions in banking. 
 
Nadine is an active member of the Global Equity Organization (GEO), has attained Fellow of Global Equity (FGE) designation, and has served on the Issuer Advisory Council for the last several years. Other designations include CEP (Level 2). She holds both BA-Chemistry and MBA-Finance degrees from University of Miami. 
 
When not working, Nadine spends her time racing sailboats, skiing and travelling.