Kaley Childs Karaffa 

Kaley is the Head of Board Advisory at Nasdaq. Prior to Nasdaq’s acquisition of Center of Board Excellence (CBE) in October 2019, Kaley was CBE’s Vice President, Client Services, Business Development & Legal from September 2015 through 2019. In her current role, and under her role at CBE, Kaley advises boards and CEOs on corporate governance matters, board and director effectiveness, CEO and leadership evaluation and performance, board and management alignment, and compliance and risk matters. She works with public, private, and nonprofit organizations in a wide range of industries globally. Prior to joining CBE, Kaley served as General Counsel of Clarolux LLC. Before beginning an in-house practice, she practiced law in New York City with a focus in real estate, banking law, and litigation. Prior to attending law school, Kaley served as Program Director of Jefferson County Teen Court.

Kaley is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Northside Charter High School in Brooklyn, NY, serves on the patient advisory board for a privately held pharmaceutical company, and serves on the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Patient Safety Committee and Patient & Family Advisory Council. She served as Co-Chair of the CLE Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association Corporate Counsel Section from 2015 through 2017. Kaley founded and served on the Board of Directors of YP Civitan of Greensboro from 2013 through 2016. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Political Science from Samford University and a Juris Doctor from Pace University School of Law. Kaley is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.

Stephen Perrone

Stephen Perrone is Director of Board Advisory at Nasdaq. In his role, Stephen works with the Board Advisory leadership and operations teams to provide client-focused guidance, planning, design, and execution of customized and effective evaluations and compliance processes.

Stephen was Director of Operations at the Center for Board Excellence (CBE), which was acquired by Nasdaq in 2019. With years of experience in conducting and managing thousands of evaluation and compliance questionnaire projects, Stephen has helped clients of all types identify optimal approaches to improving their governance processes.

Stephen received his B.S. in Business Administration from Guilford College.

Phil Neiswender

Phil is the Head of Nasdaq’s Compliance and Board Advisory business. Phil was the President, founding investor, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Board Excellence (CBE), prior to Nasdaq’s acquisition. Phil advises the board of directors and senior management at public, private, and not for profit entities.

His blend of experience working at public companies and startups provides a unique perspective to advise clients on compliance and governance matters. Phil leverages this experience to help organizations address board composition and effectiveness, strategic alignment between the board and senior management, and other governance and compliance related matters.

Prior to CBE, Phil held several senior leadership positions at both public and private companies, including Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary roles. Throughout his career, Phil has been sought out to advise his respective boards and management teams around legal, compliance, and governance matters. Immediately prior to joining CBE, Phil was Executive Vice President for Operations & Corporate Development, and Chief Legal Officer at Xevo, Inc. (purchased by Lear Corporation; NYSE: LEA), where Phil spent a significant amount of his time in Japan, Chief Operating Officer at Garagiste, Inc., and General Counsel, Vice President of Legal at BSQUARE Corporation (NASDAQ: BSQR). He also held both legal and business roles at Getty Images, Inc. during its season as a publicly traded Company (NYSE: GYI), and was an attorney at Graham & James, LLP and Riddell Williams, PS, in Seattle, WA.

Phil obtained his J.D. from the University of Virginia and his B.A. from the University of Washington. He is a member of the Washington State bar.

Gabriella Halasz-Clarke

As Vice President and Global Head of Governance Solutions at Nasdaq, Gabriella leads the business which provides governance and compliance technology and board advisory services to over 4,500 public, private, and non-profit boards and leadership teams, as well as the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence – a community of governance professionals promoting board excellence. Gabriella has over 20 years of experience in building global SaaS businesses across corporate governance, investor relations, and corporate communications in various roles spanning strategy, product management, go-to-market, sales and customer success. Prior to Nasdaq, she held leadership roles in the corporate group at Thomson Reuters and Reuters, including the acquisition and integration of the Hugin Group and RedEgg, a media monitoring service, and prior to that she held roles in strategic consulting at Roland Berger in Hungary, and the United Nations in Geneva.

Gabriella sits on the board of Kuberno, a Nasdaq Ventures company, and is a director of several Nasdaq subsidiary companies across Europe.

Gabriella holds a CEMS Masters in International Management from the ESADE Business School, Barcelona, Spain, and a Msc in Business and Management from the Corvinus University of Budapest. She has also obtained a Diploma in Corporate Finance from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) in 2007.  Originally from Hungary, she has lived and worked in the United States, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. She currently lives with her family in Richmond, United Kingdom.