Episode 229 - James Downing

James "Jim" Downing is a seasoned compliance professional with over 25 years of experience in the broker-dealer and investment advisory industry. Currently serving as the Chief Compliance Officer of JLL Securities, Jim has held similar roles at esteemed organizations such as Morningstar, Aon, BMO, and JP Morgan. Prior to his corporate positions, Jim worked as a FINRA examiner at the Chicago District Office for 5 years, gaining valuable insights into regulatory compliance. Jim has his Juris Doctorate with honors from Taft Law School and a Masters of Accounting with honors from Roosevelt University.Connect with James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesrdowning/

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Bill Ryan.Bill Ryan is responsible for leading AT&T’s compliance’s organization and supporting AT&T’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements of the countries and jurisdictions where AT&T operates. Bill also leads legal support for AT&T’s Operations organization under Jeff McElfresh and for AT&T Latin America and Global Marketing organization led by Lori Lee, including support for AT&T Mexico.Before taking his current position, Bill provided legal support for the Consumer organization, including sales, products, marketing, advertising, digital, retail and care operations. Prior to that role, Bill was vice president and associate general counsel responsible for providing legal support for Content strategy and execution, including negotiating programming agreements entered into by DIRECTV and U-verse, acquiring rights necessary to develop new technologies and providing legal support for key strategic transactions.

Jason Lesandrini, PhD, FACHE, LPEC, HEC-C is a distinguished ethicist and leader with over two decades of experience in clinical, research, and organizational ethics. He is the founder and principal of The Ethics Architect: an outcomes-driven consulting firm specializing in the assessment and execution of ethics programming, the creation of ethical cultures and developing ethical leaders. In addition, he leads the departments of ethics, advance care planning, spiritual health, and language access for a large health system in Georgia. As a certified Healthcare Ethics Consultant (HEC-C) and a Leadership Professional in Ethics and Compliance (LPEC), Dr. Lesandrini brings a unique blend of theoretical knowledge and practical experience to his work. He has developed innovative programs in ethical leadership, ethical climate, and organizational ethics that have significantly improved organizational culture.Connect with Jason on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-lesandrini-phd-fache-lpec-hec-c-8a75658/

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Fabiana Klajner Leschziner.Fabiana is the Embraer Chief Compliance and Governance Officer since January 2025. From June 2016 to December 2024, she was the Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of the Company. Prior to joining Embraer, she worked at DuPont in Brazil from September 2002 to June 2016 as Legal Director for Brazil and the Andean Region, responsible for the legal aspects of all businesses of DuPont in Brazil and Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. From June 1998 to December 2001, Fabiana was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York.Fabiana graduated from the University of São Paulo School of Law in 1993 and has an LL.M degree from Cornell Law School, Ithaca, USA, 1998. She specialized in corporate law, corporate finance, capital markets, antitrust, international trade and compliance.

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Jacqui Pruet.Jacquelyn Pruet - Driving change in challenging environments to achieve desired outcomes. Your solution to corporate content strategy, creation, program implementation, and oversight.A corporate "McGyver" that gets your organization to the moon with scotch tape, bubble gum, and a toothpick.A change management specialist, legal expert, and strategist that helps organizations achieve measurable outcomes for behavioral modification goals by creating award-winning programs which are cost effective and impactful.Connect with Jaqcui on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jacquelynsgpruet

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Elena Kohn.  After graduating from University College London and Stetson University College of Law (both with honors), Elena has been focusing her legal career in the healthcare space. She understands the challenges businesses face when navigating the ever-changing healthcare regulatory landscape. At AdventHealth, Elena is responsible for advice and counsel to several hospitals in the West Florida Division of the company in connection with healthcare legal issues, including medical staff issues, patient issues, physician contracts, practice acquisitions, Board advising, corporate matters, and federal and state laws. She has two children and loves fine-tuning her debate skills with her young daughter.For an extra challenge, she takes on her teenage son – and sometimes wins.  Connect with Elena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenakohn/

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Anitha Vittal.Anitha is recognised as a global ethics, risk, compliance and internal audit leader with proven experience and expertise in establishing Centres of Excellence at GCCs across industry verticals.A passionate professional, she has over 23 years of service in leading and developing high performing teams across India, Europe and US markets. Her engagements include - internal audit, risk management, compliance, business process and financial compliance, data privacy, SoX, GRC program management, digitisation.

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Pat Poitevin.Mr. Pat Poitevin is an internationally recognized expert in anti-corruption, corporate ethics, and compliance. He is the co-founder and executive director of the Canadian Centre of Excellence for Anti-Corruption (CCEAC). He is also co-founder & CEO of the boutique advisory firm Active Compliance and Ethics Group (ACEG). Mr. Poitevin is a 35-year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and retired in October 2017, where he was the RCMP's anti-corruption and compliance expert. He has also been an investigator and expert on drugs, organized crime, and financial crime. He is in demand as a speaker, university lecturer, and trainer at the international level and has extensive experience in program development and capacity building. Mr. Poitevin has been advising and helping public and private organizations to improve their ethics, compliance, and anti-corruption measures. Mr. Poitevin has also worked on research, consultative, and advisory projects with the G20, UNODC, and the IMF. He was a member of the Canadian Project Committee (PC278) involved in the development of the ISO 37001 Anti-bribery and ISO 37002 Whistleblowing Management systems standard as well ISO 42001 AI Management systems. He is a member of the Transparency International Expert Network, ACFE, IAFCI, AACI, and several other professional associations. He also has the CACM and TASA professional designations. He is a member of Transparency International Canada and a Certified Anti-Corruption Manager (CMAC-USA).Connect with Pat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patpoitevin/

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Elizabeth Wilks-Wood.Elizabeth is a barrister by training, who started her legal career as a regulator, in the Office of Telecommunications and the European Commission. She has over 20 years’ in house experience of advising companies in the UK and internationally, including at Digicel, du and Royal Mail. Elizabeth is passionate about making compliance simple, and empowering all to make ethical decisions every day. In 2017, her team in Royal Mail was awarded “In House Compliance Team of the Year” by Women in Compliance. In 2018, as compliance lead for the Ritz Hotel Casino, the company was awarded “Socially Responsible Operator of the Year”, for their innovative work with a clinician and economist, to proactively identify those who may develop problematic play. She joined Carlsberg in 2019, and during her tenure her team worked to embed and enhance compliance in over 100 markets, many of which are high risk. Elizabeth is a lifelong learner. She has master’s degrees in international business law, economics and a distinction in the psychology of behaviour change.Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-wilks-wood-46b0b448

In this episode of The Ethics Experts, Nick welcomes Michael Levin.Michael Levin has a proven track-record of developing strategies and tactics for reducing compliance and ethics risks and has designed best-practice compliance programs for more than 100 companies.Michael spent 10+ years overseeing Compliance and Ethics at Freddie Mac, leading a team of compliance professionals and corporate investigators, and setting the strategy to manage and mitigate Ethics, Culture and Conduct risk across the enterprise. This includes the Compliance Helpline, the Code of Conduct, employee trading controls, corporate investigations, and enterprise risk and compliance training. Levin was the founder of and also served as Secretary of Freddie Mac’s Conduct Risk Committee.Connect with Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-levin-0a958a1/