EWIB-Connecticut Presents: Corporate Board Leadership Roundtable With J.P. Morgan Private Bank

Join us for an intimate roundtable focused on corporate board leadership sponsored by J.P. Morgan. Rebecca Thornton, Head of Director Advisory Services at J.P. Morgan, will share best practices on building boardrooms across the globe through governance, composition, and talent. Corporate executives and corporate board members will enjoy this robust discussion and learn how to get the best out of a board to maximize the impact on the company’s success. We will be joined by special guest Marie Rocha, the founder of Realist Ventures, a venture fund based in Connecticut that funds early-stage biotech and software startups.

Ticket includes appetizers and two drink tickets.

Program

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Arrival, check-in, and hors d’oeuvres
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Discussion
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Additional networking

Speaker Bios

 Marie Rocha, Co-Founder of Realist Ventures

Marie Rocha is the founder of Realist Ventures, a venture fund based in Connecticut that funds early-stage biotech and software startups. She has over 20 years of experience in business and technology as a software engineer and serial entrepreneur. Marie’s first startup was a candidates matching platform for staffing agencies. She later co-founded a sustainable e-commerce store in 2010, followed by IMAK software, a startup building software and platforms for small businesses and nonprofits. Marie founded Realist Lab, a tech incubator to support entrepreneurs seeking help with funding, technology, and practical tools to scale their businesses and startups. As a champion for women, she is one of HAYVN Hatch’s founders, a quarterly women-centric pitch event to support women founders seeking funding, exposure, marketing, and growth. In her spare time, she serves on several boards and mentors underrepresented founders with their businesses and startups.

Rebecca Thornton, Managing Director and Head of Director Advisory Services at J.P. Morgan

Rebecca Thornton is Head of Director Advisory Services (DAS) at J.P. Morgan based in New York. DAS advises corporate clients globally with their evolving board needs. Under Rebecca’s leadership, DAS has grown into a highly valued and differentiated platform. The group has worked with nearly 1,200 public and private companies of various sizes, situations, and geographies while assembling an impressive cross-section of board-ready talent. A seasoned and respected governance expert, Rebecca spent more than two decades advising boards of directors on topics ranging from director recruitment, board design and composition, and governance best practices to CEO search and succession planning. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 2018, Rebecca was a senior member of Spencer Stuart’s Board of Director’s Practice and, earlier in her career, worked in the Chairman’s Office of Heidrick & Struggles, where she conducted candidate and company research in support of Fortune 500 CEO and Board searches. Rebecca holds a BA, with honors, from Colby College. She serves as a Trustee of New Canaan Country School (CT) and is on the Executive Committee of Westminster School (CT).