Compliance Chronicles with Liisa Thomas

Stepping into compliance “by accident,” building guardrails that actually help the business, and staying curious enough to reinvent your career—Episode 14 with Bill Connolly is packed with practical lessons for anyone in risk, privacy, or compliance leadership. In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, host Liisa Thomas talks with Bill Connolly, Head of Resiliency Risk for the U.S. retail bank at...

In this lucky 13th episode of Compliance Chronicles, host Liisa Thomas talks with Katie Tomashevski, a New York–born, London‑trained British solicitor and internal auditor who specializes in data privacy and compliance. Katie shares her path from photojournalism and the entertainment and music industry into regulation, then into data protection, internal audit, and privacy roles in a large company...

In this 12th episode of Compliance Chronicles, Liisa talks with Joe Habib, who shares insights on navigating privacy, compliance, and AI. He emphasizes the importance of understanding technology, building trust, and taking a 'yes before no' approach. His journey and advice inspire a commitment to continuous learning. Takeaways Understanding technology Building trust 'Yes before no' approach Contin...

Chief Legal Office Lori Baggett shares her journey from small‑town Florida to Big Law litigator to CLO at PODS, a national moving and storage company. In this 11th Episode of Compliance Chronicles, she talks with host Liisa Thomas about what really changes when you move from law firm partner to in‑house counsel and ultimately into the chief legal officer role. Lori describes her path from Division...

In this episode of Compliance Chronicles , our 10th, Kam Dodge , an in‑house leader with roots in Northwestern SESP ’s Learning and Organizational Change program, explains why privacy and compliance are non‑negotiable in heavily regulated industries and introduces his “rubber balls vs. glass balls” framework for prioritizing risk. He shares how to use simple expected‑value thinking (likelihood x i...

In episode nine of Compliance Chronicles, we learn from Deb Sokol the importance of embracing the gray and look at the evolving nature of compliance. Deb shares her compliance journey and lessons she's learned along the way. What we cover: Being open to new opportunities and volunteering for stretch assignments can unexpectedly launch a career in privacy and compliance Moving from a pure legal rol...

In our eight episode, we are joined by Rebecca Hanovice, who shares her journey to privacy leadership. She highlights the importance of community and support in the field of privacy compliance. Takeaways include: The constant evolution of privacy law Building relationships with the business Importance of community and support If you enjoy this conversation, make sure to subscribe to Compliance Chr...

In episode seven, Mark Jaffe shares his journey into compliance, the importance of saying yes to opportunities, the long game of compliance, risk management, ethical decision making, lessons in compliance management, and career development and growth in the compliance space. Takeaways Saying yes to new challenges and opportunities is important for career growth. Compliance is a journey, and it's i...

In this episode, we learn from Jill Cusack about her journey as a compliance professional. She shares common challenges faced in the field and gives valuable advice for those just starting out. Jill describes the challenge of working between two worlds: helping consumers understand what is happening with their data and helping business and technology teams understand how new products and practices...

In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, we delve into the evolution of business and compliance and the importance of engaging business teams in compliance efforts. Key takeaways include the concept of compliance as everyone's job and the criticality of solid market identification.

Donna Del Greco, Vice President of Legal Services at SciPlay Games, shares her journey and insights into the privacy compliance space. The conversation covers her introduction to the privacy world, the challenges in navigating privacy compliance, and key advice for privacy compliance professionals. Takeaways Data Privacy and Compliance Challenges in Privacy Compliance If you enjoy this conversatio...

The conversation with Katie Witt covers her journey from internal audit to privacy and compliance, the skills transition from audit to privacy compliance, and the challenges and advice for navigating the compliance journey. Katie shares insights on identifying noise and important developments, balancing methodical approach with risk, and the importance of building a network within the compliance f...

How do you turn a “strange path” through the Navy, fraud risk, and call centers into a successful career as a bank privacy officer and compliance leader? In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, Liisa Thomas sits down with Mike Smith, Privacy Officer at Wintrust and former HSBC leader, to unpack how he built a wide‑angle view of risk, regulation, and real‑world data use. Mike shares how running a...

What does it look like to build a global ethics and compliance career from the ground up? In this episode of Compliance Chronicles, Liisa Thomas talks with Keikoh Park, former Vice President and Head of Ethics and Compliance for CBRE’s Global Program Office and longtime JLL lawyer, about how she made the leap into cross‑border compliance and never looked back. Keikoh shares how negotiating massive...