Meet the Gender Community Team

As of May 1, 2021, Matt was appointed Group General Counsel and Chief Compliance/Human Rights Officer of BASF SE in Germany. Matt leads a global team of legal, compliance and insurance professionals, as well as supports the BASF Board of Executive Directors, and its Supervisory Board of Directors. Matt is also a member of the BASF Global Executive Team.

From June 2018 until May 1, 2021, Matt was SVP and Global Head of Legal for BASF SE, and from 2014 until June 2018 he was General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of BASF Corporation, the North American affiliate of BASF SE.

Before coming to BASF, Matt was the Corporate Secretary & Chief Governance Officer for Pfizer, Inc., a Partner with DLA Piper US LLP in Washington DC, and a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice

Trudi was appointed Deputy General Counsel of bp plc as of January 1, 2024 and continued as the SVP, Legal Trading & Shipping a role she has held since February 2016.  She is a member of the bp trading & shipping leadership team as well as the bp legal leadership team. Trudi first qualified in Queensland, Australia following which she spent almost two years as in-house counsel for a manufacturing and marketing group in Hong Kong. After taking time out to complete her post-graduate degree, Trudi joined Herbert Smith Freehills as a corporate lawyer in 1996 working in London and also three years in Hong Kong. She joined bp in February 2004 as legal counsel in the bp Oil UK downstream legal team. In late 2005 she became the managing counsel for petrochemicals, Europe and then managing counsel for global fuels in 2010. Trudi moved into trading & shipping as the managing counsel for LNG trading in 2013.  Trudi holds a Bachelor of Laws from Bond University, Australia and a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford. She is qualified to practice law in Queensland, England & Wales and Hong Kong.

Christina is a Partner at DLA Piper, based in Liverpool, UK. She has over 20 years of experience in advising on complex cross border, offshore and domestic High Court litigation and international arbitration. Christina also has experience in the Appeal Courts and advises on all forms of major commercial, corporate and technology disputes, often with an international element. She is results driven and is known for her commercial and procedural strategy to ensure the best possible outcome for clients, either through dispute resolution, or the court/arbitral process.

Christina acts for major corporates, private equity houses, technology companies, pension funds, financial institutions, government departments, entrepreneurs and high-net worth individuals, with a broad range of experience across technology, manufacturing, sport, real estate and consumer goods. Her cases involve disputes relating to contractual interpretation, M&A disputes (warranties, indemnities and earn-outs), Companies Act matters, shareholder, partnership and JV disputes, and often involve serious issues of fraud and the need for urgent interim injunctive relief.

Christina also co-leads the DLA Piper UK Technology Disputes team, having advised both suppliers and customers on disputes arising across a range of technology related issues, including software, cloud and hosting services, IT consultancy, AI, IT implementation and transformation and IT infrastructure. Her advice to clients in this sector covers the full lifecycle of a contractual commercial relationship and involves risk prevention advice in relation to contract management issues, change controls and variations; as well as acting on major disputes relating to the design, development and implementation of IT solutions and the termination of IT supply contracts.

Christina is a committed advocate for DE&I and is proud to lead DLA Piper’s UK Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW), as well as being a member of DLA Piper’s International LAW Committee. She is also DLA Piper’s Gender Pillar Head for the General Counsel for Diversity & Inclusion and co-leads the firms global Women in Sport initiative and Women in Tech initiative.”

Lisa is our co-founder and CEO. She began her career in management consulting, becoming a partner in Arthur Andersen, specialising in leadership, communication and change management. She later became Director of Brand and Communication at Deloitte.

Following her own six year career break, Lisa founded She’s Back to raise awareness of the untapped potential in professional women who have taken career breaks. She is the co-author of She’s Back: Your Guide to Returning to Work, described by Arianna Huffington as a “must have guide to get more women back into the workplace.” Lisa co-founded the Reignite Academy in 2018 and is actively involved in all day to day recruitment, training and coaching work.

Safia is a member of DLA Pipers International Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team, leading on data, client engagement and the firms external DEI partnerships and people networks. Prior to joined DLA Piper, she worked in luxury fashion and the arts, both in DEI and senior retail management roles. Safia is committed to supporting underrepresented communities, and consults with brands and leaders across the fashion, retail and creative industries to influence and advise on DEI initiatives and relevant implementation. She is also a founding member and lead for the British Fashion Council‘s D&I Steering Committee and member of the Decolonising Design Coalition.