Alexandra Wrage
President
Alexandra Wrage is the author of Bribery and Extortion: Undermining Business, Governments and Security and the host of the training DVD Toxic Transactions: Bribery, Extortion and the High Price of Bad Business produced by NBC. Ms. Wrage has written three compliance guidebooks and is a guest blogger on the Huffington Post. She speaks frequently on topics of international law, anti-corruption initiatives and the hidden costs of corruption.
Ms. Wrage currently serves on the Independent Governance Committee (IGC) of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), football’s governing body. She has previously served as Chair of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the ABA’s International Section and Chair of the International Legal Affairs Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel. She has participated in anti-bribery working groups with the OECD and the UN Global Compact. Ms. Wrage was named one of the “Canadians Changing the World” by the Toronto Globe and Mail in 2011 and a Maryland Daily Record “Most Admired CEO” for 2012.
Prior to founding TRACE, Ms. Wrage was international counsel at Northrop Grumman where she was responsible for managing and improving the company’s FCPA program, including policy revisions, training, monitoring and board briefings.
Ms. Wrage, a Canadian, studied law at Kings College, Cambridge University. She is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bar associations.
Julie Coleman
Senior Director, Advisory Services
Julie Coleman joined TRACE from the Corporate and Financial Services Department of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP in New York. Ms. Coleman adds mergers and acquisitions, private equity and securities law experience to the team. While at Willkie, she was the lead associate in a number of high-profile transactions on behalf of the firm’s clients. Selected transactions include representing Warburg Pincus LLC in several domestic and cross-border investments, representing Zurich Insurance Company in its sale of Zurich Life to Bank One Corporation and representing Farmers Insurance Company in a $1.125 billion securities offering.
Ms. Coleman graduated with honors from Duke University and with honors from Duke University School of Law. She is a member of the New York bar association.
Pia Vining
Senior Director, Due Diligence
In this capacity Ms. Vining assists multinational companies with selecting and executing the appropriate due diligence solution. Her team of multilingual due diligence analysts and lawyers has completed reviews on thousands of commercial intermediaries in most countries and across all industries.
Prior to joining TRACE, Ms. Vining was a litigation specialist in the tax department of Miller & Chevalier. She graduated from the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law, and holds an LL.M. degree from The George Washington University Law School. She speaks Finnish and Swedish.
Ms. Vining is a member of the New York bar association.
Virna Di Palma
Director, Strategic Communications
Virna Di Palma joined TRACE from American Conference Institute in New York. As Senior Program Director for International Trade and Anti-Corruption conferences she produced over 50 compliance programs in the US and across the globe and was responsible for ACI’s flagship FCPA conference in Washington, the largest event of its kind in the world. Ms. Di Palma developed and launched inaugural anti-corruption conferences in India, Brazil, and the Middle East and grew ACI’s Russia and CIS conference from 40 to 120 delegates. In addition to these events, she produced sanctions and trade compliance programs in the US, UK and Germany. Ms. Di Palma has played a firsthand role in promoting anti-corruption compliance worldwide and is very well known in FCPA circles. She brings relationship management, programming, branding, marketing, and communications experience to the team.
Prior to her position at ACI, Ms. Di Palma worked on counter-radicalization strategies for a London-based think tank, Demos, and was the primary contributor to the publication, “Bringing it Home; Community-based approaches to counter-terrorism.”
Ms. Di Palma graduated with honors from Northeastern University and King’s College, London where she studied international relations and international law. Originally from Uruguay, she is fluent in Spanish.
Eileen Radford
Director, Advisory Services
Eileen Radford has extensive experience as an attorney specializing in anti-corruption enforcement and compliance. She most recently worked as an Investigator for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the "Global Fund"), focused mainly on investigations in West Africa. She has managed all aspects of investigations into high-level African government officials and agencies accused of corruption, money laundering, and fraud. She has also represented the Global Fund on joint missions with the US Government and international organizations. Prior to joining the Global Fund, Eileen worked for several years as an attorney at Miller & Chevalier, where she counseled clients on compliance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") and other international anti-bribery regulations. She also conducted FCPA-related investigations and assisted in representing clients before the US Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Prior to her legal career, Eileen was a journalist in Poland and in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, and also holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
She is a member of the New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. bar associations.
Michele Slotke
Director, Compliance Solutions
As Director, Compliance Solutions, Michele Slotke is responsible for the expert team responsible for conducting due diligence across several of TRACE's newest compliance services, including TRAC, TRACEselect and TRACE Certification. She assists clients in determining which of TRACE's compliance tools are best suited for their organization based upon their industry, function and risk-appetite. Michele joined TRACE after completing her Masters in Comparative Politics at The London School of Economics and Political Science. While at LSE, Michele’s concentration in Conflict Studies, focused on post-conflict regions and the critical role of anti-corruption efforts in transitioning nations. While completing her thesis, she worked as a Researcher for a Westminster-based public affairs firm in London, assisting clients with crisis communications, opinion research and message development. Prior to her time in London, Michele worked in the Antitrust Practice Group of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in Washington, D.C. Michele received her undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University in Human and Organizational Development, and European Studies.
Emily Peake
Manager, Due Diligence
Emily Peake is a Due Diligence Manager responsible for TRACEcheck. Ms. Peake joined TRACE in 2006 and has managed TRACEcheck through its early design stage and since its formal launch in 2008. She has played a key role in the development and growth of TRACEcheck, enhancing customer service, supporting the transition of new companies and overseeing daily operations for the TRACEcheck team. Prior to joining TRACE, Ms. Peake attended Catawba College in North Carolina. Ms. Peake was among the first to complete the TRACE Anti-Bribery Specialist Accreditation (TASA), which she currently holds.
Matt Selander
Manager, Advisory Services
Prior to joining TRACE, Matt Selander spent four years working on some of the largest transnational Foreign Corruption Practices Act cases with Baker & McKenzie and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. His experience also includes time at the United Nations World Food Programme and as a volunteer at both the Organization of American States and the United Nations.
At TRACE, Mr. Selander has conducted anti-bribery risk assessments; designed anti-bribery programs, together with implementing procedures; directed due diligence reviews; and facilitated the launch of new anti-bribery tools. He earned his JD from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law where he served as Managing-Editor of the Journal of International Law. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University. Having lived in Brazil, Mr. Selander has a working proficiency in Portuguese.
Mr. Selander is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland Bar Association.
Severin Wirz
Manager, Advisory Services
Before joining TRACE, Severin Wirz worked as an independent legal consultant, advising both businesses and non-governmental organizations on matters pertaining to anti-corruption compliance. He worked previously in the litigation department of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. While at Hughes Hubbard, Mr. Wirz worked on cases involving international commercial disputes and corporate bankruptcy as well as government investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Prior to Hughes Hubbard, Mr. Wirz lived abroad, teaching English in China and working as a legal assistant at the International Labor Organization in Geneva.
He is a graduate of Cornell Law School and Columbia University, a member of the New York and New Jersey bar associations and speaks fluent French. Mr. Wirz is also the author of several articles regarding the FCPA and is currently working in his spare time on a book about the history behind the statute.