PUBLIC COMPANY CORPORATE COUNSEL
JENNIFER J. BANKS: Alexandria Real Estate Equities – General Counsel
Jennifer J. Banks serves as a key legal advisor to Alexandria and has cemented her reputation as a trusted partner and mentor within the organization. She became the first woman in company history to join Alexandria’s executive management team in 2013. In her role as Alexandria’s general counsel, she has identified, developed, and implemented legal and compliance framework to lead and grow the company’s in-house legal department.
Banks leads with a self- starter and collaborative mindset, and in doing so she has created an in-house legal team that is highly respected and sought out for counsel by colleagues throughout the organization. Not only has she built an efficient in-house group, she has also been instrumental in selecting outside counsel. Mentoring women, and molding future female leaders at Alexandria, has always been and continues to be important to Banks. She has served as mentor for a number of women at all levels of the organization and across a range of departments.
CHRISTOPHER J. HENDERSON: Salem Media Group – Senior Vice President, Legal and Human Resources, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Christopher J. Henderson has been Senior Vice President, Legal and Human Resources, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Salem Media Group since 2012, where he has worked since 2001.
Currently, Henderson oversees the Legal, HR, IT and Real Estate Departments at Salem, but in his 16 years at Salem Media Group Inc., he’s held nine positions. That, he says, is a testament to the opportunities Salem Media Group provides to its 1,600 employees. Henderson has a “glass half full” kind of outlook. That, coupled with his faith in the company, has made it easy for him to lend a helping hand and take on more. Henderson strives to offer the employees he oversees similar opportunities for growth and development. His approach is collaborative. He hosts meetings regularly, offers guidance and advice, and leads by example and maintains an open-door policy. He plays to employees’ individual strengths, too.
TANIA HOFF: NBCUniversal Media, LLC – Senior Vice President, Litigation – Head of Television and Feature Film Litigation
As Senior Vice President of Litigation for NBCUniversal, Tania Hoff has an enormous responsibility in handling the type of litigation threats a media conglomerate with nearly $30 billion in annual revenue has to manage on an ongoing basis. Over the last 10 years, she has calculated the potential risks and impact related to the litigation NBCUniversal faces and has a clear path in mind in terms of strategy and/or resolution.
Although she is a member of NBCUniversal’s legal team, Hoff is viewed not just as a problem-solver. She is respected as an integral source of input in terms of the overall business operations. A key element to her success is her deep background in the entertainment industry, paired with her ability to quickly get to the heart of a problem, as she intimately understands the issues.
