Tod Cohen has joined the digital and technology group at Manatt, the professional services firm said Tuesday. His practice is mostly focused on AI, privacy and data security, and at his previous firm, Cohen led the AI practice.
The Computer and Communications Industry Association announced Tuesday that Megan Stokes is its new state director and Aneysha Bhat is senior manager for federal affairs, a newly created post. Stokes has a background in advocacy on state legislative issues. Bhat previously served as deputy associate administrator in the Small Business Association’s Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.
Brandie Nonnecke was appointed to the California Privacy Protection Agency Board, the agency announced Tuesday. Appointed by California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D), Nonnecke is also the director of the Our Better Web program and co-directs the Center for Law and Technology at University of California-Berkeley law school. Nonnecke replaces privacy advocate Vinhcent Le, who learned he would no longer sit on the board at the end of last week (see 2502030042).
Mastercard Chief Privacy and Data Responsibility Officer Caroline Louveaux will chair the IAPP's board for 2025 and its executive committee, the association announced as it unveiled election results Thursday. Also elected, as board directors, were: Volkswagen Group Chief Privacy Officer Oliver Draf; Google Data Protection Officer Kristie Chon Flynn; GE Healthcare Chief Privacy and Data Trust Officer Lara Liss; and Susan Hintze, managing partner and founder, Hintze Law and Hintze Data Advisors. Members of the newly elected executive committee: Barbara Cosgrove, vice president and CPO at Workday (vice chair), Christina Montgomery, vice president, chief privacy and trust officer at IBM (treasurer), Travis LeBlanc, partner at Cooley (secretary and privacy and civil liberties oversight board member) and Faith Myers, privacy officer and vice president at McKesson Corporation (past chair).
Caroline Geiger and James Talbot have joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett's New York office as intellectual property/privacy and cybersecurity partners, the firm announced Tuesday. Geiger previously served as co-head of the IP and technology transactions group at an international firm. Talbot was previously with an international firm, too.
Rachel Melissa will join Tonkon Torp LLP's business department as an attorney in its Information Privacy & Security practice group, as well as its Environmental & Natural Resources practice group, the firm announced Wednesday. She previously was senior counsel at Melissa Data Corporation, focusing on data privacy and regulatory compliance.
Abigail Wilson will join the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) as state policy manager, it announced Wednesday. She previously worked for BSA | The Software Alliance and served as the advocacy-public policy manager at the International Interior Design Association.
Lindsey Smith has joined Constangy's Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice, the firm announced Wednesday. He previously served as corporate counsel for incident response at Amazon.
TechNet announced Aparna Bawa, Zoom's chief operating officer, as chair for 2025-2026, and Kerry McLean, Intuit executive vice president, as vice chair. Both were elected by TechNet's executive council and will serve two-year terms, said the network's Thursday announcement.
Ryan Steidl will be joining the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice at Constangy as a partner, the firm announced Monday. He previously was senior manager of privacy and data protection at Grant Thornton.