The 2025 “Excellence in Compliance Awards” recognizes the following:
- Chief Compliance Officer or Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of the Year
- Compliance Program of the Year (Company)
- Lifetime Achievement in Compliance
- Compliance Innovator of the Year
- Rising Star in Compliance
- Compliance Mentor of the Year
Winners and finalists for last year’s awards are listed below. For Lifetime Achievement no finalists were selected—only a winner. The honor went to Felecia Bowers, executive vice president, chief compliance officer at Homeowners Financial Group USA.
About each award
The CCO/CECO of the Year will be awarded to the practitioner who has best demonstrated the values of leadership, effectiveness, collaboration, communication, constructiveness, and vision at his or her organization. Special attention will be paid to CCOs/CECOs that have met the unique challenges posed by recent regulatory developments in areas including ESG, AML, data privacy, cybersecurity, sanctions, supply chains, and more.
For Compliance Program of the Year , we’re looking for best-in-class programs that can show measurable successes, demonstrate cultural impact across the company, and tell a story that ethics and compliance are truly baked into the decision-making process for the organization.
The winner of the Lifetime Achievement award will be a longtime compliance practitioner, educator, or commentator who has upheld the core principles of ethics and leadership throughout his or her career.
The Innovator of the Year recognition will go to an in-house practitioner who has taken an outside-the-box approach to solving a complex problem or made the most out of available resources.
Rising Star in Compliance will go to an up-and-comer in the business who has shown the skills and ethics-first leadership needed to be a next-generation CCO. Finalists for our Mentor of the Year honor will be people who have provided needed guidance and leadership to peers or subordinates for the betterment of a particular organization’s compliance program or the profession at large.
2023 Excellence in Compliance Awards winners
CCO/CECO of the Year: Bill Burtis, Chief Compliance Officer, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Juniper Networks
Compliance Program of the Year: American Express Global Business Travel
Lifetime Achievement in Compliance: Haluk Ferden Gursel, United Nations
Compliance Innovator of the Year: Bianca Forde, Senior Director and Counsel, Head of Ethics and Compliance - Americas, Otis Elevator Company
Rising Star in Compliance: Anastasia Savvateeva, Deputy Head of Financial Crime Compliance, Continental Europe, Fidelity International Luxembourg
Compliance Mentor of the Year: Rachel Simon, Vice President - Privacy, AT&T
2022 Excellence in Compliance Awards winners
CCO/CECO of the Year: Kelly Maxwell, Chief Compliance Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Compliance Program of the Year: Snap
Lifetime Achievement in Compliance: Tamar Frankel, Professor of Law Emerita, Boston University
Rising Star in Compliance: Boon Kim Fam, Legal Director of Compliance, Asia Pacific, PVH
Compliance Mentor of the Year: Mary Shirley, Head of Culture of Integrity and Compliance Education, Fresenius Medical Care
2021 Excellence in Compliance Awards winners
CCO/CECO of the Year: Justin Ross, Chief Compliance Officer, FedEx Corp.
Compliance Program of the Year: Tenneco
Lifetime Achievement in Compliance: Emmanuel Lulin, Chief Ethics Officer, L’Oréal
Compliance Innovator of the Year: Sarah Partington, Senior Compliance Officer/Director of Compliance Operations, The MetroHealth System
Compliance Mentor of the Year: Ellen Hunt, Vice President, Compliance Operations & Chief Privacy Officer, LifePoint Health
Rising Star in Compliance: Jennifer Newton, Founder and CEO, National Association of Black Compliance & Risk Management Professionals
Compliance Consultant/Advisor of the Year (Individual or Company): VANTAGE, from Control Risks
2020 Excellence in Compliance Awards winners
CCO of the Year: Duane Holloway, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, U.S. Steel
Lifetime Achievement in Compliance: Carrie Penman, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, NAVEX Global
Compliance Comeback of the Year: Joshua Drew, Group Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, VEON
Compliance Innovator of the Year: Alicia Schwarz, Deputy Chief Compliance Counsel (Global), Walt Disney Company
Compliance Mentor of the Year: Jay G. Martin, Senior Counsel, Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Rising Star in Compliance: Vera Powell, Senior Corporate Counsel, Delta Air Lines
Excellence in Compliance—Anti-Corruption: Alan Gibson, Assistant General Counsel, Compliance & Ethics, Microsoft
Excellence in Compliance—TPRM: Robert Seibel, Director of Legal Compliance, Abercrombie & Fitch
Excellence in Compliance—Cyber-security: David Kessler, Public Sector Counsel, Verizon
Excellence in Compliance—Data Privacy: Kalisa Barratt, Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer, Atrius Health
Excellence in Compliance—Training: Cindy Merlino, Global Compliance & Ethics Specialist, Pearson
Best Consultant/Advisor—Large Company: Duff & Phelps
Best Consultant/Advisor—Small Company: Bart Schwartz, Chairman, Guidepost Solutions
Best Technology Partner—Large Company: Refinitiv
Best Technology Partner—Small Company: LogicGate