Hope Mehlman

Hope has more than 20 years of leadership experience in both public and private companies. She is an industry leader in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Sustainability, and Corporate Governance. She also has extensive experience in Risk Management, Securities Law, Cybersecurity, Compliance, Regulatory Strategy, Payments, Litigation, Anti-money Laundering, M&A, Intellectual Property, Employment Law, and Employee Benefits. In 2021, Hope was named one of the Most Influential Women in Business in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times. Recently, Hope was highlighted by Corporate Counsel as an extraordinary leader for her “Innovative Leadership” as part of their 2022 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards. Hope recently joined Discover Financial Services in 2023 as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel and is a member of the Executive Committee. Discover provides banking and credit products that help people achieve their financial goals. Discover has a vision to be the leading digital bank and payments partner and a mission to help people achieve a brighter financial future. Prior to joining Discover Financial Services, Hope was Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Bank of the West, which is a full-service provider of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. She also was Corporate Secretary of BNP Paribas USA, Inc. Hope serves as a member of the Independent Oversight Committee for the Best Practices Principles Group for Shareholder Voting Research. She was the recipient of Corporate Secretary’s 2019 Governance Professional of the Year (Large Cap) Award. Additionally, Global Proxy Watch recognized Hope in its 2019 list of ten people around the world who have had a breakthrough impact in corporate governance. Hope previously served as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Council of Institutional Investors, a member of Broadridge’s Independent Steering Committee, and President of the Southeastern Chapter of the Society for Corporate Governance. Hope holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University Law School, and a Master of Laws degree in Taxation from New York University School of Law.