Nadia Bonnet is Senior Luxembourg Counsel at Simpson Thacher, based in the Firm’s New York office. She has more than 15 years of experience in guiding U.S. and international sponsors on the formation of funds and other investment vehicles in Luxembourg and across Europe, as well as in related distribution and other activities. Her practice focuses on the development and regulation of alternative investment funds, vehicles and managers (AIFMs) across a wide range of asset classes, including private equity, real estate, venture capital, private debt and infrastructure, for both regulated and non-regulated investment structures. In the beginning of her career, she also counseled clients in related joint ventures, corporate restructurings and mergers and acquisitions.

Nadia has represented many sponsors of private investment funds over her career, such as: LVMH and Groupe Arnault in the structuring and lifecycle of their Real Estate Funds and in their strategic partnership with Catterton; GCM Grosvenor; and Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity. She also acted as a consultant to the World Bank, analyzing the offshore (Luxembourg) regulatory framework for supporting the establishment of hybrid (public-private), venture capital and private equity funds in developing countries, including in the Western Balkans.

Nadia is a recognized authority in Luxembourg private fund formation and investment matters, having played a prominent role in some of the most significant Luxembourg fund matters in recent years. She has written articles for the European American Chamber of Commerce, International Financial Law Review, ESG Investing, the Luxembourg Revue Pratique de Droit des Affaires and many others.

Nadia regularly serves on panels at several industry conferences. She has spoken at events hosted by the Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds d’Investissement (“ALFI”), HFMWeek, Informa Connect (the “UCITS & AIFMD for US Managers” conference), the Hedge Fund Association, the “big four” accounting firms and other industry players.

Fluent in French and English, Nadia is a member of the Luxembourg bar. She received a Bachelor’s in Business Law, with distinction, and a Master’s in European Business Law, with distinction, from the Université de Franche-Comté, and studied in Luxembourg and in a U.S. legal exchange program at Kansas University (undergraduate). She also received a Certificate of Business Finance Formation from the HEC Liège, Belgium, a Certificate of Islamic Capital Markets Formation from the Luxembourg School of Finance and a Certificate in the Fundamentals of Alternative Investments from the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association.

Nadia is a member of the International Bar Association and the 100 Women in Finance Association – New York. She also serves on the board of the Luxembourg American Chamber of Commerce and is the President of the Parents Association of Lyceum Kennedy French American School.

Liz Breuer is the Founder of New Normal Bureau, an impact-driven marketing agency, focused on strengthening the value proposition of innovative and ethical brands through strategic and creative communication.

Liz boasts a diverse professional background in both Luxembourg and New York City, leaving her mark with brands such as Tod's, The Row, The Coveteur and Olivia Palermo. Guided by the principles of regeneration, circularity and transparency, Liz is building brands, campaigns and businesses redefining the New Normal- quite literally.

Catherine Elvinger is a corporate law clerk in the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where she focuses on private equity and funds.

Catherine grew up in Luxembourg and went on to earn her law degree in business and tax law from the University Paris II Pantheon-Assas. Subsequently, she pursued a masters in law (LL.M.) at Columbia Law School as a Fulbright and Harlan Fiske Stone scholar.

Catherine is a former alpine skiing athlete, who ranked 18^th in slalom at the Youth Olympic Games in 2012 and represented Luxembourg at two World Championships in Vail (2015) and St. Moritz (2017). She believes that her experience as an athlete competing at regional and international level, with the ups and downs that come with it, have helped her cultivate a strong sense of self-confidence and positive energy that help her navigate the business world as a woman.

Education

2022, Columbia Law School, LL.M.

2021, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, LL.M. (Eur.) Europäisches und Internationales Wirtschaftsrecht

2019, Paris II Panthéon-Assas University, Master 2 Droit des Affaires et Fiscalité

2014, Lycée de garçons du Luxembourg, Diplôme de fins d’études secondaires

Svetlana V. Petroff is the co-founder of Rowland & Petroff and Ms. Petroff focuses on cross-border corporate and commercial matters, especially for German and French speaking clients.

Ms. Petroff services a number of private clients, predominantly European companies doing business in the United States or European nationals in connection with their U.S. investments. Her domestic practice includes advising clients on choice of business form, incorporating companies (both for profit and not-for-profit), maintaining their corporate books and records, drafting and negotiating their contracts (distributorship, sales representative, shareholder, licensing, employment, consignment, factoring, lease, etc.), rendering general advice on related issues (terms and conditions of sale, financing and securitization, customs clearance, immigration, antitrust, statutory regulation, etc.). She also represents clients in real estate transactions, such as, the purchase, sale and lease of commercial or residential properties, including coops and condominiums, and advising them with respect to other investment vehicles, such as, limited partnerships or brokerage accounts.

In Germany and France, Ms. Petroff cooperates with several firms in various cities, serving as a U.S. legal consultant on Anglo-American legal issues and liaising with those firms’ English- speaking clients. Her engagements might include the review or preparation of a legal document in English, the rendering of a legal opinion on a specifically defined question of U.S. law, or the explication in English of substantive or procedural aspects of the civil law system in terms understandable to an English-speaking client or one familiar with common law jurisprudence.

Svetlana V. Petroff is fluent in French and German.

Education
New York Law School, J.D., 1981; University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law/Faculty of Law, Salzburg University, Austria, LL.M., Transnational Business Practice, 1991, Wellesley College, B.A., with honors, 1978

Admitted
1982, New Jersey, New York, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey and U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
1983, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit and U.S. Court of International Trade
1992, Florida
1995, U.S., Supreme Court

Memberships
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York; New York State, New Jersey State, American (Member, Sections on: International Law and Practice; Business Law; Law Practice Management) and International Bar Associations; The Florida Bar.

Publications
Comment, “Constitutional Law–Commerce Clause-State Property Tax on Foreign Commerce-Japan Line Ltd. v. County of Los Angeles,” 26 N.Y.L.S.L. Rev. 619, 1981.
Co-author: “Memorial and Counter-Memorial,” 1981 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition- Eastern Regional Final, Winner Best Brief Award, 2 N.Y.L.S.J. Int’l & Comp. L. 411, 1981.

Monica Pearson is a cybersecurity professional and business owner who understands today's security challenges. She brings focus and vision combined with business knowledge, education, and invaluable experience acquired during her 20+ years in the United States Air Force to lead the SecReliant team. As CEO, she is the driving force behind SecReliant’s growth through strategic business planning, operations management, and contract negotiations. She is an entrepreneur, mentor, and leader known for providing exceptional solutions to her clients.

Monica was awarded the NATO Medal as well as an Air Force Achievement Medal for her outstanding service in direct support of NATO Operations Deny Flight and Provide Promise while deployed as the senior financial officer at San Vito Air Station, Italy. She was also awarded two Air Force Commendation Medals for her leadership in Command and Control Operations. 

Monica earned her MBA with dual concentrations in Management and International Business from Mercy College, NY, and a Bachelor of Science in Workforce Development and Training from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.  

Brenda Russell is a twenty year veteran of strategic partnership management in the aviation field.

She has held global and national key account management positions with Cargolux Airlines S.A, and most recently representing DHL Aviation.

Through developing strong strategic partnerships with clients, which have included clients from Fortune 500 companies, Brenda has been instrumental in driving double digit revenue, year over year. 

Brenda is committed to delivering customer service excellence which she believes is the cornerstone of success in her field.

Brenda earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at San Francisco State University.

Some of her activities outside of work include leading a youth leadership program, coaching teens in public speaking in conjunction with Toastmasters International, organizing fundraising events for the education of young women from economically-challenged backgrounds, and sustainable gardening, crabbing, clamming and fishing with her son, Greyson.

Claire Steichen, founder of Clear Strategy Coaching, is dedicated to teaching professionals how to be more successful by understanding how to leverage their skills, navigate their work environment, and find focus.

Claire supports team leaders who want to build confident teams that deliver extraordinary results. She does it using her  I to the 4th Power methodology, developed from two decades in corporate sales and marketing (L’Oreal, Christian Dior, Givaudan), her MBA from Columbia Business School, and 14+ years coaching and training professionals at Fortune 500 organizations.

Kate Ansay is the operations director and co-owner of two businesses: Ansay International, which imports, markets, and distributes premium products from Luxembourg throughout the United States, as well as Ansay Development, a real-estate firm focused on building sustainable communities through investment in people and partnerships. 

Kate's visionary leadership has been instrumental to the growth, development and advancement of Ansay International, which supplies Bofferding beer, Domaines Vinsmoselle wine, Ramborn cider, Moutarderie de Luxembourg mustard, and a host of other premium quality products from Luxembourg to the United States. Ansay International plans a major expansion of product offerings in 2023. 

Kate's vision of connecting with her family's Luxembourg heritage also facilitated a visit from the Grand Duke and provided for the establishment of the Luxembourg American Cultural Center in Belgium, WI. This center is a unique collaborative model between community and local non-profits aligned with a sovereign nation. 

In just the past decade, her work with Ansay Development has led to the building of Newport Shores, a mixed-use condo building on Lake Michigan's shorefront, Matthaeus Farms, an eco-conscious 31-home subdivision north of Milwaukee, and breaking ground on the game-changing Northern Gateway, a socially impacted 99-acre development in Saukville, WI. 

In addition to her work, Kate has made a strong impact in the local philanthropic community, carrying on her family's tradition of giving back and helping the Girl Scouts, MACC Fund, Mel's Charities, Grafton Little League and more. 

She was named to the "40 Under 40" list by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2020.