Sallie Mae and VEON lead the way with two trophies each at the Corporate Governance Awards 2025

Sallie Mae and VEON were the big winners at this year’s Corporate Governance Awards, with both companies scooping two trophies at a gala event in New York City.  

Student loans provider Sallie Mae scooped the trophy for the best director training and education program while its senior corporate paralegal, Megan Smagala, walked home with the rising star award after narrowly missing out on it last year.  

Meanwhile, telecoms company VEON won the title of best governance around a corporate transaction and recognition for the best use of technology.  

The ceremony also recognized the leading governance teams at US–listed companies, with Bunge Global scooping the award for team of the year (small to mid-cap) and Chevron Corporation winning the team of the year in the large–cap category.  

On an individual basis, Healthpeak Properties’ senior vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary Carol Samaan was named governance professional of the year (small to mid-cap) and Andrea Robinson, Amgen’s vice president law, governance and securities and assistant secretary, won the same category for large-cap companies.  

For a full list of winners, click here.  

The evening also saw Hope Mehlman, chief legal and corporate affairs officer at Ally Financial, crowned as the 2025 recipient of the lifetime achievement award. 

‘It is deeply meaningful to me,’ said Mehlman. ‘I feel really honored and humbled to be recognized. This really is a crown jewel award of my career and it’s for all the people who helped me get to where I am today.’ 

Selected by an independent panel of judges, the awards celebrate outstanding achievements by the governance profession in areas such as hosting AGMs, compliance and ethics programs, sustainability reporting, entity management, use of technology, proxy statements, shareholder engagement and corporate transactions. 

This year’s judging panel comprised:  

• Anna Catalano, a member of the board of directors, HF Sinclair Corporation, Frontdoor, Ecovyst and Hexion 

• Matt Geekie, SVP, secretary and general counsel, Graybar 

• Eileen Kamerick, non-executive director, Associated Banc-corp, ACV Auctions, Valic Company and chairman of the board for Legg Mason Closed End Funds