Reed Smith’s Senior Management Team chose the members of its Independent Strategic Advisory Board (ISAB) based on their executive experience and in-depth knowledge, as well as for their diversity of thought. The ISAB will report to global managing partner Sandy Thomas and work closely with the rest of Reed Smith’s senior management. 

The ISAB will support the firm through constructive analysis and advice regarding its internal business operations and service to clients. The feedback from this group of experts is expected to keep the firm on the front foot and functioning as a top service provider. 

The three members of the ISAB are:

• Beth Brooke - With more than 40 years of experience in professional services, Brooke is the former global vice chair of EY and former member of EY’s global board. She is currently a board member of The New York Times, eHealth, Tricolor Holdings, Beta Bionics, SHEEX and U.S. Olympic Committee. Brooke served in the Treasury Department under the Clinton administration, where she was responsible for all tax policy related to insurance and managed care.
• Shuo Chen – Chen is a general partner at IOVC, with nearly 15 years of experience in professional services. She is also a faculty member at the University of California Berkeley College of Engineering, and chair of the board at Decode, the largest technology and innovation community co-hosted with Berkeley and Stanford. Chen was also appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as 1 of 13 voting members on California's Mental Health Commission, which includes overseeing $2.6 billion annually in state budget, and advising the Governor and Legislature on mental health policy. Chen previously worked at Goldman Sachs in investment banking and also at PwC in advisory. She co-authored a leading book on financial regulations, The Political Economy of Financial Regulation, published by Cambridge University Press in 2019.
• Elissa Grey – Grey is a global strategist with over 20 years of experience working with boards and CEOs in both disruptive start-ups and FTSE 100 companies pursuing large scale digital transformations. She is currently advisor to Loyal VC and Diversity VC, addressing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to unlock greater returns. Grey also mentors and supports high-growth start-up founders and CEOs at tech Accelerators and Incubators, including Google StartUps and UBS Future of Finance.