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kristen@kristenshaheen.com
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Kristen Profile Image
Six-time Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel. Strategic advisor. Trusted partner to leadership teams navigating complexity.
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The Work

Kristen Shaheen has spent 15 years building legal functions that scale, and advising the leaders responsible for scaling them.

Her career spans six Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel roles at private equity-backed and venture-backed B2B technology companies, where she has led organizations through rapid growth, multi-jurisdictional M&A, enterprise compliance build-outs, and global expansion across North America, EMEA, and APAC. She has served as first in-house counsel five times, each time building legal, privacy, and compliance infrastructure from the ground up.

The through line across every engagement is the same: translate legal complexity into organizational clarity, and align legal strategy with the objectives that matter most to leadership.

Areas of Depth

  • Corporate governance and Board advisory
  • Multi-jurisdictional M&A, due diligence, and post-acquisition integration
  • Global privacy and data protection (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and emerging standards)
  • Cybersecurity, AI governance, and enterprise risk management
  • Commercial agreements and complex negotiations
  • Employment law across international jurisdictions
  • Nonprofit governance, fiduciary duty, and organizational lifecycle
  • Compliance program design covering anti-corruption, ESG, and export control
  • Contract lifecycle management and operational systems

Certifications:

CIPP/US | CIPP/E | Generative AI for Legal Professionals, Berkeley Law | Legal Foundations of Nonprofit Organizations, Georgetown Law

Mission-Driven Work

Kristen's commitment to mission-driven organizations is longstanding and deliberate. She currently serves as Board Member and Legal Advisor to Together Estranged, and previously served as Board Member and Chair of Capital Grants at Landfall Foundation. Her Georgetown Law coursework in nonprofit organizational law deepens a practice area she has been building in parallel throughout her corporate career.

For nonprofit and purpose-driven organizations, Kristen brings a rare combination: the governance sophistication of an experienced corporate GC, the operational perspective of an executive who has managed HR, Security, IT, and Facilities alongside Legal, and genuine fluency in the fiduciary and compliance landscape of the nonprofit sector.

She understands that mission-driven organizations face real legal and governance complexity, and that they deserve the same quality of senior legal leadership as any high-growth company.

Background

Prior to her in-house career, Kristen founded and led a full-service law practice in New York for 16 years, representing organizations and individuals in litigation, commercial transactions, and real estate matters. She also served as Legal Correspondent and Guest Expert for WKTV News Channel 2, translating complex legal issues for public audiences.

Kristen is licensed in New York and North Carolina, admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York and the U.S. Supreme Court. She holds a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Syracuse University. She is based in North Carolina, with a presence in New York.

Speaking

Hg Capital GC Forum, London — The Resilient Leader: Leaning into Vulnerability
( 2024 )
Women, Influence & Power in Law, Washington, DC — Legal Party of One
( 2022 )
The L Suite / TechGC — Co-Chair, Board Governance Virtual Forum
( 2022 )
Hg Capital GC Forum: The Resilient Leader: Leaning into Vulnerability, Windsor, UK
( 2024 )
Women Influence & Power in Law: Legal Party of One! Managing & Leveraging a Smaller Legal Department, Washington DC
( 2022 )
Co-Chair of Board Governance Virtual Forum, The L Suite (TechGC)
( 2022 )
International Women’s Day Panel, Virtual Event
( 2021 )
In-House Counsel: Facing and Dealing with Organizational Changes, Cary, NC
( 2017 )
Perspectives on Partnering between Outside and Inside Counsel, Chapel Hill, NC
( 2017 )
Building a New Legal Department: Challenges & Opportunities, Cary, NC
( 2016 )
Insights: A Continuing Conversation with Leaders from the Legal Industry
( 2016 )
ABA Law Practice Division Panel: Succeeding as Outside Counsel
( 2014 )
The Art of Balance, Coastal Carolina Women’s Bar Association, Wrightsville Beach, NC
( 2014 )
Global Convergence Summit on Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Palo Alto, CA
( 2012 )