Honoree: Teri Leigh Witteman

Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
Beyond Meat, Inc.
UCLA School of Law

Teri L. Witteman is an established C-suite legal professional with demonstrated leadership negotiating and implementing complex commercial and business transactions on behalf of public and private companies. With more than 25 years of experience, she serves as a trusted board advisor on business strategy, legal compliance, and corporate governance.

Witteman joined Beyond Meat, Inc., a multi-billion dollar leader in plant-based meat, as its general counsel and secretary in May 2019 and has served as its chief legal officer and secretary since April 2021. In this role, she oversees the company’s global legal operations, including developing and implementing enterprise legal strategy, advising on global expansion, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, commercial contracts, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting. She also advises all business units, including Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality/Regulatory, Innovation, Marketing, Brand, Creative, and Human Resources, on cross-functional execution of Beyond Meat’s global initiatives which include helping humans eat healthier, fighting climate change, preserving natural resources and helping animals live better lives.

Prior to joining Beyond Meat, Witteman was a partner with the Los Angeles law firm of Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP from April 2016 to May 2019, where she represented food service, insurance, and technology clients in connection with securities offerings, SEC filings, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.

She started her career with Latham & Watkins LLP in Los Angeles, where she focused on representing media and retail companies in M&A transactions and securities offerings, and representing underwriters in public offerings of equity, debt, and sophisticated derivative securities by technology, media, and retail companies. From 2012 to 2018, Witteman served as secretary of Farmer Bros. Co., a national coffee roaster, wholesaler, and distributor of coffee, tea, and culinary products. She received her Juris Doctor degree, Order of the Coif, from UCLA School of Law, and her B.A. degree in Economics, with honors and distinction, from the University of California, Berkeley.