Envoy Global Expands Leadership Team, Appoints New Interim President of Global Immigration, Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer, General Counsel and Head of DEI
Sophy King, Lara Thane, JD and Sharon Ray join Envoy Global’s executive team with more than 40 years of combined experience in legal and executive roles.
CHICAGO, Jan. 18, 2022 – Envoy Global, the technology leader that combines access to top legal talent with industry-leading technology to bring efficiency and transparency to the global immigration process, announced three new additions to its executive leadership team. Sophy King has joined the company as Interim President, Global Immigration, along with Lara Thane, JD, General Counsel, Chief Compliance & Privacy Officer and Sharon Ray, Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). These hires reflect the start of a new chapter for Envoy Global in 2022 by adding significant experience in three key areas tied to its future growth: global expansion, data privacy and compliance, and workforce inclusivity.
Sophy King, Envoy Global’s new Interim President, Global Immigration, has two decades of experience in immigration. Most recently, she founded immigration consultancy firm, OWL Immigration, which she continues to run. King began her career at Emigra, working as an assistant immigration consultant before ending up as their Director for Consulting and Compliance. She continued to work at the director level at a Florida-based global immigration consultancy before founding her own company, Peregrine Immigration Management, Ltd, a digitally immersed company providing web and cloud-based immigration knowledge and case management services, which she eventually sold to CIBT.
King is well known in the industry, often speaking on various panels and at webinars and conferences. She is the immigration liaison for the European Relocation Association (EuRA) and is one of seven co-founders of paradiGM Community, a new mobility industry community launched in 2021.
“My passion is creating and building things, and helping people achieve what they ought to be able to achieve,” said King. “I’m excited to join the Envoy Global team and to work collaboratively to expand the brand globally. Businesses run by people who work together with hope and enjoyment deliver the best results.”
Also reporting to President & CEO Dick Burke, Lara Thane serves as a primary legal advisor to Envoy Global, overseeing all legal, compliance and privacy matters. Thane will be responsible for negotiating and drafting a broad range of complex commercial contracts, handling risk and privacy management, overseeing Envoy’s compliance program, managing employment matters, and providing counsel on all other legal issues facing the company.
Thane brings over 14 years of varied experiences across legal disciplines and executive roles in both private practice and Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining Envoy Global, she served as the Chief Privacy Officer and Deputy General Counsel at StoneX Group, a financial services organization operating in commercial hedging, global payments, securities, physical commodities, foreign exchange and clearing and execution services, in addition to holding several senior legal roles at its subsidiary, GAIN Capital.
“I am enthused to be joining the Envoy Global team, and to have the opportunity to work alongside outstanding legal minds to help move the company’s mission of bridging the gap between U.S companies and key foreign talent,” said Thane of her new role.
Sharon Ray, Head of DEI, brings years of HR experience working for companies of all sizes, from scaling start-ups to established global leaders. Ray heads her own firm, S. Thompson & Associates, a consultancy helping organizations develop and optimize HR strategies and practices such as increased hiring and DEI initiatives. She’s worked for several companies, getting her start at Kraft Foods, Inc., where she specialized in comprehensive culture programs to increase retention, heighten DEI initiatives, and ensure that teams had a cohesive approach to HR matters.
Ray is known for her proficiency in conflict resolution and ability to build better relationships at work, and is a qualified expert when it comes to diversity and inclusion, talent management, compensation issues, and success planning. “Envoy Global’s mission and goals align with my personal and professional values in many ways,” said Ray of her new role. “I’m looking forward to joining Envoy’s knowledgeable team and helping the company further embody its greater mission through leadership in company culture and inclusivity.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome Sophy, Lara, and Sharon to our executive leadership team. Each are experts in their fields, all strengthen our company, and all reflect our commitment to continual evolution,” said Dick Burke, JD, President and CEO of Envoy Global. “I look forward to working closely with them as they each play a key role in ensuring that Envoy continues to expand globally, providing best-in-class data privacy and compliance and leading in company culture and diversity.”
About Envoy Global
Founded in 1998, Envoy Global is a global immigration services provider offering the only immigration management platform that makes it seamless for companies to hire and manage an international workforce. By combining expert legal representation—for both inbound and non-U.S. immigration—and proprietary technology, Envoy empowers companies to acquire the best talent regardless of where they live, while simultaneously managing their entire global workforce and enabling employees to take advantage of business opportunities around the globe. Envoy is a 2019 honoree of the 18th Annual Chicago Innovation Awards, 20th Annual Illinois Technology Association (ITA) CityLIGHTS Awards, Corporate Immigration & Relocation Best Global Corporate Immigration Platform, Built In Chicago’s 2022 Best Places To Work, Best Mid-Sized Places To Work and Best Benefits, and ChicagoInno’s Coolest Companies List. Envoy is affiliated with two law firms, Global Immigration Associates, P.C. (GIA), who provide immigration legal services to companies and was ranked in the Chambers USA 2021 guide as a top law firm in Illinois within the immigration category, and Corporate Immigration Partners (CIP), an elite group of immigration attorneys and legal professionals who provide personalized immigration services to companies. Please visit www.envoyglobal.com for more information.