Voices of Trade
Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM
Trade compliance has moved from the back office to the boardroom — and its influence now reaches into the highest levels of global business strategy and geopolitics. Voice of Trade gathers the most respected minds in the field for a frank, unfiltered conversation about the forces reshaping trade compliance: where it's been, where it's heading, and what's at stake for the practitioners navigating it in real time.
This intimate evening program features two focused sessions designed to spark candid dialogue — and send attendees home with frameworks they can put to work immediately.
The program will also feature opening remarks from David Peters, the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Export Enforcement at the Bureau of Industry and Security — participation is anticipated, pending confirmation.
Session 1: Enforcement, Whistleblowers & the Regulatory Landscape Fireside Chat with Q&A | Moderator: Brent Carlson, Red Flags Rising | Guest: Mary Inman, Whistleblower Partners
The enforcement landscape is shifting — and the signals are impossible to ignore. Administrative subpoenas are on the rise, OFAC's whistleblower program is maturing, and questions are mounting about whether BIS and export control frameworks are next. Mary Inman, one of the country's leading whistleblower attorneys, joins Brent Carlson for a candid conversation about what's driving this moment: who is blowing the whistle and why, what themes are emerging in trade-related cases, and — critically — what causes an internal compliance concern to cross the line into an external report. Drawing on real cases, including a compelling account of a well-known whistleblower's inflection point, this session explores how compliance professionals can get ahead of enforcement activity, manage internal pressures, and make the case for why their voice matters at the highest levels of the organization.
Session 2: Finding Your Voice — Compliance, Podcasting & Internal Advocacy Panel Discussion | Moderator: Mike Huneke, Morgan Lewis | Panelists: Jeff Rittener, Rittener Reflections; Brent Carlson, Red Flags Rising
Trade compliance teams have long operated in the background — technically essential, organizationally overlooked. That's changing, and the practitioners leading that shift are doing it by finding their voice. In this conversation, Mike Huneke moderates a discussion with two compliance leaders who have built public platforms — and used them to change how the field communicates, internally and externally. Jeff Rittener draws on decades at Intel, including his tenure as Chief Trade Officer, to explore how compliance challenges play out inside large organizations, how an internal newsletter evolved into a podcast, and why the medium matters less than the message. Together, the panelists tackle the practical questions practitioners face every day: How do you communicate a compliance priority to a CEO in two minutes? How do you speak up when there's an active enforcement matter? How do you build credibility and community inside an organization that may not yet understand the stakes? Attendees will leave with a framework for communicating compliance — not just what to say, but how to say it, and why it falls to compliance professionals themselves to lead that conversation.
Speakers
Mary Inman
Mary Inman is a founding partner of Whistleblower Partners, a boutique law firm that specializes in representing whistleblowers worldwide under the U.S. whistleblower reward programs, including the SEC, CFTC, IRS, DOT and FinCEN programs. Mary’s successful efforts to recruit U.K. whistleblowers to file tips under the U.S. whistleblower programs were featured in the New York Times article “Law Firm Sees Britain as Hunting Ground for U.S. Whistleblower Cases.” Her successful representation of three healthcare whistleblowers and the personal toll whistleblowing exacted on these clients was featured in the New Yorker. Mary represents renowned whistleblowers Tyler Shultz (Theranos), Frances Haugen (Facebook/Meta) and Mark MacGann (Uber) and is a regular commentator on whistleblower matters for the Financial Times, BBC, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Financial News. Mary is also a Founding Board member of Psst.org, a new nonprofit seeking to connect whistleblowers and collectivize the act of speaking out.
Jeff Ritener
Jeff, Intel’s former Chief Trade Officer, now advises companies and hosts a podcast that simplifies global trade. He helps leaders cut through regulatory complexity and turn trade risk into competitive advantage. Podcast: Rittener Reflections — www.rittenerreflections.com
Brent Carlson
Brent Carlson is a corporate compliance and fraud expert who helps companies and their legal advisors investigate, litigate, and remediate complex compliance challenges. His career began during the foreign investment boom into China, where he developed and negotiated large-scale joint ventures and technology transfer deals — and quickly became a troubleshooter, addressing fraud, disputes, and turnarounds firsthand. That experience shaped a practice built on front-line business instincts: identifying the signal from the noise and delivering efficient, effective solutions for clients facing high-stakes challenges. With fraud and compliance risks increasingly posing existential threats — amplified by geopolitical tensions, national security concerns, and a fundamental reordering of international trade — Brent brings the perspective of someone who has navigated these issues from the inside. He is the founder of Red Flags Rising and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, and other leading publications.
Michael Huneke
Michael Huneke is a Partner at Morgan Lewis, who helps multinational companies to navigate compliance and enforcement risks under US economic and national security areas such as export controls and economic sanctions. Mike is trusted by clients to assist with designing, executing, and defending frameworks for making subjective assessments of risk with imperfect information, especially regarding probability-based enforcement regimes such as US export controls, the US Department of the Treasury’s Outbound Investment Rule, and the US Department of Commerce’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services regime.
Venue Information
Getting there: Morgan Lewis is located at 1400 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, in the Stanford Research Park corridor. From 280, take the Page Mill Road exit and head east - the building is about a mile down on your right. From 101, take Oregon Expressway/Page Mill Road west, cross El Camino Real, and continue about two miles - it'll be on your left.
Free parking is available in the lot behind the building. Follow the driveway in and continue around to the back of the building.
