Sara Kennedy

• Administrator for all aspects of the company’s equity programs: RSAs, stock options, and quarterly board of directors' grants.
• Maintain equity management system (Certent) with accurate and current information, including participant demographics and platform access.
• Coordinate with Fidelity for equity plan administration.
• Partner with Payroll, HR, Finance, and external vendors to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company policies, as well as SOX controls.
• Provide accurate and timely processing of equity transactions, including grants, exercises, and releases.
• Handle multiple grants with varying vesting dates, and ensure timely processing on business days.
• Coordinate with payroll teams for processing RSA vesting taxes.
• Audit termination processes for stock participants.
• Conduct employee education and communication efforts on equity programs.
• Provide excellent customer service to stock plan participants, resolving participant inquiries.
• Assist with Section 16 filings (Forms 3, 4, and 5) and tracking for insiders.
• Monitor and help enforce trading window policies, and coordinate with Legal on insider trading compliance.
• Liaison between shareholders and outside vendors, including the transfer agent.
• Contribute to improvements in equity-related processes and automation.
• Lead in the reconciliation of equity activity, including shares outstanding and share reserves, among the company, transfer agent, and broker records for maintaining share pool balances and supporting Payroll and Treasury reconciliations as needed.
• Provide equity data to support financial and SEC reporting, with the preparation of quarterly and annual reporting requirements.
• Work closely with the SEC reporting, payroll, and tax teams on reporting accuracy.
• Assist with developing and implementing best practices for stock plan administration, ensuring scalability, and alignment with business goals.
• Provide guidance and support to participants on equity compensation policies, benefits, taxation, implications, and transactions.
• Develop and maintain training materials, communications, and educational resources to enhance participants' understanding of the company’s equity programs.
• Other responsibilities, as assigned.

As Legal Resource (2018 to current): I currently form legal entities, file DBAs, maintain databases, draft correspondence, process invoices, maintain minutes for governing body meetings, serve as the point of contact for policies and procedures, and assist attorneys with acquisitions and other projects as requested. I am also the Secretary and Treasurer for one of our non-profits. Expert in Excel, SmartSheet, Word and Outlook.

As Executive Assistant (2019-2020), I supported four executives with their calendars, travel, meetings, and conferences. Assisted with board meetings, including document preparation and filings. I assisted the finance department as requested.

Assist Research Analysts with research, reports, data entry, data review, and special projects. Assist the Policy Coordinator with policy review and formatting. Order office supplies. Process the mail. Attend and evaluate training sessions for compliance. Knowledge of various department and state software.

Assist attorneys with all aspects of domestic and foreign filing activities, such as US filings, direct EP filings, and PCT filings, with follow-up filings at the national stage, information disclosure statements, responses to office actions, and client correspondence. Update and maintain patent docketing in both firm and client docketing software (FoundationIP, Memotech, Anaqua, and Lecorpio). Special projects as requested.

Assist attorneys with all aspects of domestic and foreign filing activities, such as US filings, direct EP filings, and PCT filings, with follow-up filings at the national stage, information disclosure statements, responses to office actions, and client correspondence. Monitor and process maintenance fees. Update and maintain patent docketing (PerfectLaw and PATTSY). Assist with the implementation of the IP docketing and document management system. Special projects, as requested. Train new staff.

Coordinate with Intellectual Property in-house portfolio management, in-house counsel, as well as outside counsel, to support the prosecution of patent portfolios (U.S. and foreign). Collect, compile, organize, create, and analyze data and documents for review and approval by the portfolio managers. Update and maintain patent portfolio databases. Perform domestic and foreign filing activities, such as direct EP filings and PCT filings, with follow-up filings at the national stage. Train new staff.