Lauren Thomas is an experienced General Counsel for technology companies with a decade of experience across financial, regulatory, and corporate governance. Lauren is currently the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Faire, a wholesale marketplace that equips makers and retailers with the tools they need to compete against big-box stores and e-commerce. Before Faire, Lauren served as the General Counsel at Dutchie, one of the first national payments service providers for the cannabis industry. Prior to that role, Lauren served as the first General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at digital banking platform, Good Money. In her role, Lauren was responsible for building the legal, securities, and compliance functions for the social equity brand which directed 50% of its profits toward environmental and social justice initiatives through impact investments and charitable donations.
Previously, Lauren also served as Corporate Counsel at Block (previously Square, NYSE: SQ), where she managed all aspects of Block’s equity and asset acquisitions, as well as 20 domestic and international subsidiaries. At Block, she also served as Program Coordinator for the Black Squares Association and chaired Block’s first Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, helping create the company’s first public report inclusive of diversity, inclusion, and sustainability reporting. Earlier in her career, Lauren was a Corporate Associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
Lauren currently serves on the board for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco, where she assisted in expanding its cannabis expungement and bail clinics to Block’s pro bono program. She has also dedicated a significant amount of pro bono work towards Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that provides protection and free legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a B.A. from Harvard University, and is a member of the New York and California State Bars.