Avril Ussery Sisk, NACD.DC, serves as Chair of the National Association of Corporate Directors
(NACD) Capital Area Chapter Advisory Board. She recently served on the board of a privately
held information technology company where she supported strategic public-private partnerships
and the government relations strategy to drive significant revenue and ultimately a transaction.
She is a past Chair of the Arlington County (VA) Economic Development Commission (EDC)
and as Vice-Chair led the EDC’s Workforce Taskforce, the commission’s collaborative initiative
to address workforce development, competition for talent, business recruitment and
realignment, and other economic development concerns. During her tenure, the National
Landing area of Arlington County became the first “smart city” in the United States through a
public–private collaboration establishing new 5G digital infrastructure, successfully drawing
more technology companies to the area.
An attorney with more than 30 years of professional and community leadership, Avril has a
strong record of innovation in large and mid-size government, business and nonprofit
organizations as well as consulting experience in both Japan and the United States. As
consultant in Japan, Avril created an entirely new profit center for her consulting firm by
enfranchising Japanese women as employees in western corporate firms, along with her
coaching work with senior-level Japanese executives.
With a particular interest in AI governance, Avril is regularly speaking and writing on this
expansive subject. She continues to explore the implications of AI regulations on business,
particularly regarding directors’ oversight and strategic responsibilities. A certified Leadership
Professional in Ethics and Compliance (LPEC) through the Ethics and Compliance Certification
Institute (ECCI), former North Carolina State Court judge and ethics counsel at the US
Department of Housing and Urban Development, she is a graduate of the University of
California Berkeley Law School and the University of California, Los Angeles.
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