Ileana joined Nexteer from Delphi Automotive (USD 11B multinational listed on New York Stock Exchange), where she was senior corporate council, based both in Paris and US headquarters. There, she was responsible for all legal affairs within EMEA and had global responsibility for certain high stake legal matters, like M&A deals, global contracts and government aid initiatives).

Prior to joining Delphi, Ileana spent several years in private practice, including in the Paris office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, where she worked primarily on securities transactions (IPOs and other offerings on US and European Stock Exchanges), M&A deals and cross-border litigation.

Prior to pursuing a legal career, Ileana worked in international business (strategy, purchasing, sales, marketing, management) at privately held international corporations and start-ups, which instilled in her a strong business acumen, entrepreneurial spirit and a pragmatic, hands-on approach to solving legal issues. She has a track record of highly successful business transformations, international expansions (through organic growth and M&A) and simply leading any complex project to successful and timely completion.

Ileana also has board leadership experience with reputable internationally recognized non-profit organizations: she served as a member of the Board of Governors of Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA) Legal Council during her Nexteer tenure and served as a member of the board of directors of AmCham France during her Delphi tenure.

In addition to managing all aspects of a multi-cultural global legal department and being a trusted advisor to the board, CEO and senior leadership team, her primary areas of intense hands-on experience are set forth in the Key Skills section of Areas of Expertise.

With most solid experience in automotive and high-tech industries, she has served a wide array of Industries/Sectors.

Ileana has excellent communication skills in multiple languages (English, French, Romanian, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese).  Her leadership style is very results focused, but will not compromise integrity.  She will empower, but is very demanding and will follow-through to execution. She is comfortable with both strategic responsibility and hands-on involvement. She has demonstrated ability to simultaneously manage multiple complex projects / matters / people autonomously, while advancing strong leadership and team player skills.  Thanks to her affable personality, she has built positive, long-term relationships of mutual trust/respect with clients, superiors, peers, subordinates and third parties across diverse cultures and business environments and has been praised for her high energy and motivating management style. Ileana enjoys being an integral part of a management or multi-functional team and ensures the highest level of discretion and trustworthiness.

Ileana was educated in the U.S. and France in both business and law. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with specialization in international studies (marketing, management and languages) at University of Michigan, U.S., in August 1990. In conjunction with her Bachelor of Arts studies at University of Michigan, she also obtained French degrees in business administration-economics and advanced French studies from the University of Nice, France, in February 1989 and June 1989, respectively. Ileana obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, U.S., in December 1997. She also obtained a French law degree in European Union law from the University of Paris I (Sorbonne), France, in conjunction with her Juris Doctor studies at University of Pittsburgh, U.S, in July 1997.