Shawnte M. Mitchell

Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel

Shawnte Mitchell is a seasoned attorney, with 20 years of experience advising publicly traded and privately held companies in the health care, life sciences and sustainability industries. Most recently, she served as Chief Legal Officer of Geno, a privately held biotech focused on synthetically manufacturing chemicals for plastics, nylon and spandex using bacteria and sugar. She joined Geno from Zogenix Inc., where she was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, contributing to the development and execution of the company’s strategic and operational plans and overseeing compliance, governance, SEC, intellectual property, data privacy, and contractual matters. Prior to joining Zogenix, Shawnte served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Affairs and Chief Compliance Officer, at Aptevo Therapeutics Inc., a publicly traded clinical stage biotech company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.  While there, she led the legal affairs and human resources activities of the company. In addition to the corporate governance, legal, IP and compliance functions, she oversaw compensation, benefits, payroll, recruitment, retention and talent management activities, including the implementation of leadership training, culture development and professional development activities for employees.

Shawnte received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.  In her spare time, she likes to volunteer her time with a number of organizations, including serving on the board of Life Sciences Cares Bay Area.  She also enjoys spending quality time with her husband and two daughters.