Piedmont Lithium announced the strategic addition of two new senior leaders to support its global portfolio of projects. James Griffiths, a global industrials and corporate finance expert, has been named Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Treasury; Kara deBorde, an award-winning risk manager with broad-based leadership experience, has joined as Vice President of Risk Management. As Piedmont’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Treasury, Griffiths is responsible for advancing Piedmont’s strategic priorities and capital plans, providing leadership guidance on mergers and acquisition (M&A), joint venture, and strategic investment activities, along with associated capital structure and financing plans.

With a background in investment banking and management consulting spanning 17 years, he has advised on a range of M&As, divestitures, and debt and equity capital raisings for public and private companies. Most recently, he served as a Director in the Global Industrials Group at Bank of America, working with some of the unit’s largest clients to help raise debt and equity financing and advising on M&A. Prior to that, Griffiths was a Vice President in the fixed-income futures, options, and cleared derivatives business, helping clients navigate the transition from over the counter to central cleared derivatives. He began his career at Accenture in its financial services management consulting business.

As a UK native, Griffiths earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Lancaster University. As the Company’s Vice President of Risk Management, deBorde is responsible for identifying, formulating, coordinating, and implementing all risk-related activities and procedures. With a background spanning more than 20 years, she has cultivated robust experience in strategic risk management vision, loss protection, savings, and analytics.

Most recently, deBorde served as Senior Director of Risk Management at TC Transcontinental. Her career also includes positions with Coveris, S.A.; Michelin North America; S.B. Phillips Company; and Liberty Mutual Insurance. deBorde earned a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of South Carolina.