Cara Soffer

General Counsel Board & Corporate Secretary Head of HR @Xwell

New York, NY, US

XWELL (formerly known as XpresSpa Group, Inc.) is a $50M–$100M publicly traded global travel health and wellness company (NASDAQ: XWEL) with approximately 300 global employees in 4 countries and 6 corporate brands: XpresSpa®, XpresCheck®, Treat™, Naples Wax Center™, TreatStudios and HyperPointe™.I built XWELL’s legal and compliance team with a business-forward mindset to mitigate risk and support global operational expansion. Tapped to lead the Human Resources function, I also guide an 11-person HR team through executive talent planning and challenging periods of gapped staffing. Drive acquisition strategy to maximize shareholder worth and align global compliance and privacy regimes with strategic growth. Save millions in outside counsel spend and significantly shorten legal review timelines. Advise Board of Directors and senior management on operations, commercial transactions, litigation, IP and brand protection, M&A, corporate governance, capital markets, privacy and cybersecurity, government affairs, labor and employment, regulatory, risk management, compliance matters, and insurance management. Established the company’s first worldwide privacy program in alignment with GDPR and CCPA regulations and lead strategic planning and execution of compliance programs e.g, HIPAA, the corporate practice of medicine, Stark, anti-kickback, and state licensing requirements. Championed corporate name and ticker symbol change, restored NASDAQ listing through reverse stock split and prepare all board and governance documents. Fast-tracked pandemic crisis response, including swift closure of spas. Negotiated first out-of-airport B2B deal (spa station at NFLPA Breakfast Club), lead pivot into multiple lines of new business, forged critical joint ventures and enabled post-COVID launch of rewards app. Secured first government contract and its renewal through competitive RFP process. Assumed HR functional lead role, demonstrating operational agility.

Penn State University

B.S. in Accounting

Rutgers Law School

J.D. summa cum laude