Desta Hailu

Desta Hailu serves as the Director and Assistant General Counsel at Capital One since September 2025, specializing in corporate governance and securities disclosure. Prior experience includes a role as Assistant General Counsel for Corporate Governance at Freddie Mac from June 2022 to September 2025, and as an Associate at both Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP between 2018 and 2022. Desta began the legal career as a Summer Associate and Law Clerk at Shearman & Sterling LLP and gained initial experience as a Summer Intern with Apple in 2016. Academic credentials include a Juris Doctor from St. John's University School of Law, and degrees in Music from Carnegie Mellon University and Southern Methodist University.