With over 30 years of global experience in legal and compliance strategy, Atlas' Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Denisse Becerra, brings extensive expertise in navigating the complexities of the tech and human capital management sectors. Her journey to Atlas is far from a typical corporate story — it’s one of resilience, a love for new challenges, and balancing priorities.
Denisse’s professional journey began in her hometown of Lima, Peru, when after graduation she was invited to be part of an only women Law Firm, Becerra, Ortiz & Zegarra, Abogadas.
From that moment she became passionate about empowering women in the corporate world. While working in a global project of Municipal Privatizations for the World Bank, she decided to pursue an international career and move to Washington, D.C.. Here, Denisse earned her master’s degree in International & Comparative Law and worked for renowned organizations like the IADB on project finance and corporate lending.
She decided to pivot and discovered the telecommunications world, where she first practiced in a DC Law firm and then decided to move to Miami for her first role as an Inhouse counsel. It is then that she found her passion with in-house legal roles, being closer to the business and gaining significant experience in corporate and business law within the LATAM region.
She was then offered to be the legal head of LATAM for The Western Union Corporation, where she tackled one of her biggest career challenges. She says,
‘I’d never been more afraid in my entire life, it was a huge challenge and responsibility, but I loved it and stayed there for 12 years.’
She worked with LATAM initially then the rest of the Americas and Europe as well.
After having her son, Denisse returned to Peru to be closer to the family. Then her daughter was born. With the constant travel and having 2 babies, she made one of the hardest decisions of her life: to leave her corporate career and embrace a new adventure as a full-time mom. While she initially planned a longer break from her career, she soon realized that to be her best self, she needed something of her own. This led her to partner with her sister and take her cookie business to the next level, combining creativity and entrepreneurism.
A compliance project in Peru eventually pulled her back into the corporate world, but as a family, Denisse decided to move back to Miami where she became the General Counsel & CCO of a fintech, when she realized she missed a lot the corporate world. Pivoting again when she connected with our own Jim McCoy, Atlas’ CEO, she decided to leave her financial services world to incursioning in the Human Experience Management world. And now, here she is at Atlas, making waves (and maybe some cookies on the side!)
Denisse’s journey reminds us to prioritize what matters most, whether it’s family, career, or new opportunities. And that sometimes, taking time off to focus on what matters can give a new and refreshed perspective.