Thomas Bell

Thomas Bell serves as the VP, Associate General Counsel for Global Payments at Upwork since December 2022, where Thomas leads a global team of legal and compliance professionals in the payments sector and holds roles as the Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering & Sanctions Compliance Officer for Upwork Payments Inc. Previously, Thomas was at Level as Product Counsel and Compliance Lead for Payments, offering legal support for payments activities, and worked at Square, Inc. as Payments & Regulatory Counsel, advising on various financial services matters. Prior to these roles, Thomas held significant positions at American Express, including Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, and worked in compliance-related attorney roles at various organizations such as Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and Citigroup. Thomas's early career includes prosecuting National Labor Relations Act violations as a Federal Government Attorney and practicing civil litigation at Murphy, Pearson, Bradley & Feeney. Thomas holds a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Howard University.