Welcome to Flyertalk. I don't believe you will be able to do anything with the points unless you open a card account linked to Membership Rewards, unless there is a special arrangement as part of the company award.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like the boss will transfer the points to "AmEx's partner airlines, buy gift cards or shop the MR giftstore" for her.
So right now, she could:
- AmEx's partner airlines (without an Amex account)
- buy gift cards (without an Amex account)
- shop the MR giftstore (without an Amex account)
- open an Amex account and transfer to it (doesnt want to do this though)
Is that her only options? And if her boss is doing this for her, I would not expect the boss to allow her to "sit" on her points until a nice airline bonus pops up, yeah?