James J. McDonald, Jr. is a partner in the Irvine, California and Tampa, Florida offices of Fisher & Phillips LLP, where he is a litigator, trial lawyer and strategic advisor to employers regarding labor and employment law matters.  He is author of the SHRM-published book, California Employment Law: An Employer’s Guide, and he is a frequent speaker on employment law issues.  He is a cum laude law graduate of Georgetown University and a member of the California and Florida Bars, and he holds the SHRM-SCP certification.

 

 

Mark Matson, SPHR, is a seasoned HR generalist with over 25 years of experience. He is currently Vice President of HR at EWI, a highly specialized materials engineering consulting firm based in Columbus, Ohio. Mark has been a previous speaker on organization development at the 2005 SHRM national convention and served as an Angoff Panel member for SHRM’s National Certification Standards Committee. He has been a compensation and labor law instructor in the Central Ohio HR Associations’ SHRM Certification review courses. His team designed a leadership development program in partnership with The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business that received national recognition from the American Society for Training and Development. He has served on the national Program Advisory Board for the Institute for Management Studies based in Reno, NV. Mark has served in leadership roles in a variety of non-profit organizations including President of the Columbus Literacy Council, Director of the Columbus Area Leadership Program and is currently national Board President of DignityUSA – a 40 year-old advocacy organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the Roman Catholic tradition.

Mr. Mankin has over 28 years experience in the study of Human Performance Technology (HPT), management consulting, coaching, training, and organizational analysis roles in both government and commercial sectors, worldwide. He is an accomplished Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) and a Managing at Partner at Platinum Performance Partners (PPP), an International training and consulting firm. He is also the co-author and co-publisher, with ASTD, of the acclaimed Performance DNA processes and tools used by over 6,000 HPT analysts worldwide. In this capacity Mr. Mankin delivers workshops and consulting for ASTD worldwide and at three Universities as an adjunct professor. He is also a founder and Managing Partner of Outcome Systems a performance-based software company and co-creator/author of Performance DNA Desktop and the Performance DNA Dashboard.

Greg Madsen is Co-CEO of Innovative Rx Strategies. Greg possesses first-hand knowledge of PBM pricing models and is an expert in MAC programs, generic pricing and PBM operations. He also has expert knowledge of claims adjudication processes and benefit design administration, along with years of negotiating and auditing experience. Greg is a registered pharmacist with an MBA and prior to founding Innovative Rx Strategies, Greg was Senior Vice President of Retail Services for CVS Caremark. He was responsible for expanding the company’s retail programs, developing client pricing initiatives and was a key contributor to the client underwriting process.

Samir Luther is a Program Director at the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute, the nation’s leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender public officials. From 2004-2010, Samir authored the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index and State of the Workplace for LGBT Americans. He has worked with leading Fortune 1000 and AmLaw 200 firms to create innovative approaches to recruit and retain talented LGBT workers. Samir is a frequent speaker on same-sex partner and spousal benefits and transgender inclusion and, in 2010, he joined the Society for Human Resource Management’s Workforce Diversity Panel.

Hunter Lott is an HR problem solver. He has delivered over 4000 “on stage” events, over 17,000 presentation hours and reviewed over 1200 employee handbooks. Hunter won accolades as a senior course leader for the American Management Association. Hunter is an award winning speaker with Vistage and has earned Speaker of the Year, Impact Speaker of the Year and Top Performer Vistage honors.

Hunter attended Tulane University in New Orleans, graduated from Iowa State and has a Master’s Degree in Employment Law from NSU Shepard Broad College of Law.

Shaun Haley has been representing private- and public-sector employers in Nevada for a decade, with a primary focus on traditional labor and wage and hour matters. He regularly represents clients before administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, and the Nevada State Labor Commissioner. Shaun also advises employers on a wide array of personnel matters, including policies and procedures, disciplines, discharges, and drafting and enforcement of non-compete agreements. As part of his labor practice, Shaun has represented employers in numerous grievance and interest arbitrations and in collective bargaining. Shaun has spoken frequently before a number of professional groups on matters such as prevailing wages, workplace investigations, and labor relations. He has also taught continuing education classes for the State Bar of Nevada. Shaun has just been recently recognized as a “Rising Star” in labor and employment law for 2011 in the Mountain States Edition of Super Lawyers.

Education: J.D., cum laude, The Catholic University of America, 1999 B.A., Georgetown University, 1993 Admitted to Practice: Nevada U.S. District Court, District of Nevada U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Activities: Southern Nevada Human Resources Association - Board of Directors

David Lee, the founder of HumanNatureAtWork.com, helps employers improve employee engagement, customer service, and morale, though his work as a consultant, trainer, and executive coach. He is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance.

David is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as over sixty articles and book chapters on employee and organizational performance that have been published in North America, Europe, India, Australia, and China.

Much of his work involves taking research into human nature from a wide range of scientific disciplines, and then translating these principles into practical strategies for optimizing individual and organizational performance.

Using the popular TV show The Dog Whisperer as an analogy for the difference understanding human nature makes, David’s work helps leaders and managers become “Employee Whisperers.”

Jeff Lanza was an FBI Special Agent for over 20 years. He investigated corruption, fraud, organized crime, cyber crime, human trafficking and terrorism. He has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Dateline and Larry King Live, among others.

He is passionate about keeping people and organizations safe from risk and has presented to thousands around the globe. His clients include many Fortune 500 companies.

His newest book, “Pistols to Press” is now available.

Jeff loves talking to audiences the world over, but is most comfortable in his home city, where he serves as a certified Kansas City barbecue judge.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @lanzafbi.

Internationally recognized as an expert in the field, Mr. Kushner is one of the nation's most sought after speakers on HR strategy and employee benefits. He has advised four U.S. Presidents on health care and has testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee and the U.S. House Small Business Committee on employee benefit issues.

A frequent resource to the media, Mr. Kushner contributes to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, AP, Knight-Ridder, the Kiplinger Washington Newsletter, CNN News, Fortune, MSNBC and Good Morning America among others. More importantly, he and his wife Tamis have five children and four wonderful (and amazing!) grandchildren.