Business Acumen

Margaret is CEO for The HR Edge, Inc., an international management consulting and training company. Her clients have included Lockheed Martin, Chevron, Time Warner, U.S. Secret Service, Sara Lee Foods, Home and Garden Television, Roche, Nationwide Insurance, NAPA Auto Parts, Homeland Security, New York Presbyterian Hospital (Cornell & Columbia Medical Centers), U.S. Marine Corps, Deloitte, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Vanderbilt University, Comcast, Intercontinental Hotel Group, National Institutes of Health, McKee Foods, Skanska, Fox Broadcasting, Schwarz BioSciences, Fifth Third Bank, Verizon, SAS (computer software), The Nashville Predators national hockey franchise, Northrop Grumman, Miami University, Wells Fargo, TECO Energy, AmSurg, Quorum Health Resources, the U.S. Naval Nuclear Submarine Group and various local and state governments. Previous to owning her own company, Margaret was Sr. Vice President, Human Resources Consulting for a national consulting firm out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has a BS degree from the University of Alabama and a JD degree from the Vanderbilt University School of Law. She has worked as an attorney, specializing in employment law as well as been Vice President of Human Resources for three large companies and served on the Board of Directors for Aegis Sciences Corporation. She is often quoted as a business expert in newspapers and magazines across the country including Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, CBS Money Watch and Entrepreneur and appears regularly on local ABC, CBS and Fox television affiliates. She is the author of the business books, “Management Courage – Having the Heart of a Lion” and “The Hidden Language of Business – Workplace Politics, Power & Influence.”

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.

 

J. Lenora Bresler, J.D., is a powerhouse of enthusiasm and insight.  In her presentations, you get plenty of substance along with a good helping of “fun.” Graduating from law school at age 20, she is an attorney, a certified senior human resource professional, a professional public speaker in the National Speakers Association, is a GSI, graduate of the Speakers Institute, and holds an advanced speaker certificate.  She operates Bresler Training, a corporate keynoting and training business.  Her specialties are leadership, motivation, change, and conflict resolution.  J. Lenora has given thousands of presentations and keynote addresses to every kind of audience imaginable and is known for her energetic and humorous speaking style.  She was the first executive director of the nationally-acclaimed Polk Works Workforce 2020 project, dedicated to educating employers in workforce trends.  In addition to teaching Law at the University of South Florida and all modules of the Human Resources Certification courses at Valencia Enterprises, J. Lenora was the long-time host of her own law and politics talk radio program for a Fox-affiliate radio station. She is a Bible teacher, formerly with her own religious radio program, an actress, and singer.  She co-authored the books Mission Possible with Steven Covey and Brian Tracy and the Best of the Best.  She is the editor of the motivational book Jump Starts by Tim Richardson.  Her newest book is Instant Insight. 

Paul Karlzen (JD, MBA, and PMP) serves as the Director, HR Information & Analytics at Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI). One of the nation’s largest health systems, Englewood, Colorado-based CHI operates in 19 states and comprises 105 hospitals, including four academic health centers and major teaching hospitals and 30 critical-access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; and other facilities that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. Paul is responsible for HR Information metrics, service level agreements, information standardization and researching/implementing leading information practices including predictive analytics, text analysis, and big data.  

Previously, Paul held various leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company, American Airlines, Ball Corporation and Accenture. Paul is licensed to practice law in Colorado, Georgia and Texas and obtained concurrent Juris Doctorate (J.D.) and Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) degrees from Southern Illinois University, magna cum laude. 

Paul is a voting member of SHRM’s National HR information standards taskforces and has been an active member of the Colorado Bar Association’s Communications & Technology section. He is a first time presenter at SHRM’s Annual Conference & Exposition and has previously presented at the Project Management Institute’s Global Congress.

Roger King represents employers in employment relations matters, concentrating on matters arising under the National Labor Relations Act, state and federal equal employment statutes, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. In addition, Roger's practice consists of representing employers in collective bargaining negotiations, grievance and arbitration matters, and litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts regarding a broad spectrum of labor-related matters. Roger's experience also includes representing clients regarding issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program matters, wrongful discharge claims, and development and review of employee policies and procedures. Roger is a Fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a member of the following bar associations, including the labor relations section of each: American, District of Columbia, Ohio State, and Columbus and a member of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Labor Advisory Committee, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the American Health Lawyers Association, and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA).

Lauren McFerran served as a Member of the NLRB from December 17, 2014 until December 16, 2019. On July 29, 2020, the Senate confirmed her renomination as a Board Member for a term expiring on December 16, 2024.

On January 20, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden named Ms. McFerran Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

Previous to her appointment to the NLRB, Ms. McFerran served as Chief Labor Counsel for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP Committee) and had also served the Committee as Deputy Staff Director under Senator Tom Harkin.  She began on the HELP Committee as Senior Labor Counsel for Senator Ted Kennedy.  Before her work in the United States Senate, Ms. McFerran was an associate at Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. and served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Ms. McFerran received a B.A. from Rice University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.