Business Acumen

 J. Mark Iwry is Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury and is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy at the U.S. Treasury Department. In that role, he is heavily involved in retirement and savings policy, implementation of the Affordable Care Act, other employee benefits and compensation issues, and related policy, legislative, rulemaking, and regulatory activity. 

Mark was previously a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, a partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling, a Research Professor at Georgetown University, Of Counsel to the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, and a Principal of the Retirement Security Project. From 1995 to 2001, he was the Treasury Department's Benefits Tax Counsel, serving as the principal official directly responsible for tax policy and regulation relating to the Nation’s qualified pension and 401(k) plans, IRAs, employer health plans, deferred compensation, and other employee benefits. 

Mark has often testified before congressional committees – representing the Treasury and Executive Branch or, while in the private sector, testifying as an independent expert -- and State legislatures. He has advised numerous Senators, Members of Congress and their staffs on both sides of the aisle, and has been asked to provide policy advice to various Presidential campaigns. 

Formerly a chair of the D.C. Bar Employee Benefits Committee and member of the White House Task Force on Health Care Reform (1993-94), his books and articles include the co-edited volume (with William Gale and Peter Orszag), Aging Gracefully: Ideas to Improve Retirement Security in America (Century Fdn. Press, 2006) and Automatic: Changing the Way America Saves (Brookings Institution Press, 2009)(co-edited with W. Gale, D. John and L. Walker). 

Mark is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, earned a Masters degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, and is listed in Who’s Who, Best Lawyers in America, Washington DC Super Lawyers, etc. He is a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel and a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rhett Buttle currently serves as the Director of Private Sector Engagement in the Office of the Secretary at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In his role, Rhett is the main liaison between the department and the business community. In addition, Rhett is a member of the White House Business Council where he works to engage the business community on a variety of healthcare policy issues, including the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. 

Before this role, Rhett was Vice President for External Affairs at Small Business Majority, a national business advocacy organization. During his tenure, Rhett led the effort to grow the organization in size and scope launching eight regional offices and expanding the organization’s policy issue set. His efforts led to sustained engagement with business leaders across the country on a variety of public policy issues and a national campaign to educate the business community about the Affordable Care Act. Rhett has also served in the Office of the President at George Washington University, worked on presidential, state and local campaigns and in the office of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was part of the governor’s legislative team working on healthcare reform, energy and education issues. 

Rhett frequently engages with the media and has spoken on business issues at the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Aspen Institute, and the Center for American Progress. He also serves on the boards of several different organizations, including the Board of Directors at the University of San Diego. Rhett holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego and a master’s degree from The George Washington University. In addition, he is active in many volunteer & professional organizations including American Legion Boys State. Rhett was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV.

Mr. Fortney is a co-founder of Fortney & Scott, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm counseling and advising clients on the full spectrum of work-place related matters, including employment discrimination and labor matters, compliance programs, government contracting, international dispute resolution and counseling matters, and developing strategies for avoiding or responding to workplace-related crises.

David has a broad-based practice representing and counseling employers and executives in employment and labor matters, including equal employment opportunity requirements, wage and hour matters, federal contractor's affirmative action and non-discrimination obligations, collective bargaining, and workplace health and safety. He brings experience from the public and private sectors in advising clients on these issues, and he frequently represents clients before federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor's agencies, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Mr. Fortney has been widely recognized for his professional accomplishments, including being named one of the leading employment lawyers in Washington, D.C. by the CHAMBERS USA survey of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in all years from 2005 through 2012. He was selected for inclusion in the 2009 through 2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, Washington D.C.’s, Washington D.C.’s Best Lawyers, and Super Lawyers. Mr. Fortney was also awarded an AV rating (the highest level) by Martindale-Hubbell.

David is a frequent lecturer and writer on employment-related topics, including appearances on CNN, CBS and Fox News. Mr. Fortney is the co-editor of the Federal Employment Law Insider monthly newsletter, Chapter Editor of The Family and Medical Leave Act (2006) published by BNA Books, co-author of the Military Leave Compliance Kit (2001), published by M. Lee Smith Publishers, and lead author of the Guide to Employee Leave (1997), published by Warren, Gorham & Lamont.

Senator Linda Newell, SPHR, is a Colorado State Senator now, but came from the private sector in Human Resources and Learning and Organizational Development, although her first career was in theatre and television in California.  She is a repeat presenter at national SHRM conferences, Colorado Human Resources Association, and regional and national summits and she hosts Colorado Human Resources professionals at their annual HR Day at the Capitol.  She attended UCLA, UC Irvine, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive program.  

In her five years in the legislature, Senator Newell has earned the reputation of being one of the most effective legislators at the Capitol.  Because of her collaborative approach, she is known as a problem-solver and bridge-builder, with 98% of her bills thus far receiving bipartisan support.

Ms. Walters has more than 30 years’ combined experience in management, HR administration, employment law practice, and teaching.

She has presented at conferences across the country, been engaged as an expert witness, and testified before U.S. Congressional and state legislative committees on employment issues.

Her book, “From Hello to Goodbye: Proactive Tips for Maintaining Positive Employee Relations” is in its 2nd edition and was one of the SHRMStore’s “Great 8” best-sellers for eight consecutive years.

Today, Ms. Walters works as an independent consultant doing business as FiveL Company, “Helping Leaders Limit their Liability by Learning the Law.”SM

Gerry Crispin, SPHR is a former practitioner, Co-author of eight books and over 100 articles, and a Life-long student of Staffing. Gerry facilitates the CareerXroads Colloquium – a series of intense, small-group meetings for staffing leaders from some of the world’s largest firms to share staffing best practices.

A long time SHRM volunteer, Gerry currently leads a national standards task force of more than 100 volunteers working to establish standards for recruiting that meet American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

One indicator that Gerry still sees himself as a student and keeps his perspective fresh is his travels around the world to watch, interview and observe recruiters, job seekers and employers. He has been to more than 20 countries in the last decade including China, Japan, Australia, Russia and India.

Follow Gerry on Twitter @GerryCrispin.

Attorney James P. (“Jim”) Reidy is a management-side labor and employment lawyer. He is a partner in the New England based law firm, Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green, PA, where he is the Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment group. His practice focuses on prevention, training and compliance but he also handles matters when claims arise.

He has more than 35 years of experience in the field and been a media resource on workplace law for media outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Business Magazine, Bloomberg, NPR, The Associated Press, NPR Market Place, Buzz Feed, Law 360, Inc. Magazine, The HR Power Hour, HR Breakroom, SKI Magazine and HR Magazine as well as several local/regional publications.

In 2020 Jim was inducted as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. 

Chambers USA and New England Super Lawyers have ranked Jim in the Top Tier of management-side employment lawyers for each year of the last 15 years. Best Lawyers USA named Jim the 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Labor and Employment Law (Manchester, NH) and the NH Business Review named him one of the top 200 most influential business leaders in New Hampshire.

Jim has been a presenter regularly at SHRM’s Legal and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC as well as SHRM’s annual conferences.

Jayson Saba is vice president of Marketing Strategy and Industry Analyst Relations for Ceridian. Ceridian is a leading provider of human resources management, payroll, workforce management and benefits administration solutions with 100,000 clients across the globe. Jayson joined Ceridian in 2011. Prior, Jayson was the lead research analyst for Workforce Management and Core HR within the Human Capital Management (HCM) practice at Aberdeen Group. He is recognized as a world- class expert in the area of HR functions, health benefit administration, core HR systems and recruitment process outsourcing. He has contributed to several leading industry publications including The Economist, Talent Management, HR Executive, PayTech, Quartz, Workforce and HRO Today, among others.

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.

Meredith Nethercutt is the Manager of Member Engagement at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She provides leadership and direction to establish, maintain and strengthen relationships with SHRM Volunteer Leaders, members, and affiliates to achieve the Society's strategy and objectives on membership. Meredith develops and executes a comprehensive strategy to educate and inform volunteer leaders on membership programs, services and resources and to support them in their Volunteer Leader role. Meredith was previously the director of member advocacy at SHRM, overseeing the Advocacy Team (A-Team) network of volunteer advocates, where she facilitated relationships between SHRM members and lawmakers to strengthen the Society's advocacy objectives in legislative districts nationwide. In addition, Meredith provided training and guidance to HR advocates on how to effectively communicate with lawmakers regarding workplace policies.