Consultation

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.

 

David Lindgren is a Senior Manager with Flexible Benefit Service Corporation (Flex), a fullservice wholesale insurance firm and administrator of tax-advantaged benefit plans based in Rosemont, Illinois. David oversees the Compliance and Public Affairs departments at Flex and brings fifteen years of experience to his role.

He is a subject matter expert in the areas of ERISA, HIPAA, Cafeteria Plans, Healthcare Reform and various Employee Benefit Programs, including consumer-driven plans that incorporate Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and wellness programs.

Steve Browne, SHRM-SCP is the Chief People Officer for LaRosa's, Inc., a regional Pizzeria chain. He has 35+ years working as an HR professional in a variety of industries. He has a globally recognized HR blog and author of three books, HR on Purpose !!, HR Rising !! and HR Unleashed !! He is a past member of the SHRM Board of Directors. Steve also runs a global HR network called the HR Net which reaches 15,000+ HR and business professionals weekly.

 

Jason Geller is managing partner of the firm's San Francisco office.  Jason represents employers in all facets of employment law matters. He has considerable experience defending employers in litigation involving claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act and California Family Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act and California wage and hour laws. Jason has also defended employers against whistleblowing and retaliation claims, including claims under the California Whistleblower Act, the False Claims Act and various provisions of the California Labor Code.

Jason has extensive experience defending employers in federal and state court, as well as in investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board.

As Director of Audit & HR Services for Berkshire Associates Inc., Lynn A. Clements oversees Berkshire’s audit defense, pay equity and advanced people analytics practice. Throughout her career, Lynn has provided clients with strategic insight and practical compliance and risk management advice in hundreds of government investigations, including OFCCP compliance reviews and EEOC investigations. 

With over 20 years of experience, including serving in high level policy positions at both the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Lynn is a regular presenter of management and employee training at all levels of organizations and has testified before Congress regarding EEO and pay equity issues. Lynn is a frequent presenter at national events, including the 2021 NILG, where she spoke about focused reviews, promotional practices, and was featured on a panel. She has also spoken at several local ILG meetings in 2021, including Charlotte, Ohio, Philadelphia, Orange County, and more.   

Avish Parashar is the world's only “Motivational Improviser.” He works with groups that want their people to be more flexible and with organizations who want to increase innovation. Avish uses his 20+ years of experience performing, teaching, and studying improv comedy to show organizations and individuals how to improvise, adapt and innovate in an ever-changing world. He specializes in helping professionals access and develop their creativity and apply those skills to think quickly and deal with change.

Avish grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, and now makes his home in Philadelphia, PA. Though he performed all through high-school, he decided to stop performing when he went to college to “focus on his studies.” That resolve lasted only a few months, as the first time he saw an improv comedy show he fell in love. One week later he auditioned for the campus improv group, got in, and the rest is history. After graduating, he started Polywumpus Improv Comedy, which did regular performances in and around Philadelphia for 7 years. Avish closed up Polywumpus to focus on the speaking and training side of the business – using improv comedy as a tool to teach valuable business skills such as creativity, innovation and adaptability. Avish is the author of “Improvise to Success!” and the Amazon best-selling, “Say 'Yes, And!'”

Mr. Rittof is the President and CEO of Modern Management, Inc. and an employee relations consultant His proactive approach to employee relations has roots in a broad spectrum of activities including organizational re-design studies, employee opinion surveys, communication audits, and labor relations seminars. As President/CEO, he leads a team of dedicated professionals in helping executives, managers, and supervisors face the challenges of the future. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mr. Rittof holds a B.A. and M.A. in Organizational Communication. He has taught at the university level and is co-author of Quality Circles, a textbook utilized by several universities and businesses. Since joining the firm over 33 years ago, he has consulted in virtually all aspects of employee relations. His experience encompasses healthcare, manufacturing, gaming, hospitality, banking, services, insurance, and government. A few of Mr. Rittof’s many accomplishments include successfully assisting numerous organizations in maintaining non-union status; providing preventive management training programs regarding the union campaign process; developing identification and action planning processes for responding to employee morale issues; and implementing communication plans for organizations in transition. He has also provided coaching and guidance for executives wishing to improve their public speaking skills and frequently facilitated executive retreats for strategic planning and team building.

Alexander Alonso, PhD, SHRM-SCP is the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM's) Chief Data & Insights Officer leading operations for SHRM's Certified Professional and Senior Certified Professional certifications, research functions, and the SHRM Knowledge Advisor service. He is responsible for all research activities, including the development of the SHRM Competency Model and SHRM credentials.

During his career, he has worked with numerous subject matter experts worldwide with the aim of identifying performance standards, developing competency models, designing organizational assessments, and conducting job analyses. He was also responsible for working on contract task orders involving the development of measurement tools for content areas such as job knowledge (like teacher knowledge of instructional processes) and organizational climates (like organizational climate forecasting in military health care).

Dr. Alonso received his doctorate in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Florida International University in 2003. His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world issues. They include being recognized by the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (Division 14 of the APA; SIOP) with the 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for the development of the federal standard for medical team training, TeamSTEPPS; being awarded a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for supporting the development of competency model for team triage in emergency medicine; and receiving the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals such as Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, Journal of Applied Psychology, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, People and Strategy, Personality and Individual Differences, Quality and Safety in Health Care, and Human Resources Management Review. He has also authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, as well as co-authoring Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice.

Dr. Alonso also served as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for The Industrial Psychologist and HR Magazine. In addition, he has served on several professional society boards including the SIOP and the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.

Anne Pachciarek helps companies establish and operate their employee benefit plans, such as medical plans, 401(k) plans, pension plans and executive compensation programs.

With more than 20 years of experience, Anne works with public companies and closely held businesses to find solutions to a wide range of ERISA compliance, fiduciary responsibility and plan administration problems. She advises on welfare plans, pension and profit sharing plans, cafeteria plans and deferred compensation programs, as well as on the handling of benefit plans in mergers and acquisitions.

Anne has been a member of the Hiring Committee and the Chair of the summer program for the Chicago office.

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.