Ethical Practice

Ei Ei Samai is the founder of the Samai Group, which grows agility, resilience, and belonging in social impact groups through a dynamic combination of consulting, coaching, facilitating, and training. Her skill-building as a mindful facilitator began when she learned Vipassana insight meditation as a 4 year old. She was introduced to diversity, inclusion, and equity work as a working class immigrant teen at a Silicon Valley High School in the 90s and continued investing in her capacity as a culture designer throughout her education and career. 

In addition to holding a Master of Science in Organizational Management and Transformative Leadership, she is certified in advanced facilitation, experiential training, community mediation, conflict transformation, restorative justice, ecological model of leadership, regenerative human systems design, and in Neuroscience of Conversations® by the late Judith Glaser. In 2019, she was chosen as a Courage Catalyst in the first cohort of Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ Facilitator Training.
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With over 20 years of experience in social impact, Ei Ei brings grounded expertise in shaping bold conversations in areas such as educational equity, social and environmental justice, trust architecture, collective impact, strategy planning, program and service design, family and community engagement, collaborative partnerships, knowledge management, and organizational culture. 
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Ei Ei co-founded Seedles, LLC, which inspires kids (and their grown ups) to positively impact the planet they are inheriting. Seedles has made possible the growing of millions of wildflowers for pollinators across the US through collective action. In 2017, she was recognized by Congresswoman Jackie Speier for her contributions to California’s 14th District.

She has lived, studied, or traveled in 6 continents and identifies as a global citizen. As a mom of two, her primary professional mission is to make the world a safer, kinder, fairer place for all children through her contributions.

Alden Parker is the managing partner of the firm's Sacramento office and the co-chair of the Hospitality Industry Group. Alden represents employers in all facets of employment law matters. He has considerable experience defending employers in litigation involving claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), California’s wage and hour laws, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), California Family Rights Act (CFRA), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Alden has also defended employers against whistleblowing and retaliation claims, including claims under the California Whistleblower Act and various provisions of the California Labor Code.
 
Alden has extensive experience defending employers in federal and state court, as well as in investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). 

In addition to defending his clients in litigation, Alden frequently counsels employers to assist them in avoiding litigation. He regularly advises clients on leave management issues and the interactive process for employees with disabilities, reinstatement obligations under various leave laws and wage and hour compliance. Alden has prepared employee handbooks and a variety of agreements, including independent contractor, employment, confidentiality and trade secrets agreements.
  
His clients are involved in a variety of industries, including restaurants, retail, construction, and healthcare. Alden is also a frequent speaker for many human resources organizations, including those affiliated with the Society for Human Resource Management.
 
Alden has been recognized in Northern California Super Lawyers since 2013 and Northern California Top Lawyers since 2014.

Jeanine uses her courtroom experience to help employers prevent lawsuits through well-crafted policies, staff training and informal dispute resolution. Jeanine counsels businesses on employment and issues. Her practice focuses on representing employers in all areas of employment law, including wage and hour claims, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and other employment-related claims. She represents employers in administrative proceedings, class actions, civil litigation, mediation and arbitrations.

Jeanine is committed to providing her employer clients with ready access and quick response. She assists with all aspects of the employment lifecycle, from hiring to compensation to management to separation, including creating and implementing workplace policies and procedures (including technology privacy) and counseling on employee performance management, including corrective actions and terminations.

Jeanine is a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators and is regularly retained to conduct workplace investigations for claims regarding harassment, discrimination, retaliation, toxic work environment and workplace conditions. She has conducted investigations at nonprofit agencies, foundations, private employers and public entities.

Jeanine regularly provides training for managers and staff on harassment prevention, fostering respectful workplaces, and managing within the law, among other topics.

Jason Sheffield is BRPs National Director of Compliance for the Baldwin Regulatory Compliance Collaborative. He oversees the ongoing evolution of our firm's national compliance operations. Jason develops, designs and implements educational programming and compliance assuredness services by creating timely and relevant solutions designed for the benefit of our clients and colleagues, our industry partners, and the general benefits community. Jason has practiced employee benefits law and consulting for nearly two decades, representing individual, corporate, and tribal interests at the local, state, and federal levels. He has advised clients and provided representative services before administrative agencies such as the DOL, the IRS, CMS, OCR, several state-level treasury authorities, and others. He has experience with both qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, executive compensation matters, and extensive experience respecting health and welfare plan matters. Jason received his undergraduate degree from Georgia State University (magna cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia.

Blair has spent the last 15 years working with the world’s most recognizable teams, corporations, athletes, and brands. Game On’s proprietary approach leverages the interactive power of game-based learning to inspire tangible workforce behaviors. Blair is considered a leading expert on the use of gamification and game theory to improve communication, leadership, team building, and culture.

Blair’s recent work in D&I includes instructional design and delivery for the U.S. House of Representatives and Deloitte. Some of Blair’s other clients include Joint Special Operations Command, USOC, US Air Force, US Army, USO, WWP, Hilton, Honda, Acura, NASCAR, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Howard Ross is lifelong social justice advocate, and is considered one of the world’s seminal thought leaders on identifying and addressing unconscious bias.  Howard has delivered programs in 47 states and over 40 other countries to audiences including Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, and major institutions within healthcare, government, and non-profit sectors. He authored the Washington Post best seller, Everyday Bias:  Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, ReInventing Diversity: Transforming Organizational Community to Strengthen People, Purpose and Performance. His latest  book, Our Search for Belonging: How the Need for Connection Is Tearing Our Culture Apart, published by Berrett-Koehler in 2018, received the Nautilus Gold Medal for Social Change and Social Justice. His next book, Building Belonging: 9 Pathways to Creating Inclusive and Joyful Organizational Communities, will be published in 2020.

Elizabeth Brown is currently the Chief People Officer at Unity Technologies. Prior to Unity, she led HR at Trulia, an online real estate website. She spent several years helping grow Trulia including playing a critical role in the Zillow/Trulia acquisition integration.

Prior to joining Trulia, Elizabeth spent two years at LinkedIn leading HR for the Global Sales and Operations group and the HR International team. In this role, she was at the forefront of hyper-growth and led the team to deliver 100 percent year-over-year headcount growth and opened several international LinkedIn offices. Elizabeth also served as an industry thought leader on recruiting, scaling organizations, culture, and leadership. Previously, she held several HR leadership positions at Microsoft Corporation and Intuit. Elizabeth received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She was recently honored as one of San Francisco’s Most Influential Business Women.

Louis R. Lessig, Esquire, SHRM-SCP, SPHR is a Partner at the law firm of Brown & Connery, LLP in Westmont, NJ in their labor and employment group.  He regularly counsels clients, conducts training sessions and represents clients in federal and state court as well as before administrative agencies. Also known as The Employment Law Translator®, Mr. Lessig speaks across the country and regularly writes articles that appear in publications nationwide including XpertHR.  In 2018 he won the Delaware Valley HR Consultant of the Year Award. He is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and a Past President of the Philadelphia chapter.  Mr. Lessig is an active volunteer for The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as the Northeast Membership Advisory Council (MAC) Representative.

Louis R. Lessig, Esquire, SHRM-SCP, SPHR is a Partner at the law firm of Brown & Connery, LLP in Westmont, NJ in their labor and employment group.  He regularly counsels clients, conducts training sessions and represents clients in federal and state court as well as before administrative agencies. Also known as The Employment Law Translator®, Mr. Lessig speaks across the country and regularly writes articles that appear in publications nationwide including XpertHR.  In 2018 he won the Delaware Valley HR Consultant of the Year Award. He is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and a Past President of the Philadelphia chapter.  Mr. Lessig is an active volunteer for The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as the Northeast Membership Advisory Council (MAC) Representative.

Dr. Karlyn Borysenko is the force behind Zen Workplace. An organizational psychologist and executive/performance coach, she is a leader in integrating mindfulness strategies at work to increase productivity and creativity, reduce stress, and create better work experiences. Her practice is based in the greater Boston area and serves clients all over the world. She holds an MBA and a PhD in Psychology, is an experienced trainer and facilitator, coach, and award-winning speaker. Karlyn is a contributor to Forbes.com and the author of Zen Your Work: Create your ideal work experience through mindful self-mastery.