Global Credit

William D. Wight is a partner in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. offices and is the chair of the firm's International Employment Practice Group.  He counsels employers on various global employment, compensation and benefit issues related to employees abroad, as well as foreign nationals working in the U.S. and the employment of the U.S. permanent residents and citizens abroad.  Bill has worked with compliance issues related to hiring, retention and separation of employees in a multitude of jurisdictions.  His experience with global employment issues has helped him assist our clients with international operations on all sevel continents including Antarctica.  Bill has assisted clients with the implementation of strategic planning and policy development with respect to global HR practices and policies.  He has also assisted clients with the management of litigation and employment controversy matters in numerous international jurisdictions.  Bill has also counseled clients based outside the United States with the special considerations that are required when complying with U.S. employment and employee benefit rules and regulations. Bill is regularly involved with resolving questions related to privacy and data protection issues.  

Lance J. Richards, SHRM-SCP, GPHR, SPHR, HRMP is a work force futurist and global HR strategist.  Most recently, he was vice president of Innovation for Kelly Services. Based in Detroit, Lance is one of SHRM's top rated speakers. He is a frequent speaker and writer on workplace issues, having presented at HR conferences around the globe. He is co-author of the Amazon-published book Gen Now (which is available in the SHRM Bookstore). Lance brings almost 25 years of cross-border expertise, with companies like British Telecom, Verizon, Bell Canada and Kelly Services. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Sasin Business School in Bangkok, where he teaches a graduate course in Global Human Capital.
Follow Lance on Twitter @LanceJRichards.
 

Sander Nieuwenhuizen was appointed as Vice President, Recruitment for Shell International in The Haugue, Netherlands in September 2009. In this role Sander has general management responsibility for the global Recruitment organisation that sources all graduate and experienced  hires for Shell worldwide.  He joined Shell in 2007 as VP, HR supporting the global IT function. 

Prior to this, Sander served as Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Organization for Lafarge S.A., a world leader in construction materials.  He joined Lafarge  in 1999 as SVP, Organization Development to contribute to globalizing and modernizing its management practices.  In this capacity he revamped the leadership development practice and introduced a People review process in the company management cycle. 

Jeremy Eskenazi, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CMC is Managing Principal of Riviera Advisors, Inc., a global Human Resources management consulting and training firm that helps organizations improve, enhance and optimize their internal talent acquisition and recruiting capabilities.

Prior to founding Riviera Advisors in 2001, Jeremy spent almost 20 years leading talent acquisition and recruiting teams at Universal Studios, Amazon.com, and Idealab. A regular SHRM speaker and a member of the SHRM Talent Acquisition Special Expertise Panel, Jeremy is also proud professional member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and the Institute of Management Consultants-USA.

Jeremy is the author of the books, “RecruitCONSULT! Leadership – The Corporate Talent Acquisition Leader’s Field Book”, and “The High-Performance Talent Acquisition Advantage”.

Graciela G. Meibar is vice president of global sales training and global diversity for Mattel, Inc., a global leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys with approximately $6. billion in annual sales. In 2003, she was appointed to the position of vice president of global sales training and global diversity. This position was created as the result of a clearly identified strategic need within Mattel for a stronger focus on sales training and diversity worldwide.

As vice president of global sales training, Meibar is responsible for providing support to regional management’s worldwide sales teams, the global sales council and domestic sales management. In addition to the design and implementation of training programs, she also compiles best practices in sales and global account planning to optimize their use at Mattel. In her role as vice president of global diversity, she developed a global diversity strategy for Mattel and is involved in the deployment of all aspects of this strategy, from building a culture of inclusion and acceptance to creating an internal board of advisors and communication plan.

Meibar began her career at Mattel in 1984 as an Area Manager Analyst in the international division. She was promoted to Manager and later, Director of Planning for Latin America. From 1995 to 2003, she served as vice president of Latin America Export, managing the Caribbean, Central America, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. During this time, she doubled the business and changed the business model for Mattel in that region.

Global Speaker Sonia Aranza has presented on the international stage from Spain to Singapore.  She brings 27+ years of experience in Diversity, Inclusion & Global Leadership. Her clients include Boeing, CIA, McDonald’s and more. The U.S. Department of Labor describes her work as “Outstanding” and was selected to execute programs for landmark cases. SHRM featured her as a Diversity & Inclusion Expert in HR Magazine and she is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Leadership. She serves on the Faculty of Howard University’s Executive Diversity Program; named “100 Most Influential Filipina Americans in the United States” and honored “100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World.”

Deborah Rinner Godwin is Vice President for Tero International. Deborah joined the Tero Team in 2002 and brought expertise on business etiquette and cultural communication issues that arise daily in business situations pertinent to presenting a positive image in our changing times. In addition to a masters in effective teaching from Drake University, Deborah is certified as a Corporate Etiquette and International Protocol consultant from the Protocol School of Washington, D.C. Deborah's role at Tero has evolved to include serving as a lead trainer in presentation skills, negotiation skills, leadership development, corporate etiquette, cross cultural communication and executive presence as well as customizing curriculum for clients from various industry groups. Deborah also serves as an executive coach to many of Tero's clients, and is an experienced keynoter.

Shilpa Pherwani is an organizational psychologist by training and the Principal and CEO of IBIS Consulting Group, Inc. She has expertise in the areas of cultural competency, diversity and inclusion, organizational development and e-­learning.  As a consultant and trainer, Shilpa provides guidance to organizations to develop and achieve their D&I business goals.  She provides subject matter expertise in change management, organizational development and diversity to help organizations align D&I with business strategy. Shilpa heads the design and development team at IBIS for diversity e-­learning tools. She has led the team for several highly effective programs for clients such as Aetna, Boeing, Campbell Soup, Grainger, ESPN, Nestle, Microsoft, Sun Life Financial, and Xerox. Shilpa’s work with global organizations has included conducting diversity assessments, diversity and cross-­cultural training, leadership development, and implementation of diversity strategic plans. Shilpa received her Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Springfield College with a focus on Organizational Development.