SHRM PDCs

Karen Michael is the President of Karen Michael, PLC, an employment law & HR consulting firm founded in 2008.  The firm specializes in management and employee training, workplace investigations, HR Consulting, and employment law advice for the public and private sector.

Karen is a former HR executive and employment attorney with almost three decades years of experience in law and HR. 

Karen writes a weekly labor law article for the Richmond Times Dispatch Business section, and regularly speaks at national and local events, including the national SHRM conference and EEOC’s EXCEl conference.

Karen is the author of “Stay Hired.” 

Alisa A. Shorago, J.D., is an accomplished and entertaining trainer, instructor, and speaker based in Southern California, as well as an attorney with over 15 years’ litigation experience, including experience defending sexual harassment suits.

Alisa began providing sexual harassment prevention training (AB 1825) training because she found it more satisfying to help people stay out of trouble than deal with matters once they had reached the litigation stage. She knew it would be possible to be not only an entertaining sexual harassment trainer but an informative one, so that participants would pay attention and actually learn.

Alisa started her own training company in 2008. Through Shorago Training Services, Alisa provides engaging and informative on-site seminars throughout California and the United States. Her training specialties include not only sexual harassment training but also interesting and fun training in business writing (including email writing), legal writing, business professionalism and etiquette, and workplace communication skills. She has led trainings for companies (including Fortune 100 companies) in a broad range of industries.

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.

Gali Gordon manages Gordon Law Group PC, a boutique immigration law firm in San Francisco. She speaks on immigration issues both nationally and locally, and has served as an expert witness on immigration matters. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, Gali was named a ‘Rising Star’ by Super Lawyers magazine, an honor awarded to the top 2.5 percent of immigration lawyers in Northern California under age 40. Gali graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley and received her law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She spent the first several years of her career at the law firms of Morrison and Foerster LLP and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, where she represented venture-financed start-up companies, venture capital funds, and Fortune 500 companies, as well as refugees and asylees pro bono. Gali has lived and traveled abroad extensively, and enjoys working with people of different cultures.

Jack Gottlieb is a results-driven senior executive with 20 years of experience in transforming and revitalizing organizations. As the CEO of Total Solutions Group, a strategic consulting and results-based training firm, he has a proven track record of aligning culture, strategy, and capability to achieve critical short-term and long-term goals. TSG has generated $3.25 billion in ROI for clients in growth, profitability, innovation, and efficiency, including leading fifteen M&As and ten turnarounds from inception to implementation. 

With extensive experience in the C-Suite and as an HR leader Jack has a deep expertise of how to drive organizational health and performance through an embedded employee experience. Jack has had global roles such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, & Chief Culture Officer in banking and currently is the Vice President of Global Capability & Transformation in a market leading test lab in the gaming industry. 
Jack has been one of the top rated speakers and thought leaders for SHRM both at annual and state council conferences. Jack also hosts the successful "L&D Transformation Podcast: How To Lead The Future Of Our Organizations Through Talent Development” which is in its third season with over 100 episodes.

David Lewis is the founder, president, and CEO of OperationsInc, one of the nation’s largest human resources consulting firms. OperationsInc has grown steadily since its inception in 2001, and now engages a team of over 90 professionals providing HR, Payroll, Training, and Recruiting support to a base of over 1,600 clients. David is leveraging a 30-plus year career in human resources and operational management for leading firms including Merck/Medco and Computer Associates. He serves as an on-air subject matter expert in the areas of human resources, workplace management, and small business issues for MSNBC, FOX, CBS Radio and NPR, and regularly appears in national publications like The New York Times, Inc., and The Wall Street Journal.

As the HR Projects Coordinator and part of the Business Services team Bobby manages and coordinates HR projects.  With a focus on process improvement, strategic goals, and vision, Bobby works closely with HR staff and campus leadership to facilitate and collaborate all areas of project management.  

As the University Records Officer, Bobby oversees the records management program for James Madison University including retention and disposition approval of all university records.  Bobby provides training in records management procedures, practices, and use of appropriate forms, as necessary.  Bobby also collaborates with departmental Records Coordinators to help maintain an effective records management program at JMU. 

He provides strategic analysis planning and coordinating for all HR-related records and imaging system (Nolij) information technology support, guidance and consultation to all members of the HR staff.  He also manages the document imaging function in the HR office, including record management, workflow, retention and destruction planning, organization and processing.  Bobby has created a strategic approach to record keeping management in HR ensuring that all record-keeping systems conform to state, federal and JMU policies and guidelines.   He also collaborates with Talent and Development designing and facilitating workshops for campus staff.

Bobby has been at JMU since 2008 and joined Human Resources in 2013.  He holds both a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Corporate Communications from Duquesne University.  He is currently seeking a second Master’s Degree in Adult Human Resource Development with a concentration in Leadership and Facilitation through the College of Education at JMU. 

Bobby provides consultation to internal and external customers in regards to electronic records management and training for the HR staff.  Bobby has presented his session on JMU’s mountain of paper regionally and nationally.

G. Riley Mills is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer, and the co-founder of Pinnacle Performance Company. He is the co-author of the book The Bullseye Principle and was included in the list of "Top Leadership Speakers" by Inc. Magazine. He presented his TEDx session "Are We Killing Communication" at the Shanghai American School and has guest-lectured at such institutions as the Columbia University, London Business School, Manchester United, and The Royal Household at Buckingham Palace. Mills has written about leadership and communication for Forbes, Fast Company, and Inc. Magazine. 

Rosie is an accomplished speaker, writer and consultant. She has spent more than 20 years in worksite health promotion and organizational development. In addition to her bachelor’s degrees in Kinesiology and Public Health, and a doctorate in Organization and Management, Rosie is also a Certified Intrinsic Coach® Mentor, Certified Judgment Index Consultant, a Certified Valuations Specialist, and a Board Certified Coach. Rosie uses this unique combination to work with executive and leadership teams to create comprehensive development strategies centered on shifting thinking patterns. She is a contributing author to the book, “Organization Development in Healthcare — High Impact Practices for a Complex and Changing Environment.” She leverages these principles to help organizations develop and implement strategies to create a thriving workplace culture that values and supports wellbeing and the unique, intrinsic needs of employees.

Heather Kinzie has been an HR and Organizational Performance Professional for over 20 years and is proud of it. If you ask her what she is proud of, she'll tell you it's because she has made a positive difference. She's mentored a leader, she's salvaged a business, she's encouraged a student, and she's inspired the discouraged. This hasn't made her rich but it's enriched her career.

Heather is a writer and public speaker covering topics such as leadership, workforce engagement and collaboration, strategic planning and organizational performance. She is from the south and loves to tell stories! She is uber excited to be in Vegas speaking to professionals who are committed and dedicated to their organization’s success.