SHRM PDCs

Brad Boyson personifies a 21st century global HR practitioner. A Canadian national who has spent more time working outside of Canada than within. Currently he is the Executive Director for SHRM’s Dubai office. Prior to joining SHRM he spent 15 yrs holding senior HR positions in globally diverse organizations including Mitsubishi Corporation, Royal Caribbean International and Hamptons/Emaar. Over the past 10 years he has been involved with numerous international HR projects including: ANSI/ISO HR standards, SHRM’s BoCK Development, SME for SHRM Learning System, item writer for GPHR and SHRM Global Special Expertise Panel lead. In short, inclusion and diversity in a truly global sense is hardwired into his passion for the profession.  

David Ellis is a Partner with Baker McKenzie, where he has spent more than 25 years advising multinational companies on cross-border employment, tax and mobility issues.  He is a frequent author of technical articles highlighting changes in the law and recent cases that impact how companies manage their global workforce. He recently served as Chair of the Firm’s Global Employment & Compensation Practice Group, and he currently splits his time between the Chicago and Houston Offices of the Firm.

Lester S. Rosen is an attorney at law  and CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a national background screening company.  He is a consultant, writer, expert witness  and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening. He is the author of “The Safe Hiring Manual,” (3d Edition 2017/826 pages), the first comprehensive book on background screening.  He served as the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA),  served as its first co-chair and received the PBSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. 

Janet Hendrick is a partner in the Dallas office of Fisher Phillips and an experienced employment litigator who tackles her clients’ problems with a tailored, results-oriented approach. Whether training managers on employment law compliance to minimize legal risk or representing the employer in court or arbitration, she brings years of experience and in-depth legal knowledge to deliver results.  Janet regularly appears in state and federal court to defend employers of all sizes against discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and related claims. Janet is a sought-after speaker and author on topics including gender diversity, LGBT employee protections, and workplace accommodations and leave management.

Patti Perez is on a mission to transform workplace culture. She is the founder of PersuasionPoint Inc. and combines her experience as a licensed California attorney, a professionally-certified HR executive, a tech company leader, a specialist in the prevention and resolution of workplace drama, an expert witness in state and federal court, a state regulator and as an entrepreneur to create a revolutionary shift in the way we communicate and connect at work.

Patti is the author of The Drama-Free Workplace: How You Can Prevent Unconscious Bias, Sexual Harassment, Ethics Lapses, and Inspire a Healthy Culture (Wiley 2019), a one-of-a-kind, informative resource that explains what it takes to build and sustain an equitable, inclusive and healthy workplace culture.

Danielle Moore (Partner, Fisher Phillips) represents and counsels employers in all aspects of labor and employment law, including preparation of employment handbooks and personnel policies, management training and lectures on employment issues. Danielle has experience litigating matters in state and federal courts, state administrative tribunals, and arbitration.

Danielle is "AV" Peer Review Rated Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and has been consecutively named one of San Diego’s "Top Attorneys," "Best of the Bar," and one of the "Top 40 under 40 Best and Brightest Minds of San Diego." Danielle was also a 2016 finalist for San Diego Magazine’s “Woman of the Year.”

John Doran has over 25 years of experience counseling and successfully representing employers in all facets of labor and employment law matters. John represents employers in employment, wage/hour class and collective action litigation, as well as employment discrimination, public accommodations discrimination, and wrongful termination litigation. He represents management in traditional labor law, including the defense of unfair labor practices charges, the orchestration of campaigns to prevent workplace unionization, representation proceedings, and arbitrations. John represents employers in restrictive covenant and trade secret matters in state and federal courts. He also regularly counsels clients on prevention strategies, executive employment contracts, downsizing, personnel policies, and merger/acquisition employment issues.

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.

Giovanni is a global expert on Organizational Strategy, Analytics and HR.

A Harvard Business School alum, he serves as Senior Advisor for HR & Organizational Development at Boston Global – a Harvard affiliated consultancy. He is also Senior Advisor for Qlearsite – a People Analytics company and sits on the advisory board of PeopleCart, a Social Rewards & Recognition company.

Giovanni is a passionate writer and speaker on The Future of Work and People Analytics. He is featured in the analytics book “The Power of People”. In his spare time, he and serves as Creative Director for a contemporary fashion label and recently produced an award winning documentary on Women Empowerment.

Sheryl Simmons Maestro Health’s Chief Human Resources Officer, leading HR and talent management efforts across the company’s multiple locations. Sheryl is a leading resource for fellow human resources leaders on how to invest in people and effectively communicate the value of HR to the C-suite. She regularly speaks at top industry conferences and participates in several industry groups, including the SHRM National Tax & Benefits Working Group and the SHRM National Governmental Affairs.  She also serves as Chief Compliance Officer at Maestro Health.