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.

 

Valerie helps companies improve their bottom line by elevating employees from tactical thinkers to strategic leaders.

She served in senior leadership roles at RollsRoyce Aircraft before helping to found InterActiveCorp, parent company to Expedia, Home Shopping Network and TicketMaster. She then went to work for Oprah Winfrey, helping to found the Oxygen channel which was later sold to NBC Universal.

Valerie obtained her mechanical engineering degree from Kettering University and her MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Val’s book, Clash of the Generations: Managing the New Workplace Reality, helps leaders manage multiple generations in the office.

 

Jeff Lanza was an FBI Special Agent for over 20 years. He investigated corruption, fraud, organized crime, cyber crime, human trafficking and terrorism. He has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Dateline and Larry King Live, among others.

He is passionate about keeping people and organizations safe from risk and has presented to thousands around the globe. His clients include many Fortune 500 companies.

His newest book, “Pistols to Press” is now available.

Jeff loves talking to audiences the world over, but is most comfortable in his home city, where he serves as a certified Kansas City barbecue judge.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @lanzafbi.

Cathy Missildine, SPHR has extensive experience in many areas of strategic human resources management. She has worked closely with executives in the areas of performance, productivity, retention, training, staffing and strategic implementation. Her experience in operations and sales management in the technical, insurance and hospitality industries has given her a broad understanding of business issues and a solid foundation for building performance-enhancing systems that support the business. Cathy received her MBA from Kennesaw State college and is currently is a professor at Kennesaw State and Emory Universities.

Pamela Meyer, Ph.D. works with organizations internationally that want to be more agile and innovative. Meyer is author of four books on innovation, learning and change, including The Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams and Organizations. Specializing in leadership and team development, Meyer develops award-winning strategies and programs that get results. In addition to her speaking and consulting practice, Pamela teaches courses in innovation, organizational change, and adult learning at DePaul University.

Chatrane Birbal is Vice President, Public Policy in SHRM national’s Alexandria, Va. office. In this capacity, she is actively involved in solidifying strategic partnerships and research to address policy issues on Capitol Hill that impact the workplace. In her role, Ms. Birbal lobbies Congress and develops policies and positions in support of workplace public policy issues including workplace healthcare, workforce development, workplace equity, workplace flexibly and leave, workplace immigration and employer-sponsored benefits (retirement, education assistance, unemployment insurance, among others).   

Prior to joining SHRM, Ms. Birbal was the director of government relations at the Council on Foundations, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit membership association of some 2,000 grant making foundations and corporations, with assets totaling more than $282 billion. During her tenure at the Council, Ms. Birbal implemented strategies and launches programs in support of the organization’s public policy and government relations work. She lobbied Congress on tax legislation relating to charitable giving, raised the Council’s profile with Congress and other nonprofit organizations, advised members on legislative activities impacting philanthropy and planned and executed the Council’s annual legislative fly-in conference, “Foundations on the Hill.”

Prior to joining the Council, Ms. Birbal was a federal legislative lobbyist at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an Arlington, Va.-based medical specialty society with over 38,000 U.S. and international member physicians who work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders. During her tenure at APA, Ms. Birbal lobbied Congress on behalf of psychiatrists, planned and executed the association’s annual advocacy day training session for membership as well as developed the APA’s online advocacy action center to further legislative efforts on behalf of the psychiatry profession.

Chatrane previously served on the Board of Directors for the ACT for Alexandria community foundation.  ACT for Alexandria brings the community together to elevate local philanthropic giving and engagement to new heights, supports local nonprofits working to aid the most vulnerable and develops solutions for the community’s most pressing challenges. During her tenure on the Board Ms. Birbal supported the foundation’s initiatives including ACTion Alexandria, an online civic engagement platform and Spring2ACTion, 24 hours of online giving to support local nonprofits.

Chatrane obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the State University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. and received her graduate degree of public administration and public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

 

Ms. Birbal currently serves on the Board of Directors of Women in Government Relations (WGR) - the premier, non-partisan professional society dedicated to advancing and empowering women by fostering professional development and growth opportunities through a community that supports women’s leadership in government relations. She is a member of the Tax Coalition, which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among professionals in federal tax policymaking to encourage the professional development of women in federal tax policy and Birbal also serves as a Director-at-large on George Mason University’s Alumni Board.

Ms. Walters has more than 30 years’ combined experience in management, HR administration, employment law practice, and teaching.

She has presented at conferences across the country, been engaged as an expert witness, and testified before U.S. Congressional and state legislative committees on employment issues.

Her book, “From Hello to Goodbye: Proactive Tips for Maintaining Positive Employee Relations” is in its 2nd edition and was one of the SHRMStore’s “Great 8” best-sellers for eight consecutive years.

Today, Ms. Walters works as an independent consultant doing business as FiveL Company, “Helping Leaders Limit their Liability by Learning the Law.”SM

 

 

Josephine Zamora has more than 20 years of healthcare experience in labor and employee relations, leadership development and coaching strategy development, deployment and training.  Her professional background includes managing organizational improvement initiatives and providing solutions for management in healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality/entertainment and government.  

Jo has held various senior executive positions in healthcare administration, including chief executive officer and chief financial officer.  As a hospital CEO, Jo managed an aggressive counter-campaign in response to an SEIU organizing attempt.  Her hospital prevailed and won the NLRB representation election, thereby staying union-free.  

As a labor consultant, Jo has helped many health care organizations prevail in union organizing campaigns.  Her health care leadership and labor relations experience have helped organizations identify vulnerability to union organizing, pinpoint employee engagement challenges and opportunities, as well as implement strategies to remain union-free.  

Jo and the IRI team have worked with some of the nation’s largest and most-respected hospitals, including Tenet Healthcare, Cedars-Sinai Health System, St. Joseph Health System, MedStar Health and The John Hopkins Hospital to implement customized solutions for organizational and labor and employee relations challenges.  

Jo has been a guest speaker at many professional organizations including The Council on Union-Free Environment (CUE), American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), National Association of Adventist Healthcare Human Resources (NAAHHR), New Mexico Healthcare Association (NMHCA), The Texas Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration and Education (TSHHRAE), numerous state Healthcare Round Tables and the Leadership Development Institute (LDI) series at Presbyterian Healthcare Services.  

Through IRI’s Labor & Employee Relations, Organization Development and Communications practice areas, the firm has helped organizations implement best practices to improve employee job satisfaction, enhance the employer-employee relationship and effectively communicate.  

Prior to partnering with IRI, Jo owned and operated her own consulting firm and teamed with IRI for more than eight years on various projects. 

Alice Kilborn, JD PHR, is an Associate Attorney at Moody & Warner, P.C., where her practice is  devoted to employment and labor law including advice and litigation in the areas of labor relations, wage and hour issues, class actions, discrimination, harassment, EEOC charges, wrongful termination, employment agreements, and other employment-related matters.  Prior to entering the legal field, Ms. Kilborn worked in Human Resources specializing in the areas of state and federal regulatory compliance and corporate training.  She has served as the State Legislative Director for the Society for Human Resource Management of New Mexico (SHRM NM) since 2009 and is a frequent, enthusiastic speaker regarding legislative activity affecting the workplace.

Follow Alice on Twitter @alicekilborn.

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.