Cathy Carothers is Co-Director of Every Mother, Inc., an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, and the national project coordinator for the U.S. Health and Human Services initiative, "The Business Case for Breastfeeding." She has coordinated numerous national breastfeeding initiatives for various branches of the federal government, and has provided more than 350 workshops in the field of lactation in every U.S. State and several foreign countries. As the author and lead trainer for the national "Business Case for Breastfeeding" project, she assists businesses with complying with the new federal legislation requiring lactation support for breastfeeding employees.

 

Michele Whitehead is Senior Manager of Client Services at Berkshire Associates. In her position, Michele is responsible for overseeing, developing, and implementing training and consulting services related to affirmative action and pay equity analysis.

With over 20 years in the human resource industry, Michele is an expert in HR practices and procedures. This experience allows her to develop and present training sessions to educate clients on the latest affirmative action, applicant management, compensation, and workforce analysis topics and trends. She has a true passion for educating fellow HR professionals, which is why she has been an active speaker throughout the country at conferences and meetings including the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Talent Management and Annual Conferences.

Michele has a Master of Business Administration in Human Resource Management and Management Skills from New York State University at Buffalo. Michele holds both SPHR and SHRM-SCP Certification and is a member of the national Society for Human Resource Management.  

Kristyn Hurley is a Senior Human Resource Consultant for Berkshire Associates Inc. As an expert in compliance, Kristyn has partnered with hundreds of companies, of all sizes and industries, to accomplish their affirmative action and EEO compliance objectives. With over fifteen years experience, Kristyn has successfully provided Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) audit support, salary analyses, personnel action reviews, and HR strategic, functional, and planning assistance to Berkshire’s clients throughout the country. Her diverse skill set extends beyond compliance to include special training in traditional and Internet recruiting, behavioral interviewing, and new hire employment negotiations. Other areas include workforce analyses, compensation, employment policy development, and succession planning.

Dana Cotham is an attorney, law professor, and nationally-sought after speaker.   Dana considers herself a workplace advocate and enjoys making complicated employment law issues easy to understand.  She provides customized, in-house training and public seminars to her clients throughout the United States discussing human resources and employment law topics including the FMLA, ADA, Sexual Harassment, and Retaliation.  Dana has written policies and procedures for both large and small employers including the Nevada Supreme Court. 

Mark Toth has served as Chief Legal Officer of ManpowerGroup’s U.S. operations since 2000. He is a recognized expert on legal issues affecting the U.S. workplace and has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Business Week, 60 Minutes and many others. His award-winning employment law blog was recently named one of the Ten Best Corporate Blogs in the World. He has been named to SHRM’s national Top Ten Highest Rated Speakers list each of the past two years and is the former Chair of the American Staffing Association.

Cynthia S. Sandoval is a Partner in Jackson Lewis LLP’s Orange County office. She has dedicated her entire legal career to the practice of employment law/litigation. Ms. Sandoval regularly defends clients against claims pertaining to numerous employment issues, including, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leaves of absence and reasonable accommodation. She has also represented clients in connection with wage and hour issues including meal and rest periods, misclassification, and overtime compensation. In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Sandoval counsels employers on their personnel policies including anti-harassment, equal employment opportunity, leave of absence, vacation policies, and wage and hour issues. Ms. Sandoval also provides training seminars on numerous employment matters including hiring practices, how to avoid wrongful termination, leave issues, wage and hour traps for the unwary, sexual harassment and discrimination (in both English and Spanish). Ms. Sandoval received her B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1993. In 1997, she received her J.D. from Golden Gate University, where she was a Merit Scholar.

Cynthia S. Sandoval is a Partner in Jackson Lewis LLP’s Orange County office. She has dedicated her entire legal career to the practice of employment law/litigation. Ms. Sandoval regularly defends clients against claims pertaining to numerous employment issues, including, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, leaves of absence and reasonable accommodation. She has also represented clients in connection with wage and hour issues including meal and rest periods, misclassification, and overtime compensation. In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Sandoval counsels employers on their personnel policies including anti-harassment, equal employment opportunity, leave of absence, vacation policies, and wage and hour issues. Ms. Sandoval also provides training seminars on numerous employment matters including hiring practices, how to avoid wrongful termination, leave issues, wage and hour traps for the unwary, sexual harassment and discrimination (in both English and Spanish). Ms. Sandoval received her B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1993. In 1997, she received her J.D. from Golden Gate University, where she was a Merit Scholar.

Christine Zebrowski is an Employment Lawyer, Arbitrator, Mediator and Trainer. She is an experienced legal practitioner in the employment law field and has served as an Associate Attorney for the law firm of LeBouef, Lamb, Green and MacRae (now Dewey & LeBoeuf), as in-house employment counsel for the National Geographic Society, and in her current role as the Owner of her own employment law boutique firm, Overbrook Law. Her experience in alternative dispute resolution includes serving as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, as a Mediator for the District of Columbia Superior Court, and as a representative of both plaintiffs and defendants in many forms of ADR. She also created a company-wide ADR program for the resolution of employment law disputes while serving as in-house counsel for the National Geographic Society, which is in its seventh year of successful operation.

Matthew Effland is the Vice President – Employment Counsel for KAR Auction Services, Inc.  KAR is a provider of vehicle auction services in North America, facilitating the used vehicle marketplace by providing auction services for sellers of used, or whole car, vehicles and salvage vehicles through its auction locations and multiple internet venues. The Company has a network of 65 whole car auction locations and 164 salvage auction locations, as well as offering a variety of online and financing services.  In his role, Matt provides guidance and support to KAR’s Human Resources department, drawing on his 14 years of management-side private practice.  Matt is licensed in both California and Indiana, and is the author of the recently-published SHRM Book ”The Perils and Pitfalls of California Employment Law: A Guide for HR Professionals.”