Judy Young is Associate Director at the Executive Education of Cornell University’s ILR School. She is responsible for the instructional design and management of public workshops and custom programs for HR and D&I practitioners seeking to advance their skills and leverage equity and inclusion for organizational effectiveness.  Judy’s focus is on developing and sharing strategies for effectively balancing legal obligations with promising practices that promote respectful and inclusive work environments for all.  Judy’s special interest and expertise include the inclusion of workers with disabilities and veterans and she has assisted many organizations in their efforts to increase the integration of these groups in the workplace. Judy  is a frequent presenter at major diversity, employment, and veteran-focused conferences and she is a member of the speaker’s bureau of the Society of Human Resource Management.   

Since 1986, Ms. Young and her associates have helped their clients develop vision and strategies and implement “change” in their businesses worldwide. They coach and develop globally competent and multiculturally versatile leaders on the individual and group basis in order to help mold a new organization that is nimble and flexible in order to meet its customers’ needs around the world.  Ms. Young is a faculty member of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Organization System Development Programs where she trains coaches in the theory, concept and application of Gestalt in the development of “Whole Person” leadership, teams and organization.   She is an adjunct professor for Pepperdine University, School of Business.  Ms. Young is also a professional speaker on Pacific Rim cultures, cross-cultural communication, organizational behavior, organizational change, multicultural leadership, diversity and creativity, and global business strategies.   Ms. Young has a BA in Business Administration from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan, a MBA in Marketing from Michigan State University and a MA in Counseling Psychology from Pepperdine University.

Penny Wofford is a South Carolina Supreme Court Certified Specialist in Employment and Labor Law. She concentrates her practice in the area of employment litigation and employee benefits. She advises and defends employers, employer sponsored plans, and plan fiduciaries against all types of claims under ERISA and employment discrimination laws. Penny not only provides proactive counseling and legal advice to employers and management regarding human resources issues but also assists employers with the design, drafting, and administration of welfare benefit plans. Penny is a frequent speaker on employee benefits and employee leave topics and regularly provides company and supervisor training on employment discrimination, documentation and confidentiality.

Rachele Williams, SPHR, is the senior project manager for APQC’s human capital management research. In this role, she develops and manages human capital management studies on a number of HR-related topics—talent management, leadership development, recruiting, work force planning, HR shared services, and employee engagement. Her articles have been published in Workforce Management, Recruiting Trends, Workspan magazine, and Competitive Intelligence magazine. Williams is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Bill Wiatrowski is Associate Commissioner for Compensation and Working Conditions at the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. He oversees several statistical programs that provide comprehensive information on employee wages and benefits as well as work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. He is the author of numerous articles on employee benefits, compensation, and workplace safety and health issues and speaks on these topics before a wide variety of audiences -- although usually not so early in the morning.

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.  

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.

 

 

Allan H. Weitzman is the head of the Labor and Employment Law Department in the Boca Raton office of Proskauer Rose LLP, and is Board Certified by the Florida Bar as a specialist in Labor and Employment Law with over forty-one years’ experience – all at Proskauer. 

Based on a peer-review study, Allan has been named in the 2005 through 2015 editions of Best Lawyers in America, the nation’s definitive guide to legal excellence.  He is particularly proud that he was named by Best Lawyers as the 2013 Lawyer of the Year for Employment Law in South Florida.  From 2007 through 2015, Allan has earned a first tier Chambers ranking for his outstanding employment law work.  In 2009 and 2011 through 2015, Allan was named by Human Resource Executive magazine as one of the nation’s top 100 corporate employment attorneys. He is also a fellow in the prestigious College of Labor Employment Law Attorneys. 

Among his notable achievements, Allan submitted the amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Society for Human Resources Management in the Faragher case.  The employer’s “affirmative defense” that was adopted by the Supreme Court in Faragher was based on an argument made by Allan and his firm. 

Allan is graduate of the Cornell Law School where he was an Editor of the Cornell Law Review, graduating with distinction and was a member of “The Order of the Coif.”

Lee Webster has been SHRM’s Director of HR standards since February 2008.  In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the development of organizational ANSI and ISO Human Resource standards. 

Over a 15-year period prior to joining SHRM, Lee held important HR positions at Exxon Mobil, PepsiAmericas, and other international Fortune 500 firms.  For several years, Lee has also been an adjunct professor in human resources and business strategy for Trinity, American, and Regent Universities.  Prior to his civilian career, Lee spent several years in the military as an Infantry officer.