Samia M. Kirmani is a principal in the Boston, Massachusetts, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. and co-leader of the firm's Workplace Training group and member of our Corporate Governance and Internal Investigations Practice Group. She is also a member of the firm's Corporate Diversity Counseling Practice Group and the pay equity and sexual harassment resource groups. She concentrates her practice in employment counseling, training, and policy development on behalf of management.

Samia regularly conducts interactive and engaging training programs for boards, executive leadership teams, managers, employees, individuals, in-house counsel, and human resource professionals on various workplace topics, such as discrimination and harassment prevention; diversity, equity, inclusion, and bias; conducting workplace investigations, and the range of workplace law topics.

She provides practical legal advice to clients on various employment law issues, including harassment and discrimination; diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; pay equity; health and leave management; reductions in force; retaliation and whistleblower matters; individual separations; and employee relations issues. Samia also conducts and advises clients with respect to investigations, including those involving leadership, boards, managers, employees, and third parties. She also assists clients with creation, revision, and implementation of workplace policies. She also routinely conducts management and employee trainings on topics in employment law, including sexual harassment prevention, diversity and inclusion, and best management practices. Samia serves as a firm resource on drafting and implementing national arbitration agreements. She defends employers in employment-related administrative proceedings at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. 

Samia is a frequent speaker, commentator, and author for various audiences and publications on workplace law topics, such as harassment, investigations, diversity and inclusion, discrimination, pay equity, arbitration agreements and class action waivers, and related matters.

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Samia served as in-house counsel at a technology company, focusing on employment and dispute management.

While attending law school, she was a solicitations editor for the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review.

Dr. Susana Suarez Gonzalez with over 30 years of experience is the Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer of International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc. since November 2016. Based in New York at IFF’s headquarters, Ms. Suarez Gonzalez is responsible for championing the growth and development of IFF people. She leads the creation and implementation of the IFF Global Human Capital Strategy across the enterprise and works to build talent and organizational capability through IFF’s established Human Capital platforms. Her modus operandi ‘Results tHRu People’ reflects a Human Resource approach where each IFFer’s uniqueness unleashes their potential. Some have considered Ms. Suarez as one of the first pioneers of what in the past decade has been coined as “HR with an attitude.”

 Prior to joining IFF, Ms. Suarez Gonzalez spent 25 years at Fluor Corporation, where she held leadership positions across several business groups and functions including project engineering, marketing, sales, finance, general management and human resources. Immediately before her current role at IFF, Ms. Suarez Gonzalez held the position of Senior Vice President Global Operations, Human Resources with Fluor, and was responsible for the global execution of HR services as well as all corporate HR functions, encompassing total rewards, learning and organizational design, HR technology, talent acquisition and talent analytics.  

 Recognized as a strategic thinker and results-driven multilingual executive, Ms. Suarez Gonzalez is a proven transformational leader. Her global mindset is a direct result of having lived and worked in over 15 countries and having fulfilled executive, leadership and country management roles.

 Having published two books and authored or co-authored numerous industry articles, Ms. Suarez Gonzalez has been recognized throughout her career for her professional achievements. In addition to her work in Human Resources, she serves on special volunteer projects and events that focus on children. Ms. Suarez Gonzalez holds an executive MBA from the IUDE University and a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Oviedo in Spain where she graduated summa cum laude and is currently attending Harvard pursuing a master’s in International Relations with a focus on Social Justice. She lives between New York City and Madrid with her family.

Anthony is the President and CEO of CPHR BC & YK and CEO of CPHR (Chartered Professionals in Human Resources) Canada. 

Prior to joining CPHR, Anthony served as president and CEO of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA-Canada), a self-regulating accounting association representing 75,000 students and members. Previously, Anthony was president of Avon Canada, a subsidiary of Avon Products Inc., the world’s largest direct seller, and also known as the company for women. He is a professional accountant as well as holding certifications in HR and corporate governance. He is also an active board member of several organizations, including being the current Vice Chair of the World Federation of People Management (WFPMA).