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Dan Staley
Personal Pronouns
He/Him/His
HR Technology and Transformation Leader
PwC
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Dan is a Partner and leader of PwC’s HR Technology and Transformation practice. He has more than 30 years of consulting history delivering process and technology solutions to solve client business problems across multiple industries. His engagements have primarily been in the Human Capital Management (HCM) strategy, HR business transformation and HR systems implementation areas.

Dan has led over 40 HR strategy, HCM solution selection and HCM roadmap projects. He has led over 75 HR technology-enabled transformation implementation projects with half of those using Cloud HCM solutions. He holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Alabama.

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Joe Urbanski
Personal Pronouns
He/Him/His
Chief Operations Officer
Total Solutions Group
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Joe Urbanski believes an Undeniable Culture™ inspires its people to unleash their best selves, take home more wins and less stress to their families, and create incredible value for the company, its customers, and community. For more than two decades, he has worked with HR and training departments, consulting and coaching 750+ executives and leaders at 400+ global organizations, and facilitating 800+ kickass trainings, strategic retreats, and leadership programs for 480,000 people. Joe has a remarkable understanding of how to transform the workplace experience. Plus, you’ll have more fun and laughs than you’d expect.

 

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Dima Ghawi, MBA
DEI Influencer
Dima Ghawi, LLC
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Dima is Middle-Eastern in her genes and global citizen in her spirit. She ignites the untapped potential in individuals across the globe, empowering them to shatter limitations and become courageous, purpose driven leaders.

Through keynote speeches, workshops, and executive coaching, Dima shares her unique leadership transformation journey with one goal in mind: motivate those around her to reimagine their potential and grow into leaders.

Dima has worked across the United States, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa for several Fortune 100 companies and has honed a keen expertise in developing leaders to meet the demands of the global workforce.

 

SESSIONS:
 
Tuesday, March 29, 2022 - 2:30pm to 3:00pm
 
Monday, March 28, 2022 - 3:15pm to 3:30pm
Doug Rand
Senior Advisor, Office of the Director
USCIS
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Doug Rand began serving as Senior Advisor to the Director of USCIS on Aug. 16, 2021.

Previously, he served as a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), directing the Technology and Innovation Initiative that focuses on the intersection of immigration policy and artificial intelligence (AI) in advancing the nation’s national security and economic growth.

Rand served in the Executive Office of the President between 2010­-2017 as Assistant Director for Entrepreneurship in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, with a portfolio spanning inclusive high-growth entrepreneurship, access to capital, clean energy innovation, commercialization of federally funded research, and high-skill immigration. More recently, he advised the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

As an entrepreneur, Rand was the co-founder and president of Boundless, and the co-founder and CEO of Playscripts, Inc.

He is a graduate of Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management, and received Master’s and undergraduate degrees from Harvard, where he studied evolutionary biology.

 

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Neal Vermillion
Office Director, Visa Office, Field Operations, Bureau of Consular Affairs
U.S. Department of State
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Neal Vermillion is the Visa Office’s Director of Field Operations in the Bureau of Consular Affairs.  He served previously as a Regional Consular Officer based in Frankfurt, Germany providing coaching and guidance to consular sections in Europe, Africa, and Asia.  Prior to that, Neal worked at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, first as a senior manager in the nonimmigrant visa unit and then as the Special Assistant to the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs.   Neal also served overseas in Perth, Antananarivo, and Sofia. Neal graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with an undergraduate degree in political science and history.  He received a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where his studies focused on the history of U.S. foreign policy.

SESSIONS:
 
Monday, March 28, 2022 - 10:30am to 10:45am
Lynden Melmed
Partner
Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP
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Lynden Melmed is a partner with Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP and oversees the firm’s compliance and government affairs practices. He counsels corporate clients on complex immigration matters, assists businesses in establishing and managing global immigration programs, and represents businesses in connection with audits and investigations by the federal government. He has served as immigration counsel in connection with several of the largest immigration investigations ever pursued by the federal government.

Before joining BAL, Lynden served as Chief Counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), where he was a key advisor to senior leadership within USCIS, DHS, the White House, and other federal agencies on all aspects of immigration law. Lynden also served as Special Counsel to Senator John Cornyn, who was Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship; in that role, Lynden played a leading role in drafting and managing comprehensive immigration legislation.

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Christopher Richardson
General Counsel and COO
BDV Solutions
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Christopher Richardson is an immigration attorney, consultant, and former U.S. Diplomat. As a U.S. diplomat, Richardson served in Nigeria, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Spain. He won numerous State Department awards including Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. He is a native of Charleston, South Carolina.

Richardson is currently the General Counsel and COO of BDV Solutions, a Greenville-based consulting company specializing in legal immigration solutions to help resolve labor shortages in industries across the United States. His company works with hundreds of companies including Chick-Fil-A, McDonalds, Wendy’s, and thousands of foreign nationals from around the world. He also the founder of Argo, LLC, a consulting firm of former U.S. diplomats who provide advice on the immigration process. Richardson also manages his own immigration law practice - Cooper Richardson, PA.

Richardson is a thought leader on race and immigration. He has been featured in Mother Jones, Slate Magazine, Reuters, NPR,  Embedded, All Things Considered, SCOTUS Blog, BBC, Georgia Public Radio, ProPublica, Intercept, and the Atlanta Constitution Journal He has also been interviewed on MSNBC, CNN and CBS.  Richardson has written several well-received opinion columns for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Slate Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, The Hill, and the Nation about immigration policy and race under Presidents Trump and Obama. His New York Times op-ed on diversity at the State Department spurred a Congressional bill on diversity which Richardson helped write. In addition, the Biden Administration, based on that op-ed, created the first ever Chief Diversity Officer for the State Department.

He has advised U.S. Senators and House members on a wide range of immigration and State Department issues including the Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act, the various travel bans, and diversity. He chaired the team that Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s immigration policy proposals and worked on immigration policy for Joe Biden’s campaign.

He is a graduate of Duke University School of Law and graduated summa cum laude from Emory University in 2003. He is also the co-author of the Historical Dictionary of the Civil Rights Movement (2014).  

 

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Moderator: 
Leon Rodriguez
Partner, Labor and Employment Department
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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As former federal prosecutor and leader of multiple federal and local agencies, clients look to Leon to give them direct advice on the risks related to investigations, to give them guidance on responding to investigations, to advocate for an optimal resolution, or to aggressively litigate their matters to positive outcomes.

Leon is a founding member of the firm's Immigration and Compliance specialty team. He has helped clients understand this rapidly changing and increasingly risk-laden area. Leon has assisted a number of clients with I-9 audits, training on best I-9 practices, and negotiating with government authorities when enforcement events arise. When clients have difficulties obtaining visas to travel to or remain in the US, he assists them either by negotiating with government authorities or by bringing litigation to secure a positive outcome to their case.

In his practice, Leon draws upon his foundational training and experience as a litigator and investigator, primarily gained as a federal and state prosecutor, along with his wide variety of substantive experiences secured through high-level government leaderships posts. From 2014 to 2017, Leon served as the Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), following a more than two decade career as a prosecutor, law firm partner, and government agency leader. From 2011 to 2014, Leon served as the Director of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. This diverse range of experiences make him most effective for multidisciplinary matters involving multiple and serious risk vectors for clients.

Leon serves as chair of Seyfarth Government Relations Policy Group and works with clients to develop multifaceted strategies to achieve desired public policy outcomes. A veteran of many congressional hearings, he also assists clients who either have been summoned to testify or provide documents before congressional committees. Leon has also handled interdisciplinary problems requiring an attorney with extensive and diverse experience in litigation and investigations, in interacting with the government at all levels, and interacting with media and external stakeholders.

Leon is also chair of the firm's Health Care Regulatory and Compliance group, and a co-chair of the Health Care Privacy, Security and HIPAA group. He assists firm clients with complex and novel HIPAA questions. Leon also counsels and assists clients who have experienced data breaches or otherwise under investigation by the Department of Health and Human Service Office for Civil Rights.

Leon enjoys Seyfarth's collegial environment across its international services, and the firm's commitment to using innovative delivery and pricing approaches to deliver consistently positive outcomes for clients.

SESSIONS:
Monday, March 28, 2022 - 9:45am to 10:30am
Thomas Brunskill
Personal Pronouns
He/Him/His
CEO
Forage
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Tom Brunskill is the co-founder and CEO of Forage, a job simulation platform that helps students bridge the gap between education and work opportunities. On a mission to make education-to-workforce pathway more equitable, Tom co-founded Forage in 2017 to provide the ability to preskill through virtual job simulations produced by the world’s top companies, including J.P. Morgan, Lyft and Walmart, to name a few. By breaking down barriers to gaining workplace-specific skills, Tom hopes to level the opportunity playing field and empower anyone to pursue their dream career. Tom started his career as a corporate lawyer at a multinational law firm in Australia before moving to San Francisco and has been featured in Business Insider, Financial Times and TechCrunch, among others.

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Kerri Nelson, Ph.D.
Director, Mission Research
SHRM
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Kerri Nelson, Ph.D., is the Director of Mission Research at SHRM. She is responsible for leading, developing, and designing strategic, public-facing research that provides organizations, business leaders, and policymakers with evidence-based insights at the intersection of people and work. She also partners with public and private organizations to produce research related to work, worker, and workplace. Kerri has led research on a variety of topics including pay equity, skills-based hiring, untapped talent pools, workplace culture, and the global workforce. Her work has been featured in top news outlets, on podcasts and webinars, and on the Hill.

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