Virtual Pass

Two themes are woven throughout Lauraine Bifulco's diverse career: a passion for a job well done and a zest for continual learning and improvement.  Lauraine infuses Vantaggio HR with these qualities every day. When she founded the firm in 1994, Lauraine combined her rare talent in understanding what a client needs and her gift of business foresight to create a company that can service the HR and management consulting needs of small and large companies equally well.  Today, Vantaggio serves clients across the country from their offices in California, Hawaii, Colorado, and New York. 

Her Career experience helps employers realize their HR goals and adapt to the shifting HR landscape.  Lauraine is a veteran HR executive and entrepreneur with 25 years of international, corporate, and consulting experience. Her bold career has taken her to employment and business opportunities in Europe and multiple U.S. cities. She serves as co-chair of the California Small Business Administration's committee on Labor Issues which reviews and makes recommendations on pending labor/employment laws, keeping her abreast of legal developments.                                                                            

Delivering over 30 presentations and webinars each year, Lauraine is a well-respected, and highly sought after guest lecturer and speaker on a variety of business management and HR-related topics for both state and national organizations including Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA), American Payroll Association (APA), Next Concept HR Association (NCHRA), Paylocity annual Elevate Conference, and HR Star Conference to name a few. She has been invited to review, develop, and deliver certificate programs for SHRM, and has developed and delivered curriculum for businesses throughout the U.S.                                                                   

Lauraine received a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and conducted graduate level studies in linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris.

David Cohen is the founder and President of DCI Consulting Group, Inc. He provides consulting services to employers and management law firms on human resource risk management strategies in the areas of EEO/affirmative action, systemic compensation statistical analyses, human resources self-audits, and employee selection and test validation.

Mr. Cohen is the co-founder of The Institute for Workplace Equality, a nonprofit employer association that educates federal contractors in complying with their affirmative action and equal employment obligations.

Mr. Cohen has a M.S. degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Radford University and B.A. degree in Psychology from West Virginia University.

Lester S. Rosen is an attorney and Founder  of Employment Screening Resources (ESR) a service offering of ClearStar.   He is the author of, “The Safe Hiring Manual,”  (3d Edition 2017), the first comprehensive book on employment screening.  He is also a consultant, writer, expert witness and frequent presenter nationwide on safe hiring and due diligence.  He is both a former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney.  Mr. Rosen was the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) and served as the first co-chairman in 2004. He  received the  PBSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

Attorney James P. (“Jim”) Reidy is a management-side labor and employment lawyer. He is a partner in the New England based law firm, Sheehan Phinney Bass & Green, PA, where he is the Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment group. His practice focuses on prevention, training and compliance but he also handles matters when claims arise.

He has more than 35 years of experience in the field and been a media resource on workplace law for media outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Business Magazine, Bloomberg, NPR, The Associated Press, NPR Market Place, Buzz Feed, Law 360, Inc. Magazine, The HR Power Hour, HR Breakroom, SKI Magazine and HR Magazine as well as several local/regional publications.

In 2020 Jim was inducted as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. 

Chambers USA and New England Super Lawyers have ranked Jim in the Top Tier of management-side employment lawyers for each year of the last 15 years. Best Lawyers USA named Jim the 2022 Lawyer of the Year for Labor and Employment Law (Manchester, NH) and the NH Business Review named him one of the top 200 most influential business leaders in New Hampshire.

Jim has been a presenter regularly at SHRM’s Legal and Legislative Conference in Washington, DC as well as SHRM’s annual conferences.

Cynthia works with numerous multinational organizations to establish and manage worldwide immigration compliance programs. Cynthia founded and led the firm’s I-9 Service Center and is experienced in representing organizations preparing for government investigations and audits.  She began her career at the U.S. Department of Justice as an INS trial attorney in the Attorney General Honors Program in 1985. In her 35 years at the firm, Cynthia has served on Fragomen's Worldwide Executive Committee and as the Managing Partner of the firm’s Northern California practice.

As a longtime Adjunct Professor at Southwestern University School of Law, Cynthia taught for over 18 years.  She also frequently lectures on corporate immigration, and as a thought leader in the industry. She has chaired the Practicing Law Institute’s (PLI) Annual Immigration Symposium for more than a decade.  Cynthia has received numerous awards and recognitions including Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, Who’s Who Legal, Super Lawyers, and is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Brenda S. Kasper is a founding member of Kasper & Frank LLP, a law firm representing California and multi-state employers for all of their human resources and employment law needs.  She regularly advises employers of all sizes on wage and hour compliance, leaves of absence, disability accommodation, reductions in force, terminations and discipline management, employment contracts, personnel policies, and hiring issues.  She also provides management and human resources training.  Brenda is a former HR director so her legal advice is practical, creative and tailored to each client’s needs.  She was the 2015 San Diego SHRM Board President, is an instructor for the HR Certification program at the University of California San Diego Extension and holds her SHRM-SCP and SPHR-California certifications.

Kennedy Barba serves as a senior specialist on SHRM’s Content Strategy & Brand Management team.