Concurrent Session

Rena Suhwail is a Human Resources Generalist at Asurint, which is located in Downtown Cleveland, OH. In 2013, she graduated from Cleveland State University, with her undergraduate degree in Business Management and Labor Relations, with a concentration in Human Resources. She began her career at Asurint in 2012 as a Human Resources Intern; she quickly blended into the culture of Asurint, learned basic HR practices and took on many projects.

Over the years, she has developed into a dedicated, experienced, and passionate HR professional with a strong grasp of all areas of Human Resources including but not limited to employment laws, employee relations, performance management, progressive initiatives, and HRIS systems.

In addition, she has a proven record of working as a strategic business partner to effectively integrate HR processes with the needs of the business. Demonstrated competencies in building organizational capability, talent acquisition and retention, inclusion, and lean management initiatives. She continues to successfully introduce policy improvements, develop initiatives to drive corporate goal attainment, and create comprehensive programs to improve profitability. Rena has brought her knowledge and contagious personality to Asurint which is present in everything that she produces. 

William D. Wight is a partner in the Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. offices and is the chair of the firm's International Employment Practice Group.  He counsels employers on various global employment, compensation and benefit issues related to employees abroad, as well as foreign nationals working in the U.S. and the employment of the U.S. permanent residents and citizens abroad.  Bill has worked with compliance issues related to hiring, retention and separation of employees in a multitude of jurisdictions.  His experience with global employment issues has helped him assist our clients with international operations on all sevel continents including Antarctica.  Bill has assisted clients with the implementation of strategic planning and policy development with respect to global HR practices and policies.  He has also assisted clients with the management of litigation and employment controversy matters in numerous international jurisdictions.  Bill has also counseled clients based outside the United States with the special considerations that are required when complying with U.S. employment and employee benefit rules and regulations. Bill is regularly involved with resolving questions related to privacy and data protection issues.  

Lester S. Rosen is an attorney at law  and CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR), a national background screening company.  He is a consultant, writer, expert witness  and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening. He is the author of “The Safe Hiring Manual,” (3d Edition 2017/826 pages), the first comprehensive book on background screening.  He served as the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA),  served as its first co-chair and received the PBSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. 

Patti Perez is on a mission to transform workplace culture. She is the founder of PersuasionPoint Inc. and combines her experience as a licensed California attorney, a professionally-certified HR executive, a tech company leader, a specialist in the prevention and resolution of workplace drama, an expert witness in state and federal court, a state regulator and as an entrepreneur to create a revolutionary shift in the way we communicate and connect at work.

Patti is the author of The Drama-Free Workplace: How You Can Prevent Unconscious Bias, Sexual Harassment, Ethics Lapses, and Inspire a Healthy Culture (Wiley 2019), a one-of-a-kind, informative resource that explains what it takes to build and sustain an equitable, inclusive and healthy workplace culture.

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.

Scott is the lead negotiator of The Frontier Project. Working predominantly within the Frontier Envoy unit of the firm, he discreetly investigates global market opportunities, moderates executive summit meetings, leads product development teams and provides negotiation support to key clients.

Prior to founding The Frontier Project, Scott worked as a British Diplomat and led business development for a global law firm. He holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics where he studied on a Barclays Scholarship, and a graduate degree in Security Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Scott resides in Virginia, where Frontier’s production studio is based, though is more often found operating out of Frontier’s New York locations. He keynotes regularly on the interplay of decision dynamics and innovation in global markets and the personal discipline of innovation.

As with his teammates at Frontier, Scott passionately believes that shareholders, society and the environment all mutually benefit when innovation and market influence strategies are deployed for sustainable returns.

Kevin Cope is the #1 Wall Street Journal and New York Times bestselling author of Seeing the Big Picture: Business Acumen to Build Your Credibility, Career, and Company. A renowned trainer and speaker, Kevin has spent the last 25 years working with top organizations including 30 Fortune 50 companies. His 5 Business Drivers model and ideas, shared with millions through his book, articles, and courses, have been praised for being relevant and actionable; they help you come to the table prepared.

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the founder/CEO of Civility Partners, a strategic organizational development firm focused on helping organizations create respectful workplace cultures and specializing in turning around toxic cultures. Civility Partners’ clients range from Fortune 500's to small businesses across many industries. Catherine is a TEDx speaker and an HR thought-leader who has appeared in such venues as USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and many other national news outlets as an expert. She’s an award-winning speaker and blogger, author of three books, and she has 50+ courses reaching global audiences on LinkedIn Learning.

Katie Bardaro, Vice President of Data Analytics, joined PayScale in 2008. In addition to leading the Data Analytics team and building and maintaining PayScale's proprietary compensation model, Katie serves as PayScale's Lead Economist. She has provided analysis on compensation data and trends for print/online and broadcast media including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Economist, CNBC, CNN Money, USA Today, Forbes, and Business Insider, among others. Katie holds a bachelor's in economics from the College of the Holy Cross and a master's in economics from University of Washington, with a focus in labor economics and econometrics.