Concurrent Session

Dr. Naomi Abrams holds a Doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy and certification as an ergonomic assessment specialist.  Holding the firm belief that prevention is the least expensive cure, her global consulting firm specializes in occupational health and ergonomics. Developed by Dr. Abrams, her company is the premier provider for the creation and implementation of ergonomics programs to keep employees working at peak performance.  She is a consultant, author, and trainer.  She lectures internationally on occupation-based ergonomics, intervention services, and the aging workforce.

Mario Bordogna is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Practice at the law firm of Bowles Rice, LLP working with employers nationwide on the front end to keep them in legal compliance with labor and employment laws and on the back end if they need a strong and experienced litigation advocate.  For 25 years, Mario has represented employers in sectors like health care, education, energy, hospitality, manufacturing, and others in the areas of HR/employment counseling, employment litigation, wage and hour, harassment, trade secret and non-competition matters, labor-management relations, accommodation, policy development and investigations, and much more.

A visionary human resources leader with a record of building global teams and making a strategic HR contribution to the organisations, Inga has over 25 years of international experience and has worked in human resources and professional development for a variety of companies, from start-ups to multinationals, across a wide range of industries, with last fifteen years spent in professional services.

A truly global nomad, Inga lived and worked in Europe, Canada, Russia, the UK, Middle East, Asia, the Caribbean and is now based in New York.

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.  

Shayna Balch is a partner in both the Phoenix and Los Angeles offices. She represents employers in employment and labor litigation matters before federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies. She handles matters across all facets of labor and employment law including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, restrictive covenants, preventive counseling, employee training, personnel policies, and employment agreements. Shayna has represented clients before trial and appellate courts, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Arizona Civil Rights Division, and United States Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel (OSC).

Mykkah Herner is the Modern Compensation Evangelist at PayScale, the leader in modern compensation data and software. PayScale’s products help employees and employers understand market-based pay and have more open and mutually beneficial conversations about compensation. He has more than a decade of experience developing strategic compensation programs for more than 400 companies to ensure they retain and attract the right talent. Mykkah specializes in linking performance with compensation in order to drive better business results. He delivers a monthly accredited webinar series at PayScale, breaking complex compensation concepts into actionable steps. Mykkah is also a regular contributor to TLNT. Mykkah holds a Master’s Degree in Organizational Development from Antioch University, and is a Certified Compensation Professional.

Jennifer Currence is a Senior Partner of HR Soul consultancy firm in Tampa, Florida, where she delivers results through strategic HR solutions, customized training, and coaching programs for organizational and HR leaders. She is the creator of The SOTO Approach to Leadership and the content architect for the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) international People Manager Qualification (PMQ).

Jennifer is regularly published and featured in industry magazines, webinars, and podcasts, and is the author of three HR books on behavioral business competencies.

Jennifer was named one of the top 100 Influential HR professionals in Leadership and Development in 2023 and Tampa Bay’s HR Consultant of the Year in 2017.  She is a faculty member for SHRM and a former management professor at the University of Tampa.