Concurrent Session

Dr. Rohini Anand is Senior Vice President and Global Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo, a leading provider of Quality of Life Services with $20 billion or 13.4 billion euro in annual revenue and nearly 420,000 employees in 80 countries.  In her current role, Dr. Anand is responsible for the strategic direction, implementation and alignment of Sodexo’s integrated global diversity and inclusion initiatives, as well as Sodexo USA’s sustainable development and corporate social responsibility strategies. Today diversity and inclusion and sustainability are drivers of Sodexo’s business growth and progress.  

Previously, Dr. Anand served as Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for Sodexo USA, where she led the organization’s overall diversity and inclusion strategy. Dr. Anand was responsible for designing and developing the organization’s sustained culture change initiatives and its integration in the overall business growth strategy.    

Under Dr. Anand’s leadership, Sodexo received the prestigious 2012 Catalyst Award and was ranked #1 in 2013 and 2010 and #2 in 2012 and 2011 on the DiversityInc business index of Top Companies for Diversity and Inclusion.  In addition, the National Restaurant Association awarded Sodexo its Faces of Diversity Inspiration Award and Working Mother Media has named Sodexo a Best Company for Hourly Workers for the fourth consecutive year. Today the Sodexo brand is synonymous with diversity leadership. Sodexo’s remarkable culture change, led by diversity and inclusion, was featured as a Harvard Business School case study.  

Widely considered a leading expert on organizational change and diversity and inclusion, Dr. Anand has authored several manuals and has been published in numerous trade journals. Her works include texts on cultural competency and diversity training such as a chapter in The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (2009), Customizing Diversity Training Using Case Vignettes (2001), Multicultural Case Studies: Tools for Training (1999), Teaching Skills and Cultural Competence: A Guide for Trainers (1997) and Cultural Competency in Health Care: A Guide for Trainers (1997).

Ryan is the Founder and CEO of ApplicantPro, a hiring software company founded in 2006. Ryan and his team have grown the small startup into a leading provider of hiring software for over 7,000 companies around the nation. Ryan's mission is to help companies, managers, and HR teams improve their hiring results. To do this, he and his team strive to create educational content, tools, integrations, and software to help businesses drive their hiring results. In addition, he is an HRCI and SHRM-CP Approved Provider and conducts weekly, free webinars and presents at SHRM events around the country. 

David Lewis is the founder, president, and CEO of OperationsInc, one of the nation’s largest human resources consulting firms. OperationsInc has grown steadily since its inception in 2001, and now engages a team of over 90 professionals providing HR, Payroll, Training, and Recruiting support to a base of over 1,600 clients. David is leveraging a 30-plus year career in human resources and operational management for leading firms including Merck/Medco and Computer Associates. He serves as an on-air subject matter expert in the areas of human resources, workplace management, and small business issues for MSNBC, FOX, CBS Radio and NPR, and regularly appears in national publications like The New York Times, Inc., and The Wall Street Journal.

Shane A. Yount is a nationally recognized thought leader, author, and President of Competitive Solutions, Inc. (CSI), an international Business Transformation consulting firm that pioneered the acclaimed organizational development system known as Process Based Leadership® - A business transformation methodology designed to create a sustainable culture of clarity, connectivity, and consistency through the use of Non-Negotiable Business Processes. Since 1991 he has led the offices of CSI in becoming one of the nation’s most recognized Business Transformation consulting firms,  personally working with such organizations as Michelin, Genentech, Pfizer, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Defense, and many others.

Darrell “Coach D” Andrews, CSP (Certified Professional Speaker) is known by corporations and organizations worldwide as “America’s Passion Coach.” He is one of less than 600 Certified Speaking Professionals worldwide which means that by selecting Coach D to speak at your event you are choosing someone who has met the speaking industry's international measure of professional platform skills. His passionate speeches, professional development workshops and coaching sessions are designed to help individuals become introspective when considering changes needed to improve workplace performance. He customizes all of his events to assure that your needs, whether it’s a company or conference keynote speech, staff development, or an individual coaching session, are met.

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.  

Jason Sheffield is BRPs National Director of Compliance for the Baldwin Regulatory Compliance Collaborative. He oversees the ongoing evolution of our firm's national compliance operations. Jason develops, designs and implements educational programming and compliance assuredness services by creating timely and relevant solutions designed for the benefit of our clients and colleagues, our industry partners, and the general benefits community. Jason has practiced employee benefits law and consulting for nearly two decades, representing individual, corporate, and tribal interests at the local, state, and federal levels. He has advised clients and provided representative services before administrative agencies such as the DOL, the IRS, CMS, OCR, several state-level treasury authorities, and others. He has experience with both qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, executive compensation matters, and extensive experience respecting health and welfare plan matters. Jason received his undergraduate degree from Georgia State University (magna cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia.

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.

Karen Michael is the President of Karen Michael, PLC, an employment law & HR consulting firm founded in 2008.  The firm specializes in management and employee training, workplace investigations, HR Consulting, and employment law advice for the public and private sector.

Karen is a former HR executive and employment attorney with almost three decades years of experience in law and HR. 

Karen writes a weekly labor law article for the Richmond Times Dispatch Business section, and regularly speaks at national and local events, including the national SHRM conference and EEOC’s EXCEl conference.

Karen is the author of “Stay Hired.”