Concurrent Session

Heather Owen is Board Certified in labor and employment law and has been representing employers in employment matters since 1993.  Her client counseling focuses on problem solving, litigation prevention, risk reduction and legal analysis of complex employment issues. When matters escalate to litigation, she has successfully defended employers in all areas of employment law, including claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title VII, wage and hour laws, the National Labor Relations Act, and various whistleblower and retaliation laws.  Heather is a frequent presenter to national and local organizations.  Heather received both her Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate from the University of Florida.  She is AV® Peer Review Rated By Martindale-Hubbell, and has been listed several years in Florida Trends’ Legal Elite, and Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition. 

Follow Heather on Twitter @HeatherAOwen.

James M. Nelson is Chair of Greenberg Taurig, LLP's Sacramento Labor & Employment Practice. He represents employers and ERISA plan fiduciaries in matters concerning ERISA compliance, fiduciary responsibility, collective bargaining, wage and hour, employee benefits, safety, discrimination, wrongful termination, and other labor and employment issues. His experience includes complex litigation, class action defense, administrative proceedings and appeals, as well as advice and counseling to ERISA plan fiduciaries of single-employer and multi-employer plans. James has counseled clients in numerous industries, including construction, transportation, health care, hospitality, manufacturing and publishing.

Jack has 34 years of experience in a broad range of employee benefit matters including welfare benefit plans, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans and other employer-provided fringe benefits.  Prior to joining Willis, Jack held human resources/benefits leadership positions at four different Fortune 500 companies.  

Jack received his LLM – Employee Benefits from John Marshall Law School, his JD from South Texas College of Law, and his MBA and BBA- Business Economics from Cleveland State.  

In 2012, Jack completed his three year appointment to serve on the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration’s Advisory Council.  He continues to serve on the World at Work Benefits Advisory Board, and he previously served in board positions for the Council on Employee Benefits, the American Benefits Council and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Corporate Board.  

For the last three decades, Jack Smalley has devoted his career to the field of human resources. His experience includes executive-level management in a number of different industries such as oil, chemical and packaging with an emphasis in manufacturing, engineering, sales, logistics and corporate management.

Jack serves as the director of HR learning and development for Express Employment Professionals. He provides human resource training and consulting for nearly 600 Express offices and clients in the U.S. and Canada. Jack offers clients preventive measures that minimize the threat of allegations emanating from workplace problems and employee relations issues.

Stephen is a globally recognized inclusion, leadership and communications expert. From 2007-2012 Stephen designed, led and implemented the inclusion programs for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games as Head of Diversity and Inclusion for the London Organizing Committee (LOCOG). Prior to LOCOG, Stephen established and led the workplace team at Stonewall, Europe's largest LGBT equality organization. Stephen was elected recipient of the 2010 Peter Robertson Award for Equality and Diversity Champions and in 2011 he was named one of the top 100 influential LGBT people in the UK.  He is currently a Visiting Fellow in the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Follow Stephen on Twitter @frostincluded.

Melvin Brown II is an author, conference speaker and organizational consultant. He is sought out by both government and industry as an expert in the areas of Chanage Management, Program Management, Knowledge Management and Training.

Nicknamed “Mr. Turnaround” he has more than twenty years of not only turning around the lives of individuals but several organizations both in the private sector and the federal government.

He has developed several change management strategies for collaboration and is the recipient of the America Council for Technology, Industry Advisory Council’s, 2007 Excellence in Government award.

Follow Melvin on Twitter @melvinbrownii.

Since 1986, Ms. Young and her associates have helped their clients develop vision and strategies and implement “change” in their businesses worldwide. They coach and develop globally competent and multiculturally versatile leaders on the individual and group basis in order to help mold a new organization that is nimble and flexible in order to meet its customers’ needs around the world.  Ms. Young is a faculty member of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Organization System Development Programs where she trains coaches in the theory, concept and application of Gestalt in the development of “Whole Person” leadership, teams and organization.   She is an adjunct professor for Pepperdine University, School of Business.  Ms. Young is also a professional speaker on Pacific Rim cultures, cross-cultural communication, organizational behavior, organizational change, multicultural leadership, diversity and creativity, and global business strategies.   Ms. Young has a BA in Business Administration from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan, a MBA in Marketing from Michigan State University and a MA in Counseling Psychology from Pepperdine University.

Miguel Payán is Chief Global Strategist at the Global Strategy Group (GSG) at Samsung Headquarters in Seoul, Korea, where he is responsible for engaging and partnering with Samsung Group's global business leaders to develop strategic initiatives that enhance business performance.  Miguel oversees Samsung's 110 consultant strong internal consulting organization (GSG), which also serves as the Group's talent pipeline for its affiliates' global operations 

Prior to joining the Samsung Group, he was an Executive Director at Russell Reynolds Associates where he advised clients on recruiting and retaining outstanding senior leaders across the industrial and natural resources sectors.  Miguel also spent eight years with McKinsey & Company, most recently as an Associate Principal, where he managed teams on strategy, operations, organizational transformation, performance management and technology.  He also has deep expertise in the Consumer Electronics, Semiconductors, Mobile, and Health and Medical Equipment industries.

 Miguel has lived and worked in the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, The Netherlands, Japan, and Korea, and spent almost one year in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait when he was an enlisted machine-gunner with the U.S. Marine Corps during both Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf.  He received his B.S. in computer engineering from the University of Illinois and his M.B.A. in corporate finance from the Ross School of Business, the University of Michigan. He speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish, and is an avid scuba diver.

Michael S. Cohen is a partner in Duane Morris’ Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group.  Michael concentrates his practice in the areas of employment law training and counseling. He has trained and counseled employers throughout the country on subjects including harassment prevention; diversity, equity and inclusion; combatting implicit bias; performance management; discipline and discharge; hiring and recruiting practices; performance evaluations; FMLA, ADA and FLSA compliance; leave of absence policies; LGBTQ+ issues in the workplace; substance abuse testing; workplace violence; records retention; conducting background checks; and more. Michael also has conducted investigations into claims of harassment and discrimination and has drafted employee handbooks, employment agreements, non-compete agreements and post-termination agreements. Michael regularly conducts in excess of 200 trainings each year.  He has represented clients throughout the country in EEO and other administrative proceedings.

Michael has been cited as a national authority on employment issues by The New York Times, The Associated Press, USA Today, MSNBC.com, HR Magazine, SHRM On-Line, Employment Law 360, Inside Counsel Magazine, as well as many other publications. Michael serves as an Advisory Board Member of GenHERation and as a Board Member of Serve, Inc. Michael is a 1997 magna cum laude graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law and a cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.