Concurrent Session

Jonathan Yarbrough is a Partner at Constangy Brooks & Smith, LLP. His practice includes providing advice and counsel to employers on compliance with federal and state employment laws, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and wage and hour laws. He also assists federal contractors with affirmative action planning and compliance. Jon has successfully represented employers in a wide variety of employment related lawsuits and charges brought before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the United States and North Carolina Departments of Labor, and before state and federal courts in North Carolina and Tennessee. He has also successfully defended whistleblower charges before OSHA and before Administrative Law Judges of the United States Department of Labor.

 

Liz Vollmar has more than 25 years of hands-on experience in planning and implementing cost-effective welfare benefit plan designs and compliance strategies. As a senior member of Willis' National Legal and Research Group (NLRG), she provides expertise and leadership within NLRG and works closely with Willis consultants and clients across the country. Liz's wide-ranging expertise with respect to welfare benefits includes particularly in-depth knowledge of ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA and health care reform. She has also worked extensively with consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), wellness programs, cafeteria plans, and welfare benefits issues in mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.

Effenus Henderson is Chief Diversity Officer for Weyerhaeuser Company, Federal Way, Washington where he advises the CEO and senior management team on diversity, inclusion and affirmative action related matters. He is an internationally recognized diversity thought leader and has been invited by numerous companies and organizations to share his expertise.  He recently led the development a company-wide “Inclusive Leadership Learning Series” for the top 1,500 leaders which is currently being implemented. Additionally he has provided advisory support on diversity to the Federal Government’s EPA office and Office of Personnel Management.

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. 

Mr. Storch supports the Council for Global Immigration’s Government Affairs team as Manager of Agency Liaison, responsible for working with federal immigration agencies to ensure employment-based immigration policies enable U.S. employers to build America’s future workforce, grow the economy and create U.S. jobs. Prior to joining the Council, Mr. Storch worked as an immigration paralegal at both Trow & Rahal, PC and Freilicher & Hoffman, PC. Mr. Storch has also spent time serving in the offices of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and U.S. Representative Jerry Costello (D-IL). Mr. Storch received his JD from American University, where he worked as a student attorney in the university’s Immigrant Justice Clinic. Mr. Storch also holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mark is the practice leader for IOR’s consulting services in global talent management. He works extensively with business executives and corporate teams on global leadership development and talent management projects. Over the past 18 years, he has designed and facilitated leadership development and talent management solutions for leading companies throughout the world on 4 different continents. He is presently working with global companies on cultural integration projects that involve mergers and change management. Mark has broad, global experience working with professionals from over 50 different countries across a diverse range of industries. Mark also coaches leaders and managers, helping them develop a global mindset and strengthen intercultural competence. He is licensed to deliver and interpret a variety of assessment instruments useful for global talent identification and development.

Glen  E. Kraemer, a founding and managing partner of the employment law boutique firm Hirschfeld Kraemer LLP, is nationally recognized for his “best practices” training programs relating to workplace harassment, bullying, violence prevention, and investigations.  From 2005 – 2021 Glen has been voted a California employment “Super Lawyer,” and in 2020 and 2021 ranked by Chambers USA as a top Labor & Employment Law attorney.  Named by Lawdragon as one of 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, he has also received the “Elite Boutique Trailblazer” award from the National Law Journal, and garnered “Top Speaker” recognition for each of his SHRM Annual Conference presentations from 2009 - 2019.

Kristine is a strategic Human Resources Executive with expertise in providing world-class organizational support from within the entertainment and media industries. Her current role is the VP of Human Resources for Warner Brothers Studio Facilities in Burbank, CA. Prior to this, she was laid off from her role in the Music Industry as former head of North American Human Resources at EMI Music in New York. Kristine’s background includes organizational and change leadership, employee relations, process improvement, succession planning, and talent management. She is known for results-focused partnering with business leaders, creating high-performance teams that not only meet their goals but also value the people who make it all happen. Mrs. Muscara is a graduate of Boston University in Psychology and Special Education. She is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, SHRM, and NHRA – Los Angeles.

Gareth Williams is one of Mercer’s senior leaders of Merger & Acquisition consulting services in the US. In this role he provides a broad range of merger, acquisition and divestiture services while specializing in helping clients successfully complete global transactions. He also offers a wealth of experience in the strategic development, design and financing of total rewards programs around the world. He joined Mercer in the UK in 1979 and transferred to South Africa in 1982, New York in 1988 and Chicago in 1996. Prior to taking on his current role as an M&A leader, he held zone, regional and global leadership roles in International Consulting and Total Rewards. Gareth holds an honours degree in pure mathematics and statistics from the University of Wales and a diploma in business administration from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in the UK and an Associate of the Society of Actuaries in the US.