Concurrent Session

As a Business Strategist and Executive Coach, LaFern Batie leads The Batie Group, LLC, a business consulting and leadership development firm serving organizations around the globe. With extensive Fortune 500 corporate leadership experience and widely recognized expertise, she works with international organizations and leaders across diverse industries to maximize their collective and individual performance. Leaders value her high business acumen, ability to quickly connect with teams, thorough and efficient approach to identifying challenges and commitment to helping them achieve results that exceed their expectations. 

Follow LaFern on Twitter @LaFernBatie.
 

Ms. Walters has more than 30 years’ combined experience in management, HR administration, employment law practice, and teaching.

She has presented at conferences across the country, been engaged as an expert witness, and testified before U.S. Congressional and state legislative committees on employment issues.

Her book, “From Hello to Goodbye: Proactive Tips for Maintaining Positive Employee Relations” is in its 2nd edition and was one of the SHRMStore’s “Great 8” best-sellers for eight consecutive years.

Today, Ms. Walters works as an independent consultant doing business as FiveL Company, “Helping Leaders Limit their Liability by Learning the Law.”SM

 

 

In her new role as SHRM’s Senior Speechwriter for the SHRM’s Speaker’s Bureau, Aliah is responsible for managing the speaking program for SHRM executives and Board Members totaling more than 200 presentations annually. In addition, she writes and edits many of the speeches given by SHRM senior executives and vice presidents.

A subject matter expert on social media engagement and social strategy, HR technology and global human resources Aliah, a journalist for more than 15 years, began working in SHRM’s editorial division in March of 2008. She has written for SHRM Online and HR Magazine.

She is the author of the best-selling SHRM-published book, A Necessary Evil: Managing Employees' Activity on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn … and the Hundreds of Other Social Media Sites, which encourages HR professionals to embrace social media as a tool for increased employee engagement. It also shows HR professionals how to effectively promote, protect, and defend their firm’s brands and reputations on social media platforms encouraging them to manage employee activity with legal social media policies.

She has delivered keynote addresses and speeches across the United States, Canada and Europe, where she attended and moderated conferences—including the SHRM Annual Conference on a variety of HR topics, including social media engagement, recruiting and HR technology selection.

After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Temple University in her hometown of Philadelphia, she worked as a Reporter and Editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Philadelphia Daily News, The Greenville (S.C) News and as a Political Correspondent for the nation’s largest news organization, The Associated Press. She left there to work at USA Today where, as the Entertainment Editor for Gannett News Service, she managed a team of entertainment reporters nationwide for all of Gannett’s papers, including the nation’s largest daily newspaper — USA Today.

She is a frequent speaker on various social media topics and has been featured in a number of publications, blogs and podcasts, among them The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Forbes, American Express Business Blog, HR Magazine, Small Business Digest, Talent Management Blog, JumpStartHR Blog, and the Business Life & Coffee and National Press Club podcasts.

She is the proud mom of an aspiring psychologist who’s studying abroad in Australia next year. You can follow her tweets @1SHRMScribe and read her articles published on SHRM.org and LinkedIn.

 

David Lusk joined the SHRM Government Affairs Team as the Senior Associate for Member Advocacy in 2010.  Lusk oversees SHRM’s traditional member advocacy efforts.   He is also responsible for the development of the Advocacy Team, a SHRM initiative that will elevate the visibility of the HR profession by establishing a strong member presence in each of the 435 congressional districts.

With over 15 years of policy experience, Lusk most recently specialized in grassroots and grasstops internet engagement with Capitol Advantage -- now a part of the CQ-Roll Call Group. He also focused on health policy as a staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce and in the state affairs department of the Health Insurance Association of America. He is based in Alexandria, Va.

Mark J. Schmit, Ph.D., is the Executive Director for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation. In this capacity he leads the Foundation’s efforts to advance the strategic direction and impact of the HR profession. Dr. Schmit was previously the Vice President of Research for SHRM. Dr. Schmit has more than 25 years of experience in the field of human resources and has also been an academic, applied researcher, HR generalist, and internal and external consultant to both public and private organizations. Dr. Schmit earned a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Bowling Green State University in 1994. He has published more than 25 professional journal articles and book chapters and delivered more than 75 presentations at professional meetings on HR and Industrial/Organizational Psychology topics. Dr. Schmit is a Fellow in both the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and the American Psychological Association. He is also certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).

As Director of Audit & HR Services for Berkshire Associates Inc., Lynn A. Clements oversees Berkshire’s audit defense, pay equity and advanced people analytics practice. Throughout her career, Lynn has provided clients with strategic insight and practical compliance and risk management advice in hundreds of government investigations, including OFCCP compliance reviews and EEOC investigations. 

With over 20 years of experience, including serving in high level policy positions at both the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Lynn is a regular presenter of management and employee training at all levels of organizations and has testified before Congress regarding EEO and pay equity issues. Lynn is a frequent presenter at national events, including the 2021 NILG, where she spoke about focused reviews, promotional practices, and was featured on a panel. She has also spoken at several local ILG meetings in 2021, including Charlotte, Ohio, Philadelphia, Orange County, and more.   

Recognizing the need of business to prevent lawsuits, Jody Katz Pritikin, Esq. founded Proactive Lawsuit Prevention to teach business how to prevent lawsuits and save the considerable expense of litigation. With over fourteen years devoted to preventing lawsuits, her expertise lies in unlawful harassment prevention, investigating complaints, teaching management leadership and communication techniques, counseling Human Resources and in designing and developing policies to protect corporations from lawsuits.

Jody Katz Pritikin grew up in Southern California and is an alumnus of UC Berkeley where she received her B.A. and USC Law Center, where she received her J.D.  She has been a member of the California State Bar.  Additional information about Jody Katz Pritikin, Esq. and her blog are available on her company website: http://www.proactivelawsuitprevention.com.

 

Teresa Hopke is an award-winning expert on work-life and talent management strategy. She’s a frequently requested speaker whose expertise has been featured in multiple media outlets, including NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning Show, Wall Street Journal, and HR Magazine. Having led work life and talent management innovations at McGladrey, prior to joining Life Meets Work, Teresa offers audiences a unique “I’ve walked in your shoes” perspective. Engaging, funny and a great story-teller, Teresa is the perfect speaker for getting your group to think differently about work and talent in this changing business environment.

Based in Surrey Hills, Australia 

Based in Highland Park, Ill.