Concurrent Session

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.  

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.  

Erika Tedesco describes herself as culture champion in her role as Vice President of (HR) People & Culture at Diversified Automation, responsible for the culture, engagement, retention, and recruitment of professional talent at the company. Erika also teaches at the Gordon Ford School of Business at Western Kentucky University on International HR Business, leveraging her practical experiences with multinational entities to train the HR professionals of the future. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Louisville and a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of Illinois.

Erika Tedesco describes herself as culture champion in her role as Vice President of (HR) People & Culture at Diversified Automation, responsible for the culture, engagement, retention, and recruitment of professional talent at the company. Erika also teaches at the Gordon Ford School of Business at Western Kentucky University on International HR Business, leveraging her practical experiences with multinational entities to train the HR professionals of the future. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Louisville and a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of Illinois.

Michele has 20+ years of progressive Human Resources Management, Safety Program Development, and Risk Mitigation experience spanning multiple industries.

She founded the company in 2017 as trusted advisor for businesses with their most significant asset, Staff.  She is passionate about helping organizations thrive by enhancing the Human aspect in Human Resources and Safety.

Michele is a Safety Management Specialist, an Authorized OSHA Outreach Trainer for Construction and General Industries, and an Authorized Red Cross Trainer.

Michele serves on Boards: HR Tampa - Certification Director, Theatre eXceptional – Risk Management Specialist, HR Florida’s Conference Team - Charity Director; and is a member of NAWIC.

As a measurement strategist, Whitney’s passion and expertise lies in the field of surveys and assessments. A self-professed “data nerd,” Whitney has a Master’s degree in the area of Human Resources Measurement and Evaluation and has conducted extensive research on the predictive validity of various hiring assessment strategies.

Whitney has been a highly rated speaker at several National HR Conferences and has authored articles on assessments for several books and publications, including Harvard Business Review. She is a member of the Society for Industrial & Organizational Psychology (SIOP) and has two decades of experience working in the assessment industry.

Janice Underwood, Ph.D. joins the Biden-Harris administration having most recently served as the inaugural Virginia Chief Diversity Officer in Governor Ralph Northam’s cabinet, leading the DEI agenda and the COVID-19 equity leadership task force. As a national expert in diversity leadership across multiple sectors, Dr. Underwood has worked for 20+ years to make structural inequity visible in government and education as a state official, teacher educator, a nationally certified special education teacher, academic researcher, higher education administrator, and diversity trainer. Most notably, she has been nationally recognized for her contribution to advancing equity initiatives at the intersection of government and politics, including launching the first statewide DEI strategy across 100+ state agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Dr. Underwood has been appointed to the role of Executive Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at OPM, where her primary responsibility will be to lead the government-wide White House initiative on DEIA. 

Janice is a graduate of Hampton University and Old Dominion University.  

Mona Dexter is the Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal. In this role, she leads a team that works across Comcast NBCUniversal to provide strategic leadership to aspects of programs and outreach engaging the military and veteran community, including efforts to make the Company one of America's most military-ready employers, advancing digital equity among veterans and military families, and delivering special media and entertainment experiences to military customers.

Prior to this role, she was the Chief of Staff and Vice President of Hiring Our Heroes, a workforce development program and the largest center of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Mona oversaw the organization's mission to educate the business community on best practices in diversifying their workforces with military-connected and nontraditional talent and improving workplace equity for underserved populations.

She has extensive community leadership experience with adult learning and career and workforce development in higher education and programs, including Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), Army Family Programs, and multiple school districts. Mona also serves as the chair of the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans' Advisory Committee on Education (VACOE), advising the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on educational issues affecting Veterans and ensuring access to quality programming and services.

Mona holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in higher education administration from Kansas State University. She was a military spouse for over 25 years and lives in Washington, D.C.

Marcus Ohlenforst – better known as Ohley – currently serves as the Lead Military Workforce Strategist responsible for USAAs enterprise Military Workforce Strategy in addition to managing and championing various strategic military talent programs and initiatives to ensure the company attracts world-class veteran and military spouse talent.  He served 25 years in the Marine Corps both Enlisted and as an Officer and retired in 2016.  His transition led him to some great organizations that connected him with people who invested their time and energy to ensure that he was successful, and he is committed to continuing to pay it forward within the military community. 

Ohley represents USAA as not only a brand ambassador, but also an expert in national level discussions that impact the military community and works closely with internal and external stakeholders to differentiate the company’s goal of being the employer of choice for the military community.  In 2022, Ohley was selected as the GI Jobs Veteran Champion of the Year in Corporate America due to the extraordinary amount of effort that he exerts to inspire, educate, and advocate for the military community.    

Ohley leads numerous strategic workforce programs and initiatives while also being an active participant in numerous Non-profit advisory boards and committees, such as the US Chamber Veteran and Military Spouse Employment Advisory Councils, JP Morgan Veteran Jobs Mission Advisory Board, and the SHRM Foundation Military Community Advisory Committee.  He is sought out as an industry thought leader and influencer who has been featured by nationally recognized magazines and social channels due to his devotion and servant leadership with organizations and respective communities. 

Alexandra presented at SHRM in 2020 and presents regularly on live and virtual industry events including AchieveEngagement, HRD America, Human Capital Institute and Reward Gateway. Alexandra is a highly experienced employee engagement consultant, trainer and speaker. For over 20 years she has helped HR and business leaders implement strategies that drive true culture change. Her wealth of knowledge comes from coaching and training thousands of managers from a wide range of industries across the globe. Alexandra paves the way to greater adoption and usage for our clients through data-driven insights across our global client base, keeping a pulse on the trends that engage employees most. Organizations and individuals who work with Alexandra are left motivated and better equipped to lead your organization on a path to a more engaged workforce, making the world a better place to work.