Employment Law & Regulations

Chatrane Birbal is Vice President, Public Policy in SHRM national’s Alexandria, Va. office. In this capacity, she is actively involved in solidifying strategic partnerships and research to address policy issues on Capitol Hill that impact the workplace. In her role, Ms. Birbal lobbies Congress and develops policies and positions in support of workplace public policy issues including workplace healthcare, workforce development, workplace equity, workplace flexibly and leave, workplace immigration and employer-sponsored benefits (retirement, education assistance, unemployment insurance, among others).   

Prior to joining SHRM, Ms. Birbal was the director of government relations at the Council on Foundations, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit membership association of some 2,000 grant making foundations and corporations, with assets totaling more than $282 billion. During her tenure at the Council, Ms. Birbal implemented strategies and launches programs in support of the organization’s public policy and government relations work. She lobbied Congress on tax legislation relating to charitable giving, raised the Council’s profile with Congress and other nonprofit organizations, advised members on legislative activities impacting philanthropy and planned and executed the Council’s annual legislative fly-in conference, “Foundations on the Hill.”

Prior to joining the Council, Ms. Birbal was a federal legislative lobbyist at the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an Arlington, Va.-based medical specialty society with over 38,000 U.S. and international member physicians who work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorders, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders. During her tenure at APA, Ms. Birbal lobbied Congress on behalf of psychiatrists, planned and executed the association’s annual advocacy day training session for membership as well as developed the APA’s online advocacy action center to further legislative efforts on behalf of the psychiatry profession.

Chatrane previously served on the Board of Directors for the ACT for Alexandria community foundation.  ACT for Alexandria brings the community together to elevate local philanthropic giving and engagement to new heights, supports local nonprofits working to aid the most vulnerable and develops solutions for the community’s most pressing challenges. During her tenure on the Board Ms. Birbal supported the foundation’s initiatives including ACTion Alexandria, an online civic engagement platform and Spring2ACTion, 24 hours of online giving to support local nonprofits.

Chatrane obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the State University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. and received her graduate degree of public administration and public policy from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Ms. Birbal currently serves on the Board of Directors of Women in Government Relations (WGR) - the premier, non-partisan professional society dedicated to advancing and empowering women by fostering professional development and growth opportunities through a community that supports women’s leadership in government relations. She is a member of the Tax Coalition, which provides a forum for the exchange of ideas among professionals in federal tax policymaking to encourage the professional development of women in federal tax policy and Birbal also serves as a Director-at-large on George Mason University’s Alumni Board.

For over 20 years, Allison West has used her employment law background in delivering customized workplace training, conducting investigations, coaching executives/managers, serving as an expert witness, and specializing in conflict resolution and facilitated discussions to create more collaborative work environments. 

Allison is a top-rated speaker at the SHRM Annual Conference as well as other HR/diversity conferences, and is a national expert on harassment, discrimination and investigations. She has appeared on PBS, CBS This Morning and in O Magazine discussing workplace harassment issues. 

She is a member of the State Bar of California and holds her SHRM-SCP certification and AWI-CH (investigation) certificate.

Alice Kilborn, JD PHR, is an Associate Attorney at Moody & Warner, P.C., where her practice is  devoted to employment and labor law including advice and litigation in the areas of labor relations, wage and hour issues, class actions, discrimination, harassment, EEOC charges, wrongful termination, employment agreements, and other employment-related matters.  Prior to entering the legal field, Ms. Kilborn worked in Human Resources specializing in the areas of state and federal regulatory compliance and corporate training.  She has served as the State Legislative Director for the Society for Human Resource Management of New Mexico (SHRM NM) since 2009 and is a frequent, enthusiastic speaker regarding legislative activity affecting the workplace.

Follow Alice on Twitter @alicekilborn.

Josephine Zamora has more than 20 years of healthcare experience in labor and employee relations, leadership development and coaching strategy development, deployment and training.  Her professional background includes managing organizational improvement initiatives and providing solutions for management in healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality/entertainment and government.  

Jo has held various senior executive positions in healthcare administration, including chief executive officer and chief financial officer.  As a hospital CEO, Jo managed an aggressive counter-campaign in response to an SEIU organizing attempt.  Her hospital prevailed and won the NLRB representation election, thereby staying union-free.  

As a labor consultant, Jo has helped many health care organizations prevail in union organizing campaigns.  Her health care leadership and labor relations experience have helped organizations identify vulnerability to union organizing, pinpoint employee engagement challenges and opportunities, as well as implement strategies to remain union-free.  

Jo and the IRI team have worked with some of the nation’s largest and most-respected hospitals, including Tenet Healthcare, Cedars-Sinai Health System, St. Joseph Health System, MedStar Health and The John Hopkins Hospital to implement customized solutions for organizational and labor and employee relations challenges.  

Jo has been a guest speaker at many professional organizations including The Council on Union-Free Environment (CUE), American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), National Association of Adventist Healthcare Human Resources (NAAHHR), New Mexico Healthcare Association (NMHCA), The Texas Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration and Education (TSHHRAE), numerous state Healthcare Round Tables and the Leadership Development Institute (LDI) series at Presbyterian Healthcare Services.  

Through IRI’s Labor & Employee Relations, Organization Development and Communications practice areas, the firm has helped organizations implement best practices to improve employee job satisfaction, enhance the employer-employee relationship and effectively communicate.  

Prior to partnering with IRI, Jo owned and operated her own consulting firm and teamed with IRI for more than eight years on various projects. 

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

Joseph (“Joe”) Beachboard is a nationally recognized employment lawyer who also closely tracks the most important developments at the U.S. Supreme Court impacting the business community. He has more than 30 years of experience representing management in a wide variety of employment and labor matters in perhaps the most challenging state in the nation for employers – California.  Mr. Beachboard speaks regularly before human resource and employer groups on cutting edge employment law topics.  He is a member of SHRM and has been an annual presenter at both the SHRM Annual Conference and the Employment Law and Compliance Conference for two decades.  Mr. Beachboard is frequently quoted in such leading publications as HR Magazine, National Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, NY Times, HR Executive and Workforce, and has been published in dozens of legal and business journals. Throughout his career in Los Angeles, Mr. Beachboard has represented dozens of studios and entertainment properties.  He cites his most interesting project as working with the cast and crew of the television show The Office, from its pilot through the final season.

Louis R. Lessig, Esquire, SHRM-SCP, SPHR is a Partner at the law firm of Brown & Connery, LLP in Westmont, NJ in their labor and employment group.  He regularly counsels clients, conducts training sessions and represents clients in federal and state court as well as before administrative agencies. Also known as The Employment Law Translator®, Mr. Lessig speaks across the country and regularly writes articles that appear in publications nationwide including XpertHR.  In 2018 he won the Delaware Valley HR Consultant of the Year Award. He is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and a Past President of the Philadelphia chapter.  Mr. Lessig is an active volunteer for The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as the Northeast Membership Advisory Council (MAC) Representative.

Lynn C. Outwater is a Shareholder in the Pittsburgh office of Jackson Lewis P.C.  The firm’s over 700 lawyers limit their practice exclusively to labor, employment, immigration and benefits law on behalf of management.  She received her undergraduate degree from Fordham University and obtained a Juris Doctorate degree from Albany Law School and holds a Master of Laws (in Labor Law) from New York University School of Law.  Ms. Outwater is a current member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and an inactive member of the New York Bar Association.  Ms. Outwater has been designated as a “Super Lawyer” in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Area from 2004 through 2013 editions of “Pennsylvania Super Lawyers.”  Ms. Outwater was also selected by her peers for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America” from 2009 through 2014 in the field of labor and employment law.

Follow Lynn on Twitter @JacksonLewisPC.

Nicole Butts is an accomplished Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion executive, strategist, and coach who specializes in transforming executives into inclusive and equitable organizational leaders.

During her 20-year career, she has built multiple inaugural DEI offices; served as a chief diversity officer; a director of employee diversity, inclusion, and climate; and a director of equal employment.

Nicole is the founder of NLYB Solutions, a DEI consulting firm helping executives, executive teams, and organizations courageously and effectively navigate personal, professional, and organizational DEI journeys. She is the creator of SHIFT, a transformational five-step framework for creating systemic, effective, measurable, and sustainable DEI cultures.

Toni Pilzner is an attorney with more than 15 years' experience in advising employers on creating and administering employee welfare and retirement benefit plans. Having worked as a certified public accountant and as an in-house corporate tax analyst dealing with employee benefit plan matters before becoming an attorney, she also understands the financial and practical aspects of employee benefit plan administration. Toni has shared her expertise with SHRM members by presenting concurrent sessions on employee benefits topics at a number of SHRM conferences in addition to writing SHRM Legal Alerts and contributing to SHRM Online articles on employee benefit matters. She also served on the SHRM Total Rewards Special Expertise Panel and its predecessor, the SHRM Compensation and Benefits Committee, as well as serving a three-year term on the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council.