Los Angeles HR Star Conference Wednesday, February 29, 2012 Speaker Information Paul Meshanko, M.B.A. is an author, professional speaker and business leader with over 20 years of experience in corporate training and organizational culture change. After a 12-year career with AlliedSignal, he opened Legacy Business Cultures in 1997 in Cleveland, Ohio to serve the region's growing demand for change management and employee engagement training. Under his leadership, the business has grown to become one of the Midwest's most successful staff development and employee survey providers, employing a full-time staff of six associates and a network of over a dozen strategic partners. As a presenter and trainer, Paul has captivated tens of thousands of leaders and business professionals on five continents. His training materials have been translated into over 25 languages and his newsletter is read by over 10,000 subscribers each month. His clients include The Cleveland Clinic, DuPont, Parker Hannifin, BASF, Progressive Insurance, MTD, Symantec, McGraw-Hill, The U.S. Coast Guard and Ernst & Young. Paul holds a BSBA from The Ohio State University and an MBA from Baldwin Wallace College. He is an active member of the Human Resources Planning Society and Society for Human Resource Management, and he serves on the Board of Directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland. His most recent book, The Respect Effect, is planned for release in early 2012. Allison West, Esq., SPHR is the Managing Principal of Employment Practices Specialists LLC and holds a simple approach to employment practices: be proactive. Using her employment law background, coupled with her sound knowledge of human resources practices, Allison provides proactive risk management services aimed at helping companies both prevent and resolve employment claims. She is a frequent speaker on employment law and human resources topics at national conferences related to human resources and diversity. Allison specializes in delivering customized in-house training programs to companies of all sizes, serving a wide variety of industries. Her clients include: Chiquita Brands, SanDisk, Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Sharp Hospital, and Portola Pharmaceuticals. Her expertise also includes delivering one-on-one sensitivity training to executives, managers and employees concerning harassment, discrimination, and disciplinary and/or behavioral issues as well as conducting workplace investigations, providing expert witness assistance and other HR consulting. Allison is a member of the State Bar of California and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources certification. Laura Petroff, Esq. is a Labor and Employment Relations Partner and Managing Partner of Winston & Strawn's Los Angeles office as well as a member of its Executive Committee. In her practice, Ms. Petroff represents major, publicly traded and mid-sized domestic and foreign corporations in all aspects of employment relations, including employment relations litigation and counseling. She has extensive experience defending employers in class actions and single plaintiff cases, including wage and hour claims, sexual harassment claims, and discrimination cases involving a wide range of allegations. In addition to litigation matters, Ms. Petroff's experience includes negotiations, training, investigations, the preparation of employment policies and procedures, employment contracts, confidentiality agreements, and non-competition agreements. Ms. Petroff's representative clients include the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, American Suzuki Motor Corporation, Canyon Partners, Fortune Brands, Gap, Inc., Harris Bank, HemaCare Corporation, LVMH, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Nellson Nutraceutical, Inc., UBS Financial Services, Inc., ViewSonic Corporation, and WaterPik Technologies. Ms. Petroff received a B.A. from Denison University and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law. Bonnie Cox is Founder and President of the Power Training Institute (PTI) based in Santa Barbara, California. As a professional trainer, corporate facilitator and motivational speaker, she offers custom-designed, high-energy workshops for corporations on a wide range of human resources, management and communications training topics. Bonnie lends over 20 years of experience in management coaching, employment law, training development and sales management. Over the years, Bonnie has enjoyed working with leading organizations such as Technicolor, Ricoh Electronics, National Pen, Nordstrom, Herman Miller, Zion's Bank and Meggitt Aerospace. Bonnie is also an adjunct professor for Santa Barbara City College's Professional Development Department, as well as UCSB Extension and Antioch University. In addition, Bonnie has been a guest speaker for associations like SHRM, PIHRA, ASTD, and VIA, and she has guest lectured at Santa Barbara City College, the University of Phoenix and University of California, Santa Barbara. Bonnie holds a B.S. in Business Management and Finance and an M.A. in Organizational Management. Maria Rodriguez, Esq. is a Partner at DLA Piper LLP and focuses her practice on labor and employment law. Ms. Rodriguez represents and counsels employers in all areas of employment law, including state and federal wage and hour, discrimination, and harassment matters; employee coaching and performance documentation; non-discrimination and harassment; leaves of absence; privacy in the workplace; the HIPAA privacy rule; and reductions in force. In addition, Ms. Rodriguez has significant experience in WARN class actions, wrongful termination, breach of employment contract, unlawful business practices, non-solicitation, trade secrets, and other employment-related cases. Although Ms. Rodriguez works with employers across all industries, she has extensive experience with clients in the media, technology, sports and entertainment, food and restaurant, airline, healthcare, and fashion industries. In January, the Daily Journal profiled Ms. Rodriguez in its “Top 20 Under 40” series for her work in labor and employment litigation, and she has been recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2005 through 2009. Ms. Rodriguez sits on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar’s Labor and Employment Law Section and has also served as an adjunct professor of Employment Law in the business school at California State University, Fullerton. Ms. Rodriguez received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles and a J.D. from Loyola Law School. Catherine L. Haight, Esq. is the Founding Member of Haight Law Group, PLC in Los Angeles and has been practicing immigration law since 1989, specializing in business and sports-related immigration matters. Ms. Haight currently serves as Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association National Liaison Committee to the Department of Labor. She is the author of numerous articles on labor certification, nonimmigrant visas, legal ethics, employer sanctions law and the immigration consequences of business mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Haight received her Bachelors degree from University of California, Berkeley and obtained her J.D. from Southwestern University School of law. Ryan Fridborg, SPHR, MAOD is an Executive Vice President at Bolton & Company where he helps business leaders attract, motivate and retain talent through the effective use of employee benefits and retirement plans. Having earned multiple promotions in human resources with a Fortune 20 company as well as the largest county government in the U.S., Ryan offers a wealth of expertise and consulting resources. While specializing in the design, implementation and communication of flexible benefit plans, group health insurance and retirement plans, Ryan’s unique background in human resources allows him to provide comprehensive and strategic assistance to HR professionals. Ryan holds a Master's degree in Organizational Development from Azusa Pacific University and is recognized as a Senior Professional in Human Resources by SHRM. In addition, Ryan serves as a Board member for the Professional in Human Resources Association (PIHRA) and is active in the National Human Resources Association (NHRA), the International Society for Certified Employee Benefits Specialists (ISCEBS), and the Los Angeles Compensation and Benefits Association (LACABA). Leonora "Lenny" Schloss, Esq. is a Partner in the Los Angeles office of Jackson Lewis LLP. Ms. Schloss specializes in wage & hour and leaves of absence issues; advises and trains employers on preventative measures, drafts policies and agreements; conducts wage & hour classification audits and training; and handles employment investigations. Ms. Schloss has substantial experience litigating single plaintiff and class action discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, and wage & hour cases in state and federal courts and agencies. She also represents employers in litigation stemming from employee non-competition agreements and trade secret misappropriation matters. In addition to her trial experience, Ms. Schloss has successfully handled several union arbitration hearings. Ms. Schloss advocates a proactive approach to preventing employment disputes, and therefore counsels and trains employers on day-to-day employment problems involving wage & hour issues, leave rights, discrimination and harassment, discipline and dismissal, and workplace privacy. In addition, she drafts policies, handbooks, and agreements clarifying employer expectations for employees. Ms. Schloss received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a finalist in the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Competition. She received her A.B., summa cum laude, from St. Louis University. Helene J. Wasserman, Esq. is a Shareholder in the Los Angeles office of Littler Mendelson P.C. Ms Wasserman has spent her entire career practicing exclusively in the area of labor and employment law, representing clients of all sizes and in a wide variety of industries. She represents employers in litigation matters before state and federal courts and administrative agencies in all areas of employment law. Ms. Wasserman also counsels employers of all sizes in day-to-day employment relations issues such as hiring, discipline and termination of employees, downsizing, workplace violence and compliance with all state and federal employment laws. In addition, she conducts in-house training on a wide array of topics. Ms. Wasserman is an avid podcaster and the host of the EmployerHelpCast, which focuses on topics of interest to employers. A graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law, Ms. Wasserman has held leadership positions with the Los Angeles County Bar Association as well as the Beverly Hills Bar Association and is a current member of the CDCBA State Board of Directors. Deborah Birndorf Zeiler, Esq., MBA is the Founder of Birndorf Law Office. She is an attorney who represents employers in all aspects of employment law, including harassment and discrimination claims, wage claims, disability claims, and misappropriation of trade secrets. She also provides preventative counseling and advice, and drafts and reviews employment contracts, severance agreements, employee handbooks and personnel policies. Ms. Birndorf earned her B.A. from UCLA, an M.B.A. from NYU and her law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, where she graduated at the top of her class. Ms. Birndorf, who is licensed to practice in both California and Illinois, is a frequent speaker on a wide variety of employment law topics and teaches Legal Aspects of Employee Relations at UCLA Extension. Ruth K. Ross is a strategic human resources executive with 30 years of experience at top companies. Her areas of expertise include leading organizations through times of change, mergers and acquisitions, manager/leader coaching and development, culture integration, new manager assimilation and employee engagement. She started her consulting firm to focus on the intersection where human capital and business process come together in organizations. Her mission is to help managers become more aware of the breadth and importance of their role and to learn how they can become better leaders with a more productive and engaged workforce. Ruth's career started in New York with HR roles at Citibank, American Express, PaineWebber and Estee Lauder. In 1996, she relocated to San Francisco where she joined Charles Schwab to lead HR for two businesses and started the HR Policies & Practices group. For the last nine years Ruth was the EVP of HR for Wells Fargo's finance organization.   Valerie Frederickson, MS, CMF is Founder and CEO of Valerie Frederickson & Company, a global human resources executive search and consulting firm based in Silicon Valley with an expertise in developing and training winning teams. She consults to and places top executives in a variety of industries, including high tech, software, wireless, insurance and finance. Referred to as one of “the top business thinkers in the country” (SF Chronicle), Ms. Frederickson is a popular presenter and has published several articles on human resource and career management topics, including the HR’d on the Street column for the HR Bulletin. Ms Frederickson has earned a reputation as an expert source for information on labor market trends, career and job search issues and general human resource management. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Elle Magazine, the SJ Mercury, the SF Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, the Denver Post and CFO Magazine, among others. In addition, Ms. Frederickson is the author of "Folio: Silicon Valley’s Comprehensive Career Transition Manual" and was a featured expert in "The Change Agents: Decoding the New Workforce and the New Workplace" published by St. Martin’s Press. Ms. Frederickson holds a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and a certified Career Management Practitioner. Lester S. Rosen, Esq. is the President of Employment Screening Resources, a national background screening company headquartered in Novato, California. He is an attorney as well as a nationally recognized consultant, writer and speaker on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), pre-employment screening, and safe hiring issues. In addition, Mr. Rosen is the author of the first comprehensive book on employment screening, "The Safe Hiring Manual Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters and Terrorists Out of Your Workplace" – a book that is now considered a classic. Mr. Rosen was the chairperson of the steering committee that founded the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), the professional trade organization for the screening industry, and he served as the first co-chairman in 2004. In addition, he has qualified and testified in the California Superior Court as an expert witness on issues surrounding safe hiring and due diligence. Mr. Rosen's speaking appearances have included numerous national and statewide conferences. Linda Robinson, PHR is the Training and Development Manager at CPEhr - one of the nation's largest and oldest privately held HR outsourcing, consulting and PEO firms. At CPEhr, Linda is responsible for the establishment and continued growth of the Training Department where she develops and facilitates various human resource-focused training programs that cover over 30 different topics. Each year, Linda trains approximately 4,000 employees throughout the United States. With over 25 years of human resources and management experience, Linda embraces a versatile style to train across a diverse number of business sectors. Linda has worked with clients from a wide variety of industries, including professional, medical, industrial, gaming, food & beverage and hospitality. Braden Albert is the Founder and President of the HR Star Conference and its parent company, Abbington Court Media. A graduate of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, Braden began organizing job fairs and trade shows in the mid-1990's. Intrigued by the idea of bringing people together for a shared, learning experience - and impressed by the impact such an experience can provide - Braden organized his first HR Star Conference in 1999. Today, the scope of the HR Star Conference includes annual events in Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; and Cleveland, Ohio. Over 3,000 HR professionals attended an HR Star Conference in 2011.