San Francisco HR Star Conference Wednesday, July 17, 2013 Speaker Information Robb Braun is the Founder and President of The Leadership Source™ a shining star in the realm of personal and organizational leadership development. An accomplished leadership coach, public speaker and master trainer, Robb is on a mission to empower business leaders to create work environments that foster employee greatness, motivation, loyalty, productivity, initiative and drive. He works with progressive and energetic companies that want to stay relevant, and he helps them make the leap from surviving to thriving. A Certified Provendus Strategist, Robb brings with him over 25 years of training experience. Throughout his career he has touched the lives of over 25,000 corporate participants in trainings throughout the world, primarily on the topic of leadership success. In his presentations, Robb passionately communicates a clear message that inspires others to take real action and encourages them to achieve their absolute best. Robb has developed a process for training which he calls Action-Learning™ - a process that promises to bring effective change in individuals, their teams and the organizations they serve. Robb makes every effort to ensure that his participants and clients achieve unreasonable success in their leadership development. 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. Charles L. Thompson IV, Esq. is a Shareholder in the San Francisco office of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak and Stewart, P.C., a national employment law firm, and has been practicing employment and traditional labor relations law exclusively for more than 20 years. He represents union and nonunion employers in all aspects of employment relations counseling and litigation. In addition, he has extensive experience in counseling and defending employers regarding trade secrets and unfair competition, leaves of absence, wage and hour law and discrimination law. Mr. Thompson has been designated a Northern California “Super Lawyer” in employment law, and he is a past President of Mission Neighborhood Centers in San Francisco and a former officer of the NAMES Project Foundation. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. Debbie McGrath is the CEO of HR.com, a company committed to delivering HR best practices and helping organizations build great businesses through community, collaboration, research, shared best practices and measurements. Prior to starting HR.com, Debbie owned The CEO Group, a Canadian and European entity that created job board software, talent management software, HTC career magazines and career fairs. In August of 1998, The CEO Group was sold to Kaplan, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. During her tenure, Debbie served as President of the Canadian and European operations, as well as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Complementing her extensive background in human resources, publishing and the Internet, Debbie also holds a degree in Computer Science and Business Administration through the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Jennifer Brown Shaw, Esq. is a Founding Partner of Shaw Valenza LLP where she provides regular advice and counsel on workplace issues to various private and public sector employers throughout the country. Jennifer also develops and presents seminars for management and non-supervisory employees on subjects such as AB 1825 compliance, AB 1234 compliance, diversity, managing protected leaves of absence and workplace violence prevention. In addition, Jennifer regularly conducts independent internal investigations for employers. Previously, Jennifer was a Partner at Jackson Lewis LLP, and she practiced employment law as an associate at Schacter, Kristoff, Orenstein & Berkowitz and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Named by Northern California Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top attorneys in California for 2009, Jennifer is a frequent speaker on employment law topics. In addition, she has been a guest on CNN and local television and radio. She earned her B.A. in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and graduated magna cum laude from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was the editor-in-chief of the law review. Shari Dunn is Managing Director, Compensation for Gallagher HR Consulting - formerly CompAnalysis - a Division of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Shari has a long and varied background in compensation management, having worked both internally as a manager and as a consultant in this field with such firms as McKinsey & Co., Deloitte, Boise Cascade and Bank of America. In 1980, she established CompAnalysis, a consultancy dedicated to helping employers make successful compensation decisions. Prior to being acquired by the Arthur J. Gallagher Company in 2010, the firm had grown to become a leading independent San Francisco Bay Area compensation management consulting firm, specializing in broad-based pay plans. She and her staff work with both non-profit and for-profit employers to develop and maintain base pay plans, executive compensation guidelines and incentive pay approaches. Shari has a B.A. degree in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the former President of the 5,000 + member Northern California Human Resources Association (NCHRA) and maintains active memberships in the Bay Area Compensation Association and WorldatWork. Brooke Bovo and David Tighe are Co-Founders of Bovo-Tighe, LLC. Brooke Bovo's far-flung work has improved productivity in China, Scotland, England, France and the United States. Her practical, enlightening approach has received rave reviews from the world's largest firms including: Chevron, Blue Cross, Schlumberger, BP and Herff Jones. On the entrepreneurial side, Brooke has helped numerous smaller companies in a wide variety of industries with approaches and tools that have rapidly increased sales by 50% or more. David Tighe partners with innovative organizations ranging from startups to the Fortune 100 that want to rapidly add value to their customer offerings. David holds a degree in Chemical Engineering, a technical background which uniquely qualifies him to develop approaches that create lasting change within technically-based organizations. David specializes in designing culture-changing approaches that motivate and leverage the strengths of employees, often drawing together diverse teams of people to achieve powerful results. Dave's clients include numerous industry leaders such as Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, Agilent and Genentech. David also works with many smaller entrepreneurial organizations and industry consortia. Along with their creative consulting team, Bovo-Tighe offers solutions for disenchanted employees, overstressed middle managers and concerned executives who are challenged to meet the increasing demands of shareholders and stakeholders. Lester S. Rosen, Esq. is the President of Employment Screening Resources, a national background screening company headquartered in Novato, California. He is an attorney at law, 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 served as the first co-chairman in 2004. In addition, he has qualified and testified in the California and Arkansas 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. Rae Lee Olson is Senior Consultant with the Vita Benefits Group. Rae Lee is uniquely well-qualified in the employee benefits world with over 25 years experience in developing practical solutions to complex employee benefits challenges. Under her leadership, the Vita team has developed comprehensive compliance solutions for their clients in all benefit areas, including ERISA, COBRA, FSA and HIPAA. Known as a legislative guru, Rae Lee has provided testimony in both Congress and in the California state legislature on numerous occasions over the years. Rae Lee works with companies from the smallest dynamic start-ups to the largest employers in the nation. Rae Lee received her B.A. degree from Stanford University. Lisa G. Jing, M.A. is the Founder and CEO of Synergy at Work, Inc., a consulting firm dedicated to transforming the workplace into an environment where people are their whole and best selves. Lisa specializes in employee engagement through employee health and well-being, inclusion and diversity, and passion at work. Prior to starting her own company, Lisa was recognized as a thought leader in integrated health solutions in the corporate sector. As Senior Program Manager on Cisco’s Global Health Initiative, Lisa developed strategies and implemented programs to build greater resilience and sustainability in both individuals and organizations. Her passion is to bring more spirit to the workplace through organizational culture change and groundbreaking programs which foster integration of mind, body and spirit. Lisa holds an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Loyola Marymount University. Her background includes clinical counseling, marketing and human resources. Lisa is a contributing author to the bestselling Adventures in Manifesting series. Jeremy Henderson, MHR is the Founder and Chief Client Partner of Jungle Red Communication™, a management consulting firm focused on helping clients deliver massive business results through their most important resource - their people. Over the past 20 years, Jeremy has held a range of HR and employee communications leadership roles with such celebrated organizations as eBay, Razorfish, VeriSign, MZA Events (Aids Walks) and Salesforce.com. Jeremy works with innovative executives from a wide variety of industries. As a thought leader, he has authored several books and articles and has led webinars for HR.com. Jeremy’s first book, “Managing Success: A Manager’s Guide to Effective Employee Relationships” sprang to #3 in the Kindle Management and HR categories. With his new book, “The Human Relations Matrix: The Secret to Workplace Productivity,” Jeremy offers a model for establishing a happy, healthy, productive workplace. Jeremy holds a Master of Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. Fred Barnhart, M.B.A. is the West Regional Director for SkillSurvey, Inc., and has over 17 years of experience in the fields of talent acquisition and talent development. He works directly with recruiting teams and hiring managers to improve their quality-of-hire and to increase their recruiting efficiency. His company’s work includes helping firms like eBay, Kohl’s and McDonald’s and other organizations of all sizes. Previously, Fred was with SumTotal Systems, where he worked with learning and development teams in HR departments throughout Latin America. He has also held management positions with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s The Learning Company. Fred is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and has an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Valerie Frederickson, M.S., C.M.F. 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 HRd 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. Norman C. Plotkin, Esq. is a Partner with Jackson & Hertogs LLP. Norman joined the well-respected firm in 1987, achieving Partner in 2002. His experience includes liaison for the Northern California American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Chapter to both the INS California Service Center and the U.S. Department of Labor. His professional background also includes editor of the Gold Book, a resource for practicing immigration law in California and co-editor of the Western Region Directory for the Immigration Practitioner. Recently listed in the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, Norman has also been selected for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America. Fluent in Spanish, Norman obtained his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and is a graduate of Tulane Law School. Tom Ucko, M.B.A., M.A. is Principal, Ucko Affiliates and a seasoned leadership coach and organizational consultant with a unique blend of tough-minded business sense and psychological savvy. Tom specializes in helping organizations build trust and teamwork. Over the past 20 years, he has worked with a wide range of clients, from biotech companies to credit unions to healthcare organizations. Tom makes extensive use of emotional intelligence (EQ) with his clients and is certified to use the BarOn EQ-i, the first scientifically validated assessment of EQ. His book, How to Select and Work with Consultants: A Guide for Clients, offers practical tips for getting the best from consultants. Tom has also authored numerous articles in business and professional publications. Tom holds an M.B.A. in Management from Fordham University, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University, where he has completed substantial coursework towards a Ph.D. Jason Lombardi, M.B.A. is Vice President, Benefits at Vita Benefits Group. With more than 14 years of experience, he provides full service employee benefit plan marketing, selection, implementation, compliance and management, as well as strategies on cost containment and benefit plan design to a large client base across all market industries. Previously, Jason was a senior associate in the legal transfers department at Franklin Templeton, where he was NASD licensed. He holds an MBA in human resources from Notre Dame de Namur University and a B.S. in management from Santa Clara University. Braden L. 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 3,200 HR professionals attended an HR Star Conference in 2012.