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Atlanta HR Star Conference
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Speaker Information
Patrick J. Kuhse is the President of Speaking of Ethics. From Harvard to Stanford to Boeing, he has lectured across
the United States on the subject business ethics. His clients include national and international corporations, professional
associations, law enforcement agencies, and major universities. With a wide range of business experience, including over
15 years as a principal with a financial services firm, Patrick explores the seemingly unimportant decisions that are common
in the workplace. His expertise in white-collar crime is uniquely translated into the personnel challenges facing HR on a
daily basis. Mr. Kuhse's particular emphasis is on the erosion of values, workplace ethics, and the underlying reasons behind
critical thinking errors. As you will see, he is uniquely qualified to explore the critical thinking errors that underpin moral and
ethical dilemmas both in the workplace and in life. His personal experiences, observations and reflections concerning the
causes and prevention of fraud both entertain and provoke attendees to think more deeply about their own behaviors.
Clare Draper is a Partner in the Labor and Employment Group at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, Georgia and
consistently has been named a "Georgia Super Lawyer" by Atlanta Magazine. His practice covers all areas of labor and
employment law. Having served as lead counsel in all types of labor and employment litigation for over 20 years throughout
the country, Mr. Draper has developed extensive expertise in assisting clients with HR management issues, including litigation
prevention, development and implementation of workplace policies and practices, reductions and expansions of the workforce,
employee retention, union/management issues, regulatory compliance and negotiating, drafting and litigating employment
agreements, restrictive covenants and separation agreements. Mr. Draper is a nationally known expert in the field of
government-mandated affirmative action plans, and he serves as national affirmative action counsel for several companies,
including the second largest private employer in the U.S. In addition, he is the author of several employment related
publications, the latest of which is the Pike & Fisher/BNA book Workplace Privacy: A Guide for Attorneys and HR
Professionals. Mr. Draper received his B.A. from Yale and his J.D. from Vanderbilt, where he was an associate
editor on the Vanderbilt Law Review.
Mark S. Floyd is a Partner in Thompson Hine's Labor and Employment practice group. He has a focus on
employment litigation, principally defense of management in alleged discrimination, wrongful discharge, covenants not to
compete, and trade secrets litigation. Mark also has extensive experience in traditional management labor representation,
including labor negotiations and matters involving grievance, arbitration, and administrative hearings on behalf of both
private and public sector clients. He has almost two decades of experience in the areas of labor, employment,
employment litigation, and immigration law. Mark is a graduate of Stanford University and Columbia University Law School.
Annette A. Idalski is a Partner in the Labor and Employment practice of Duane Morris LLP in the Atlanta office.
Her practice involves litigation, employee relations counseling and management training. She has defended employers
nationwide against single and multi-plaintiff lawsuits involving race, gender, age and disability discrimination, workplace
harassment, traditional labor matters, wage and hour compliance, restrictive covenants, contract disputes, and
whistleblower actions. Ms. Idalski proactively counsels employers on employment issues concerning complex leaves of
absence, hiring and firing, wage and hour compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and collective bargaining matters. In
addition, she conducts legal compliance audits of clients' human resources functions and prepares employee policies
and handbooks and employment agreements. Ms. Idalski also conducts training courses on prevention of litigation with
respect to sexual harassment and discrimination under Title VII, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, FCRA, and other state and federal
employment laws. Ms. Idalski is Past President of the Georgia Association For Women Lawyers and has served as a
board member since 2002.
Charles H. Kuck is the Managing Partner of Kuck Casablanca & Odom, LLC, an Atlanta and Miami-based
immigration law firm where he manages its nationwide immigration practice. He is also the National President-Elect of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association (“AILA”) where has served on the National Executive Committee for the past
four years and on its Board of Governors for six years. Mr. Kuck's practice involves assisting employers and employees with
business and professional visas, labor certifications, immigrant visas, consular representation, and citizenship matters for
foreign executives, managers, professionals, and workers. He has represented asylum seekers in more than 400 trials
before the immigration court. Mr. Kuck also advises employers on compliance procedures in verifying the work eligibility
of new employees as required under the I-9 "employer sanctions" provisions of federal law. In addition, Mr. Kuck
serves as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Georgia, where he teaches immigration law classes. He is listed in
Who’s Who of International Corporate Immigration Attorneys, Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers
for Business, The World’ Leading Lawyers For Business and in Atlanta Magazine as a “Georgia Super
Lawyer.” He is the Editor-in-Chief of the AILA Litigation Toolbox, a “how-to” book on representing clients before the
immigration and federal courts. Mr. Kuck has practiced immigration law for more than 19 years, has testified before Congress
on immigration law, and frequently appears in the news media, including: CBS, FoxNews, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, National
Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and Business
Week.
David Long-Daniels is a Shareholder with Greenberg Traurig LLP. He is a trial lawyer and represents clients in all
employment matters, including claims under the Fair Labor Standard Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Family and
Medical Leave Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and other federal and state labor and employment matters. A
celebrated speaker at numerous conferences and seminars, Mr. Long-Daniels has been included in Chambers & Partners
USA Guide, an annual listing of the leading business lawyers and law firms in the world, as well as recognized as part of
"Georgia's Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend. Mr. Long-Daniels is active in the Atlanta community
providing general counsel for the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and he serves on several boards. He is a graduate of the
Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law where he has also taught as an Adjunct Law Professor.
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 (now BrassRing.com), 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.
Robert J. McGovern is the Founder and CEO of Jobfox and a 20 year technology and media industry veteran with a
passion for helping people with their careers. Prior to Jobfox, he was the founder and CEO of CareerBuilder.com, one of the
world’s largest online career sites. While at CareerBuilder he grew it to be a profitable $150 million company with over
400 employees. Rob is the author of a best selling career book, Bring Your ‘A’ Game: the 10 Career Secrets of the High
Achiever and has delivered his career advice to national television audiences on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, Bloomberg, CNBC,
and Lifetime. Before setting out to start CareerBuilder, Rob was Vice President and General Manager at Legent Corporation,
one of the world’s largest software companies. He spent the first 10 years of his career at Hewlett Packard Company, where
he rose through the sales and marketing ranks in both the US and Europe.
Valerie Frederickson is the CEO of Valerie Frederickson & Company, a leading human resource, executive search,
and career management firm based in Silicon Valley. She consults to and places top executives in a variety of industries,
including high tech, software, wireless, insurance and finance. Ms. Frederickson holds a Masters degree in Counseling
Psychology with options in Adult and Career Development, and Marriage, Family, Child Counseling. Also, she is a
certified Career Management Practitioner. Referred to as one of “the top business thinkers in the country” (SF Chronicle),
Ms. Frederickson is a popular presenter and has published many articles on a wide variety of 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, and 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, CFO Magazine, and Monster.com. 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.
Dr. David Rearick is the Vice President of Medical Management at
Strategic Benefit Solutions, a health and welfare benefit consultancy.
He is a physician executive with 30+ years experience as a
family physician, group practice leader, managed care medical
director, and Chief Medical Officer of a national cost containment
firm. Stephen Cherniak is the Wellness Director at Strategic Benefit Solutions
and has 20+ years overseeing all wellness activities at Ford Motor Company.
Both speak regularly on health and wellness topics and have recently published
the best selling, Good Health is Good Business - An Implementation Guide for
Corporate Wellness as well as The WellFit Starter Module, a
complete wellness took kit of customizable wellness challenges,
activities, and programming templates for the organization wanting to
start building a culture of health and wellness.
Nancy Allen is the Founder and President of Impact Training & Development, an organization that
provides customized training and consulting services to a wide variety of industries. As a Registered Corporate Coach,
Certified Executive Coach, and a Training Professional, she has over twenty years experience in designing and conducting
one-on-one coaching and group training sessions. Nancy has worked with many organizations both locally and nationally
conducting professional workshops and coaching. Additionally, Nancy has provided services in the areas of assessment,
leadership, teambuilding, sales, and career development. Her coaching and training is designed to support the concept of
ongoing learning as well as personal and professional development. Nancy is the Past President of the Greater Cleveland
Chapter of the American Society for Training & Development and is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta
Chapter. She is also a member of the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches and The International Coach Federation.
Nancy holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from John Carroll University.
Robert Levy is a Senior Vice President in Georgia with Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. and a Group Security
Specialist. Bob was awarded his certification as an Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist through the National Institute
of Fraud Risk Management and has trained extensively with one of the foremost authorities on identity theft in the United
States. With nine years of experience in benefits and group security issues, Bob has trained both law enforcement personnel
and members of Homeland Security organizations on identity theft and ways to mitigate exposure. In addition, he has
conducted trainings for both large and small corporations and professional service organizations. As a celebrated, national
speaker, Bob has been invited to present to groups of all sizes and industries.
Dethra U. Giles is the Director of Staff Recruitment and Retention at Georgia State University and a member of
the Board of Directors for ExecuPrep: an HR training, consulting and executive coaching firm located in Atlanta, GA.
She holds an M.B.A. with a concentration in Human Resources Management and Organizational Development as well as an
M.S. in Conflict Management - both from Kennesaw State University. In addition, Dethra is a Certified Trainer of Workplace
Mediation and a Registered Neutral through the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. Professionally, Dethra has worked with
a large number of outstanding organizations, including State Farm Insurance Companies, the Department of Labor,
the Small Business Development Center and the Georgia Women Entrepreneur Network.
Craig Southern leads the training & development function at the Georgia Governor’s Office of Planning & Budget
(OPB) where he is the Training Program Manager. Craig’s career consists of 20+ years of experience in various training,
education and instruction endeavors encompassing private industry, state government, community-based initiatives and
academia. His previous experience in state government includes Clayton State University, the Department of Motor Vehicle
Safety and the Department of Driver Services. Craig’s areas of expertise include organizational/staff development & training,
management, human resources and consulting. In particular, he has been recognized professionally for his contributions in
the areas of training & development. Craig holds a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Human Resource Development (HRD),
with a specialization in Training. His Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree is in Business Management with an emphasis in
Applied Behavioral Sciences. Additionally, Craig holds degrees in MIS and Computer Programming.
James R. Dawson is the Managing Partner of ADI Performance and a national expert in the areas of workplace
development and human potential. A celebrated speaker, corporate trainer, columnist and author, he has impacted the lives
of thousands. His clients include Coca-Cola, Alltel, Lockheed Martin and Lucent Technologies, among many others.
Previously, Jim was with AT&T's School of Business. Over the past twenty years, Jim has dedicated himself to developing
and delivering training that acts as a catalyst to unleash individual potential and help people realize a greater sense of
self-expectation, new levels of performance, and a more satisfying work/life balance. Jim is the co-author of Real World
Customer Service Strategies that Work and has been published in nearly 200 business magazines and trade journals.
Andrew Huber is a Development Officer with Georgia’s Own Credit Union, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through
his current position and his financial services industry expertise, he helps employers, employees and consumers better
understand the role of credit and how to recognize the opportunities that exist to raise credit scores. Andrew frequently
presents at both public seminars and to the member companies of Georgia’s Own Credit Union as part of the financial
education training for employees. As an ambassador for two different County Chambers of Commerce, Andrew shares his
passion for helping his community achieve their financial goals. Andrew holds a degree in management and communications
from Virginia Tech and resides in Marietta, Georgia.
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 2,550 HR professionals attended an HR Star Conference in 2007. Ever eager to explore new formats
and innovative concepts, Braden recently added the HR Executive Summit to his event line-up. The HR Executive Summit is
a roundtable, discussion-based forum designed exclusively for VPs of HR and Directors of HR.
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