Jonathan Swan
National Political Reporter, Axios
Jonathan Swan currently serves as a national political reporter for Axios, the media company launched by Politico founders Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei. Swan covers the Trump presidency and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. In 2016, Politico named Swan one of its “16 breakout media stars” of the U.S. presidential campaign. The article described Swan as one of the few reporters singled out for attention by officials from both Republican and Democratic sides. Before moving to the United States from his native Australia, Swan was a national political reporter based in Canberra for Fairfax Media and a political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald. In 2014, he became the youngest panelist on Australia’s most popular political program, Insiders, and was presented with the Wallace Brown Award for most outstanding young journalist. Swan was also selected to represent Australia for the prestigious American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship. It involved moving to the U.S. for a yearlong fellowship, during which he served on a congressional staff before returning to political journalism in 2015. Swan joined The Hill, a Washington-based political newspaper, as part of their campaign team, later that year.
David Anthony
Partner, Troutman Sanders LLP
David Anthony is an experienced trial lawyer with a concentration in litigating financial services and business disputes, including class actions. As a leading member of Troutman Sanders’ Consumer Financial Services group and the Financial Services Litigation practice, he has developed a national practice in federal court litigation and the financial services industry. Anthony counsels clients regarding their compliance, regulatory, and litigation matters, as they pertain to background screening. As a critical issue of today’s hiring process, he works closely with his clients to help avoid potential liability both for failing to conduct background screenings, as well as the process itself.
Kevin Bachman
President, The CRA Doctor
Kevin Bachman increases a CRA's profits and compliance by improving operational, client service and financial performance. An industry leader with 15 years experience, he can create business strategy with a CEO, teach a service team how to handle difficult clients, train a processor to select correct aliases, and everything in between. He helps organizations reduce litigation risk and lost clients. And his solutions increase employee retention and continuity. Finally, many businesses need help identifying key metrics that drive results. Bachman loves to create operational and financial dashboards, allowing CRA’s to make decisions based on what they know, not what they feel.
Kerstin Bagus
Chief Knowledge Officer, NetForce Global
Kerstin Bagus has been in the screening industry for more than 30 years working for a variety of screening firms. Responsibilities included compliance, vendor management, product management, sales support, and customer service. She is privacy certified for Canada, EU, and US.
Stacey Blecher
Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Stacey L. Blecher is Counsel in the Labor & Employment Department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She specializes in employment counseling with a focus on FCRA and other background check laws. Prior to joining Seyfarth Shaw, Blecher served as in-house Counsel and Assistant General Counsel at JPMorgan Chase where she handled a wide variety of employment and benefits-related litigation and counselled human resources, employee relations and line of business management teams on employment-related issues. Blecher’s pro bono work has included volunteering as a Small Claims Arbitrator with the Civil Court of the City of New York. She also volunteers with the NY Lawyers for the Public Interest.
Kevin Coy
Partner, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP
Kevin Coy is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP and co-chair of the firm’s privacy practice. Coy’s practice focuses on advising privacy-sensitive organizations on U.S. and international privacy law and policy matters. Mr. Coy also represents clients in proceedings before the Federal Trade Commission on a range of privacy and security issues, including matters pertaining to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Section 5 of the FTC Act, data privacy, data security and data breach issues. Internationally, Coy advises clients on transborder data flow issues and other matters in connection with the European Union Data General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implementing national laws, the EU/U.S. Privacy Shield program and other international privacy laws and regulations.
Liza Crawford Jønler
Director, JDA Frontline
Pamela Devata
Attorney, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Pamela Devata is a Labor and Employment Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago, IL. Devata leads Seyfarth’s nationwide Background Screening, Litigation and Compliance Team. She’s a national authority and firm go-to for all issues related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), background screening compliance, use of criminal and credit history, and Electronic Signature issues as well online and manual employment applications. A nationally recognized employment counselor, Devata has participated in numerous interviews, speeches, webinars, and trainings to employers on the subject criminal history and credit checks. She has leveraged her niche area of expertise into a thriving class action practice. Her employment litigation practice also includes state and federal court cases involving allegations of sex, race, and national origin discrimination and harassment.
John Drury
Senior Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
John W. Drury is Senior Counsel in the Labor & Employment Practice Group in Seyfarth Shaw LLP's Chicago office. Drury specializes in all aspects of employment defense including litigation and counseling. Drury has a special emphasis on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state laws addressing background screening. He has significant experience representing employers and providers (consumer reporting agencies and resellers) of background information in single-plaintiff and class action claims brought under the FCRA. In addition, Drury frequently counsels employers and providers on compliance requirements under the FCRA and related state laws.
Rhonda Fairweather
Vice President Operations, First Advantage
Rhonda Fairweather, Vice President Operations, has worked in the background screening industry for over 14 years. She leads background screening operations for Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America for First Advantage. With a focus on innovation and compliance, Fairweather has provided expertise on background screening as a Co-lecturer at the 3rd Managing Expatriates & Globally Mobile Employees Conference for the Federated Press, as a Speaker at the 2016 HRPAO Conference and as a consultant on articles for the SHRM and Canadian HR Reporter. Fairweather is currently Immediate Past Chair of the Board for the Canadian Chapter and Chair of the Global Advisory Council.
Nina French
Managing Partner, The Current Consulting Group, LLC
Nina M. French is the Managing Partner for the Current Consulting Group with over 25 years in employee screening. She uses her experience gained from growing a small MRO office into a large, international TPA advising clients on product and business development, drug testing marketing and strategy and occupational health and wellness operations for screeners. French has experience in managing drug-free workplace operations including vendor management, medical review, client services, account management, sales and marketing. Her consulting emphasis is on helping employee screening providers streamline operations, define their product portfolio for market and alignment with core business goals, launch new products, increase revenue, and retain existing clients. French speaks at over 60 events a year including client hosted TPA trainings, SAPAA, DATIA, NAPBS, iHeart Radio and SHRM.
Francine Friedman
Senior Policy Counsel, Akin Gump
Francine E. Friedman is Senior Policy Counsel at Akin Gump. She brings nearly 20 years of government affairs and lobbying experience to the firm. She received a B.S. from Georgetown University in Government and her Law degree at William and Mary. Francine advises clients on a variety of issues including tax policy, involving housing, energy and new markets tax credits; financial services reform; data and cybersecurity; privacy; education policy; trade; and energy issues. A native of Washington, DC with family roots in Louisiana, she began her policy career while in high school interning for then-Senator John Breaux. When not lobbying on the Hill, Francine is chasing after her twin 6 year old daughters, Mollie and Nola, and 2 year old, Maddie.
Jennifer Gillespie
Compliance Officer, Verisys
Jennifer Gillespie serves as the Compliance Officer at Verisys Corporation. In this role, Gillespie leads the Verisys Compliance, Internal Audit, and Quality teams and coordinates with all departments to ensure adherence to the constantly changing regulatory requirements in the health care industry. Gillespie maintains Verisys’ URAC CVO accreditation, NCQA CVO certifications (11 of 11), and ISO 9001, Quality Management Systems certification by managing quality improvement projects, maintaining company policies and procedures, demonstrating information security, ensuring best practices for credentialing verification processes, and conducting compliance audits, investigations, and training. Gillespie (aka Sherlock) is committed to the fight against health care fraud and abuse, which costs the nation billions of dollars every year. Her passion and experience in investigative research, data analysis, and resolution assist Verisys in protecting consumers and clients by identifying bad actors and accurately verifying provider credentials. Prior to joining Verisys in 2011, she gained more than 12 years of government security compliance and auditing experience by managing the physical, information, and communication security at the Lockheed Martin IS&S Draper UT facility, certifying in COMSEC, CSSO, and FSO Program Management. Gillespie is Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC), Certified Professional in Medical Staff Management (CPMSM), Certified Provider Credentialing Specialist (CPCS), and Advanced FCRA certified. Speaker
Cindy Hanson
Attorney, Troutman Sanders LLP
Cindy Hanson is a partner in the Financial Services Litigation practice at Troutman Sanders and focuses her practice on class action defense. Hanson has handled hundreds of matters under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including over a dozen class actions. Her practice includes the representation of consumer reporting agencies, entities who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, and employers who use background checks for employment purposes. In addition, she has significant experience representing companies defending class actions under consumer protection statutes and state common law. Prior to joining the firm, she practiced at a New York firm for four years.Hanson has made presentations on class actions, and all aspects of compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. She was named as a 2008 and 2009 Georgia "Rising Star" in the areas of Class Action/Mass Torts and Civil Litigation Defense by SuperLawyers magazine and is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Chad Kaldor
Shareholder, Littler Mendelson, P.C.
Chad Kaldor is a lawyer at the national law firm of Littler Mendelson. One of his areas of focus is in assisting CRAs and employers with compliance advice and defense of litigation. On any given day, he is in the process of defending several background-check class actions and single plaintiff cases against CRAs and employers.
Webb McArthur
Associate, Hudson Cook LLP
Webb McArthur is an associate with Hudson Cook, LLP. Webb advises consumer reporting agencies, creditors, furnishers, vendors, and other data companies on compliance with the FCRA, GLBA, ECOA, DPPA, GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy and data protection laws and regulations.
Esther Slater McDonald
Senior Counsel, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Esther Slater McDonald’s practice focuses on defending class and collective actions. Her practice includes litigation on consumer protection, commercial disputes, and employment matters with a special emphasis on the Fair Credit Reporting Act. McDonald also counsels employers, furnishers, resellers, and consumer reporting agencies on compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, other consumer protection laws, and related state laws. For clients facing regulatory inquiries, she provides guidance in responding to requests from government agencies and navigating the agency process. Before joining Seyfarth Shaw, McDonald was Counsel to the Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Katherine Miller
Director of Brand Management and Compliance, The Current Consulting Group, LLC
Katherine Miller is CCG’s Director of Brand Management and Compliance, managing CCG’s branding, social media networks, and CurrentCompliance.org. Miller manages CurrentCompliance.org and is an expert in state law, regularly consulting with clients on applicable state laws and federal regulations in addition to presenting on related topics. Miller regularly authors articles, white papers, and infographics that are available in publications across the industry. Miller is the editor of CCG’s newsletters and blogs, edits and authors industry publications, and manages content publication for CCG’s client base.
Montserrat Miller
Attorney, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP
Montserrat C. Miller is a partner in the Privacy and Consumer Regulatory; Immigration; and Government Affairs practice groups at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP in Washington, D.C. Miller helps clients with domestic and international privacy and data security issues they face. Miller is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). She is co-chair of the firm’s Background Screening Industry Group, and her practice includes advising background screening companies and users of consumer reports on compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and analog state laws. Miller served as Washington Counsel to the NAPBS. Miller is a frequent speaker and author of the weekly publication Compliance News Flash as well as a blog covering background screening and immigration compliance issues – www.workforcecomplianceinsights.com.
Maneesha Mithal
Associate Director, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection
Maneesha Mithal is the Associate Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, which focuses on consumer privacy, data security, and credit reporting issues. In this capacity, she has managed significant initiatives, including reports on Big Data, the data broker industry, the Internet of Things, consumer privacy, facial recognition, and mobile privacy disclosures. She has testified before Congress on data security, connected cars, facial recognition, and identity theft. She has also supervised Commission investigations that resulted in consent orders, including against companies such as Wyndham, Google, Facebook, Twitter, HTC, Snapchat, Uber, and Lenovo. She has held numerous positions at the Commission, including Chief of Staff of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Assistant Director of the International Division of Consumer Protection. Prior to joining the Commission 1999, Mithal was an attorney at the Washington law firm of Covington & Burling. Mithal earned her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
Erin Novak
Attorney, Montgomery McCracken Walker Rhoads LLP
A former Plaintiff’s lawyer, now industry defender, attorney Erin A. Novak is a member of the Litigation Department at Montgomery McCracken. She focuses her practice on consumer litigation and defending clients in cases involving the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Novak has been counsel of record in more than three hundred cases involving FCRA claims in courts throughout the country.
Scott Paler
Attorney, DeWitt LLP
Scott Paler is an attorney and partner at DeWitt LLP, one of Wisconsin's largest law firms. He previously served as Chair of the Firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group. During his career, Paler has advised dozens of consumer reporting agencies and employers on background screening compliance issues. He has also spoken to audiences around the country on background screening matters. Paler previously served as Co-Chair of the Litigation Avoidance Committee for NAPBS.
Megan Poonolly
Senior Counsel, Safety at Uber, Uber Technologies Inc.
Megan (Hall) Poonolly is Senior Counsel, Safety at Uber Technologies Inc. Poonolly is an experienced employment counselor and litigator. Prior to joining Uber, Poonolly focused her private practice on defending background screening companies in litigation and providing preventative counseling to employers and background screening companies regarding their obligations under the FCRA and other related state laws.
Ralph Posner
Executive Vice President, JDA Frontline
Ralph Posner brings more than two decades of political and policy experience in Washington. Ralph has worked across a number of industry sectors to advance his clients’ public affairs objectives. Prior to joining JDA Frontline, Posner served as Executive Vice President at Direct Impact, a national grassroots agency and a wholly owned subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller. While there, he led numerous grasstops, grassroots and public affairs campaigns for a wide array of clients, including multinational corporations, industry associations, foreign governments and non-profit organizations. Previously, Posner served as Senior Vice President and Partner at FleishmanHillard, leading the agency’s public affairs group in Washington. During his eleven years with the firm, he applied his background in media relations, crisis communications, grassroots engagement and partnership development to advance his clients’ interests. Posner also spent six years working on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to both Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) and Representative John LaFalce (D-NY), advising on numerous policy issues. Posner is a native of New Jersey and graduated from the University of Rochester with degrees in Political Science and Economics.
Jennifer Sarvadi
Partner, Hudson Cook LLP
Jennifer L. Sarvadi is a partner at Hudson Cook, LLP, and a member of the Government Investigations Practice Group located in Washington, D.C. Sarvadi counsels businesses on compliance with federal and state consumer protection laws, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Graham Leach Bliley Act. Sarvadi represents clients in government investigations and enforcement actions. As a trial attorney, she represented financial service companies, furnishers, and consumer reporting agencies in commercial litigation in federal and state courts.
William Simmons
Shareholder, Littler Mendelson PC
Bill Simmons is a lawyer specializing in background check practices, policies and procedures for both employers and consumer reporting agencies. Simmons practices at the national law firm of Littler Mendelson.
Brent Smoyer
Smoyer Government Affairs
Brent Smoyer, of Smoyer Government Affairs, serves as the NAPBS State Government Relations and Grassroots Director. Smoyer’s combined 15 years of experience includes work on federal, state and local political campaigns, state level policy craft as a legislative aide and legal counsel in both the Iowa and Nebraska Legislatures, and (as he calls it) “time served” in elected office as a County Commissioner for Lancaster County, Neb. While he jokingly refers to himself as a “recovering bureaucrat”, it is that experience he uses to help build relationships, craft quality policy, and dodge pitfalls often present in state government. Prior to partnering with NAPBS, Smoyer was Legal Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska Legislature.
Courtney Stieber
Partner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Courtney Stieber is a partner with Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Her practice focuses on complex employment litigation, including class action and single plaintiff claims under the FCRA, as well as complex employment litigation, including defending management against discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims. She also counsels both employers and CRAs on FCRA and state law compliance, with a particular emphasis on “ban the box” laws. She has significant first- and second-chair trial experience, and has obtained several defense verdicts. Stieber has been named a New York Metro Rising Star in employment defense litigation by Super Lawyers magazine each year since 2013.
Mark Sward
Assistant Vice President, Global Privacy, Sterling Talent Solutions
Based in Montreal, Mark and his dedicated Privacy team around the world engage with Sterling leadership and clients to provide thought leadership on privacy matters and respond to updates to privacy laws and standards. He oversees the development, implementation and maintenance of Sterling’s Global Privacy Program, through which his team provides guidance and training, conduct privacy impact assessments, and ensures that Sterling’s products, systems and processes incorporate Privacy by Design principles throughout their lifecycle. Sward has been with Sterling for eight years and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from McGill University, a certificate in law from the University of Montreal and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Canada and Europe (CIPP/C and CIPP/E) and a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM).
Robert Szyba
Attorney, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Robert T. Szyba is an associate in Seyfarth Shaw’s Labor & Employment Department. He defends and counsels employers on a wide range of employment-related issues, including background check and Fair Credit Reporting Act violations, “ban the box” issues, prevailing wage requirements, wage and hour compliance, whistleblower retaliation, family and medical leave compliance and interference/retaliation claims, paid sick leave, and discrimination/harassment. His clients operate in a variety of industries, including retail, background check services, for-profit education, foodservice and hospitality management, transportation, electrical, tolling, public works contractors, accounting, and insurance. Szyba also advises on preventive employment counseling, pre-litigation strategy and litigation avoidance, alternate dispute resolution and mandatory arbitration programs, and employment policies and procedures. Szyba represents clients in complex employment litigation, including class, collective, and multi-district litigation, as well as single-plaintiff lawsuits. He has extensive experience in New Jersey and New York state and federal courts, as well as federal district courts across the country. He represents clients at both trial and appellate levels. He also represents clients before federal and state administrative agencies, such as the Department of Labor, New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, and New York State Division of Human Rights. Szyba currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Quarterly, a publication of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal. He is a regular panelist and presenter for various legal associations in New York and New Jersey on employment law topics and issues, such as handling whistleblower issues, compliance with state and federal wage and hour laws, discrimination and harassment litigation avoidance, class action litigation, and litigation strategies. He is an active member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and The Sidney Reitman Employment Law American Inn of Court. Szyba is fluent in Polish.
Jamie Tucker
Partner, Akin Gump
Jamie Tucker Jr. has more than 15 years of political and policy experience both in the public and private sectors. As a partner at Akin Gump he provides strategic advice and advocacy on behalf of clients at the federal and state levels. He has an extensive network of clients across all branches of the government, giving his clients access to key elected officials and high-level decision makers and a wealth of political intelligence on varying issues. Prior to Akin Gump, he served as legislative counsel to Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC). In that capacity, he was responsible for advising the congressman on all issues before the House Judiciary Committee. He also served as an aide to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in 1996 and to Sen. Paul D. Coverdell (R-GA) in 1993-94. Mr. Tucker also worked on the 2000 and 2004 Bush/Cheney campaigns, the 1996 Dole/Kemp campaign and the 1992 Bush/Quayle campaign. He also served in various capacities at the 2000 and 1992 Republican National Conventions. He has also worked for or volunteered on behalf of a number of Senate and congressional races and is active with the Republican Governors Association.