Podcasts about labor employment

In this episode, Director of DEI at Jackson Lewis P.C., Angie Cavallo speaks with one of Jackson Lewis's Principal Attorneys, Michelle Phillips, who is the founder and prior Leader of JL's OPAL (Out Professionals & Allies in Law) resource group. Angie and Michelle discuss Michelle's personal and professional journey that has led to her being one of Jackson Lewis' preeminent openly LGBTQ+ attorneys, and how the landscape for LGBTQ+ attorneys in the legal profession has changed over the last few decades.Angie Cavallo is an attorney who has been at the forefront of challenging discrimination and inequality for over 20 years. She graduated from Rutgers Law School with honors in 2010, where she held a fellowship with the National LGBTQ Task Force. Angie was a litigator for over a decade, focused on the varied needs of LGBTQ+ communities. She is also a certified mediator and routinely helped LGBTQ+ couples resolve their personal differences without litigation. Prior to her current role, Angie was a law partner and Chair of Diversity for a MidAtlantic full services law firm. In 2017, Angie was named one of the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and remains a member of this organization today. She has won numerous awards and accolades for her commitment to enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal industry. Angie also taught at Rutgers Law from 2019-2021 and holds a certificate in Diversity & Inclusion Management from Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She is a board member for the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group and a member of many DEI-focused legal organizations, including the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals (ALFDP) where she sits on the annual conference programming committee.Angie routinely speaks on topics including LGBTQ+ conscious inclusion, interrupting bias, and the importance of pronouns and name pronunciations. She also regularly mentors other lawyers and law students, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community. Presently, Angie is the Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Jackson Lewis P.C., a preeminent Labor & Employment law firm with 1,000+ attorneys and 60+ offices nationwide. Michelle E. Phillips is a principal in the White Plains, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Michelle handles various types of employment litigation with an emphasis on sexual, racial, and disability harassment, and LGBT matters. She also counsels clients on a variety of labor and employment matters concerning federal and state employment laws. Michelle frequently conducts and advises clients on internal investigations and leads seminars and webinars for a broad range of clients focusing on employment discrimination, diversity, sexual harassment, and LGBT issues.Michelle is a featured speaker at HRNY, NY and CT SHRM, ACC Corporate Counsel, Out & Equal Workplace Conference, and other prominent organizations. Michelle conducts training on race, ethnic, intergenerational, interfaith, LGBT & other inclusion issues. She is a national speaker on such issues as an employer's duty to accommodate the sincerely held religious beliefs of employees, sexual stereotyping in the workplace, and respecting each individual's gender identity and expression. 

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

In Episode 3 of Informal Economics, we start off by answering homework questions submitted to us from the previous episode before tackling labor economics and employment trends. Eric then delves into the concept of price elasticity and its influence on market strategies before shifting the conversation to signals in the labor markets and the breakdown of jobs by sector. He explains the complexity of wage analysis and challenges common misconceptions about minimum wage that digresses into a discussion about trade skills and other college alternativesIf you have any questions for Eric to answer in the next episode, please send them to bandoftraderspodcast@gmail.com, or DM us on twitter or Discord!Sponsors and FriendsOur podcast is sponsored by Sue Maki at Fairway Independent Mortgage (MLS# 206048). Licensed in 38 states, if you need anything mortgage-related, reach out to her at SPullen@fairwaymc.com or give her a call at (520) 977-7904. Tell her 2 Bulls sent you to get the best rates available!For anyone trading futures, check out Vantatrading.com. Founded by Mr. W Banks and Baba Yaga, they provide a ton of educational content with the focus of teaching aspiring traders how to build a repeatable, profitable process. You can find our exclusive affiliate link/discount code for Vanta ‘s subscription in our free discord server as well!If you are interested in signing up with TRADEPRO Academy, you can use our affiliate link here. We receive compensation for any purchases made when using this link, so it's a great way to support the show and learn at the same time! **Join our Discord for a link and code to save 10%**To contact us, you can email us directly at suggestions@financialineptitude.com Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord to get updated when new content is posted! Check out our directory for other amazing interviews we've done in the past!If you like our show, please let us know by rating and subscribing on your platform of choice!If you like our show and hate social media, then please tell all your friends!If you have no friends and hate social media and you just want to give us money for advertising to help you find more friends, then you can donate to support the show here!About Eric:Eric is a practicing labor economist, who currently works as a chief financial officer for the city of Quincy, Ma. His area of research focuses primarily on small business and macroeconomics trends. Eric has a special interest in historical economics, cliometrics and steers clear of ideological hardlines, preferring to use empirical analysis in his appearances.theinformaleconomist.com - Eric Mason's WebsiteFollow Eric on LinkedInFollow Eric on TwitterPrevious Episodes with Eric MasonMr. Banks:Working as a commercial banker and trading on the side helped Mr. Banks develop his trading style into what it is today. As a banker, his main thought is: “What's the worst that can happen and how can I mitigate that risk?” Taking that same thought process into trading has made him focus more on his trade setups. Trade with confidence, trade what the market gives and limit the unknown factors. Follow Banks on TwitterOther Links:Social Explorer - Website linkAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

With the 2023 California legislative year closed, we are ready to summarize the new legislation that will affect businesses operating in the state and highlight related action items. Join us as Heather, Brittany, and Katelyn discuss key labor and employment topics from the 2023 legislative session.

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

Astor's CIO John Eckstein and Nick Tell, CEO of Armory Capital discuss the Labor Market and Payroll Trends. LISTEN NOW! MAS-M-467041-2023-12-08 The post Let's Look at Labor, Employment, and Payroll Trends appeared first on Astor Investment Management.

In the first episode of this two-part series, our Labor + Employment and Employee Benefits + Executive Compensation practices join forces and provide a comprehensive overview of noncompete agreements. Troutman Pepper Partners Tracey Diamond and Evan Gibbs join Partners Constance Brewster and Jim Earle to discuss the popular TV series, The Office, and the basics of noncompetes, their legal implications, and their role in the modern business world, all while drawing interesting parallels to situations from the TV series. Key topics covered include:The purpose and function of noncompete agreements.The legal framework surrounding noncompetes.The enforceability of noncompetes and factors that courts consider.The potential impacts of noncompetes on employees and employers.This episode serves as a primer for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of noncompete agreements, from employers considering implementing them to legal professionals advising clients on their use.In case you missed it, listen to "Navigating Noncompetes: A Comprehensive Guide – Part 2."

In this episode of Mastering Your Financial Life, Judy Heft interviews Eric Sarver, Esq., the founding attorney of Sarver Law Firm, PLLC, a Manhattan-based boutique employment law and business law firm which opened its doors in April of 2001. Eric and his firm counsel, defend, and represent small to mid-sized businesses in various industries, helping small to mid-sized companies to navigate the ever-changing world of federal, state, and municipal labor and employment laws, while defending employers / management in federal and state courts, arbitration, or in government investigations in matters such as employment discrimination, wage and hour violations, paid leave issues, breach of employment contract, or commission disputes. Sarver Law Firm, PLLC further provides business law services, from business formation to buy-sells, drafting of Investor Agreements, RSPA's, Operating Agreements, partnership formation and dissolution, and commercial litigation. Tune into the episode for insights from Eric Sarver: * How the change to a remote or hybrid workforce created new labor and employment law challenges, and financial impact, for businesses * 3 Lessons in employment law that employers can take away from the Covid-19 pandemic Connect with and learn more from Eric Sarver: A Long Island native who went to SUNY Binghamton and Hofstra Law School, Eric Sarver began practicing law in January 1999 at a prominent Park Avenue firm, and later at a small civil rights and employment law firm on Long Island. Eric lives in suburban New Jersey with his wife, Sarah, and their young son, Nathan. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing guitar, karaoke, cycling, the beach, and going to the gym. * Connect with Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-sarver-esq-a7a4a413/ * Visit Sarver Law Firm, PLLC's website: https://sarver-law.com/ * Follow the Sarver Law Firm, PLLC on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarver-law-firm/ * Subscribe to the Sarver Law Firm, PLLC on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SarverLawFirmPLLC * Follow the Sarver Law Firm, PLLC on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SARVERLAWFIRM/ * Follow the Sarver Law Firm, PLLC on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EricSarver73 * Check out Eric's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/employment-law-today/id1616933480 ******************************** In each episode of Mastering Your Financial Life, Judy Heft interviews professionals who help others successfully manage their financial lives. Judy is a Financial and Lifestyle Concierge and Founder & CEO of Judith Heft & Associates. * Connect with Judy Heft on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judyheft/ * Visit Judith Heft & Associates' Website: http://www.judithheft.com/ * Subscribe to Mastering Your Financial Life on Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mastering-your-financial-life/id1628822980 * Don't miss a video by subscribing to Judith Heft & Associates' YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxnWUm35dJhmCX0XPX_eZhQ

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

Labor Law Insider host Tom Godar continues to explore the nexus of labor issues and higher education with veteran labor lawyer Tyler Paetkau of Husch Blackwell's Labor & Employment group and Jason Montgomery a member of Husch Blackwell's Higher Education group and a former NCAA investigator. Together they review NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo's guidance regarding higher education and the Northwestern University decision, which paves the way for student-athletes to argue that they are employees under the National Labor Relations Act and its state counterparts with rights of representation by unions.Our Insiders review the implications of student-athletes receiving compensation for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) and the new decision by the NLRB's Los Angeles region to charge not only the University of Southern California but the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA as joint employers of the student-athletes-putative employees. The podcast touches upon unions targeting college campuses, the special protection offered student-athletes under Title IX, and the potential impact of mandated equity among male and female athletes as among the new challenges facing universities and colleges. Although the large private institutions are attracting most interest, there is also recognition in the discussion that states provide organizing opportunities for students at public institutions, and even smaller institutions may ultimately be swept up in areas of traditional labor law protection if the trends already initiated by the National Labor Relations Board continue. Join us for this very thought-provoking discussion of emerging issues on college campuses and how student-athletes figure into what might become the most interesting challenge for universities, athletic conferences and even the NCAA in the coming decades. 

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

BRIAN K. NICHOLS is a shareholder with the Modrall Law Firm and practices primarily in federal Indian law and litigation, including tribal courts, with focuses on energy, natural resources, transportation and employment. As a member of the Navajo Nation Bar, Brian regularly advises clients regarding Navajo law and represents clients in Navajo courts and agencies. In 2018, Best Lawyers in America® selected Brian as 2018 Native American Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Albuquerque.  Brian has achieved nationwide recognition in Native American Law from Chambers USA. Brian has received an AV® peer review rating in Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating possible, and listed by Southwest Super Lawyers®. He is recognized as a Star by Benchmark Litigation, Labor & Employment.PAMELA MOORE, MA, LPCC, is the Program Director of the State Bar of New Mexico's Professional Programs Group and a member of the NM Well-Being Committee. Disclaimer:Thank you for listening! This episode was produced by the State Bar of New Mexico's Well-Being Committee and the New Mexico Lawyer Assistance Program. All editing and sound mixing was done by BlueSky eLearn. Intro music is by Gil Flores. The views of the presenters are that of their own and are not endorsed by the State Bar of New Mexico. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment or legal advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

In this episode of Bona Fide Needs, Arnold & Porter Partner Mike McGill and PilieroMazza Partner Nichole Atallah preview the Labor & Employment panel from Pub K's upcoming 2023 Annual Review. From January 9 - 12, three dozen top government contracting practitioners will break down the most important and intriguing developments affecting federal contractors and their counsel. Government officials, private sector attorneys, and in-house experts will examine 2022's key litigation, enforcement activity, agency regulatory activity, and developments from Capitol Hill and the White House. Pub K's Annual Review is free to the public. To register, visit Pub K online at https://pubkgroup.com/govcon-annual-review-2023/.

In episode 37, Barclay Damon Live: Labor & Employment Podcast host Ari Kwiatkowski welcomes Debbie Kent, regional director of the New York State Division of Human Rights' Buffalo Office. In the first part of the episode, Ari and Debbie share preliminary information about what the division and its mission are, what it does, and how it's organized. They then turn to how a discrimination complaint is filed and whether every complaint that's filed is covered, and if it's covered, what happens? They explain more about the process, including when a case may go to the EEOC instead of the Division of Human Rights. Listen and be sure to tune in for an even deeper dive with Debbie in the next episode.

Jonathan Bell, Labor/Employment Attorney LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! by JVC Broadcasting

This special edition of The Path & The Practice features the audio from a summer 2022 law school recruiting event featuring a candid discussion between diverse Foley attorneys. The conversation covers what it's like to be a diverse attorney in Big Law, advice on the early days of one's legal career, and the OCI/the law firm interview process. Additionally, each attorney reflects on why they chose Foley. It's a wide-ranging discussion, packed with advice, covering the experience of attorneys who are first generation attorneys as well as members of the Black, South Asian, and LBGTQ communities. Although, the show highlights the experience of diverse attorneys, it contains advice and insight relevant to anyone navigating law school OCI and/or curious about the culture of Foley & Lardner. The show features: (1) Von Bryant, Partner, Washington, D.C., Corporate; (2) Byron McLain, Partner, Los Angeles, Litigation; (3) Ana Romes, Senior Counsel, Miami, Labor & Employment; and (4) Dania Abbasi, associate, Houston, Litigation. For more about the attorneys featured, make sure to listen to their respective episodes of The Path & The Practice: Von Bryant (Episode No. 1); Byron McLain (Episode No. 35 ); Ana Romes (Episode No. 42 ), Dania Abbasi (Episode No. 79).

This special edition of The Path & The Practice is dedicated to Mental Health Awareness Month. It features a conversation with Jen Patton (Chief Talent Officer), Leigh Riley (Partner, Employee Benefits), and Chris Ward (Partner, Labor & Employment) on attorney mental health and wellbeing. We share stories and experiences navigating difficulties in life, and highlight the many resources Foley & Lardner provides to support mental health and well-being. If you're tempted to skip this episode, please don't! This show is not just a list of programs but a candid discussion of the lows that lawyers may face throughout their career and the tools that can help us navigate. Ultimately, this show is about the importance of making space for your own humanity, using formal resources, and leaning on community when times are tough. To learn more about Jen, Leigh, and Chris you can listen to them on their respective episodes of The Path & The Practice: Jen Patton is episode no. 39, Leigh Riley is episode no. 52, Chris Ward is episode no. 25.

In this episode, we welcome our new co-host Morgan Tapp! Morgan recently moderated a discussion on the impact of President Biden's Initiatives on Government Construction Contracting with the American Bar Association Federal Procurement Institute. Morgan leads us through topics discussed such as the Labor Employment Initiative, COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates and the CMMC 2.0 Infrastructure Bill and the impacts on contracting and small businesses. Don't miss this episode! 

Today I am happy to have Ron Walter (EntreCourier.com), back on the show.  We are going to discuss a Colorado ruling that could have a major effect on the Gig Economy. .:: TOPICS COVERED ::. 00:00:00 Introduction. 00:01:15 How this Doordash situation started. 00:04:00 Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE) Ruling. 00:06:45 The “ABC” Test. 00:12:30 “We are NOT a food delivery company” -Doordash. 00:17:30 Notifying “Dashers” they are not taking enough orders. 00:23:00 Doordash had no response to questions regarding “Acceptance Rate”. 00:29:30 Why didn't DoorDash just pay the $227? 00:35:00 3rd party insurance. 00:40:00 Will this impact the gig economy? 00:50:00 Why do people think these gig companies could/would handle W2 employees? 00:54:00 What is to stop Colorado Doordash Dashers from doing this? 01:00:00 Comparison to California AB5. 01:05:00 Concerns on the National level. 01:10:00 Kim Kavin the I.C. rock star. 01:14:00 How could this effect “unemployment”? 01:20:00 Outro. .:: Links ::. Colorado Independent Drivers United: https://cidu-cwa7777.org/news/cidu-newsletter-no-4/ Colorado Department Of Labor Standards & Statistics Wage & Hour Citation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nrugPZAZU2soYh-nSxAUzumHYxTlSjW9/view Colorado Department of Labor & Employment: https://cdle.colorado.gov/decisions-appeals-resources-faqs DoorDash Class Action Lawsuit (specific to Massachusetts and Illinois law): https://www.classlawgroup.com/employment/doordash-driver-class-action-lawsuit/ .:: BECOME A PATREON MEMBER AND HELP SUPPORT OUR CREATIVE CONTENT ::. https://www.patreon.com/RideshareRodeo .:: Sponsored by Middleton Tech ::. https://middletontech.com/our-app.html  

On this episode of Manager Minute, we are delighted to discuss Colorado's Employment First initiative. On the panel, we have: Patricia Henke, Colorado Office of Employment First (COEF) Director Meghan Greene, CIE Manager, CO VR Katie Taliercio, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF); Colorado's State Medicaid Agency Katie Oliver, Colorado Department of Education Cheryl Carver, Colorado VR They are involved with a very innovative and successful collaboration in Colorado pertaining to their Employment First initiative.  We believe it's an outstanding model illustrating how multiple agencies can effectively partner in an Employment First initiative to serve their consumers better. We have the pleasure today to understand how this is working in Colorado, so you may be able to move in a similar direction.   Here are some useful links discussed in the podcast: Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Colorado Colorado Office of Employment First Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance Colorado Sequence of Services for Students and Youth with Disabilities   Listen Here   You can find out more about VRTAC-QM on the web at: https://www.vrtac-qm.org/   Please stay up to date by following VRTAC-QM on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @VRTAC_QM   About VRTAC-QM Partnering with State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies (SVRAs) to enhance service delivery and maximize outcomes through quality program and resource management. The purpose of the VRTAC-QM is to provide training and technical assistance that will enable State VR agency personnel to manage available resources, improve effective service delivery, and increase the number and quality of employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. The VRTAC-QM provides TA and training in VR program and performance quality management, fiscal and resource quality management of the VR program, and general quality management of organizations. You can request technical assistance from the VRTAC-QM by contacting your TA Liaison directly, contacting any member of the Center you wish, or by filling out the information on our main website and clicking on submit. While on the main website, join our mailing list to receive updates on training and new activities occurring within the Center.     Full Transcript   Leveraging Employment First initiatives to improve consumer services across agencies in Colorado.   {Music} Speaker1: Manager Minute brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management. Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, we're delighted to have a whole crew from Colorado with us this morning in the studio. We have Patricia Henke Colorado Office of Employment First. Meghan Greene with Colorado VR. Cheryl Carver also with Colorado VR. Katie Taliercio, CEO with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. And Katie Oliver, Colorado Department of Education. So welcome to you all. I appreciate you being in the studio today. These fine ladies are involved with a very innovative and successful collaboration in Colorado pertaining to their Employment First initiative. We believe it's an outstanding model, illustrating how multiple agencies can effectively partner with their Employment First initiative to better serve their customers. We have the pleasure today to understand how this is working in Colorado. So you may be able to move in a similar direction. So let's get a little background on Employment First. Employment First is really a framework for systems change that is centered on the premise that all citizens, including individuals with significant disabilities, are capable of full participation in integrated employment and community life. This national effort, formerly originated from the Office of Disability Employment Policy, when on August 8th 2018, they hosted 15 federal offices, including representatives from the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Justice, the National Council on Disability, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration to learn about and discuss the newly launched Employment for State Leadership Mentoring Program. Today, many states, such as Colorado, have adopted Employment First initiatives through formal state legislation and dedicated state funding appropriations in an effort to establish this framework so this objective can be met. So let's dig in. Meghan, I'm going to have you start us off with a little background about why the importance of partnering is so critical and a little more about your state Employment First legislation and the state's competitive integrated employment focus.   Meghan: Thanks, Carol. Yeah. So as you can see from all the different Colorado partners here, we love partnering together and it yields really great results for our state. Kind of, along with the background that you just gave in Colorado, priority is really that competitive integrated employment for all working age persons with disabilities. All people are capable of full participation, employment and community life. With the WIO definition of CIA as a shared goal and a shared vision of the supportive employment process across all of the Colorado State systems, with an emphasis on the use of those evidence based practices like customized employment or individual placement and support or benefits counseling to support that competitive integrated employment for the people that we serve in Colorado. This is really shown in the work that we all do that has been completed utilizing a state level systems framework and by aligning employment related policies, service delivery practices and service funding structures between our state agencies. Some of the examples of this alignment and collaboration is in. 2016 Senate Bill 16-77 was passed, which effectively prioritized Employment First in Colorado and required state agencies to convene and develop the Employment First Advisory Partnership between the Department of Education, Department of Human Services, Department of Labor Employment, which is where DVR sets and our state Medicaid agency, health care policy and financing in 2017. This Employment First Advisory Partnership was fully established and in 2018 the Employment First Advisory Partnership developed and publish some strategic recommendations for all of our state agencies and partners to work on and support Employment First in our state. And this also supported our Senate Bill 18 one four five, which was a passing into law which effectively created requirements for training and supported employment providers standards. So really a great outcome and support across our agencies for the people we serve. Of all of us coming together to move those services and support for employment for so long. And in 2019, Colorado State Legislature approved a budget appropriation which effectively developed our Colorado Office of Employment First, and you'll hear later from Patricia Henke and more about that. She is the director of our Colorado Office of Employment First, and it utilized our State Council Cash Funds and DVR match to support these efforts. Federal funds are prioritized for training and our certification of support and employment service providers, and any remaining funds are utilized to provide vocational rehabilitation services to eligible individuals with the most significant disabilities. So all of these partnerships coming together to really support Employment First across Colorado and leveraging different funding sources and different initiatives together, we've had several different examples of what this yielded and one of them was. For employment, first, full time employees within the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation that focused on evidence based practices for supporting people with most significant disabilities with their employment and career goals, this legislation and these efforts supported two positions within our Medicaid agency to start a pilot for performance based services, and we'll hear more about that from Katie Taliercio hear later. We also again have established the Colorado Office of Employment First to support employment efforts in our state, so lots of wonderful things happening from all this partnership and work together.   This also establishes and supports the focus of competitive and integrated employment and shows really the passion and collaboration and partnership among all of us around the value of Employment First within our state and all the initiatives that we're working together on to support Employment First. One of the things that has been a real big focus for the division of Vocational Rehabilitation is that we've set a long term dream goal of increasing the prosperity gap for individuals with disabilities by 10 percent and 10 years, and this is a huge goal for us. And in order to really achieve this, it's imperative that we support all Coloradoans with achieving those goals. We really want to make sure we're supporting Employment First efforts and really engaging with all of our partners on these goals to make this happen. That Employment First advisory partnership that I mentioned earlier that was created through legislation, it continues to meet in perpetuity, actively working on these recommendations that they set forth a couple of years ago to support competitive integrated outcomes in our state for employment and always looking at new recommendations for Colorado and Colorado agencies to support the continued work. So that's kind of a big bird's eye view overview of kind of some of the work and legislation and collaboration that happens in Colorado to really support our shared priority of employment. First for all, Colorado.   Carol: Meghan, this is really exciting to hear. I had come from an Employment First state and we did not. We didn't have that same level of support. I think legislatively for all the things that you guys have been able to create here in Colorado, I think that's super exciting in the partnerships that you've been able to develop and to sustain and carry on. I think that's very cool. So, Patricia, we're going to swing to you. Can you tell us more about the Colorado Employment First initiative and what successes have you had to date and what's the partnership like with VR?   Patricia: Absolutely, Carol. And thank you so much for having Colorado on the podcast today, and thanks, Meghan, for that description of how Employment First initiatives have really evolved in our state. It is pretty amazing and impressive to hear it all over again of all of the amazing work that's been happening for so many years to move these initiatives forward. So as Meghan mentioned, the Colorado Office of Employment First was envisioned by the Employment First Advisory Partnership, and we are just a little over two years old now, so we're still pretty young in our operations and existent really proud about what has been accomplished thus far. And so our team actually is employed by the University Center of Excellence Developmental Disabilities, which is Colorado's, UCEDD and is housed at JFK Partners at Colorado University. I think that's a differentiation I wanted to make because a lot of folks in our state and nationally think that we're state employees and in fact, maybe employed by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. So I wanted to differentiate that it's a contractual relationship with VR and Colorado University and that we're all housed and employees of CU. It was really important, although we are housed at the UCEDD it was really important for the disability community and the Employment First Advisory Partnership that our work have across disability representation, and this was very eminent when the legislation was coming together in 2016. And so I want to communicate that that we are very much across disability organization and that we work on behalf of all individuals with various disabilities. And so our vision for the Colorado Office of Employment First is essentially to create a culture of inclusive, meaningful and competitive employment for all people. We are charged with changing perspectives on what it means to work, and we are working every day towards demystifying processes for families, for individuals with disabilities who are interested in employment. We are promoting barrier reducing policies and practices. We highlight and create awareness about options for support towards competitive integrated employment. We're continuously researching innovative strategies and technologies and ultimately helping employment providers and job seekers know about strategies that are going to lead to those competitive integrated employment outcomes. So we do this by really three bucket areas, which is our mission statement. And this is leading Colorado toward. Unemployment reaching all people with disabilities through one collaboration, which we're talking about today and why that is so important to systems innovation, we're continuously looking at kind of our existing systems and asking questions about what's working well and what can we work towards changing if needed and three training excellence and technical assistance. As Meghan mentioned, Senate Bill eighteen one forty five was key legislation that really move the needle on expectations around training and provider qualifications in our state to provide competitive integrated employment services. I'm going to transition to talking about some general successes of the Office of Employment. First, it was hard to choose whether there has been a lot of accomplishments over time and these accomplishments that have occurred in collaboration with everyone here on this call and other partners in our state. I want to mention that Colorado Office of Employment First does not do any of our work in silos that we model effective partnering and continue that movement forward to affect change and progress in our state. So I wanted to mention how the Colorado Office of Employment First has worked towards creating an employment for community in this state. When we got started in 2019, I was hired in November 2019. We had six months in our first year and although there was a pandemic that occurred three months into our start date, we were able to reach 3,000 people in 6 months through training, technical assistance webinars, other opportunities to start the conversation about employment. First, create that awareness and essentially try to move the needle and change mindsets in our state. In Year two, which was a full year, we doubled that number and reach 6,000 individuals and we continue to reach more and more people to engage in the conversation around Employment First and really create that employment for community and movement. So we're really proud of that. We do this in partnership with HCPF and the individuals here on the call today, as well as the advocacy community and families and job seekers and service provider organizations. Another area I wanted to mention, which I think really does illustrate the collaboration and partnership and what can occur when individuals come together towards a common goal and a shared vision. And this is really an emerging area for Colorado that we're really excited about, and we think it's really important. And what I'm speaking to is benefits counseling and disability benefits. One, as we know, many individuals are fearful of going to work, or it's not so much going to work, but are fearful around what's going to occur to their benefits or health care. And this can create a barrier to competitive integrated employment. And the Colorado Office of Employment First was charged specifically with bringing disability benefits one hundred one to Colorado. This was a key part of the budget appropriation that the disability community strongly advocated for. And so this was an 18 month long project, and it's just one example of how partners have come together towards the shared vision and commitment. Colorado has been unique from other states that have implemented disability benefits one on one and that we've had an in-house subject matter. Expert Melanie Hornibrook, who I have to mention on the Colorado Office of Employment First Team and through the Employment First Budget Appropriation, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation also had allocated staff person to work on behalf of benefits counseling, which provided the foundation to bring over 20 additional subject matter experts together to develop the content for Colorado's Disability Benefits 101. The core partnership with the Colorado Office of Employment First and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation has also supported creating awareness about benefits counseling and DV 101. To want to elevate this conversation even further or this movement around benefits counseling kind of under the umbrella of employment? First, as we acknowledge and recognize that we needed to increase capacity with having certified benefits counselors in our state. So we are partnering with DVR to provide the opportunity for nearly 50 individuals statewide that represent urban and rural communities to become certified and benefits counseling. We are partnering with Cornell to create two Colorado cohorts to support this effort, and the individuals that are interested in becoming certified benefits counselors is vast. We have educators, service providers, family members, independent contractors and many of them are already providers of DVR and health care policy and financing. The Colorado Office of Employment for us is also looking at. How to braid these services across education, DVR and Medicaid and other state organizations so that we can continue this practice of grading services, partnering and making it seamless for the customer, the job seeker, and we really see this as a key intervention and necessary service to continue to move the needle about knowing that employment is possible and that work can interact with your benefits and you can actually earn more money in doing so. And there are so many other ways I could talk about collaboration and partnership and that our other partners on the call are going to speak to. So with that, I'm going to just say thank you and we appreciate this opportunity, and I will now transition it back to you, Carol.   Carol: Well, thanks, Patricia. You really packed a lot into that into those few minutes. I loved that you brought up benefits counseling. We actually are going to feature that in our podcast next month with another state and some pretty interesting initiatives. So I was excited to hear what you folks are doing in that area as well. I also was struck when you talked about demystifying processes. We've been talking a lot about that without using those words. Exactly, but I liked how you said that and very excited about what you're doing. So now we're going to transition over to Meghan and Katie T to discuss the DVF partnership with the MOU and the roundtables and your sequencing of support and employment initiatives.   Meghan: Thanks, Carol. I'll kick us off and then Katie is going to jump in here in a minute. But DVR and our Colorado Medicaid agency, I would say a really long standing at this point partnership where we are actively working together for innovative ways to support Employment First and the people we serve, employment goals in Colorado and some of the things that have really helped. Aside from just us being good partners to each other with this is formal interagency agreements. So our interagency agreement is a really great example of helping to foster that partnership and in it has some great information about mutually developing processes to capitalize on our partnership and to support the people we serve. We've designated supported employment leads that really interact and ensure that we're actively meeting and developing processes together ongoing. Our interagency agreement really also outlines that we develop and update our statewide best practices together in partnership and maximize seamless service delivery to individuals with services. We provide training and guidance jointly. You had mentioned Carol, our roundtables, so in our interagency agreement, it states that we will every year go out and provide some roundtables to our providers, our community center boards, our DVR local offices to support the active practices and best practices of supported employment in reaching competitive integrated employment. We just completed some roundtables this last year with our local DVR offices and are jointly talking and having frank conversations about best practices and how to really partner together. Katie Taliercio, who will talk here in a second and DVRs Darby Brumley. We're really integral in making those happen and having really great conversations and training together and doing that in partnership really models that partnership that needs to happen at the local level. I also really talks about how we can support people who have been within subminimum wage and how to help them reach those employment goals and get to competitive integrated employment and provide information and resources about career pathways and is really committed to doing that and agree to work collaboratively with all of our partners across the board, as well as share pertinent training opportunities and really making sure that it's outlining those partnerships that really make the sequencing of services that we're known for in Colorado, that Katie is going to talk about here in a second, as well as our partnership opportunities happen so that AIA is a really good foundational document and then our just general partnership and the importance that we both as agencies place on our partnership and actively meet and support that it has been really integral to furthering competitive integrated employment in Colorado and modeling the partnerships that happen across the state. I will kick it over to Katie to really talk about those specific logistics and partnership outcomes that have happened.   Katie Taliercio: Thanks for having me be a part of this podcast. And of course, as you hear people talk, you think of a million more things you want to maybe touch on. So I will try to be brief and try not to duplicate what's already been talked about. One of the more exciting pieces that's just come to my mind as I hear people talk. And another outcome for this partnership and collaboration, I think across the board is that in 2021, Colorado passed Senate Bill two one 0three nine, then is the elimination of minimum wage in Colorado. Is very exciting for us. But while people are transitioning out of minimum wage, we also get to introduce some new services through the Medicaid waiver. And I think the reason that this passed is because of the collaboration and partnership with all the state partners. And I think it's coming from a federal level to. State level and then to all the people that are doing the work and all the people that are looking for jobs, it's kind of all coming together. But the neat thing about the new legislation is we were able to tackle some of the barriers that can happen within the Medicaid waivers for people to get competitive, integrated employment. And so we're increasing the amount of job development and job coaching people can receive, and we are introducing benefits counseling services into our waiver, which is very exciting. And another thing that we're pretty excited about is the Medicaid buy in, which is going to allow people who are in their developmental disabilities waiver and intellectual and developmental disabilities waiver utilize buy in. So people who are currently having to say no to raises or work more hours or things like that is all due to change coming up really quickly here in Colorado. And that I do feel like as a partnership, we've all come together to figure out what can Medicaid do to partner best with other services around Colorado that are available? Another aspect that's coming to mind a lot, and Patricia talked about this a little bit, but the braiding of services and the sequencing of services has really become a neat tool. And the more we talk about it, I think we've learned that the language we use is really important. Certain things that all the acronyms that Medicaid have is are different than the acronyms that vocational rehabilitation has. So how do we talk about that better? And I think maybe Katie might talk about that too. I think that's been one big lesson that we've been learning is how do we communicate with Medicaid case managers and counselors and others providing services? But also, how do we make sure that people looking for jobs are aware of what's available to them? And the better we do, the more people can be advocates for themselves and say, Hey, I want to do this, and here's what I know is available to me. I think we've been learning a lot about that. And then I just want to mention, too, that any thing that's happened, I think across with the milieu and setting up the roundtables together and doing a lot of collaborative work with all of the state partners and advocacy agencies and job seekers themselves has been that we've learned how to do this virtually, and I think that's really helped inform the work going forward and what Medicaid needs to do. And sometimes I joke around with some of my team internally that I've worked more with state partners and I have with my internal team. And I just think that really speaks to the level of how we're all putting these puzzles together. And when we come up against the barrier, we can pull together a bunch of people that say, OK, can I do this? Can Medicaid do that? How can we make it work together? And ideally so that we're providing enough services that it's seamless for the person receiving the services? So I hope that I tackled most of the things that we're excited about and some of the outcomes in Medicaid. And pass it back to you, Carol.   Carol: Thanks, Katie. It really strikes me as I'm listening to you all talk about what you've done. I mean, this has really been a journey, and it feels like that foundation that was built back in 2016, and you guys keep kind of brick by brick building more upon that foundation. So it's just taking you into such a great direction in such a broader, whiter, deeper collaboration. I think that is super cool. I did have one kind of follow up question. I was just wondering, I'm going to kick it to you, Meghan, just to ask, how did the pandemic affect the work you were doing? Because we know kind of put lots of states in a tailspin. I just wondered if you guys were able to pivot quickly using technology and stuff. I was thinking about the roundtables you were holding and all of that. Do you have any thoughts about how the pandemic impacted your work the last couple of years?   Meghan: Yeah, absolutely. That's a great question, Carol. So I would say it absolutely affected people's attitudes towards work and their comfort level towards work. It affected how we approached our work as state agencies and had some, I would say, pros and cons to how we pivoted, right? So like Katie mentioned, we kind of had to pivot virtually in that virtual world, and our roundtables in previous years were people driving around the state and meeting in person, which is always wonderful to me to take time. And you might not be able to reach as many people in person. Whereas one of the benefits of pivoting virtually, especially with that specific initiative or meeting with local CVS and DVR offices together, is we were able to really see increased attendance and rural areas really able to be a part of those conversations more than they had been previously. And I think that extended beyond just those roundtable events, but really also the services that we're able to provide. One of the examples that I use is benefits counseling and benefits planning across our state. People have been able to pivot to provide that service virtually as well, and maybe we can reach more people in rural areas now that that service can be provided in a virtual way. So that's just one very specific example that DVR and service providers were able to pivot. And so really leaning into that virtual world has been a challenge and that we're learning how to do that well and effectively, right? It's a new mode of completing services, but also has some positives in that we really are able to reach people that maybe we weren't able to reach before, but it also really highlights the need and importance of assistive technology and technology. In general and how we make the people we serve and job seekers comfortable with technology and learning that so they can truly access services in a more virtual world and support them with their job goals. So that's been a real focus and highlight for how do we make sure that people are comfortable with that and then it can open doors, right? So if we're really, truly supporting competitive integrated employment, it really opens some opportunities for people who may not have thought about some of the work goals or competitive integrated employment they could do before that. Now they could in a more virtual world and may have more virtual options for employment as well. So it's been very interesting road that I think has opened lots of different opportunities and mindsets and brainstorming for new innovative ways to do services in that virtual world.   Carol: It's a little bit of a silver lining out of all of that kind of craziness of the last couple of years. I love that you said that really kind of that comfortability of the individuals and using technology in that focus and really opening new doors. So I think that is wonderful. So now we're going to pivot a little bit and talk to Sheryl and Katie O about the education partnership with DVR. And I understand that you have an MOU and you do some joint training and there's something called the sequencing services tool and you have a whole sequencing of services development process. So do tell me more.   Cheryl: Thank you, Carol, and you're absolutely right things that we are so excited about, and it is so nice to see them actually coming to fruition now. Since we've been working on the sequencing of services for the past three years now, I think it is to actually have an outcome and Katie O is going to speak to that a little bit greater in detail. I want to talk more about how DVR and our Colorado Department of Education partner as a whole, similar to the interagency agreement that Meghan and Katie spoke about between DDR and health care policy and finance. Colorado has an interagency agreement, but also a cooperative services agreement between CTE and DVR, both of which have been in place and grown and expanded and shifted over the last 30 years. Our interagency agreement at the state level allows DVR and CDC to model our expectations at the local level when collaborating to provide services to transitioning youth, which is something we have upheld as being key to being successful in those partnerships. The interagency agreement itself helps to ensure that CTE and DVR are collaborating for all activities related to transitioning youth to provide technical assistance, support training, even program review to our local education agencies and our district DVR partners, as well as some of our external partners when we can pull them into those activities. The technical assistance, support and training, as well as the program review, also apply to any and all of our school to work initiatives such as Colorado School to Work Alliance program that supports district transition goals through the provision of pre-employment transition services and VOC Rehab Services. Our project search sites, which is a transition program for high school students with more significant needs, as well as our pipeline project, which is promoting career technical education to students with disabilities so that they can begin to see that as a viable career pathway. And currently we have an enhanced services pilot going on with our school districts, which focuses on using the discovery process to develop customized work based learning experiences and will buy next school year offer benefits counseling, which Patricia mentioned earlier. Our interagency agreement has been the precipice for pilots new initiatives, the development of tools and cross system trainings not only between DVR and CDE, but also other partners across the state. Our federally mandated agreement, which here in Colorado is the Cooperative Services Agreement, gets a little bit more into details, right? It talks about our roles and responsibilities of each of our systems. It gets into discussing the financial responsibilities of each agency. It includes a dispute resolution process, talks about how education and VR should be collaborating in the provision of services, how we will work together on the transfer or sale of assistive technology from education to VOC rehab when it's appropriate, and it covers the policies of each system that affect transition, our cooperative services agreement is the model that we have used in the past to develop a template for local working agreements. Those local working agreement templates are currently being recreated, and that is all thanks to the push of sequencing of services. But it will specifically define the transition responsibilities between education and VR partnerships in order to minimize duplication, ensure access to services for youth and support ongoing and effective working relationships. Again, all of this aligns so perfectly with our Sequencing of Services project and our drive to create useful tools for more efficient grading of services with the appropriate providers at the right time for students to improve outcomes, raising those expectations in employment for those students. And the key piece to this, of course, it requires increasing agency coordination and collaboration with an understanding of one another systems. So since I've mentioned it frequently and everybody else has alluded to it, PTO is going to kick us off talking about the process of how we got to sequencing of services and do an overview of that tool.   Katie Oliver: thank you, Sheryl. Just really exciting to be here to talk about the work that's been doing, and I know that Colorado has always been proud of their relationship in, particularly with VOC Rehab, but we've also had a very strong relationship with other state agencies, hence a lot of our presence here today. So we've really embraced our relationships. We cross-train, we kind of talk to each other systems. We've learned so many things over the years due to our partnership and those interagency agreements, whether they're actually formalized on paper or that we've just been together for so long trying to figure out our common missions and visions and having those conversations and building those relationships with other state agencies. It's just been a real pleasure and it's been a lot of fun over the years. We have obviously identified lots of gaps as most states do as well. We want to make sure that we're increasing our outcomes for students with disabilities, ultimately getting them employed and self-sufficient and involved in their communities. And so we know that that has been such a forefront for our partnership over the years. And we've talked about this. We've had different models. We've had different partners at the table for years before and we really had kind of a transition continuum. And so we were still missing the boat somewhere. So we sat down had some conversations back in 2019, and particularly it started a little bit more with the folk rehab and the Department of Education. And we said, OK, for some reason, no matter how much our best laid plans and transition planning, we're still not getting the outcomes we want for our students with disabilities. We're still missing them. So how do we make these connections? We're trying to have that smooth transition process handing the baton to the next system, whether that's other adult services, whether it's post-secondary education or employment. We're still dropping the baton somewhere. We're all speaking different languages. We're not coordinating, we're not braiding and blending funds. Let's start talking about this and let's really beef this up so that we can have more of a presence and more consistency across our systems so that our family and ultimately the youth are knowing what's happening next and really emphasizing and enhancing that coordination and that planning for those students. So back in 2019, prior to the pandemic, we came together and started talking about how we would like to proceed with some sequencing of services. So we created a Colorado transition team or partners for students with disabilities. We have representatives, obviously here today from VOC Rehab from Colorado Office of Employment. First, we had the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing Department of Higher ED, our Office of Behavioral Health. We had career tech ED and community college representatives. We had council representatives from the council, the Developmental Disability Council of Colorado. We've had parents from our peak parent center. We've also had some transition coordinators as well be involved with this work. So we pulled together and started kind of brainstorming about how can we create a shared vision? How can we create consistent language and ultimately help our families and students navigate the world outside of K-12? And so we created a shared state vision, which I think is something really important to share. You know, for years, we've been saying all means all. And so in Colorado, we've adopted that at our department and other departments. But you know, we are still missing very key people and that we're missing those students that we're really not capturing every student. So we changed our shared state vision to represent a little bit more of. Individual presents, so we say each and every student, regardless of their disability, has a right to transition to the adult life that includes, of course, partners at this table. Education, employment, independent living. We want full community participation and the right to make decisions in and about their own lives. So we also know when we recognized why we were creating this work that we needed to start partnering at younger ages, not just in high school. We want to start trading down to the middle school level. We know that there are students that drop or lose engagement around eighth to ninth grade transition. And so we want to keep those engagement efforts happening and keeping those students eye on the prize of that ultimate goal of employment someday and being successful. We know that we needed to create high expectations and create that self-determination for those students. Cheryl mentioned increasing that agency coordination collaboration. Absolutely. We have so many different members and state members at the team, and then we have one hundred and seventy eight school districts out there in Colorado with other partners and their local community. And so how do we infiltrate some of the state level work into the local so that we can create that coordination and having those really rich discussions and focusing on that individual students so that student level planning and of course, creating consistent messaging. So with the assistance of Jennifer Stewart and the Colorado Office of Employment, first, we were able to create kind of a framework and pull these two partners together, as well as partners from our national technical assistance that are on transition, Ruth Allison and Jackie Hiatt. They have been very instrumental in helping us facilitate this process and kind of put it to paper and make sure that all of our voices are heard and that we're moving forward. Hearing what other states are doing, too has been really a cool experience, but we created a framework and so we created six course student outcomes that we all, as state level department partners agreed upon and how that looks. So we have. Building self-determination and leadership skills was a certain outcome that we thought was really important to achieve postsecondary success, build skills, to safely navigate community and access the services, understand post-secondary options, develop competence and computer and digital literacy, having that expectation of competitive employment and understanding disability and health management. And we have a beautiful logo that kind of pulls it all together on our website, which is open to anybody to check it out. It is WWW.CDE.state.CO.US/SequencingOfServices, or you can Google and you can put Colorado sequencing of services and it should get you where you need to. I know that's quite lengthy, but again, that's WWW.CDE.state.CO.US/SequencingOfServices. You will be able to see that framework. The core outcomes from that framework. We actually created ages that these activities should be happening. We talked about who is responsible, having those conversations that we agreed upon at the state level. So what is DBRS role? What is the school's role? What is ticpods health care policy and financing role or the local community center board? And having those conversations and breaking them down into examples of those skills that we would like to see or be attained by the students? What are the parents responsibilities? And having that coordinated conversation that really could help drive that IEP planning process. So that's been really good. So I even lean to my other partners if there's anything else that they would like to add from a partner perspective about this tool before I kind of talk about our next steps and what we've been doing with our pilot. Anybody else have anything else to jump in at?   Cheryl: Not yet, Katie. You're doing great.   Katie Oliver: Perfect. All right. I just wanted to be inclusive because it's their work too. So from there, currently we have the state template. We have a local template. We have currently for pilots here in Colorado that are pilot the piloting this work intensively with our partners, Mesa School District on the western side of Colorado, we have our Denver, our largest school districts. We have Weld County, which is a more rural community up north. And then we have another rural community down on the south side of Colorado Pueblo. And so we've been really focusing on building those internal and external champions at the local level. So we have some people who have identified these goals and particularly most of these pilots started with education personnel wanting to create more interagency collaboration. And so we took these champions who are very excited, have personal goals about it for their district and for their families and their students, and we started discussing roles and responsibility. What are the roles in the community? What other community providers are in your community that we want to bring to the table and have conversation so that we're creating this template, this kind of map or tool that can help these discussions with community members. So despite turnover, you know, oftentimes there's been so much turnover, whether it's in special education or other state agencies is there has been so much turnover, but information does get lost or it's inconsistent. And so that was another focus of our area was we let's get this in writing in our community and put our templates in so that if Joe Smith wins the Powerball next week that we're going to have the same information and the person that's replacing them will have this the same information and understand the partnership so that we can make sure that's consistent, which has been a big hiccup with several different local players as we're a local control state. And so we've we started that. So right now we have the four pilots. That's where the intense work is being done. However, we as a state team want to continue the vision of creating interagency teams around the state of Colorado and other communities that it may not be as intense that we're doing right now. However, we want to continue to build those conversations, making sure the right people are at the table. We do have some sites already, some areas in our communities that already have established interagency teams. So how can we make sure that they have the right tools to make sure that their partners stay at the table, also not just show up to the table, but stay at the table? So that was really the intention is that our families are getting the information or they're able to share that information or be present to share that information for families and students getting ready to go on to whatever system or how do we overlap and so that there is no baton dropping in the future? So that has been a lot of exciting work, and we're currently working on an individual template for a student to work through or maybe an individualized education program at an IEP meeting. They could talk about it and really drive the planning process so that elements of the academics or the school is infiltrated into those conversations so that the course of study is being aligned. The goals are being aligned with what their goals are. And it's been really a lot of great work. We have one pilot ready to do a student level one, and I think once that student level show is filled out that template, then I think everybody is going to really start to see how that connection and planning from all the partners of the table were responsible for the success of that student. So that's what we're really excited about here in Colorado is that all that work that's been done?   Carol: Well, thanks Katie and Meghan. All right, Katie and Cheryl, I should say sorry. And Meghan and Patricia, everybody and the other Katie. But I can tell I get that great sense from you. Each talking, everyone's super excited. You bring a lot of energy to this topic, and I appreciate you sharing that website. I was writing down notes if you all would see my page, I have just dozens of notes about things that you've spoken about and I know others are going to be interested in. I know our listeners are probably going to want to reach out at some point to different folks that are on our panel today to talk about this. But I am going to turn it to Meghan to give us the last words and really to kind of tie a bow on it for our listeners out there. What advice would you give your VR colleagues and how to make this really work in their state because you all didn't just do this overnight? It's very evident the long journey you've been on. But for those folks that are just starting out, what advice would you like to give them? And Meghan, that's to you.   Meghan: Thanks, Carol. My advice, as you can see, is really leaning into the value of the partnerships and the value of the ideas and wonderful work that happen across your state and really trying to build those partnerships and relationships with advocates in your state, state agency partners, the people you serve and really try to bring everyone together and having everyone at the table and those partnerships and relationships be a part of the solution and working towards the solution. As you mentioned, Carol brings a level of energy, a level of excitement and having everyone be a part of that solution to support people with their employment goals really kind of kicks things off and gets those next steps. And what that could look like for your state could be very different or individualized, depending upon those conversations, those rich conversations that happen when everyone's at the table. So really just setting the table and making sure that people are there and then talking about how to keep people there and building that and spending the time on those relationships and partnerships and publicly doing that together really can lead to those coordinated legislative updates, coordinated initiatives between state agencies and coordinated services at a local level for the people that we serve. And just I'm leaning into that. The importance of those partnerships really leads the way.   Carol: So, Meghan, if somebody wants to reach out, what would you suggest? What's the best way for someone to contact or is there a website they should go to or what do you think?   Meghan: We have several different websites and I think they all kind of link together, which again shows that public partnership between all of us. But I think anyone on this call would be happy to receive a reaching out and support. But our information I know Sheryl and I as information is listed on our Colorado DVR website and we can always give you our email contact information, Carol. For people to have that, I know CD's website has lots of. Great information, and Katie mentioned the sequencing of service tool, and I know they have a sequencing of service email, you can email for any specific information related to that. And the Colorado Office of Employment First, as Patricia talked about, has a wonderful website and has lots of great rich information in the email that you can do there. And so we'd be happy to share all those websites and email information as well for you to have along with the podcast.   Carol: Thank you. I really appreciate that you all have been so generous in sharing aspects of this model with us in the past, which we've also greatly appreciated. And I really hope today's conversation helps the VR community think more proactively about how the various employment and first initiatives can be leveraged to achieve to improve partnerships, improve outcomes for our common consumers across our agencies. So thank you all for joining this very important discussion to help us empower one manager at a time, one minute at a time. And I wish you just continued success and all you do. Thanks a lot.   {Music} Speaker1: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time, one minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC for Quality Management. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening!

Conrad Gibbins is a Managing Director of Jefferies, LLC in the Energy Investment Banking Group. Conrad has 12 years of investment banking experience advising primarily upstream oil and gas companies on M&A and financing transactions. Conrad has advised on over $40 Bn in upstream oil and gas M&A transactions and $15 Bn in financings and he has worked on many significant transactions in the upstream oil and gas industry including more than 10 M&A transactions with values over $1 Bn.  On this episode, Chris and Conrad discuss the world's reliance on fossil fuels, today and into the future and the current M&A and deal market in fossil fuels. They look into ESG and alternative energy opportunities. Conrad discusses how Russia / Ukraine is impacting the current environment and how the narrative around fossil fuels has changed since he started in 2009. Enjoy!    Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris  Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/  Subscribe to The Fort on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJ32shRt8Od3MxMY-keTSQ Follow The Fort on Instagram: www.Instagram.com/TheFortPodcast (02:17) - How has the Oil industry changed over the past 12 years? (8:18) - Why is capital fleeing the industry over the past several years? (14:50) - How undercapitalized is the industry right now? (19:27) - How much of the world is still in the process of getting onto fossil fuels and how much of the world is actually consuming 100 million barrels per day? (22:36) - M&A Activity in Oil and Gas Over the Past Year (26:52) - Is there positive momentum that capital is flowing back into the space? (31:21) - Thoughts on ESG (32:07) - Labor & Employment in Oilfield Services (33:54) - Is the money that's redirected away from Oil and Gas and into renewables been worth it? (38:07) - Is there any bear case in the short term? (40:06) - Is there any technology you're seeing that could disrupt oil usage? (42:18) - How is the Russia/Ukraine conflict impacting the world from an energy perspective? (45:04) - How much does the world depend on Russia for oil? (46:22) - Who's the largest consumer of oil? (46:48) - Thoughts on Nuclear (50:39) - Are there any basins coming back online that have been hibernating? (57:20) - Crypto in the Energy World (59:33) - Conrad's experience working with Aubrey McClendon (1:01:59) - Final Thoughts The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts

All too often questions and disputes regarding access for persons with disabilities are not settled until they wind up in a courtroom. Some of the best lawyers who address these issues have disabilities themselves and thus bring a strong personal commitment to the debate.   Meet David Shaffer, a blind civil rights lawyer who will tell us about his own commitment to the law and to the rights of persons with disabilities. As you will hear, David did not start out litigating civil rights cases and he didn't even begin his life as a blind person. He has a fascinating journey we all get to experience. From his beginning as a Stanford law student through his work today on internet accessibility and inclusion David Shaffer's story will help us all see more clearly how we all can work harder to include nearly %25 of persons with disabilities in the mainstream of society. Some directories do not show full show notes. For the complete transcription please visit https://michaelhingson.com/podcast About the Guest: David Shaffer is a blind attorney with  over 35 years of legal practice experience in the Metro area of Washington DC. He currently specializes in ADA Consulting for tech companies using his  previous work as a Section 508 coordinator and lead counsel in defending the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in a class action under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act. David says “my goal is to ensure the world wide web is accessible to anyone and everyone as I am legally blind, hard of hearing and have learned to understand the extreme necessity of this issue for all persons with disabilities”.   In 2006 David began losing his eyesight due to Glaucoma. As is so often the case, his ophthalmologist did not confront his increasing loss of sight. As David described it, “it was after I totaled two cars in 2009 that I finally recognized that I was blind”. He received blindness orientation and training through the Virginia Department of Rehabilitation and the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind in Washington DC.   In addition to his work on internet access cases, David specializes in civil rights cases for women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities, and have represented hundreds of women and minorities in nation-wide class actions against federal law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, DEA, ICE, and the Secret Service. He also represents individuals with disabilities in seeking accessible accommodations in the workplace and represents them in employment litigation. About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:22 Hi, welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. And today we have I think, a person who's pretty unstoppable, at least I tend to think so he he can make his own comments and judgment about that. But I'd like you all to meet David Shaffer. David is a blind civil rights attorney has lots of stories to tell I'm sure about all of that. And I think has a lot of interesting things that will inspire all of us, but also a lot of things to make us think David, welcome to Unstoppable Mindset.   David Shaffer  01:57 Welcome, thanks for the great introduction. I'm happy to be on here I look forward to discussing issues involving accessibility and adjustment to blindness.   Michael Hingson  02:11 Well, let's see what we can what we can do. So you, um, you are not blind when you first were growing up, as I understand.   David Shaffer  02:22 That's right. I always had horrible vision and was tremendously nearsighted. But until I got to about in my late 40s, it was I could still get by with glasses or hard contact lenses. And that was about the time that I acquired a guy comma. And the comma went undiagnosed for about a year due to some idiosyncrasies in my eye, which misread eye pressure on a standard test. And so by the time I went to a specialist figured out that I had glaucoma, even though the pressure test didn't show it, I was I was gone, I was legally blind my visions about 2800 But it's the closest they can measure it. But I still see some I can see shapes and things and it depends a lot on light and in various issues. But I'm pretty much reliant upon my cane and, and my technology these days to practice law.   Michael Hingson  03:42 So you sort of had to go through an adjustment process, obviously about becoming blind and being blind and acknowledging that how did all that go? What kind of training did you have? Or when did you decide that you really didn't see like you used to see?   David Shaffer  03:58 A, I realized that after I totaled two cars, that kind of was the wake up solution for me. It started off with night, severe night blindness. And so they tried to accommodate me by letting me go home at three in the winter, going home before dark, while I can still drive but quickly ended up at a point where I couldn't see the drive I couldn't see across the street. That was a tough adjustment because I was in the middle of practicing law at the time. I was a general counsel at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Just finished up huge ADA class action, kind of reforming the agency's paratransit system. And then I started realizing that I couldn't see my notes anymore that I couldn't see Oh, The face of witnesses on the witness stand. And suddenly, litigation, which was my primary focus became extremely difficult, if not impossible. It was it was very difficult because my employer had no idea how to adjust to somebody who was blind, until there's only one other blind person or organization. And she had a totally different role. So it was a mismatched series of attempts to accommodate me, that pretty much all failed, just try it. It started out with magnifiers and ZoomText and all that. But it finally became evident that I needed to learn to use the screen readers properly, and not try to just magnify things 20 times and get by. That was that was very challenging, because I was trying to keep up the practice a lot at the same time, while no longer be able to see what I was doing. Fortunately, I finally, through Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, got hooked up with the Virginia's rehab agency. And they gave me initial, you know, training jaws and things like that on them. basic survival. But the problem is that these state agencies are so low on funding that I was expected to practice law with a total of six hours of God's training. And that's all that they would allocate to me. Obviously, that was not adequate. To become proficient enough to practice law, I can barely read a website or a document. So I just had to go out and get my own training and pay for it myself. And I still do to this day, due to lack of resources that Virginia had. I understand it's much better in Maryland, where I live now. But now that I've taught myself and paid for my own lessons, and I'm pretty advanced jobs user and, and, and Diane Tasker. So what happened next was I began a campaign at at Metro to make technology accessible was once I learned to use JAWS, I realized I couldn't use their website, because the public website wasn't accessible. I couldn't look up things for people on the phone. I couldn't use our internet at all. I couldn't even do my own timesheets anymore, because none of that was accessible. And that was a big problem. Because we'd struggled over that organization organization's initial reaction was, we're not covered by 508. Because we're not part of the federal government, despite the fact that we're a federal contractor, and therefore required to comply with 508. Anyway. So after four years of fighting, and complaining, I finally got them to adopt an accessibility policy. They made me the section 508 officer. And then again, I taught myself accessibility, I taught myself web accessibility through DQ University online, enough so that I could start guiding the, the team that that made up the website on how to make it accessible. So that was kind of how this all developed, that I went from zero competence to now being a fairly recognized   David Shaffer  08:57 web caster and user of this technology.   Michael Hingson  09:02 Let's go back a little bit. So you, you have been in law all your life. What What got you into that? Why did you decide to choose law in the first place? Because obviously, you didn't have some of the same causes that you do now like blindness and accessibility and so on.   David Shaffer  09:21 Well, I grew up in a town of 1000 people, or Ohio. My stepfather was a lawyer. He'd been a former state senator and Majority Leader of the Ohio Senate. So he was of course the only lawyer in town and the only way or pro for a while around nearby, but I saw how he helped people from anything from a divorce to a car accident DWI to a criminal offense to any sort of state funding. I mean, he did everything And, you know, clients are constantly coming to our house in the evening and not just to his office, and it was just like part of our life was what we do we help people with legal problems. I remember I was so curious about the law that we get a decent Law Library in my house. And so if I would ask him a legal question, at 12 years old, he'd make me go into his office and look it up in American jurisprudence, or how jurisprudence, bring him back the answer, and then we discuss it. So I was doing legal research from 12 years old, onward. And I, I guess, I just got hooked up with a plus the political angle I would, because we were all very active in politics. And my stepfather ran campaigns for the Democratic Congress, in our district and things like that. So politics law was kind of in my blood from from very early on.   Michael Hingson  11:06 Well, clearly, you had a good teacher, because he made you go do the research and the work. And of course, there's nothing like discovering things for yourself. But you've had other you've had other good teachers, haven't you?   David Shaffer  11:18 I have, I would, you know, at law school at Stanford, I had a interesting teacher, former Justice Scalia, for common law. That was a fascinating experience and frustrating, but boy did I learn his side of the law, and his points of view and, and his philosophy. And the rest of that I have read the camera itself, I learned on my own, but we had to listen to his philosophies quite a bit. But he was a very good teacher. And then after I graduated from Stanford, I was lucky enough to work for an incredible woman on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals at Carter appointee, who was also tremendously liberal and, and taught me more in that year than I'd learned in three years of law school. And so throughout, I guess, my career, I've been lucky to have mentors. After the clerkship, I went to Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher in California, a large law firm and had a litigation partner they are kind of take me under his wing and, and, you know, let me go out and my first week, I was in court, of course week on the job. And, you know, there was that gets it throughout your life, you've got to take advantage of mentors and people that really are looking out for you and then to them learn from. It's really the most valuable way to learn than trying to do everything on your own. As I learned when I lost my budget, it would have been really nice to have a lot of training fast rather than having to take a year to get up to speed on the technology.   Michael Hingson  13:18 Yeah, I mean, we we all have to take things as they come. I remember in my involvement with the law, from a legal standpoint, comes from the other side being a consumer. And I had a situation that happened, I think, in 1981, it was 80 or 81. I think it was 81. But I was denied access to an aircraft with my guide dog. And they actually, they they insisted that I had to sit in the front seat, even though the airlines policy did require that. But we went to court with it. And eventually it was appealed and it went to the ninth circuit. We had a judge in LA Francis Whalen. I don't know whether you ever encountered him here. He was pretty old. cielo or her but that's that was my closest experience to dealing with the with the appellate court directly. I've been involved in seeing other appellate cases. But it's it's it was it was interesting.   David Shaffer  14:24 How'd it come out?   Michael Hingson  14:27 The case was settled. It actually had to go back for a second trial because Francis Whalen was on the ninth, actually not the appellate court. He was in the Ninth Circuit. But when it went to appellate court the he didn't like it but the the appellate court found that he had erred and went back for a second trial and we ended up settling it which is unfortunate because it it was certainly a case that could have been a little bit more of a landmark than it was but you It was interesting. One of the things that happened at the beginning of the the case was that when the ruling went when when motions were being heard at the beginning, one of the motions that the airlines lawyer put out was, well, yeah, it's our policy that people don't have to sit in the front row with their guide dog. But that's just our policy. And so it shouldn't be allowed in as evidence and the judge allowed them, which was horrible. But you know, we all face, face those kinds of things. But Judge Whalen did what he did, and then it went to appellate court, and it and it did get settled. And, of course, overtime, the law change, there's a growth time for all of us. The Air Carrier Access Act was passed in 1986. And it needs to be strengthened. And then of course, in 1991, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, which you have, obviously, as a lawyer now, a lot of involvement with when when you were going through training, well, let me put it this way, when you were becoming blind and discovering you were blind, how did all of that affect you in terms of your practice of law, and your view about what you were going to do with the law and how you would do it?   David Shaffer  16:20 Well, it seriously affected my ability to practice law for about a year, it was a good time was was a government agency, because they couldn't get rid of me too easily with the disability. But after that, it really made me I mean, I'd done it, I've been doing ADEA law since before the ADEA, since I started practicing in California under the unrack. But it really hit home to me this whole feel of digital accessibility. I mean, of course, I knew about it. And, and, and, but I'd never had any cases on it in my entire practice. Until these days, so I, what I ended up doing was, first off, they switched me to internal advice from litigation. And the department, one of the departments that gave me was Ada, in addition to human resources, because I'd spent my previous 20 years as a Labor Employment lawyer, advising large corporations. So doing that, let me start trying to make some impact from within those organizations. So I get a DEA office and the human relations office to understand accessibility. And that was the first step was was an education, it really, it's something that had to go on person by person one at a time. Because just talking about it, never made an impression till I brought somebody in my office and showed them how I use JAWS, how a screen reader works, now, it doesn't work, when something's not accessible. In the minute you give them a visual and hearing example of how important it says to a blind person, you've converted them, okay? Obviously, we need to make this work for you. Because that's their obligation. But it's a person by person thing, then they take it back, and the other people don't understand it. So then they got to come down to my office and get shown, and, like, did a lot of internal training and advocacy, and force them to, you know, form the position of section 508 Officer, which by then was given all of my other jobs and make a commitment to accessibility. You know, company wide and to the public and within, and that was a long battle. But I did it from within, instead of without, probably would have been quicker if I just turned around and sued them. But lawyers generally don't like to sue on behalf of themselves. It's just not pleasant. So I worked from within and made changes, and left when I left that organization, their website was 95%, double A 2.1 compliant. And that was due to four years of work by me manually with the web department. I had three people there working for four years to fix a 15,000 page website manually. Of course, we use software level access at the time But it's all there is out there that are equally as good. But that just goes to show how difficult accessibility can be when you start from ground zero. And part of the thing that I'm into, as well as presenting people with disabilities, and advocating on behalf of people with disabilities and trying to make the ADEA stronger, and Congress, working with Congress and various issues,   David Shaffer  20:33 to educate them. And now I'm finding that as I talked to people in Congress and the staff members, again, it's just, it's an education thing, once you've shown them an example and explained how important accessibility is to 20% of their constituents who have disabilities, then it clicks, and then they're interesting. But it's really got to be a strong education effort by the blind community. And we just got to, we have to reach out and explain ourselves to others, and not feel embarrassed about being blind, but show them what we can do when we're bind, if we have the right technology. And I think, demonstrating on a daily basis that you can do the same job as anybody else can do with with as long as you got the right technology and an accessible source to read it from. You're just the same as anybody else. And and I think that's the education effort that the blind community really needs to work harder on. Because you got to change people's minds about this, and they can't view accessibility as simply an expense. That's mandated by law.   Michael Hingson  21:56 Do you think it's all about technology? Do you think that the technology Oh,   David Shaffer  22:00 it's not? I mean, it, obviously, I deal with more than just digital accessibility, you know, I was also responsible for the physical accessibility of the buses, trains and stations, and so forth. But it's an overall understanding of the concept of accessibility to the 20% of the population who has some sort of disability. And that's the hard part. To shine them, okay, well, they think, oh, there's only you know, three to 5% of the people that are blind, that need a screen reader. They're not that important to me, but about the other 15% with other disabilities, you know, almost 40% of which are cognitive. Those people are currently being left out of the world. They're being left out of jobs or being left out of information technology. And, you know, the studies show that people with IDD issues often make up the most best and loyal and valuable employees. Study after study has shown that if we simply know how to accommodate them, and that's not so easy as it is to fix a website to make it five a weight or with gag compliant. That is much more even more of an education effort. I would say the other project that I'm working on is also football people with disabilities and that we are working with a company called way map, UK company and a partnership with Verizon. And we're mapping the whole DC Metro and DC metropolitan area for the for the blind with step by step navigation. That process also has separate options for people using wheelchairs. And I was the major drafter of the US standards for this technology, as well as to 1.1 which is the standards for cognitive wayfinding which will be the next phase. So technology there is technology out there to help people with disabilities other than just blindness in its in its infancy. But some very good pilots have been done with FTA with whom I worked quite a bit Federal Transit Administration that we can make much more of the world accessible to people, not only who are blind but with other types of disabilities that make it difficult for them to navigate or to use technology.   Michael Hingson  24:47 So the the way we met was actually through as you know, accessiBe where does that fit into what is happening to make the whole internet And website access available.   David Shaffer  25:04 Well, what it's going to help do is guide people to accessible locations. If your website's accessible, then we can put you on to this app, and people can find you and not only find you, but read the menu in your restaurant. And so can tourist find you. So, by encouraging people, you know, by expanding this project, into convention centers into other places, museums galleries, where there's a ton of information, we can integrate the accessibility of the web, the original website, to, for example, the descriptions on a picture in the National Gallery to be, you know, read to you, and explained, and all that it's going to be 100% WCAG compliant. So these, I think, these all work together, it might vary his projects, to show people that there's overall issue of accessibility websites, of course, are one of the major ones. But we've got to integrate this awareness concept with not just websites, but with how do we make this world safe and accommodating for all people with disabilities, so that everybody can achieve their full potential.   Michael Hingson  26:46 So I know that you also in addition to doing the web map project, though, do or have become involved with accessor be specifically so website access in general, but accessiBe in specific, why did you choose accessiBe to work with?   David Shaffer  27:03 That's anotherInteresting story. I was do when I was the byway officer at macro, I was deep into manual coding, fixing, you know, analysis of police reports, and how to deal with them. And that's what took four years to get that website compliant. That was four years of daily work by a team of people. I was against layered approaches that first. Some of the ones that had been proposed to us at macro simply didn't work. So I just figured, okay, I'm not interested in layered approaches, when somebody gives me something that doesn't even work on their own website, then, you know, forget it. But, you know, I was introduced to accessiBe with some skepticism. And then I started trying and testing it. And I found that it made websites accessible and usable, to really the greatest extent feasible by AI technology. So, I was convinced that accessiBe is better than the other ones. Plus, what really impressed me most about accessiBe was in fact, it's not just for the blind. And it has significant settings for cognitive disorders, ADHD, seizure disorders, various types of color, vision issues, and cognitive. And I think that this is the comprehensive approach that I've been preaching that we need to accommodate all disabilities. We can't just focus on the blind community, we can just focus on the deaf community, or the IDD community. This has got to be an overall attitude about how we approach all of our technology, how we approach shopping, how we approach going into a store, getting down the street, getting on a train or bus, that we've got to bring together these concepts of Universal Design for everybody, so that the entire population has the same opportunity, as everybody else   Michael Hingson  29:23 do you think accessiBe is having success in this arena?   David Shaffer  29:28 Yeah, I do. Continue to outreach to the blind community to talk to us and give input. I give both legal and technical input to accessiBe and and that's because I can see both sides of this. I can see how the courts developing the law as well as how the technology is developing and how it's been used. And it's a fascinating place to be and I'm you know enjoying working with them. quite a bit as we try to bring more education accessibility to the 20% of the population that's left out these days.   Michael Hingson  30:09 It's interesting the society in the times that we live in. We are in such a technological era. Yet, more and more we see everything being oriented or most things being oriented toward a visual process. So websites, for example, that that put more visual stuff in. And what prompts me to mention that is, we were watching my wife and I were watching a commercial this morning on a television. And it was just some people singing a song. And there was nothing to say that it was Google talking about all the ways that it protects us. And I, and there are a lot of those kinds of commercials that do nothing but play music or Yeah, or sounds, but that have nothing to do with anything, how do we get people to recognize that they are leaving out a significant amount of the population? And oh, by the way, what about the person who gets up, I guess the marketing people don't think that that will be a big problem, and I'll come back to it. But don't think that'll be a big problem, because they'll saturate the air with the commercial. So eventually, people will see it, but they don't even deal with the people who get up during a commercial and go do something else get a slide or whatever, never see it.   David Shaffer  31:36 Right. I don't understand that either. Myself, many times I turn to my significant other and I say, what was that commercial about? I'd like the music. Cuz I don't know what they're trying to sell. I don't know why they think this is useful. Especially like you said, half the people get up and go the bathroom and commercials 12 The toilet flush at once. But yeah, I don't get it. It's just like they think all this has impact. You don't have Flash, big name, at the end, after the beautiful pictures didn't have an impact on me. So they're losing 5% of their potential customer base, do they may   Michael Hingson  32:22 be losing more, because again, anyone who doesn't see the commercial, blind or not, has the same challenge.   David Shaffer  32:32 And this is the fault of the people that look only at the visual side of things. And that's all they can think or think about these people that are creating the commercials, people that are creating websites, whatever creative people are doing this. They're looking at it. And they're deriving their impact from what they see and not what they hear. And this frustrates me, but I figure, okay, well, I'll never buy that product, and I can't tell what they're advertising. So that's one down the drain. They won't get my business. You know, what else can you do? Except deprive them of their business? If they're not going to make this commercial accessible?   Michael Hingson  33:21 How do we break into their psyche? And get them to recognize what they're doing? Which is, of course, a general question that deals with the whole visual or non disability aspect of society in general. How do we how do we get the the public at large, the politicians, the visible people of large, to bring us into the conversation? Maybe it's a good way to start that, why aren't we part of the conversation?   David Shaffer  34:00 I think we're not because we're not thrusting ourselves into it. We can just sit back and wait for these people to call us up and say, Hey, we were just thinking about whether blind people can see our commercials got any advice? No, we have to, we have to get out to you know, write, like we're doing with Congress, get out to them, and explain to them what we're seeing or not seeing. We need to get to the advertising community with some sort of education. If they really are interested in selling us products, so the the blanket, I mean, we're going to 24 million people in the United States. That's a tremendous market. We just need to get people to understand that they're losing 24 million potential customers every time they put an ad up like that.   Michael Hingson  34:54 But in general, whether we deal with the advertisement part of it or whatever you deal with the whole population of persons with disabilities. How do we get into the psyche of people into the conversation? I mean, I hear what you're saying about getting Congress and showing Congress what we do. But here's a perfect example of the problem. Several years ago, I went to a congressman who I knew to talk about the fact that at that time, and still, as part of the Javits, Wagner eau de act, it is possible for organizations and agencies to apply for an exemption. So they do not have to pay a person with a disability a minimum wage, who they bring in. And that typically is in the case of some sheltered workshops that that number has diminished a great deal, because there's been visibility, but it's still there. And the law is still there. And what this congressman said is, well, we're opposed to minimum wage in general. And so I can't possibly support this bill had nothing to do with the fact that it's still the law of the land. But we're not considered an important and I mean, all persons with disabilities, we still are not really considered part of, of society in the same way. Now, we're not hated like, some, some people probably hate different races. And and we certainly don't face some of the challenges that that women do, although bind women probably do, but but the bottom line is we as a collective group, and not just blind women, but people, women with disabilities, but we are as as a, as a total group, not included. Really, in the conversation. We see it all the time. Last year's presidential elections are a perfect example. But you could you can go anywhere and cite anything. That that looks at all of the different things that go on COVID websites were not accessible last year. So you know, how do we get into that conversation? Collectively,   David Shaffer  37:10 like, well, that is how we do it is collectively, I think, but I think we're doing too much of is that, you know, you've got the blind community doing advocating for this, you've got the people with physical disabilities advocating for their thing, that people cognitive advocating for those things. And they're all just focusing on what they need. What we all need to be focusing on together is what we need as a group of people with disability grant, granted, each of each type of disability has different needs. But if we can get everybody to understand the concept of universal design, and start applying that didn't everything we build to, from buildings to websites to whatever, then we'll be taking, we'll be including this population. But even the phrase universal design is not even fully under widely understood. But that is where we have to be gone. And we have to be doing it as the entire disability community. That is numbers, but lots of numbers of people.   Michael Hingson  38:29 Sure, since 20%, to 25% of all persons in the United States have a disability. That's a pretty large group, and it's 100   David Shaffer  38:40 million people.   Michael Hingson  38:41 Yeah, you're talking about a minority second only to depending on who you want to listen to men or women, probably they're more women than men. So men may be the minority, although they don't think so. But But the bottom line is it's a very large group of people,   David Shaffer  38:56 or it's not significant. You know, it's the most significant thing size, protected group there is under the law.   Michael Hingson  39:06 But the protections aren't always there. So for example, the other problem, yes, the other problem,   David Shaffer  39:12 which is the courts, the courts are slow to catch up to the courts don't understand this. You file a web accessibility lawsuit and find your typical federal district judge. I mean, they don't have a clue what this case is about. And then we're down to the Battle of competing experts, you know, and where does that put a judge? Where does that put a jury where they mean, the legal system is not the right place to be solving this problem. Unfortunately, it's the only place we have left to go to.   Michael Hingson  39:46 Well, I guess that's of course part of the I'm sorry, go ahead.   David Shaffer  39:49 No, go ahead.   Michael Hingson  39:50 Well, that's, that's of course part of the problem. But, you know, is it the only place to go to so for example, you wrote an article earlier this year. which I found to be very interesting and very informative the talk about web accessibility. And that article described a lot, a lot of the issues, a lot of what's being done. And maybe you want to talk a little bit about that and where people can see it, but also should should we work to be finding more people who will publicize in the world. Part of the the issues that we have when I talked about being part of the the conversation frame, frankly, I think we need to be putting out more more writings, more articles, more missives, more whatever. And as you said, we need to be putting ourselves in the conversation.   David Shaffer  40:53 We go and, you know, I, I'm, I listened mostly to NPR. And what I do notice there is they do a lot of stories on disability issues. Really impressed by the way they cover disabilities. I don't see that on mainstream media. Occasionally, you'll you'll have a feel good story on the evening news, then which one you're watching, you know, they they're tagged at the end of the last two minutes. But really, dealing with this as a societal issue. It's so low on the priority of things these days after COVID and, and overseas wards and foreign policy and everything else that's going on. We're, we're just faded where we fade into the background, or unnoticed. It's just like when, when when you when you walk into a store with somebody who's with you, they will talk to the other person and ask them what does he want to order? Instead of asking you were invisible?   Michael Hingson  42:01 Yeah. And of course, also part of the problem today, is that with everything that's going on, we face it, too. And it kind of beats you down.   David Shaffer  42:12 It does. It's, it's depressing. I mean, I my usually, my usual answer is I can order for myself in that sort of tone. But, you know, it's like we walk, walk into a dark, so up till the day with my white king, trying to find my way because they don't allow visitors now so that I can't bring him by with me to guide me. So I'm, you know, stumbling around the place trying to find the front desk and all that. And then they shove a piece of paper in front of me saying, Can you please sign in. And they've seen me walking around that reception area trying to find the reception desk with a white cane. And they turned around and asked me to sign something. They'll get   Michael Hingson  42:59 it. It's, it's all education. And I think you said much earlier is very important. We have to as hard as it is as frustrating as it is, as trying as it is on our patients. Sometimes. We have to be teachers, we have to help. But we do need to speak out, we do need to be pushing ourselves in the conversation. There are there's a lot of mainstream media that as you said, doesn't cover us much. And somehow we need to get more people to reach out to mainstream media saying Why aren't you talking about the fact that blind people and other persons with disabilities are exempt? In some situations from receiving minimum wage? Why aren't you talking more about the lack of appropriate information provided to us? Why aren't you talking about the fact that when one flies on an airplane, the flight attendants don't necessarily give us the same information that that people who can see or people who can can read don't have they already have. And I got like, the fact that people like with dyslexia also have issues.   David Shaffer  44:25 Yeah, well, pointing to the emergency exits doesn't help a lot.   Michael Hingson  44:28 Right, exactly. But they but you know, it would be so simple for flight attendants to say when they're doing their pre flight briefing. Emergency exits are located at overwing. Exits are located at rows, x and y.   David Shaffer  44:47 Row number you can, that's assuming that's a row number that you can read with your fingers.   Michael Hingson  44:53 Except when you are when you go on, you know what seat you're at. So you know what right So your count? Yeah, you can count. Yeah, they could, they could do something to make the row numbers also more accessible. But again, you do know what seat you go to. And if they know that, then you can easily count and get at least a much better sense, then what you do. I heard once somebody explained that when the preflight briefings are being given, what flight attendants are trained to do, and I don't know if it's true, but it could be, what flight attendants are trained to do is to look to see who's really paying attention to the briefings. Because those are the people that they may be able to call on to help if there really is an emergency, because they're the ones that tend to be collecting the information. I don't know if that's really true, but it certainly makes sense. And, and it is also something that more of us should do, and more of us should be demanding that they do the appropriate things to provide the access that we need to be able to pay attention.   David Shaffer  46:05 Yeah, you know, Michael, it's just, it's such an overwhelmingly huge job. I mean, we're talking about everything from websites to we haven't even talked about apps on phones, to physical accessibility to how you're, how you're treated in a doctor's office, or on an airplane or at a restaurant, or, I mean, it's, it's, it's all throughout society, that the people with disabilities face these obstacles. And courts, you know, I think websites are a fantastic place to start. But that's not the end of the accessibility discussion. We need to have much broader discussions about that. And we need to be doing it more publicly.   Michael Hingson  47:03 Right. And, and I think we can, I don't think that we need to always use civil disobedience, as our solution, although there certainly have been times in the past when that has been what people feel they need to do, and it can be successful, but it still, ultimately is about education. And if people refuse to listen, then obviously there are other actions that need to be taken. You mentioned, what happened with you with Metro and Metro, at least, was interested in working with you and allowing you to help them fix their website issue, by the way, how is it now?   David Shaffer  47:46 Oh, it's pretty good. They actually, they brought in consultants to do the remainder of the remediation and I wasn't able to finish. So they're trying to get as close to 100% compliant as possible.   Michael Hingson  48:02 And, obviously, that's, that's pretty important to do. I don't know whether accessiBe is a part of that or whether you know, have they used accessiBe in any way I'm just curious.   David Shaffer  48:12 I they I don't know who the outside consultants using right now but they haven't seen it says to be put on the site yet. I know they use accessiBe's testing tool.   Michael Hingson  48:24 Right? And can you tell us about that the test   David Shaffer  48:29 accessiBe has a very quick and free testing tool, which is one of the better ones out there on the market, including some of the ones you paid $10,000 for. And if you go to ace.accessible.com there's it's really simple, you just plug in the website name, you hit get a report, you get an immediate report within like 10 seconds of all the errors it reads it from compliant to semi compliant or non compliant. And then you can email yourself the report in a PDF form and and read all the details about what the issues are on the website. You know, and some of my own personal battles I've had recently with our county government kind of forced them to provide me with accessible materials as required by federal law. You know, I finally just sent them a report of their website or encountered entire county website is non compliant. And they said they know it. Let baffled me and what they're getting me my documents on your threat of a federal lawsuit.   Michael Hingson  49:49 You It's amazing. I recently upgraded we were talking about it before we started this. I also upgraded to Windows 11 and And there are some real challenges from an access standpoint. Or example, for example, and I, and I'm saying this after having called and spoken to Microsoft's disabilities answer desk, I needed to map a network drive. And the instructions say, click on the three dots on the toolbar, the three dots. So that's inaccessible to me, I am going to try some other experiments to see if I can access them. But in Windows 10, there were ways to do it. Why would they? And could they? And should they have updated to a new version of Windows without dealing with the access issues, and I know what they're gonna say, they did it with Microsoft Edge years ago, when Microsoft Edge came out, they knew it wasn't accessible. And they said, well, we'll get to it. Well, you know, that's, that's immediately sending the message that some of us are not as important as everyone else. We are, and I'm   David Shaffer  51:09 so sorry, I upgraded to Windows 11, I would never recommend that any visually impaired person right now until they get it fixed. It makes your life so much more difficult.   Michael Hingson  51:21 Well, but it's going to take a while to to happen. And the problem is that more and more things will become unsupported. So upgrading needs to be done. But there should be a real outcry to Microsoft, from a large number of people about the accessibility issues that they face in Windows 11. And that is something that gets back to what we discussed earlier. Microsoft should have made it accessible right from the outset right out of the gate, right. And they have the team, they have the people, they have the knowledge, it's a priority.   David Shaffer  52:02 While the priority for them is to get the product out the door, and then worry about, you know, the details later.   Michael Hingson  52:11 But still, the priority is to get the product out the door. So as many people can sort of use it as possible and the people who are marginalized well, we'll get to them eventually. Yeah, right, which is a problem. If people want to read your article, how can they do that?   David Shaffer  52:32 It's on my website, David Schaefer. lawn.com. Under the add a tab, Shaffer is spelled s AJ FF er.   Michael Hingson  52:43 So David Schaefer Law comm under the ADEA tab. Right. So what's next for you? Where do you go from here?   David Shaffer  52:53 Well, I'm, I'm also been retained by another organization, to do some congressional lobbying on behalf of ADA, making ADA explicitly include websites, and also to work to make work with them to make Congress itself accessible, working with how, with the congressional Select Committee on modernization, and, you know, we got to start somewhere, your congress has got to set the example for the country. And it's really pathetic, that the studies I've shown are that approximately 80 to 90% of congressional websites are inaccessible. And where there were their constituents to, and we have an equal right to communicate with our representatives, under the First Amendment as anybody else, and we're being deprived. And I think it's a serious issue for Congress that they've got a face, that they're not making themselves available to the entire population that's supposed to serve.   Michael Hingson  54:14 Good point. And hopefully, you'll be able to make some progress on that. We certainly want to hear from you as to how that's going. And you are welcome to come back here anytime and tell us what's happening and keep us all up to date. We really appreciate your time today. In sitting down with us and talking about a lot of these issues. Are there any kind of last minute things that you'd like to say?   David Shaffer  54:43 Oh, I just I just want to be treated the same as everybody else. And I think that's what all of us want. You know, you treat treat me like you would anybody else. with courtesy, and if it's an older person, you, you're courteous to them in a different way than you are a blind person or a deaf person. Just I'd like to see people treat people as people, and not according to what they look like, or are able to do is hear, see or or think.   Michael Hingson  55:23 Well, clearly, that's that's a goal. I think that all of us share. And I hope that we'll be able to, to see more of that happen. Excuse me, I know, being involved with accessiBe. It's an accessiBe goal. And I'm, I'm glad that accessiBe is really growing in its understanding of the issues, and that it intends to do more to try to do what it can to educate people in society about all of this. Okay, so that's part of what this podcast is about.   David Shaffer  56:00 Right. And I think we're well on our way there. We have more work to do. But we've made a lot of progress. Since I came on board and I think February I think you came on board just a little bit before that. Right. So we've, we've done a lot this year, and next year, it's gonna be even better.   Michael Hingson  56:22 Well, I hope people have enjoyed listening to this and that they've learned something. We're always interested in hearing from listeners, you are welcome to reach out to me directly at MichaelHI@accessibe.com. accessiBe, You spelled A C C E S S I B E. So michaelhi@accessibe.com. David, if you want people to be able to contact you. How do they do that?   David Shaffer  56:50 I'm david.shaffer@davidshafferlaw.com   Michael Hingson  56:57 is easy as it gets. Yeah,   David Shaffer  56:59 I try to make things easy.   Michael Hingson  57:01 Yeah, absolutely. So well, I want to thank you for being with us. We've been working to get this set up for a while you've had a pretty, pretty busy schedule. And so we're finally able to do we're able to do it. But seriously, we'd like to keep hearing from you as to what progress you're making and your thoughts. So don't hesitate to reach out and let us know if you'd like to come back on and we will chat some more. And in the meanwhile, again, if people want to reach out you can reach me at Michael Hingson. That is michaelhi@accessibe.com. And if you would like to consider being a guest on our podcast because you have some things to say, email me and we'll see what we can do. I want to thank you all for joining us on another edition of unstoppable mindset. And David, thank you as well for doing that   Michael Hingson  58:01 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Introducing the Labor & Employment Podcast, with host Ari Kwiatkowski. In this brief intro, meet host Ari Kwiatkowski of Barclay Damon, and hear her briefly describe the format of this exciting new Barclay Damon Live podcast. With weekly episodes, each new segment will explore topics covering labor and employment matters, with a keen eye on ever-evolving legal changes of importance to all types and sizes of employers. The first segment, with four or five episodes, addresses the topic on everyone's mind right now, COVID-19, and how the ongoing pandemic is affecting workplace issues, including paid sick leave, vaccination leave and mandates, as well as workplace safety and compliance issues. The podcast will feature guests and also share Ari's knowledge and insights. Other topics will include the hiring process, workplace policies and employee handbooks, employment discrimination, investigations, and lawsuits, Department of Labor issues, employment contracts, separation agreements, and restrictive covenant litigation; the podcast will give all employers, including those with unionized workforces, the tools to understand the developing laws that govern the relationships between employers and employees. DISCLAIMER: This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or a legal opinion, and no attorney-client relationship has been established or implied. Thanks for listening.

This episode features a panel of experts sharing their thoughts and insights on registered apprenticeships, in recognition of National Apprenticeship Week. Amy Firestone, V.P.; Apprenticeship Carolina, Katherine Keegan, Director, Office of the Future of Work, Colorado Dept. of Labor & Employment and William Higgins, State Apprenticeship Director, Arizona, discuss the importance of registered apprenticeships as one of the most dependable and proven methods of job training. Discover the power of partnership in successfully scaling registered apprenticeships, and how registered apprenticeships can be a powerful tool to help job seekers return to the labor force and help employers find the talent they need.  

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell LIVE on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 8-2-21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell LIVE on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 7 - 22 - 21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell LIVE on Li in the AM with Jay Oliver! 7 - 14 - 21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 7 - 1 - 21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 6 - 23 - 21 by JVC Broadcasting

Stromberg v. California's majority opinion is read by Judy Branfman, Research Affiliate at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor & Employment and producer and director of “The Land of Orange Groves & Jails,” a film about her great aunt Yetta Stromberg and this landmark Supreme Court case. The dissents are read by Ryan Edwards, a student at USC. Legal Question: Does a California statute that prohibited the display of a red flag as a statement of “opposition to organized government” violate the First & Fourteenth Amendments? Action: The Supreme Court reversed the conviction, holding that because the verdict did not specify what clause it was based on, the conviction could not be upheld if any of the statute's three purposes was unconstitutional. The Court ruled that the first part of the statute prohibiting the display of the flag as a sign of opposition to organized government was unconstitutional. Mr. Chief Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the Court. at 00:44 Mr. Justice McReynolds, dissenting, at 23:56 Mr. Justice Butler, dissenting, at 26:42 This opinion's citations have been edited down for ease of listening. For more information, visit our explanation. For more on Stromberg, visit FIRE's First Amendment Library. For more episodes, visit thefire.org/outloud.

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell LIVE on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 5 - 28 - 21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell LIVE on Li in the AM with Jay Oliver! 5-24-21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney, Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 5-13-21 by JVC Broadcasting

Jackson Walker Labor & Employment attorney Jackie Staple discuss what actions President Biden and his administration have taken during his first 100 days in office. Aside from prioritizing the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, President Biden announced two potential laws—the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan—during his address to the joint session of Congress on April 28, 2021, that could ultimately impact employers if passed. Related: President Biden Says “No” to Discrimination Through Executive Actions » President Biden's Recent Executive Orders Seek to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion » For additional JW Fast Takes podcasts and webinars, visit JW.com/Fast. Follow Jackson Walker LLP on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The music is by Eve Searls. This podcast is made available by Jackson Walker for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and is not a substitute for legal advice from qualified counsel. Your use of this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Jackson Walker. The facts and results of each case will vary, and no particular result can be guaranteed.

Periods of economic turbulence and social change apply pressure to every corner of our lives. In recent years, the labor landscape has shifted tremendously, creating new challenges and opportunities along the way.    This isn't happening in a vacuum.    The pandemic and a greater collective push for diversity and inclusion have caused massive shifts in the laws that govern how we work.    The legal platform employers operate from has changed, and we have to navigate new territory. This is an amazing time to create more value through business practices that benefit and protect both the employee and the employer.    What are the key labor law changes we've seen come out of the social movements of recent years and COVID-19? What do employers need to be aware of and consider putting in place to protect themselves and retain their employees?    In this episode, corporate and employment litigator, Dave McClurg shares valuable legal wisdom for business owners navigating today's employment landscape.  Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode    How social change has impacted employment policy  The conversation around equality, diversity, and inclusion at work has driven the creation of labor laws and policies that reflect these values. There are so many things that used to be acceptable that are now viewed as problematic, which has given more people a voice and contributed to a better working environment.    The importance of keeping track of the details  As employers, it's easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day that we overlook critical legal details that will protect the business. When we hire people, it's important to document all aspects of the disciplinary process from day 1. When we don't document everything, we can't protect the business and our employees.    How vaccines are going to create new challenges for employers  As people return to the office, the big question is whether to make vaccinations mandatory for employees. This question requires careful consideration so we don't inadvertently create a liability issue.    Guest Bio    Dave McClurg is a member of the firm's Labor + Employment practice group. He has a long record of successfully defending employers accused of wrongful termination and discrimination on the basis of race, religion, age, disability and gender. Dave frequently represents employers facing OSHA violations and workers compensation claims alleging safety violations or an “unreasonable refusal to rehire" following a work-related injury.Dave also has a wealth of experience involving the litigation of wage & hour, theft of trade secrets and breach of duty of loyalty claims, and the enforcement of non-compete and confidentiality agreements. In addition, Dave regularly advises clients on issues relating to reduction-in-force layoffs, terminations, severance agreements and return to work issues, helping employers avoid pitfalls that can lead to expensive claims.   For more information call (414) 559-7704  and let Dave know you heard him on The Free Agent Podcast.   Visit https://petriepettit.com for more information and email dmcclurg@petriepettit.com. 

Periods of economic turbulence and social change apply pressure to every corner of our lives. In recent years, the labor landscape has shifted tremendously, creating new challenges and opportunities along the way.    This isn't happening in a vacuum.    The pandemic and a greater collective push for diversity and inclusion have caused massive shifts in the laws that govern how we work.    The legal platform employers operate from has changed, and we have to navigate new territory. This is an amazing time to create more value through business practices that benefit and protect both the employee and the employer.    What are the key labor law changes we've seen come out of the social movements of recent years and COVID-19? What do employers need to be aware of and consider putting in place to protect themselves and retain their employees?    In this episode, corporate and employment litigator, Dave McClurg shares valuable legal wisdom for business owners navigating today's employment landscape.  Three Things You'll Learn In This Episode    How social change has impacted employment policy  The conversation around equality, diversity, and inclusion at work has driven the creation of labor laws and policies that reflect these values. There are so many things that used to be acceptable that are now viewed as problematic, which has given more people a voice and contributed to a better working environment.    The importance of keeping track of the details  As employers, it's easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day that we overlook critical legal details that will protect the business. When we hire people, it's important to document all aspects of the disciplinary process from day 1. When we don't document everything, we can't protect the business and our employees.    How vaccines are going to create new challenges for employers  As people return to the office, the big question is whether to make vaccinations mandatory for employees. This question requires careful consideration so we don't inadvertently create a liability issue.    Guest Bio    Dave McClurg is a member of the firm's Labor + Employment practice group. He has a long record of successfully defending employers accused of wrongful termination and discrimination on the basis of race, religion, age, disability and gender. Dave frequently represents employers facing OSHA violations and workers compensation claims alleging safety violations or an “unreasonable refusal to rehire" following a work-related injury.Dave also has a wealth of experience involving the litigation of wage & hour, theft of trade secrets and breach of duty of loyalty claims, and the enforcement of non-compete and confidentiality agreements. In addition, Dave regularly advises clients on issues relating to reduction-in-force layoffs, terminations, severance agreements and return to work issues, helping employers avoid pitfalls that can lead to expensive claims.   For more information call (414) 559-7704  and let Dave know you heard him on The Free Agent Podcast.   Visit https://petriepettit.com for more information and email dmcclurg@petriepettit.com. 

Our Ability talks to the “Your Dream, Your Team” group! Yourdreamyourteam.com is a website designed to be used by anyone and everyone who cares about the education, career, and financial outcomes of young people who have disabilities. It shows job seekers with disabilities how to turn people they trust into a team that supports them along their career journey and puts them in charge. It has everything they need to manage their team, including recommendations on who to invite, what to talk about, and when to meet. It also provides tools that other members of the team (parents, teachers, case manager, bosses…) can use to help keep the team person-centered and focused on career outcomes.The collaborative work group of the following organizations who created the Your Dream, Your Team website included staff from Change Impact, CDO Workforce, Hempstead Works, and Tompkins Workforce New York.  insight, guidance, and content came from an even longer list of amazing contributors from organizations like the New York State Department of Labor, Adult Career and Continuing Education Services-Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR), New York State Office of Children and Family Services, New York State Commission for the Blind, New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, New York State Office of Mental Health, New York State Council on Children and Families, New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation, and New York State Business Leadership Network. Full acknowledgements are available online–the list of people to thank is huge! It was funded 100% through a U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration grant. The total cost of the Disability Employment Initiative Round 8 program is 2.5 million dollars.

While high unemployment has been a serious discussion in the world of COVID-19, President Joe Biden has promised plenty of new jobs to come now that he's in the White House. How will any new laws or policy direction shape labor and employment regulations for companies? Will there be significant change that impacts the way businesses operate in Biden's first 100 days? In the fourth episode of Insider Insights: 100 Days of Biden, Joe Centeno, Co-Chair of the firm's Labor, Employment, Benefits & Immigration Section; and Tim Costa, a principal on Buchanan's government relations team in D.C., discuss what's possible in job creation under the new administration. In this episode, Tim and Joe cover: - How President Biden can achieve the task of adding new jobs - The contrast between President Biden and President Trump when it comes to keeping manufacturing jobs in the U.S. - The future of the $15 per hour minimum wage and how that gets achieved - How COVID-19 impacted the labor market and whether the new COVID-19 relief bill can create new jobs - How the transmigration of workers from offices to the home will impact the labor market moving forward - California's Proposition 22 -- what it does and whether this law can and will be adopted in other states or even nationwide To find out more about Buchanan's experience in the labor and employment industry, visit: https://www.bipc.com/labor-and-employment/. For info on Buchanan's capabilities in Government Relations, visit: https://www.bipc.com/government-relations-and-public-policy To read more about Joe Centeno, visit: https://www.bipc.com/joseph-j.-centeno. To read more about Tim Costa, visit: https://www.bipc.com/timothy-costa And finally, head to www.BIPC.com to learn more about Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.

TOPIC:  Applying to and making it through and starting a business while in law school.   BUSINESS LEVEL:  Entrepreneur Stage– have a business and need to work on contracts and brand protection   BIO: Courtney is a third-year law student at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law. At Cumberland, Courtney serves as President of Cumberland's Class of 2021, a Judge Abraham Caruthers Fellow, and a member of the Career Development Advisory Board, the Black Law Student Association, and the Women in Law Society.  Before attending law school, Courtney worked as a tour manager and traveled the world with some of her favorite Grammy award-winning artists and musicians. Courtney also worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Growing Kings, Inc., where she was introduced to research and policy, and decided to expand her capacity to assist others by attending law school. To confirm her interest in the legal profession, Courtney worked as a litigation paralegal for the Labor-Employment practice at 5 Points Law Group.  With a passion for giving back to her community, Courtney is currently serving as a Member of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham. In her spare time, Courtney enjoys traveling abroad, attending concerts, working on my golf game, and working with LRY Media Group as a Corporate Event Logistics Coordinator. Upon graduating from law school and passing the bar, Courtney will be employed as a Staff Attorney at Protective Life Corporation.   WHY LAW MATTERS TO HER  It's very diverse and it comes with a plethora of opportunities!    HER BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN LAW Knowing everything doesn't have to be figured out right now.    SPEAKER: Courtney Howard Always Love Your Scalp CEO and Full Operator Natural-based hair products that that will relieve your scalp of flakes, psoriasis, dermatitis, and dryness to stimulate healthy hair growth!   TOPIC KEY TAKEAWAYS: Applying to and making it through law school + starting a product-based business? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/trademark-that-thursdays/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/trademark-that-thursdays/support

With a new presidential administration and a shift in power in Congress, there are some ambitious goals set forth in the first 100 days of Biden's presidency, and employment laws are included in those announced policy goals. Jackson Walker Labor & Employment attorney Jackie Staple discusses a few of the issues facing employers as a result, including COVID-19 relief, a possible wage increase, and Biden's push to increase union representation. For additional JW Fast Takes podcasts and webinars, visit JW.com/Fast. Follow Jackson Walker LLP on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The music is by Eve Searls. This podcast is made available by Jackson Walker for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and is not a substitute for legal advice from qualified counsel. Your use of this podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Jackson Walker. The facts and results of each case will vary, and no particular result can be guaranteed.

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 1-20-21 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 1-12-21 by JVC Broadcasting

Loren Furman is Senior Vice President State and Federal Relations for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. The mission of  The Colorado Chamber is to champion a healthy business climate. The four key objectives of that mission include: Maintaining and improving the cost of doing business; Advocating for a pro-business state government; Increasing the quantity of educated, skilled workers; and Strengthening Colorado's critical infrastructure (roads, water, telecommunications and energy). The Colorado Chamber is the only business association that works to improve the business climate for all sizes of business from a statewide, multi-industry perspective. What The Colorado Chamber accomplishes is good for all businesses, and that's good for the state's economy. The Colorado Chamber was created in 1965 based on the merger of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Manufacturers' Association. As a private, non-profit organization, The Colorado Chamber's work is funded solely by its members. Loren joined the Colorado Chamber in January 2008 and serves as the chief lobbyist at the State Capitol.  This role involves managing Colorado Chamber's engagement on State and Federal policy issues including:  energy and environment, tax, health care, labor and employment, tort/civil justice and manufacturing.  Loren oversees the staffing and operations of the Colorado Chamber lobbying team and manages three issue councils:  Governmental Affairs, Tax and Labor & Employment.  Loren also serves as a spokesperson on press/media inquiries. On this week's episode, Loren provides insight and history about the work of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. She discusses the impacts of COVID-19 on the year and discusses the issues she is keeping an eye on for 2021. Hosted by Colorado Business Roundtable President Debbie Brown. 

Today's episode rebroadcasts our Cozen O'Connor webinar from yesterday, which provided an update on the 2020 Presidential election results and discussed the impact on key labor and employment issues for businesses.

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 9-23-2020 by JVC Broadcasting

Labor/Employment Attorney Jonathan Bell Live on LI in the AM with Jay Oliver! 9-18-2020 by JVC Broadcasting

This episode features a discussion with Phil Phillips. Phil is Managing Partner of Foley's Detroit office and a member of the Labor & Employment group. Phil shares about life growing-up as the youngest of nine kids in Saginaw, Michigan, and the incredible role models he had in his older, very high achieving, siblings. Phil also shares about his labor & employment practice and how, as a former prosecutor, it's the only practice that captured his interest. Phil also provides insight in to his experience as a Black man in Big Law and how large law firms can work to promote attorneys of color.

Labor Employment Attorney Jon Bell LIVE on LI in the AM w/ Jay Oliver! 9.3.20 by JVC Broadcasting

This program will provide a brief overview of some key labor and employment issues from around the globe. Speakers: Joan Cradden (Brodies), John Husband (Holland & Hart), Cecilia Kindgren-Bengtsson (Lindahl), Dave McKechnie (McMillan), Soo-ja Schijf (Kennedy Van der Laan), Kelly Thomson

Furloughs. Layoffs. Loss of work visas. The state of employment in the U.S. is in flux due to the coronavirus, and employers and employees are left to figure out how to best deal with the changing regulations in this space. Joining me for this conversation are three guests: Kelly Hensley, Denise Giraudo, and Greg Berk. Kelly Hensley is a partner in the Sheppard Mullin Los Angeles office and is Leader of the firm's Labor and Employment Practice Group. She specializes in labor and employment counseling and wage and hour matters. Denise Giraudo is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s Washington, D.C. office. Denise counsels and represents management in a wide range of labor and employment litigation matters. She regularly and successfully represents employers before state and federal courts as well as various local and federal administrative agencies. Greg Berk is a partner in Sheppard Mullin’s Labor and Employment Practice Group. He leads the Firm’s immigration practice and is based in Orange County, California. He is a Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. What We Discussed in This Episode: What labor and employment issues are employers dealing with because of COVID-19? What should employers know about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act? What is a furlough and what must employers do if they plan on engaging in furloughs? Are employees able to obtain any type of Federal relief during a period of furlough or unemployment? What is the CARES Act? How do furloughs and layoffs impact employee benefits such as health insurance? Will unemployment rates continue to rise, or have they plateaued at this point? Why is it important for employers to stay in contact with their labor counsel? In terms of work visas, how is the pandemic affecting the immigration status of certain types of employees? How are students with F-1 visas affected? Contact Information: Sheppard Mullin Coronavirus Insights page  Kelly’s Sheppard Mullin attorney profile  Denise’s Sheppard Mullin attorney profile  Greg’s Sheppard Mullin attorney profile  Thank you for listening! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to the show to receive every new episode delivered straight to your podcast player every Wednesday.  If you enjoyed this episode, please help us get the word out about this podcast. Rate and Review this show in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, or Spotify.  It helps other listeners find this show.  Be sure to connect with us and reach out with any questions/concerns:  LinkedIn Facebook Twitter  Sheppard Mullin website  This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice specific to your circumstances. If you need help with any legal matter, be sure to consult with an attorney regarding your specific needs.

In this episode of S&C's Critical Insights podcast series, Julie Jordan, co-head of S&C's Labor & Employment group, and Jeannette Bander, partner in the Firm's Executive Compensation group, discuss key employer takeaways for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act provides for a significant expansion of unemployment benefits and an unprecedented forgivable loan program for small businesses that avoid certain employee reductions. The act also makes financial assistance available to other businesses that follow specific labor and employment restrictions. Julie and Jeannette discuss certain key aspects of the act, which merit careful consideration for employers going forward.

Welcome to Part 2 in the 2-part "Laws of Labor" series with Employment & Labor Attorney, Ilan Weiser.In Part 1, we went through hour by hour a day in Ilan's life as an Employment & Labor Attorney. In this episode, we’ll take you through Ilan's career journey so you know what skills and experience are necessary to land a job as an Employment & Labor Attorney.As always, you can check out this episode's Show Notes Page to find all photos, relevant links and how you can connect with Ilan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What does it mean to be an Employment & Labor Attorney? What do they do all day?Welcome to Part 1 in the 2-part "Laws of Labor" Series! In this episode, we're going to experience a day in the life, hour by hour, of Ilan Weiser, an Employment & Labor Attorney, so you can decide if this is a job you can see yourself doing! Ilan is works for a law firm called Ellenoff, Grossman & Schole LLP based out of New York City. Let's get right into the day...As always, you can check out this episode's show notes page to find all photos, relevant links and how you can connect with Ilan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Erin Corbin Meszaros is the Chief Business Development and Client Service Officer at Eversheds Sutherland (US), based in the firm’s Atlanta office. With more than twenty-five years of hands-on professional service experience, Erin works with attorneys to turn business strategies into business successes. She develops innovative solutions designed to enhance client satisfaction and increase brand awareness. Erin’s career includes numerous successful business initiatives, such as implementing and executing a firm’s five year strategic plan, implementing and executing a forward-thinking client feedback program, initiating and completing a re-branding campaign, conducting an in-depth client relations coaching program and creating a unique customer relationship management database course, which effectively increased firm-wide usage. Recognized as a leader in legal marketing, Erin has been named to National Law Journal’s Top 50 Business of Law Trailblazers and featured in the Fulton County Daily Report’s Top Atlanta Legal Marketers. Erin is a longtime member of the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) and has held numerous board positions in the organization. Most recently, she served as Co-Chair of the 2019 Annual Conference Committee. Andrew Laver is a Business Development Manager with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC. He is responsible for the business development efforts of the firm’s Labor & Employment, Benefits & Immigration and Tax Sections and is based in the Philadelphia office. Prior to Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Andrew led business development for McCarter & English LLP’s Bankruptcy & Restructuring and Insurance Coverage practice groups, with secondary responsibility for regional and geographic-specific marketing efforts, brand recognition and increased visibility for the firm’s 40+ attorneys, resident in the Philadelphia and Wilmington offices. Andrew is very active in the Legal Marketing Association (LMA) and recently served as Co-Chair of the 2019 Annual Conference Advisory Committee. Additionally, he was President of the Metropolitan Philadelphia Chapter in 2014; joined the Governance Committee in 2015 where he served as Co-Chair from 2017-2018; served as Co-Chair of the 2nd Annual Philadelphia Conference in 2016; and served on the 2017 Annual Conference Advisory Committee. What you’ll learn in this episode: Erin and Andrew’s separate paths that led them to a career in legal marketing. How they became involved in the Legal Marketing Association and came together as co-chairs of the 2019 Annual Conference. What goals they had for the conference and the strategies they implemented to accomplish those goals. The extra steps they took to invest in the presenters and ensure the presenters were positioned for success. Advice for conference organizers in planning a major conference. Ways to contact Erin: Website bio: https://us.eversheds-sutherland.com/people/Erin-Corbin-Meszaros Website: www.eversheds-sutherland.com Twitter: @erinmeszaros Ways to contact Andrew: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewlaver/ Website: www.bipc.com Twitter: @LaverAndrew Additional resources: LMA: www.legalmarketing.org/annual_conferenced

David Mitchell is a labor and employment attorney at Hogan Lovells in the New York office. While at NYU he was an RA in Alumni/7A. In his current role as a Senior Associate, David provides practical advice to corporate and management clients on labor and employment issues, including sexual harassment trainings, employment and consulting agreements, personnel policies, reductions in force, and wage and hour issues. He is the editor of the Hogan Lovells Employment Blog: All in a Day’s Work. David currently serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors for SCAN (Supportive Children’s Advocacy Network) NY, a non-profit organization based in East Harlem and the South Bronx. He also maintains an active pro bono practice, including experience representing juvenile asylum applicants and a death row defendant seeking post-conviction review. You can reach him at david.mitchell@hoganlovells.com.

Tonya Chatton Jordan is the Senior Counsel of Labor Employment at Conoco Phillips. Tonya's primary responsibility at ConocoPhillips is to advise the company's executive leadership, business unit managers/supervisors, and human resource professionals on labor and employment law matters. In this episode we discuss: How her career has evolved in 25 years with Conoco Phillips. How organizations can overcome multigenerational challenges? How to understand and apply your value in your organization? For more episodes visit http://cstem.org. 

In this episode, Grants Office CEO Michael Paddock will be discussing the US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants, a workforce development program that provides community colleges and other eligible institutions of higher education with funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs.

In this episode, Grants Office CEO Michael Paddock will be discussing the US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration's YouthBuild Grants, a youth and community development program that addresses several core issues facing low income communities.

Social media is fun, free and easy. More people use it each day for business as well as for pleasure. But despite the promises of using social media for recruiting, marketing, and employee engagement, employers must not ignore the employment law implication associated with privacy, confidentiality, and discrimination. Join host Ira S Wolfe on this week’s Workforce Trends Blog Talk Radio show when he interviews Bill Egan, head of the Labor & Employment group at Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ira and Bill will discuss the problems, liabilities, and legal pitfalls of using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media in the workplace. The show will be live at 11 AM EDT. Have a question about social media policy? The call in number is 646-200-3752. Don’t have a question? Just call to share how social media is or isn’t working in your workplace.

Social media is fun, free and easy. More people use it each day for business as well as for pleasure. But despite the promises of using social media for recruiting, marketing, and employee engagement, employers must not ignore the employment law implication associated with privacy, confidentiality, and discrimination. Join host Ira S Wolfe on this week’s Workforce Trends Blog Talk Radio show when he interviews Bill Egan, head of the Labor & Employment group at Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ira and Bill will discuss the problems, liabilities, and legal pitfalls of using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media in the workplace. The show will be live at 11 AM EDT. Have a question about social media policy? The call in number is 646-200-3752. Don’t have a question? Just call to share how social media is or isn’t working in your workplace.

Global business has raised the importance of International Employment Law. And Coast to Coast welcomes a global list of guests on this topic. Law.com bloggers and co-hosts, J. Craig Williams and Robert Ambrogi introduce us to an attorney from the U.S., and employment law practitioners from the UK, Germany and France to discuss the many branches of International Employment Law. Listen as we hear from U.S. Attorney Nicholas Connon, partner in the law firm of Connon Wood Scheidemantle, Ramyar Moghadassi a dual-qualified lawyer specializing in international employment law at the firm of Moghadassi & Associates in London, Dr. Gerlind Wisskirchen, partner and specialist in employment and labor law at the firm, CMS Hasche Sigle in Koln Germany and Patrick Thiébart, Esq., the Head of Franklin’s Labor & Employment team in Paris.