Jason Sutheimer, SHRM-SCP is Director of HumanResources for the ND Department of Environmental Quality, and a member of the SHRM Membership Advisory Council (MAC). 

Louis Lessig is a Partner at Brown & Connery, LLP, and a Member of the SHRM Membership Advisory Council (MAC). 

Heather Merrick, SHRM-SCP, is the Members and Community Director for SHRM's North Central Region. 

Mary Helen Beard graduated from the Vanderbilt School of Law where she was a founding member and editor of The Journal of Entertainment Law & Practice.  The cited decision of Johnson v. Metro Davidson County School System, 108 F. Supp. 2d 906 (M.D. 2000) is a result of her work in the Vanderbilt Legal Clinic. Ms. Beard began her legal career with the former Weintraub & Stock, P.C. (now Fisher Phillips) and later became an associate attorney at FordHarrison.  She held the positions of Senior Attorney/Employment Litigation with FedEx Express Corporation and Senior Counsel/Labor and Employment with FedEx Corporation, being a business partner and counsel to the most senior executives at the parent company as well as three corporate subsidiaries.  Ms. Beard was the  Senior HR Counsel for HCA Healthcare, where she advised the Chief Human Resources Officer and her senior executive team.  Mary then served as Senior Technology Counsel with HCA Healthcare, excited to merge her over two decades of labor and employment with knowledge of the ever-evolving Technology and Artificial Intelligence legal landscape.  Mary is currently the inaugural Vice-President of Employment and Litigation at Ardent Health where she he will partner with human resources teams and department leaders to provide legal guidance, advise on the development of system policies and procedures, and review and negotiate various legal transactions.

Whether as outside counsel and corporate counsel, Mary has placed a specific emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion within the corporate ranks. Mary recently earned recognition at the Nashville Business Journal’s Leaders in Diversity Awards in the Outstanding Community Voice category. This inaugural Leaders in Diversity class is made up of individuals and companies who are leading the charge to advance diversity and inclusion practices within the Nashville Business Community. Mary was also awarded Nashville Business Journal Best of the Bar Award, being recognized by her fellow lawyers in Nashville for her contributions to her clients and the legal profession.

Committed to making a positive impact in her community, Mary has shared her many talents and leadership expertise with countless professional, civic, and charitable organizations. Mary served as the Tennessee Bar Association Inaugural Chief Diversity Officer. She is also a former co-chair of its’ Labor and Employment Executive Council and the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee.  She is a Past President of the Napier-Looby Bar Association and the Ben F. Jones Bar Association, both of which are affiliate chapters of the National Bar Association. She is a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Association, Memphis Bar Association and Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Ms. Beard is a former chair and co-chair of the Tennessee Judicial Nominating Commission.  Additionally, Mary serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sexual Assault Center. She serves as a deacon and trustee for Watson Grove Baptist Church. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and The Parthenon (TN) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated. She is an Athena Traditional Award Nominee.

She was awarded the Memphis Business Journal’s Top 40 under 40 Award. She received the Presidential Award from the National Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association.  She has received the Outstanding Community Service Award from the Xi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

In her spare time, Mary immensely enjoys  domestic and international travel,  interior decorating, reading, exercising,  community service, and serving as an armchair coach and quarterback for the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs.

Megan Taylor is a seasoned finance and strategic planning expert, a founder, and a certified RETAINTM parental leave coach. With rich experience across the healthcare, professional services and media industries, she has transformed financial planning and analysis capabilities, architected innovative strategic planning processes, built businesses from the ground-up and significantly improved organizational efficiency. She is skilled in leading teams, working cross functionally and partnering with executive leadership. During her 10+ years in the healthcare sector, Megan pioneered several resources for working mothers and parents at her Fortune 500 employer’s world headquarters. She founded her own coaching and consulting company, has served dozens of clients, and specializes in elevating leadership performance and solving complex problems. Megan is a part of the core leadership team at the Center for Parental Leave Leadership where she serves as Business Development and Finance Lead. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed over 300 hours of leadership development training.

James Gelfand became president and CEO of The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) in April 2023, having previously served as its senior and then executive vice president for eight years. He was promoted to the position of president in June 2022. James oversees all aspects of the association’s activities, which focus on programs that shape federal and state health and retirement benefit policies, and that impact ERIC member companies’ ability to operate under federal ERISA protection from a patchwork of conflicting state and local laws. He has brought prominence to ERIC among federal and state lawmakers, thought leaders, and major companies in the U.S. and globally. James provides strategic leadership to ERIC’s legislative, regulatory and legal advocacy; membership and partnerships; and communications and operations, to achieve ERIC’s mission and implement the directives of ERIC’s Board of Directors. James first joined ERIC in 2005, when he was appointed a policy research associate, then health policy research manager for more than two years. He next led health policy efforts at the U.S Chamber of Commerce and served on Capitol Hill as counsel to Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on the U.S. Senate Small Business Committee, and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) on the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee. James also served as an associate project director for Luntz Global Partners, where he helped spearhead the firm’s political practice during the 2014 election, and then led the federal affairs team at the March of Dimes Foundation, where he successfully advanced policies critical to the health of women and children. James has been recognized as a top industry lobbyist by both the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics and The Hill. Since 2018 he has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Arlington, VA-based Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (MMHLA). MMHLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the mental health of mothers in the United States, with a focus on national policy and health equity. MMHLA is a staunch advocate for improved mental health care during pregnancy and postpartum. James earned his J.D. at George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC, and his undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Legal Studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He lives in Alexandria, VA with his wife and son.