William Alpine, Director

Massachusetts Department of Family & Medical Leave

William Alpine was appointed Director of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave in February 2019. He is responsible for implementing and overseeing the day to day administration, finance, and operations of this newly created program. He previously served as corporate counsel for a nationwide environmental consulting company. He oversaw the company’s environmental claims and cost recovery program. He was previously the Executive Director of the Commonwealth’s Petroleum Product Cleanup Fund. In that role, he was responsible for developing the day to day administrative functions of the Commonwealth’s environmental claims program. William holds a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering from Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Christine Eskilson, Deputy Regional Solicitor

United States Department of Labor, Office of Solicitor, Boston Regional Office

Christine T. Eskilson is the Deputy Regional Solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor in the Office of Solicitor, Boston Regional Office, and served as the Supervisory Trial Attorney for matters arising under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (the “OSH Act”).  Ms. Eskilson joined the Solicitor’s Office as a trial attorney, handling cases under the OSH Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.  Prior to joining the Department of Labor, she was a staff attorney at Harvard University, and practiced labor and employment law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  She also taught Legal Practice Skills at Suffolk University Law School.  Ms. Eskilson earned her law degree cum laude at the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. magna cum laude at Brown University.

Jessica Looman, Acting Administrator

United States Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division

Jessica Looman was appointed as the Acting Administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division on June 21, 2021.  WHD enforces worker protections and provides outreach and education about federal labor laws including minimum wage, overtime, child labor, and family and medical leave for 143 million workers and nearly ten million employers nationwide. 

Before joining WHD, Jessica served as the Executive Director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, where she advocated to expand construction career pathways, protected the physical and financial health of union construction workers, and increased private and public investment in construction infrastructure. 

Before joining the Building Trades, Governor Mark Dayton appointed Jessica to serve as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce. She also served as the Deputy Commissioner and the Assistant Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry where she oversaw the strategic coordination of DLI’s five divisions. She has previously served as the General Counsel of the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota. Jessica is a graduate of George Washington University and the University of Minnesota Law School. She lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband and two sons.

Debra Najjar, President & Founder

Najjar Employment Law Group, PC

Debra Dyleski-Najjar is president and founder of the Najjar Employment Law Group, PC (NELGPC) with offices in Boston and North Andover, MA. NELGPC is a boutique management labor, employment and benefits firm. Prior to founding NELGPC in April 2008, she practiced employment law for over 25 years and was an equity partner in a 250-attorney regional law firm. Debra earned her B.A. from Wellesley College in 1980 and her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1983 where she was editor of the Law Review. She is a past chair and current member of the NHBA’s Labor & Employment Law Section, and a member of the Employment Law Section of the American Bar Association and the ABA’s International Labor and Employment Law Subcommittee. In 2007, Debra was inducted as a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and served as the chair of the First Circuit Credentialing Committee. She is a credentialed member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA), a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the 2005 graduating class of Leadership New Hampshire. Debra is the Massachusetts State Council Government Affairs Director for the Society of Human Resource Management, the Legislative Director for the Greater Merrimack Valley SHRM Chapter, and chair of the Pathways Committee of the Lawrence Partnership. She also served on the corporate board of the Merrimack Valley YMCA. Debra has extensive experience representing employers in complex litigation, conducts investigations into alleged harassment and misconduct, defends employers before state and federal courts and administrative agencies, and assists and counsels employers on matters involving harassment, discrimination, ADA, FMLA, OSHA, ERISA, FLSA, diversity, immigration and other workplace issues. Debra is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts, the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. She is a frequent author, speaker, counselor and trainer on workplace issues.

James Redstone, Director of Public Policy

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

James Redstone joined the SHRM External Affairs team after nearly 10 years of service in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and White House. As the Special Assistant to the President responsible for workforce development policy, he oversaw initiatives to modernize federal hiring, expand public access to higher education performance data, provide more granular state and local labor market data, and collaborate with Congress on legislation governing employer-provided education assistance. As the lead workforce development policy expert for the House of Representatives, he negotiated the recent reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and oversaw the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

Dr. Kenji Saito, MD, JD, FACOEM, President and Chief Medical & Science Officer

MedLaw, LLC

Dr. Kenji Saito is President and Chief Medical and Science Officer of LiveWell, WorkWell, a MedLaw LLC company and President of the New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Vice President of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.  As assistant clinical professor at Dartmouth College, University of New England and adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, Kenji enjoys training the next generation of leaders in Occupational Health, Well-being, Leadership and Organizational Development, Digital health, Innovations, Data analytics, Entrepreneurship, Medico-legal consultation and Bioethics.  As an entrepreneur, he is currently involved with several startups in digital well-being, culinary and lifestyle medicine platforms in the Boston and Los Angeles area and with environmental remediation technology in the Miami area.  He is also a consultant and advisor to several companies in the Consumer Products, Marketing, Transportation, Manufacturing, Nutraceutical/Pharmaceutical industries, and work with various Government Agencies.  As a physician (licensed in Maine and Pennsylvania), he continues to practice clinical occupational health, seeing pilots as a senior medical examiner for the FAA and as an attorney, he is barred in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.    

Brooke Thomson, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs

Associate Industries of Massachusetts (AIM)

Brooke M Thomson is the Executive Vice President of Government Affairs at Associated Industries of Massachusetts. In this role, Thomson engages in public policy work on behalf of the 3,500 AIM members before policy makers on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill, on issues including the cost of health care and energy; employment law; budget, taxes, finance; and workforce development. Thomson is no stranger to AIM. Prior to coming aboard as EVP for Government Affairs, she served as a member of the AIM Board of Directors and Executive Committee and chaired the board’s Government Affairs Committee.

Prior to joining AIM in September 2019, Thomson served as the Vice President of Government Affairs at AT&T for nearly 7 years. Her responsibilities for the telecommunications company included legislative and regulatory affairs in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Thomson came to AT&T after six years in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, where she served as Chief of the Business, Technology and Economic Development Division, the principal liaison for the business community in that office. Prior to that, she worked in the Massachusetts Legislature for 4 years, as Legal Counsel to the Massachusetts Legislature’s Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. Her political experience includes managing the successful campaign of Martha Coakley for attorney general in 2010. Brooke lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts with her two daughters, Caroline and Emma.

Mary Timba, Manager of Customer Engagement

Massachusetts Department of Family & Medical Leave

Mary Tibma joined the Department of Family and Medical Leave as the Manager of Customer Engagement and Experience in March 2019. In this capacity she provides services to both employers and employees in order to successfully contribute towards, apply for and receive benefits. This involves working with the business process design and driving the strategy for Agency wide campaign for “Customer Success.” Mary previously worked at the Mass RMV where she served as Deputy Registrar for External Services. She managed the 30 service centers across the Commonwealth as well as the 34 AAA branches that deliver limited RMV services. Prior to her work in state government she was co-owner of a residential design and construction firm for 15 years and has also worked in large corporations and the non-profit sector.

Kier Wachterhauser, Esq., Partner

Murphy Hesse Toomey & Lehane, LLP

Kier Wachterhauser is a partner at MHTL.  Mr. Wachterhauser represents private and public sector clients in all areas of labor and employment law and maintains a general litigation practice.  Mr. Wachterhauser regularly counsels clients on employment matters, including wage and hour, leave entitlements, and discrimination and harassment matters, as well as the drafting of employment policies and contracts, and represents clients in employment-related litigation before state and federal courts and administrative bodies, such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Mr. Wachterhauser also maintains an extensive labor practice, representing public and private clients in the collective bargaining process, arbitration hearings, and proceedings in front of administrative agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the Civil Service Commission, and the Department of Labor Relations. Mr. Wachterhauser’s clients include health care agencies, financial institutions, food service entities, local housing authorities and other State and local governmental entities. Mr. Wachterhauser is a regular speaker at industry and trade groups, chambers of commerce, and other organizations on a wide range of labor and employment topics.   Mr. Wachterhauser also conducts workplace training for organizations of all sizes.

Mr. Wachterhauser received his Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Boston University Law Review. In law school, Mr. Wachterhauser was awarded the Faculty Award for Academic Accomplishment. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Wachterhauser spent several years working in the consulting field, providing guidance to administrators of hospitals and universities on a variety of business-related matters. Mr. Wachterhauser received a Masters of Arts degree from Northwestern University and graduated from Swarthmore College with honors

Mark Watson, Northeast Regional Administrator

United States Department of Labor, Wage & Hour Division

Mark Watson graduated from LaSalle University in 1985 with a degree in Criminal Justice after serving a 4 month internship with the US Drug Enforcement Administration. After college, he was employed for about 2 years as a Field Representative for the New Jersey Department of Labor’s Division of Workplace Standards, Wage and Hour Compliance. He began his career with the US DOL Wage and Hour Division in 1987 and spent 16 years as an investigator in the Southern NJ District Office. In 2003, Mark was promoted to Northeast Regional Wage Specialist, guiding all of the prevailing wage enforcement programs in the northeast region, and managing the Davis-Bacon wage survey program. In 2004, Mark was promoted to Northeast Regional Director of Enforcement, overseeing all of the region’s enforcement programs.  In 2010 he was promoted to Deputy Regional Administrator and in 2014 he was selected as the Northeast Regional Administrator. With over 34 years in US DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, Mark has broad experience in its programs. He is the recipient of many awards and commendations including the Public Service Recognition Award, the Special Achievement Award, a Government Reinvention Award and multiple Exceptional Achievement and Worker Protection Awards. Mark resides in Southern New Jersey with his wife Julie, who teaches first grade.

John Wilson, Esq., President & Partner

Goff Wilson Immigration Law

John R. Wilson is president and partner of GoffWilson, P.A., a global immigration law firm. He is co-founder and President of the firm and his practice focuses exclusively on global immigration both inbound and outbound assisting employers, employees and families. John represents businesses in various industry sectors including medical/hospitals, colleges and universities, energy, finance, engineering and hi tech, hospitality industry, manufacturing, and start-ups. He also assists individuals of exceptional ability in the arts & sciences. He provides I-9 compliance consulting, training and auditing services. He often serves as an expert witness in immigration related matters for plaintiffs or defendants in criminal or civil matters. He is the founder and past chair of the Diversity Workforce Coalition, a NH nonprofit organization promoting a diverse workforce. In addition, John is a past member of the Global Panel of the National Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a member of the NHBA’s International Law Section and the American Immigration Lawyers Association and he is on the Advisory Board of Granite State College. John is a frequent lecturer for various national human resource associations, community groups and businesses on immigration and I-9 issues. John earned his B.A. from the State University of New York in 1979 and his J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now UNH School of Law) in 1982.

Anissa Zabriskie, PHR, Global HR Business Partner

DuPont

Anissa Zabriskie is an accomplished strategic business partner with 20+ years’ management experience marked by outstanding leadership abilities and expertise of all aspects of human resources. Talent for identifying organizational needs and implementing effective programs to maximize results supporting various client groups such as Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing, Engineering and Biotech. Influential with exceptional ability to brainstorm and guide high-level “think tanks” and focus groups that notably impact HR function and drive phenomenal organizational change; ability to gain consensus and buy-in at all levels in the organization.

Anissa is an author, speaker, and certified life coach that helps people understand their value and self-worth, create thriving cultures and shift mindset for growth. As a trained speaker and licensed facilitator in navigating conflict and impactful communication, she has traveled throughout the US, Singapore, UK and Sweden conducting one-on-one coaching, group workshops, and training sessions to help people find their ultimate life mission. An avid pet lover, Anissa lives in the Boston area with her husband, cat, and dog. Anissa believes: People are all unique individual, multi-faceted and cannot be put into a box when it comes to achieving the life one desires.  Anissa also serves as the Director- Elect for the Massachusetts SHRM State Council.