Meet our Board
Board
We are currently recruiting for diverse leaders to join our board. We are especially looking for Board members with expertise in the following areas: fundraising, web development/online marketing, workers’ rights advocacy, Board development and finance/accounting.
Meet our Board of Directors
Wayne Outten
Board President
Darnley D. Stewart
Board Vice President
Rebecca M. Hamburg
Board Vice President
Shannon E. Rusz
Board Treasurer
Barry Seng
Board Secretary
Shireen Mitchell
Finance & Operations Committee
Heidi M. Allison
Finance & Operations Committee Chair
Fran L. Rudich
Finance & Operations Committee Vice Chair
Justin Sindelar
External Relations Committee Vice Chair
Eva Zelson
External Relations Committee
Phoenix Mourning-Star
External Relations Committee Chair
Beth Creighton
Finance & Operations Committee
Shannon E. Rusz
Board Treasurer
Finance & Operations Committee
Annapolis, MD
Barry Seng
Board Secretary
External Relations Committee
Washington, D.C.
Shireen Mitchell
Finance & Operations Committee
Washington, DC
Wayne Outten
Board President
Finance & Operations Committee
New York, NY
Darnley D. Stewart
Board Vice President
Finance & Operations Committee
New York, NY
Rebecca M. Hamburg
Board Vice President
External Relations Committee
Los Angeles, CA
Heidi M. Allison
Finance & Operations Committee Chair
Rochester Hills, MI
Fran L. Rudich
Finance & Operations Committee Vice Chair
Rye Brook, NY
Justin Sindelar
External Relations Committee Vice Chair
San Jose, California
Eva Zelson
External Relations Committee
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Phoenix Mourning-Star
External Relations Committee Chair Waterville, Maine
Beth Creighton
Finance & Operations Committee
Portland, OR
Holly Wittenberg
External Relations Committee
Washington, DC
Kenitra W. Dominguez
External Relations Committee
Bay Area, CA
Founders
Wayne Outten
Board President
Finance & Operations Committee
New York, NY
Paul Tobias
Tobias, Kraus & Torchia
Cincinnati, OH
Board
Board President
Finance & Operations Committee
New York, NY
Wayne N. Outten is one of the founders of Workplace Fairness, formerly known as the National Employee Rights Institute (NERI), and has remained involved in various capacities since. Wayne has committed himself, through Workplace Fairness and many other organizations, to advocating for workers’ rights nationwide.
His practice, Wayne Outten & Golden LLP, focuses exclusively on representing employees. He co-chairs the firm’s Executives and Professionals Practice Group. His practice represents senior employees and professionals in all aspects of employment, including negotiation of employment, compensation, severance, expatriate and secondment agreements. His notable recoveries include $12 million in a discrimination/retaliation case, $18.9 million in a breach-of-contract case and $72.0 million in a compensation case.
His recognitions include “Best Lawyers in America”; Top 100 New York Metro Super Lawyers; Best Lawyer’s “Lawyer of the Year 2010” for Labor and Employment Law – NYC and “Lawyer of the Year 2012” for Litigation – Labor and Employment in NYC; Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America ; Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America; and Lawdragon “legend” (2015).
Wayne is also a founding member and/or leader of many organizations including the National Employment Lawyers Association and it’s New York affiliate, the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, the ABA Labor and Employment Law (Chair, 2015-2016). He has lectured and written extensively on negotiation, mediation and arbitration of employment disputes and on employment and severance agreements.
More at http://www.outtengolden.com/lawyer-attorney/wayne-n-outten.
Board Vice President
Finance & Operations Committee
New York, NY
Darnley D. Stewart has served as Vice President for Workplace Fairness since 2013. She is Of Counsel at Outten & Golden LLP in New York. As a former partner at that firm, she co-chaired the Discrimination & Retaliation Practice Group and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) Workplace Rights Practice Group. Darnley is admitted to practice in New York and is a member of the American Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association (“NELA”) and its New York affiliate (“NELA/NY”).
More at http://www.outtengolden.com/lawyer-attorney/darnley-d-stewart.
Board Vice President
External Relations Committee
Los Angeles, CA
Rebecca M. Hamburg is the founder and principal consultant for Rebecca Hamburg Consulting. She empowers organizations with the tools and knowledge to achieve their vision for a better world. Through strategic planning, workshops, and project management support, Rebecca enables both nonprofits and foundations to be agents of change. She provides guidance that assists grant makers in understanding how they can support and engage in advocacy and other nonprofit organizations to engage their communities in public policy efforts through an understanding of federal tax and election law.
Recognizing that systemic change is a long-term investment, Rebecca also emboldens nonprofits to put their vision into action by developing goals that maximize their capacity to serve as agents of change. She supports organizations to design, develop, analyze, and evaluate programs, projects, and activities through setting specific goals and meeting criteria for success.
Prior to starting her consulting firm, Rebecca served as the West Coast Director for Alliance for Justice, a national nonprofit committed to ensuring that Americans have their voices heard when government makes decisions that affect their lives, and the Program Director of the National Employment Lawyers Association, the country’s largest organization of lawyers who exclusively or primarily represent employees in employment-related matters. She also spent several years litigating cases on behalf of public and private employees around the country, as well as victims of civil and human rights abuses. Rebecca received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. She is the proud mom of Rowen and Killian, and an avid yarn-lover.
Finance & Operations Committee
Shannon Rusz is a practicing attorney in Maryland and has been affiliated with Workplace Fairness for many years in various capacities. In addition to her law practice she was on the staff of Workplace Fairness for five years, helping to grow the organization and reach the workers that can use our services. Shannon believes that workers need and deserve access to free, easy to ready information about their rights in the workplace. As a member of the board she hopes she can help to expand the reach of WF’s services and continue helping workers across the country.
More at https://ruszlegal.com/.
Board Secretary
External Relations Committee
Washington, D.C.
Barry Seng brings his expertise in development, digital strategy, and youth outreach to Workplace Fairness. Barry currently works as a Business Transformation Consultant at EY, helping clients solve their pressing needs to better serve their customers. Barry has experience officiating microgrant programs, revamping organizations’ digital strategies, and connecting youth advocates with resources and organizations. Barry graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Minors in Spanish and Art History. At Workplace Fairness, Barry plans to expand programming and resources, connect with labor rights activists, and support workers.
Finance & Operations Committee
Washington, DC
Shireen Mitchell offers Workplace Fairness her expertise as a non-profit board member, as well as in digital communications and social media. She is an award winning technological woman of color, founder, author, speaker, social entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, advocate, diversity analyst, and a political, digital & social strategist. Shireen is a native New Yorker who spent time playing video games, and designing BBS boards and gopher sites before the Web went worldwide. Shireen has served as a nonprofit board member for over a decade. She is currently on the boards of Workplace Fairness, Center for Partnership Studies, and Chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations.
More at https://about.me/digitalsista.
Rochester Hills, MI
Heidi Allison is a leading authority in the career and employment arena, serving as a board member for the last 10 years with Workplace Fairness.
She has 17 + years of expertise in developing sustainable businesses and websites, and has combined her Internet and strategic communications experience with her desire to help those in professional need with their employment and travel-related issues. While she has counseled countless world-class clients in their efforts to build and enhance beneficial relationships with their respective publics, Heidi has identified Workplace Fairness as a critical organization receiving a vast amount of media inquiries due to their extraordinary mission.
She currently manages several firms including Allison & Taylor, Inc. The Career Company, CruiseCompete and Shane PR. As well, she is an accomplished author, international consultant and avid traveler who is a recognized expert on the subject of eco-tourism.
More at https://www.allisontaylor.com/ and https://www.allisontaylor.com/blog/alexandra-allison-bio/.
Finance & Operations Committee Vice Chair
Rye Brook, NY
Fran Rudich serves on the board for Workplace Fairness, lending her unique expertise in employment law, particularly in the class action arena. Fran concentrates her practice in complex litigation and class action matters, with a particular emphasis in representing employees in all aspects of employment law, particularly sexual harassment, various issues of discrimination, and cases involving violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state wage and hour statutes. Fran has been the lead attorney in numerous multi-million dollar employment discrimination jury verdicts against major national entities and corporations.
External Relations Committee Vice Chair
San Jose, California
Justin Sindelar serves on the board of Workplace Fairness to add his expertise in digital experience design and nonprofit digital organizing. He is a Digital Experience Specialist at NVIDIA, where he designs unique and integrated digital experiences informed by UX research, information architecture, and usability. Justin also brings special expertise in accessible design, having led several pilot accessibility programs in the private and nonprofit sector. His professional background began with several student-led nonprofit organizations, where he developed web properties and provided long-term digital organizing strategy. Justin graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with concentration in Marketing.
More at https://www.justinsindelar.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinsindelar/
External Relations Committee
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Eva Zelson is an attorney at Zeff Law Firm, where she focuses her practice on representing the rights of employees and victims of police brutality. She also works with the Social Justice Law Project to provide representation and advocacy in various racial justice matters. As a longtime follower of Workplace Fairness, Eva looks forward to drawing on her knowledge of the changing needs of workers to ensure that Workplace Fairness continues to be an important resource for employees. Eva graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Studies and from William & Mary Law School.
External Relations Committee Chair
Waterville, Maine
Phoenix Mourning-Star is a Sr. Science Advisor and Founder of Result International Research & Consulting, he is also a Visiting Professor of Mathematics & Statistics at Colby College. His efforts in employment fairness began in 2006 as a researcher studying the National Employee Survey investigating disproportionate punishment in the workplace.
Dr. Mourning-Star holds his doctorate in Ecology with Chemical & Biological Engineering and is a multi-disciplinary strategist and scholar leveraging his degrees in Mathematics (BS), Biostatistics (MS), Epidemiology (MS), Environmental Law (LLM) and International Science, Technology & Space Policy.
More at https://www.colby.edu/directory/profile/phoenix.mourning-star/
Finance & Operations Committee
Portland, OR
Beth Creighton has devoted her professional life to the defense of the rights of employees and the promotion of justice in the community. Her practice concentrates on the representation of individuals harmed by sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful discharge, and by the violation of civil rights and other manifestations of police and governmental abuse.
Beth’s undergraduate degree is in Women’s Studies from the University of Toronto (1992) and her JD is from the University of Wisconsin (1996), renowned for its labor and employment law programs. When she moved to Oregon in 1996, she began working with Crispin & Associates practicing employment law. From 1997-1999, she represented clients in employment related claims while working for a firm that primarily did workers’ compensation law. In 2000, she began working for Steenson, Schumann, Tewksbury, Later & Rose, PC, where her practice was employment law and civil rights litigation (both employment related and police misconduct). In July, 2010, she and her partner, Michael E. Rose, took over the firm and formed Creighton & Rose, PC.
Beth currently serve as one of the co-chairs of the employment section of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) and is a member of OTLA’s Board of Governors, as well as an active member of the education, amicus and legislative committees. She is also active in the National Employment Lawyers’ Association (NELA), and, in 2013, was elected as the first member of the NELA Board of Directors from Oregon. She has lobbied in both Washington, D.C., and Salem for legislative changes that have given workers more rights and protections in the workplace. Beth continues to work tirelessly to enforce the rights of workers and others abused by the system and has been an indomitable advocate for change on both an individual and systemic level to benefit her clients.
Outside of the litigation arena, Beth is currently being trained by her teenage daughter to become more adept at conflict resolution.
More at http://civilrightspdx.com/
External Relations Committee
Washington, DC
Holly Wittenberg leverages her 20 years of management consulting, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and post-merger integration experience to help companies identify DEI opportunities that drive business value. She uses data-driven analytics to identify deep insights about DEI performance and opportunities to improve. Holly studied economics at the University of Chicago and has an MBA from Thunderbird (part of U of Arizona). She is a board member of Woodley House, a nonprofit which provides residential services for those experiencing mental illness.
External Relations Committee
Bay Area, CA
Keni Dominguez is a people ops strategist and career coach for Black and WOC introverts, with over ten years of leadership experience in People Operations/HR, and is a certified mediator. She attended UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. She received a master’s degree in Work Law, an integrated study of the laws and policies governing the workplace, the labor market, and the legal relationships between businesses and workers, including the regulation of work and the problems of inequity, insecurity, and discrimination in the workplace.
As a fierce advocate and ardent believer in a people-first philosophy, she is passionate about workplace issues related to gender and racial equity and how those issues emerge for Black and other WOC introverts. Keni was cited in multiple press pieces on platforms, including Apartment Therapy, HuffPost, Washington Post, Rolling Out, and various podcasts. Keni’s mission is to help empower Black and other WOC introverts to thrive in the workplace. She provides practical organizational culture and design for individuals and purpose-driven, people-centric companies. Keni helps introverts discover their unique voice, learn to work with their energy, and show up unapologetically as their authentic introvert selves to step boldly into who they are.
Founders
Outten & Golden, LLP
New York, NY
Wayne N. Outten is one of the founders of Workplace Fairness, formerly known as the National Employee Rights Institute (NERI), and has remained involved in various capacities since 1994. Wayne has committed himself, through Workplace Fairness and many other organizations, to advocating for workers’ rights nationwide.
Wayne is founding and managing partner of Outten & Golden LLP. His practice focuses exclusively on representing employees. He co-chairs the firm’s Executives and Professionals Practice Group. his practice focuses on representing senior employees and professionals in all aspects of employment, including negotiation of employment, compensation, severance, expatriate, and secondment agreements. His notable recoveries include $12 million in a discrimination/retaliation case, $18.9 million in a breach-of-contract case, and $72.0 million in a compensation case.
His Recognitions include “Best Lawyers in America”; Top 100 New York Metro Super Lawyers; Best Lawyer’s “Lawyer of the Year 2010” for Labor and Employment Law – NYC and “Lawyer of the Year 2012” for Litigation – Labor and Employment in NYC; Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2006); Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers in America (2007); and Lawdragon “legend” (2015).
Wayne is also a founding member and/or leader in many organizations, including National Employment Lawyers Association and its New York affiliate, the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and the ABA Labor and Employment Law Section (Chair, 2015-2016). He has lectured and written extensively on negotiation, mediation and arbitration of employment disputes and on employment and severance agreements.
Tobias, Kraus & Torchia
Cincinnati, OH
Paul Tobias was one of the founders of Workplace Fairness, where he served as the initial Chair for many years, and as a board member for more than 20 years. He was a dedicated and active advocate for workers’ rights nationwide, and was the founder of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) (Advocates for Employee Rights), serving as its first Executive Director. He was also the Chairman and Editor of The Employee Advocate newsletter. He authored a three-volume work titled “Litigating Wrongful Discharge Claims” (Callaghan/West 1987), co-authored “Job Rights and Survival Strategies – A Handbook for Terminated Employees” (Workplace Fairness 1997), was the past executive producer for Workplace Fairness’ Federal Employees Legal Survival Guide (authored by the Passman & Kaplan law firm)(1999) and the past Editor-in-Chief of Workplace Fairness’ Employee Rights Quarterly (Aspen Publishers July 2000 first issue).
Paul and Marvin Kraus founded Tobias & Kraus in 1976. He specialized in labor and employment law for more than 50 years, having represented companies, unions and individuals. For many decades, he specialized in advising and litigating for individuals, including wrongful dismissal and discrimination cases. He authored ten published articles in the field of labor and employment law, and he made more than150 presentations to the bar association and other groups concerning employee rights. Paul retired from law practice about 2016, and he died on March 22, 2021 at age 91. His legacy of working and advocating for employees and their lawyers lives on.
