Meet the Newest Members
of the LERA Executive Board

President Elect | Academic | Neutral/Other | Labor | Management | RVP 

ANNOUNCING THE LERA 2020-21 PRESIDENT ELECT - Back to Top
Wilma Liebman

Wilma B. Liebman

Vision Statement: LERA's advantage is its multi-disciplinary community with the synergies of knowledge and experience that the forum fosters. This dynamism is critical to academic achievement and workplace best practice, but also to public discourse on how to address pressing challenges such as inequality, economic insecurity and democratic institutions under stress. Its expertise on issues involving the skills and wellbeing of workers, the nature and future of work, the state of collective bargaining and workplace democracy makes LERA an ideal setting for exploring and debating competing ideas about a way forward, particularly at this uncertain historical moment.

Current Position: Adjunct professor, New York University School of Law; author, advisor on labor law and workplace policy in domestic and global settings; chairman, Dunlop Commission on Agricultural Labor (a private, collectively bargained dispute resolution body).

LERA Activities: LERA national member since 2001; member IRRA national executive board 2002; panelist at numerous LERA policy forums and annual conferences; recipient of LERA Lifetime Achievement Award 2014.

 

ANNOUNCING THE NEWEST ACADEMIC SEAT BOARD MEMBERS - Back to Top
Tamara Lee

Tamara L. Lee, Esq.

Vision Statement: In research, teaching and service, I am unapologetic in my commitment to critical race theory and intersectionality in labor relations theory and praxis. It is this very commitment that provides the foundation and the bridge connecting my research interests in Cuban participatory democracy and worker political advocacy in the United States. In my professional service I have vowed to radically confront our differences with the hope of building stronger, more equitable solidarity and more inclusive knowledge, movements and institutions. I will always speak truth to the power of cultural diversity and the strength of our collective scholarship and practice.

Current Position: 2016-Present Assistant Professor, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations

LERA Activities: LERA national member since 2014; presenter LERA 71st Annual Meeting, "Radical Confrontation of Industrial Relations Theory: The Troubling Lack of Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality within Industrial Relations Research" Cleveland, OH, June, 2019; Presenter LERA 71st Annual Meeting, "A Critical Case Study of the Women's March and Intersectional Organizing" Cleveland, OH, June 2019; Presenter LERA 70th Annual Meeting, "The Women's March: Intersectional Organizing and Building Unity on Our Differences" Baltimore, MD, June 2018; Session Organizer LERA 70th Annual Meeting, "Intersectional Organizing: How to Deeply Engage in Cross-Movement Solidarity" Baltimore, MD, June 2018

Shannon Gleeson

Shannon Gleeson

Vision StatementLERA and the entire field of industrial relations is at a crossroads, as the institutions designed to protect working people come under further attack.  Worker and Management organizations are undergoing fundamental transformations in response, and new paradigms are needed to understand the implications of this changing landscape in an era of heightened inequality, racism, xenophobia and misogyny. My goal is to strengthen LERA's ability to engage around these issues, across the policy, social movement, and academic spheres.

Current Position: 2014 to Present - Associate Professor, Cornell University, ILR School, Department of Labor Relations, Law & History, Department of Sociology (by courtesy), Latina/o Studies Program (teaching faculty)

LERA Activities: Bada, Xóchitl, Shannon Gleeson, and Els de Graauw.  2018.  'Union Organizing, Advocacy, and Services at the Nexus of Immigrant and Labor Rights.' p. 91-113. In No One Size Fits All: Worker Organization, Policy, and Movement for a New Economic Age.  Edited by Janice Fine, Linda Burnham, Kati Griffith, Minsun Ji, Victor Narro, and Steven Pitts.  LERA Research Volume Series (distributed by ILR/Cornell University Press).; 2014 'Legal Status as Precarity Multiplier: Social & Economic Consequences of At-Will Employment & Unjust Termination for Unauthorized Workers.' Labor Employment Relations Association Annual Meeting, Portland, OR 6/1/14.

 

ANNOUNCING THE NEWEST NEUTRAL/GOVT/OTHER BOARD MEMBER - Back to Top
Javier Ramirez

Javier Ramirez

Vision StatementThere is no other organization in the labor and employment community that has the same level of diversity in practice and thought combined with the impressive talent and passion of its membership.  As impressed as I am with LERA’s work and members, I am equally baffled as to why membership numbers are not greater.  As a LERA board member, I intend to work with other LERA members to understand why people participate in LERA… and why they don’t.  How do we build on the success that attracts our current membership while expanding our offerings, resources and/or profile to attract and motivate greater engagement?  A LERA membership should be a desired asset for any practitioner, academic, neutral or policy maker because of its reputation, relevance, usefulness, and network.  I would be honored to work closer with LERA to explore these dynamics and ensure the long term viability of this essential organization.

Current PositionDirector of Agency Initiatives for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS).  The division of Agency Initiatives (AI) includes; the Office of Conflict Management Prevention (OCMP), Office of Strategy Development (OSD), Center for Conflict Resolution Education (CCRE), Institute of Conflict Management (Institute), and the National Labor Management Conference. 

LERA ActivitiesMember since 2005, conference presenter at both national and chapter events. 


ANNOUNCING THE NEWEST LABOR BOARD MEMBER - Back to Top

Julie Farb

Julie Farb

Vision StatementMy vision for LERA is to harness academic analysis more directly in support of worker voice, and to help inform LERA’s activities from a practitioner perspective. Ongoing technical change, fractured employment relationships, and the need for more high-quality employment make it critical that we not only anticipate changes and impacts, but proactively include workers in determining and shaping the “future of work.” LERA’s unique capacity to connect research on specific industries to practitioners is an important strength, and I hope to help focus LERA’s activities to improve the links between deep academic analysis and the real experience of workers. 

Current Position: As Director of Growth Strategies at the AFL-CIO, I support our affiliate unions' organizing priorities. My team of strategic researchers and campaigners partners with unions on industry research, comprehensive growth strategies, and a robust strategic research training program in order to build capacity for membership and density growth across the Federation. I also serve on the AFL-CIO internal staff team supporting the Commission on the Future of Work and Unions.

LERA Activities: I have been a LERA member for several years and look forward to getting more involved.   


ANNOUNCING THE NEWEST MANAGEMENT BOARD MEMBER - Back to Top

Kim Sullivan

Kim Sullivan

Vision StatementAs an organization, LERA's platform and influence enable significant and impactful change across the employee relations continuum. Is it essential to bring together labor, business, academics, and neutral partners to deliver outcomes that will result in creative practices in the field of employee relations.

As a Board Member, I would advance an agenda to use a collaborative approach to identify solutions for growing industries, like healthcare through workforce development strategies across the country.

The need for business, labor, academics, and ancillary partners to tackle workforce challenges jointly is critically important as the war for talent continues to intensify.

Current Position: Chief HR Officer, Encompass Health 2019 - Present

LERA Activities: I joined LERA briefly when I worked at Walgreens. I am looking forward to contributing in a bigger way to the LERA organization and working closely with LERA members.

ANNOUNCING THE NEWEST EAST-REGIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT BOARD  MEMBER - Back to Top
Beverly Harrison

Beverly Harrison

Vision StatementTen years ago I attended a national LERA conference as  president of the Long Island, NY chapter and was appointed to the National Chapter Advisory Committee

I am assisting with the revival of the Buffalo chapter and to foster communication I attend the NYC, NJ and LI chapter meetings.

To sustain LERA’s national leadership stature we must continue to collaborate with our partners, offer guidance to the chapters by developing tools to address their concerns, promote chapter to chapter and chapter to national communication, and include our youth by soliciting their participation and recommendations.

Current Position: Arbitrator/Mediator 2010-to present

LERA Activities: Past Prescient Long Island Chapter of LERA (2008-2010), Regional Representative for the National LERA Chapter Advisory Committee since 2009; Member NJ LERA; Member NYC LERA
Member New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators.