Houston LERA 04-18-2024

As adopted by the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) at its May 2022 meeting, NAA recognizes the need to increase Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) among members of the arbitration profession. To this end, the NAA Michigan and Southeast Regions are partnering to make this program available through the Greater Houston Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) network. There is no cost for this program, and we are seeking to obtain approval for Texas Attorney MCLE and SHRM recertification credits.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? While this program is aimed at Labor Arbitrators, and Labor and Management Advocates, HR and Labor Relations Professionals will find this program highly informative as well.

This program features an interactive discussion between NAA members Betty Widgeon and John Alfano who provide their real life experiences related to DEIB. Attendees will learn about, recognize, and see how to avoid both learned and unintentional bias or discrimination in our arbitration practice – to better serve the increasingly diverse workforce and to better understand the positions of the advocates who appear before arbitrators. The curriculum and content are the product of the NAA Northeast Region DEIB Committee’s 18 months of research, personal reflections and learnings.

Speakers

Betty R. Widgeon (Bio)

Arbitrator, Special Master, Mediator, and Fact Finder

Betty R. Widgeon is an Arbitrator, Mediator, Fact-Finder, and Special Master. She is a former Chief Judge of the 14A District Court, Washtenaw County, MI, a past Chair of the State of Bar of Michigan ADR Council, and a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators.

She holds her B.A. and MAEd Degree in Education from Wake Forest University and her JD from the University of Michigan. She arbitrates labor, employment, and commercial cases and is on arbitrator panels for the FMCS, AAA, FINRA, and the National Mediation Board.

John C. Alfano (Bio)

John Alfano, a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators since 2016, is an arbitrator and mediator in private practice since 1983. He was a local teacher union officer before becoming a staff person for the Maine Teachers Association. He was also one of the ten members of the Maine Panel of Mediators from 1983 to 2017 mediating case in both the public and private sectors. He was the governor’s representative to settle labor private labor disputes for Maine’s paper and shipbuilding industries.

Currently, he is an affiliate faculty member in the Penn State School of Labor and Employment Relations and has an arbitration practice with offices in Maryland and Pennsylvania. He is active in the National Academy of Arbitrators on the New England Region Diversity, Inclusion, Education and Belonging Committee, the Continuing Education Committee, the Media and Communications Strategy Committee and Vice President for Donations for the Research and Education Foundation.

His hobbies are bicycling, visiting train and trolley museums, and restoring antique cars.