BOOTCAMP - Essentials of Human Resources 2024-2025

James is a partner with Weston Hurd’s Education and Labor & Employment groups located in Cleveland, Ohio. His legal services include education law, labor and employment, and litigation. He advises clients on matters related to contract disputes, collective bargaining, due process claims, public record request compliance, and policy drafting.

James began his career as a public school teacher. He taught fourth and fifth grades in the Mississippi Delta as a member of Teach For America.

Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman is a shareholder with the firm. She advises clients on a variety of educational law matters including labor and employment issues, student discipline and rights, special education and 504 matters, relationships with school resource officers, serving transgender students, employee misconduct and investigations, booster matters, and general school law practice. She is a member of the firm’s Special Education and Workers’ Compensation Practice Teams. Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman has served as a lead negotiator in bargaining and defended boards of education in arbitration, court cases, special education mediation, and due process hearings. She has represented school boards before a variety of federal and state administrative agencies, including the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the State Employment Relations Board, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, and at administrator and staff in-service trainings on a variety of topics including annual legal updates, professional ethics and codes of conduct, implicit bias, relationships with school resource officers, managing booster groups, serving students with disabilities, employee leave matters, and handling employee misconduct.

Donna Andrew has represented school boards as a labor negotiator in both teaching and nonteaching collective bargaining since 1999. Donna assists school boards in complex discipline investigations and termination matters, including related litigation. Donna also has extensive experience in all administrative levels of workers’ compensation and unemployment matters, including assisting school boards in implementing strategies to lower workers’ compensation premiums.

Donna also advises school boards in general school law matters, including defending school boards against discrimination claims in a variety of forums and in special education matters. Donna’s practice also includes providing in-service workshops and presentations to help prevent costly legal issues before they occur.

Hugh Garside is the Treasurer for the South-Western City School District located in the southwest quadrant of Franklin County.  The District is the 6^th largest school district in the State of Ohio serving roughly 21,800 students housed in 31 school buildings.  Mr. Garside has served as Treasurer of the South-Western City School District for a total of 21 years and has been a part of constructing 27 new buildings over the course of his career in the District.  Mr. Garside also served as Treasurer of the Logan Elm Local Schools for 5 years, as the Executive Director of Budget and Fiscal Management for the Columbus City Schools for 3 years, and served on the School Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees for 6 years.

Izaak Orlansky is an education attorney, with specific focus on K-12 law. His practice covers labor and employment issues including collective bargaining, grievance arbitration, employee discipline, educator hiring and evaluation, as well as harassment, discrimination and misconduct investigations.

Previously, Izaak served as Chief of Staff for the Office of Teacher Recruitment and Quality in the nation’s largest school district, the New York City Department of Education. For nearly a decade he managed and oversaw policies and programs focused on access to high-quality educators. His experience also includes an internship with the National Labor Relations Board’s Region 22 in Newark, New Jersey. Izaak began his career as a middle school teacher in The Bronx, New York, where he taught fifth and sixth grade English language arts and social studies.

Rejeana Woolum-Napier is a Client Services Manager for Sedgwick. Rejeana has more than twenty years of experience in the Ohio Workers' Compensation industry; working with Ohio employers on claim resolution, cost containment strategies and overall risk management.  Currently, Rejeana works with various organizations and trade associations offering the best possible solutions within their current workers’ compensation programs. 

Prior to her current role, Rejeana has also worked in human resources, medical case management and safety consulting. During this time, she worked directly with Ohio employers regarding claim mitigation strategies, treatment authorizations, safe and timely return to work as well as on-site safety inspections. She also previously served on the Executive Board for the Safety Council of Greater Columbus.

Rejeana majored in political science at Columbus State Community College and has also completed extensive training in medical management and safety. She currently holds OSHA certifications in both construction and general industry. 
 

Pamela has more than 33 years of experience in unemployment and workers’ compensation. Pam has been with Sedgwick since 2004 and has been a Hearing Consultant for both unemployment and workers’ compensation. Pam is well versed in the unemployment hearing process, witness preparation and representing employers in all states. Over her career, Pam held such roles as claims examiner, hearing representative, account executive and manager. 

Terry Harrell has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, specializing in 403(b) and 457 plans. As Voya’s Ohio Valley Regional Vice President for Tax-Exempt Markets, he is responsible for new business and on-going service for public schools throughout central and southern Ohio. Terry is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and resides in Dublin, Ohio.

Lisa Stevens serves as an Account Development Executive at American Fidelity. She brings more than a decade of experience serving solely the education community.

In her role, Lisa works closely with school districts in Ohio to help develop employee benefit plans that meet their needs. She often speaks locally and nationally to associations, business managers, and superintendents on topics such as Section 125 Plan, & Other IRS Compliance, Properly Utilizing Reimbursement Accounts (HSAs, HRAs, FSAs), and Creative Strategies for Insurance Benefits. Lisa is known for her communication abilities and can simplify difficult topics and explain them in everyday language, making implementation and understanding compliance much easier.  

Having been nominated by her company for six consecutive years as Account Development Executive of the year, you can be assured that Lisa is a trusted resource for you and your school district.

Cheryl Mueller, President and Managing Principal for the Columbus and Dayton regions, is focused on growth and connecting clients to powerful resources. She is committed to strategically ensuring our clients are supported with unmatched guidance and care for the journey towards prosperity and satisfaction. Involved in health care since 2001, and utilizing knowledge from various roles, Cheryl provides insight to the overall planning involved in delivering a well-designed benefits package. She frequently speaks on topics that promote employer/employee engagement to drive health care decisions. Cheryl has dedicated the last 15 years to continual study of the evolving health care landscape. Her work in different markets has created valuable insight for clients and positions HORAN for tremendous growth.

Kathryn helps to design benefit packages that create equitable strategies for both employers and employees while enhancing employee retention and recruitment as well as containing long-term cost increases.

The core values and culture of HUB I HORAN mirror those to which Kathryn strives to adhere. 

Her dedication and drive makes a difference by enabling HUB I HORAN to stay ahead of employee benefit trends.