The Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis. It has generated huge upheaval in companies and stimulated new thinking about what safety means. The County faced various challenges, starting with transitioning employees, on extremely short notice, to work from home. The County is still working through the challenges of working remotely, and at the same time partially transitioning employees back to the workplace environment.?  

This seminar will offer valuable tips and interventions on how to manage the workforce and the workplace (e.g., how to deal with the changes in our lives such as going back to commuting, what types of injuries to expect, what areas of the office are safe, and what managers can do to reduce injury when the staff come back).  

In addition, privacy and cyber protection issues with working from home will be discussed and what changes were implemented in the County IT systems due to such a rapid shift in work environment.  

Finally, the seminar will present County Workers’ Compensation injury statistics and costs as related to COVID-19 as well as the challenges with the third-party administrators as the County transitioned to work from home.  

Participants will: 

• Discover what psychological and ergonomic issues County employees encountered going from the office to work from home.  

• Learn how remote work impacted the augmentation of privacy and cyber protection within the County. 

• Receive expert advice on what issues to expect and deal with when employees start to return to the office. 

• Obtain County statistics on the COVID-19 impact on workers’ compensation injuries and illnesses. 

Speakers: 

Steven T. Robles, Assistant Chief Executive Officer 

8:30 am  

Chief  Executive  Officer  for Risk Management  and  Privacy,  overseeing  risks  associated  with  a  $30  billion public  entity  budget with over  100,000  employees.    Previously,  he was  the  Director  of  Risk  Management  for  the  County  of  San  Bernardino  where  he  spent  21  years  creating  andsupervising all Risk operations.  He has served as an officer of the Public Agency Risk Management Association, training advisory Boards with the Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training, and most recently participated with the Department of Justice on 21st Century Policing.  Mr. Robles holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, is a retired Certified Safety Professional, and holds several Risk Management designations.

Lillian Russell, Chief County Privacy Officer

Manager, CEO 

8:40 am – 9:10 am 

Lillian Russell is the Chief Privacy Officer for the County of Los Angeles. She leads the Office of Privacy within the Chief Executive Office - Risk Management Branch and oversees the development and management of the County's data privacy program. Lillian has a law degree and Certificate in Health Law from the University of Pittsburgh and dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from the?University?of California, Riverside in Political Science/ Public Service and Sociology/ Law and Society. Lillian is a licensed attorney with the California State Bar and holds dual certifications from the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional and Certified Information Privacy Manager. 

Dr. Sepideh A. Souris, Sr. HR Manager 

DHR - Occupational Health & Leave Management 

9:15 am - 10:45 am 

Dr. Sepideh Souris has been a licensed psychologist for over 25 years. Her work experience with the County of Los Angeles (County) started in March 1997. Since 2004, she has been in the position of the Chief of Psychological Services where she offers management of Psychological Services Unit as well as being the Director of Employee Assistance Program. As of 2021, she has also been the Sr. Human Resources Manager over DHR – Branch III -Occupational Health and Leave Management Division.

Dr. Souris has been deemed as “Expert Witness” in over 18 cases with Civil Service Commission, as well as three cases with LA County Superior Court. She conducts multitude of trainings; including but not limited to: Pre-employment Psychological Evaluation, Psychological Fitness for Duty Evaluations, Assessment of Threat and Workplace Violence, and Stress Management. At the request of US State Department she presented on pre-employment psychological evaluation of law enforcement personnel at the 4th International Conference in Mexico City, Mexico.

Dr. Souris has taught at various graduate schools and has also been assistant clinical professor at UCLA, Geffen School of Medicine. She is a published author of Pre-Employment and Fitness-for-Duty in the Law Enforcement area in Forensic Mental Health Evaluations in the Digital Age which was published in March 2020.

Roberto Chavez, Chief Program Specialist, CEO 

10:50 am - 11:15 am 

In his over 20 years working for the County, Robert Chavez has served in several functions in risk management. In his current assignment in Loss Control and Prevention, Robert oversees a group of professional staff that provide risk analysis and consultative assistance to County departments to find effective solutions for root causes of loss, and training for all departments to ensure a safe and healthful environment for County employees, visitors, and citizens. Robert holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Health Science from California State University, Los Angeles, and an Associate in Risk Management for Public Entities (ARM-P) from the Insurance Education Association. 

Alex Rossi, Manager, CEO 

11:15 am – 12:00 pm 

Alex Rossi is the County of Los Angeles Workers’ Compensation Contract Administrator.  The County’s self-insured workers’compensation program, one of the largest in the state,  is one of several programs under  the Risk Management Branch ofthe Chief Executive Office.In his current position, Alex assists in overseeingworkers’ compensation third party administration contracts, responsible for administrationof over 32,500 workers’’compensation claims, and workers’ compensation medical and disability cost containment programs.

Alex received his Master of Business Administration degree from the State University of New York at Albany.He holds numerous certifications and designations from various industry organizations.In addition to presenting at variousseminars,  Alex served as an instructor for the Los AngelesCounty Training Academy a public-public partnership with the California State University system.

Maggie Martinez, Assistant Director, DHR 

Maggie Martinez is an HR professional with over?30?years of experience in the not-for-profit and public sector arenas. As human resources director at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, she oversaw all personnel functions for an international healthcare organization with more than 700 healthcare and retail operations employees across the globe. As director of human resources at First 5 LA, she oversaw all personnel functions for the public entity.? Just prior to joining the County of Los Angeles, Maggie was the Director of HR Business Support Services for L.A. Care Health Plan, with oversight of the HR Business Partner Program, internal investigations, leave management and disability compliance. ?Prior to working in the field of human resources, Maggie worked as a deputy to both State Senator Art Torres and to then Assemblymember Richard Polanco.? 

A second-generation Angeleno, Maggie received her bachelor's degree in English Literature from Occidental College in Los Angeles, CA.

Seminar Questions:  

Rhonda Aven-Haggenmiller at RAven-Haggenmiller@ceo.lacounty.gov or Olga Svitlynets at OSvitlynets@ceo.lacounty.gov. 

Registration Information:

Registration is required. Click the blue REGISTER button at the top or bottom of this page to register.

Reminder: ONLY LACMC MEMBERS MAY REGISTER FOR THIS TRAINING. 

To find out about other LACMC educational opportunities and more, check out our website at?https://managementcouncil.lacounty.gov//. ??If you have a colleague interested in becoming a LACMC member, please refer them to the LACMC website for eligibility requirements, membership benefits, and the application?(click here). 

Cost: Free  

Once registered, a direct link to the seminar will be emailed to you. 

“Disclaimer – The Los Angeles County Management Council invites speakers to share their knowledge with the membership; however, LACMC is in no way endorsing the individuals or the companies presenting information at our seminars.”