contributors
JOEL SMITH
Joel Smith is a lawyer with Williams HR Law, where he practices management-side labour,
employment and human rights law. He provides strategic advice and representation to employers
on a broad range of issues, including employment contracts and policies, employment
standards, wrongful dismissal litigation, human rights and accommodation, grievance arbitrations,
labour board proceedings, privacy and workplace safety and insurance matters. Smith
focuses on providing proactive assistance to employers with the ultimate objective of diffusing
workplace issues before they escalate. Read his article that discusses the risks associated with
alleging just cause for employee termination without a reasonable basis, starting on page 15.
CATHY GALLAGHER-LOUISY
A regular contributor to HR Professional magazine, Cathy Gallagher-Louisy is director of
knowledge services at the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI). She is an
experienced diversity and inclusion and corporate social responsibility professional with over
20 years’ experience in change management, learning and development and HR roles within
corporate, government and non-profit organizations. Gallagher-Louisy provides consulting
and training services to CCDI partner organizations and clients. She is the author of CCDI’s
groundbreaking report, What Gets Measured Gets Done: Measuring the Return on Investment
of Diversity and Inclusion, and the curator of CCDI’s four toolkits for diversity professionals.
Read the article she co-wrote with Wanda Santini about the professionalization of diversity
and inclusion, starting on page 22.
SUZANNE L. COOK, PH.D.
Suzanne L. Cook, Ph.D. is a social gerontologist and adjunct professor in the Department of
Sociology at York University. Her research project examines workers ages 50 and older who
continue to work and are pursing a new direction through second (or third) careers. She coined
the term “redirection” to refer to this new stage of later life career. Read her article about how
HR can assist older workers who are redefining or changing their career paths later in life, starting
on page 31.
JO EISMONT
Jo Eismont is a social media and web editor for Insights Learning & Development with years
of experience in the learning and development industry. She is very passionate about sharing
the philosophy of “doing what you love and loving what you do.” With two small children, a
Twitter addiction and a love of blogging, Eismont strives to share the Insights’ values so that
her audience finds the right new position or way to love their job as much as she does. To read
her article about why managers need to prioritize spending time with their employees, turn to
page 48.
4 ❚ JANUARY 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL