Tom Lewis is a graduate of Kentucky University with an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the founder of T.W. Lewis Company, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based real estate investment company known for its outstanding quality and customer service in the homebuilding industry. 

The company has received numerous national awards, including America’s Best Builder and the National Housing Quality Gold Award. Tom received a Lifetime Achievement recognition from Professional Builder magazine and was named the first inductee into the National Housing Quality Hall of Fame. 

  In 2002, Tom and his wife, Jan, formed T.W. Lewis Foundation to support higher education, children and families in need, youth character education, and a variety of local and national nonprofits that build community and strengthen America’s civil society.  

  You can find more information on Tom Lewis and Solid Ground at SolidGroundBook.com and TWLewis.com. 

In a recent IBM survey, 69 percent of workers identified this year as the most stressful time in their careers. In fact, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also found anxiety and depression symptoms have increased by three-fold since 2019, and a quarter of the people said they had mental-health symptoms related to the pandemic. These alarming numbers have many companies weighing options to reopen workplaces so workers can have a break from the social isolation and a chance to reestablish some normal work routines. So how are AI Technologies Helping Businesses, Employees, Students, and Consumers Safely Return to a New Normal During the Pandemic? 

They found that employees’ biggest concerns include fears of being exposed to the virus, uncertainty about the future of their workplace, uneasiness about adapting to different workspaces, and feelings of insecurity about their productivity in a remote work environment).

GUEST:

Kendra DeKeyrel: Director, IBM AI Applications 

SOCIAL MEDIA: LinkedIn |

 With 20+ years at IBM, Kendra DeKeyrel is an expert at understanding how technology helps organizations solve critical business problems. As the director of offering management for the TRIRIGA portfolio at IBM, she focuses on bringing AI and IoT technologies together with core offerings to deliver greater value and insights to her customers. She oversees executive direction of product marketing, design, development, delivery, and support for TRIRIGA, one of the leading Integrated Workplace Management Systems in the world. 

 Prior to this role, she served as chief of staff to the IBM general manager of cloud integration. Previously she also was program director of employee productivity, senior manager of digital enablement and effectiveness for ibm.com. She was also a program manager overseeing enterprise content management implementation across IBM. 

 Kendra attended Texas State University and has written about digital productivity for IBM and industry publications.

The way we work has changed dramatically – and in some ways, permanently – over the last several months. Whether it’s learning new ways to communicate with colleagues and clients, being trained on new job functions in a completely different environment, or navigating career development while working remotely, this year’s rapidly changing circumstances have given workers around the world a lot to absorb – quickly. In the face of extraordinary change, technology has played a critical role in helping companies and their employees adapt. 

JOHN JORDAN 

John Jordan is the head of The Academy at Bank of America, an award-winning onboarding, coaching, and development organization, supporting more than 80,000 client-facing teammates across Bank of America’s Consumer & Small Business, Merrill, and Private Bank businesses.  

In his role, he is responsible for helping client-facing teammates develop the skills they need to grow their careers, be more productive, and meet the diverse needs of Bank of America’s clients. 

WHAT JOB SEEKERS AND RECRUITERS CAN EXPECT AS WE LOOK TO 2021. What is changing, what is staying the same, and how to best navigate the job market in the New Year. 

Leigh Margaret Stull discuses the following: 

•  What industries/roles are showing job growth  
• How data continues to empower tech in hiring 
• Ways in which recruiters can tap into AI tools for more efficient results 
• The need for companies to build diverse pipelines and address racial disparities 
• The shift from title-based searching to skill-based searching 

About Leigh-Margaret Stull: 

Leigh-Margaret Stull is Chief Product Officer at CareerBuilder.  

A data-driven leader within the talent acquisition industry, she leads the strategy, R&D and execution of product innovations that drive performance improvements on behalf of recruiters and candidates.  

She also oversees CareerBuilder’s global marketing strategy, elevating the company’s profile as a partner well-positioned to meet the needs of job seekers and employers building the workforce of the future.  

BACKGROUND: 

The New Year is quickly approaching and, as we look to 2021, many Americans have found themselves in the job market.  

The skills gap has led to employers more frequently asking candidates, “Can you do it?” vs. “Have you done it?”, driving up the importance of job seekers listing skills on their resume in addition to experience.  

Candidates will continue to demand greater flexibility from employers in support of desired work-life balance with companies needing to adjust and promote their company culture. Candidates increasingly look for employers with strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Successful companies will embrace technology and hiring processes that support efforts to attract, retain, and promote a diverse workforce.  

 For more information, please visit: www.CareerBuilder.com 

COVID-19 Exacerbates Lawsuit Abuse in Nation’s Judicial Hellholes 

Sherman “Tiger” Joyce, President of American Tort Reform Foundation

Graduate of Princeton University and Catholic University Law School, he served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator John C. Danforth until 1984. In 1987, after being admitted to the Virginia Bar, he became minority counsel to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, where he worked on product liability legislation. Mr. Joyce assumed his current position in August 1994.

For those listeners that are not aware, Judicial Hellholes have been deemed the most unjust local courts and state civil justice systems in the country and from my understanding, the Judicial Hellholes report digs into several concerning trends in the civil justice system and specifically highlights the surge of COVID-19 lawsuits.

It also explains the increase in artificially inflated damage amounts, called phantom damages, spurred by medical finance companies and trial lawyers issuing letters of protection to medical providers as a sort of “insurance” that they’ll be paid after a personal injury trial.

In spite of the pandemic, Judicial Hellholes pushed forward, allowing trial lawyers to continue abusing the civil justice system. Several state AGs took a more activist approach in their offices and expanded the applicability of public nuisance laws to envelop new societal issues. In Judicial Hellholes, they attempted to regulate various industries through litigation, abused laws meant to protect our most vulnerable by filing frivolous claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, allowed outside parties to fund lawsuits, and awarded outrageous, high-dollar verdicts.

The total cost of the U.S. tort system is approximately $373.1 billion as of 2019. The Judicial Hellholes report highlights costs and inefficiencies in the tort system. At a local level, these costs result in job loss, personal income loss, and state revenue loss due to the excessive tort costs in the states. The data demonstrates the need for a more balanced civil justice system.  

ABOUT AMERICAN TORT REFORM FOUNDATION (ATRF):

ATRF is a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation, founded in 1997. The primary purpose of the Foundation is to educate the general public about how the American civil justice system operates; the role of tort law in the civil justice system; and the impact of tort law on the private, public, and business sectors of society.

It is a sister organization of the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA). Founded in 1986, ATRA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and is the nation’s first organization dedicated exclusively to reforming the civil justice system through education and legislative enactment. 

ATRA acts as a nationwide network of state-based liability reform coalitions backed by 142,000 grassroots supporters. 

ATRA works to bring greater fairness, predictability, and efficiency to America’s civil justice system.

Those efforts have resulted in the enactment of state and federal laws that make the system fairer for everyone. 

 For more information go to JudicialHellholes.org