Our 2025 Speakers
Keynote: Joseph Cianciotta
Grant Thornton LLP
Prior to joining Grant Thornton’s Wealth & Employer Solutions practice, Joseph worked for CBS Corporation as a Payroll Tax Specialist. He primarily focused on preparing, analyzing and filing multiple Federal, State and Local Employment tax returns for all 50 states. During his time at CBS, Joseph assisted with the payroll processing function ensuring accurate payroll for all employees. Joseph maintains a strong understanding of federal, state and local employment tax regulations so that effective approaches can be applied to tasks and initiatives.
Joseph has a vast experience with many aspects of employment tax and payroll operations including employment tax refund review projects, payroll platform implementations, employment tax transaction and merger issues, including registration forms and employee travel and expense policies and procedures reviews. He specializes in employment tax, advising clients on various compliance and consulting issues including payroll tax compliance, information return (1099/W-2) technical consulting and filing issues and complex multi-state employment tax issues and reporting. Joseph has assisted clients with operational reviews that focus on the inputs and outputs of an organizations payroll/HRIS system.
Keynote: Albert Arazi
Albert is a Managing Director in Grant Thornton’s Wealth & Employer Solutions Consulting Practice in New York City.
At Grant Thornton, Albert supports clients nationwide and globally as a trusted business advisor across our human capital spectrum of offerings assisting with domestic and international compensation, benefit, and human resource issues. His experience ranges clients in various stages of their organization life cycle and over various client types including public companies, private organizations as well as a vast array of not-for-profit institutions. His experience includes advising clients and executives on all aspects of strategic planning and compensation, benefits and human resource issues, including but not limited to: strategic executive and broad-based compensation benchmarking analyses, executive and partner/owner compensation analyses, strategic compensation incentive (short & long-term) program and structure designs and implementations, benefit program competitiveness reviews, human resource operations consulting and reviews, and merger & acquisition due diligence.
In addition, Albert is an expert in compensation and benefit tax technical issues including topics such as section 280G change in control and severance arrangements and analyses, section 83 property/equity issues, section 409A / 457(f) issues, nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, intermediate sanctions analyses and reasonableness opinion letters, Affordable Care Act issues, qualified health and welfare plans, and qualified pension/retirement plans.
Albert also specializes in the area of employment tax advising clients on various compliance and consulting issues such as: payroll tax compliance, information return (1099/W-2) filing issues, payroll operational reviews, complex multi-state and global employment tax issues and reporting, and taxation of various employer provided fringe benefits.
Amber O’Dierno
Wage & Hour Investigator, U.S. Department of Labor-Wage and Hour Division
I have a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and I began my service with the federal government in 2009 at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In 2012, I left my position at the IRS and worked as an investigator at the New York State Department of Labor Division of Labor Standards until January of 2015. I became a wage and hour investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in January of 2015. In July of 2023, I was promoted to a senior investigator for the Albany district office and am still in that position. I investigate businesses to ensure compliance with a number of federal labor laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act (MSPA), The McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), The Davis Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), and several other acts.
Art Marrapese
Partner, Barclay Damon LLP
A former ERISA compliance and record-keeping firm owner with in-house financial services industry experience and over 30 years of legal experience, Art serves as the firm's Employee Benefits Practice Area chair. He primarily concentrates on helping plan sponsors and fiduciaries identify, prioritize, and minimize the litigation and liability risks associated with the management and administration of employee benefit programs through plan drafting, employee-communications strategies, plan-governance ideas, and “best practice” policies and procedures.
Art has extensive experience drafting employee benefit plan documents and summary plan descriptions, assisting senior executives and board members in understanding their fiduciary responsibilities and counseling on steps to minimize those responsibilities and the attendant litigation and liability risks.
He regularly advises plan sponsors, insurers, and health-plan service providers on issues relating to ERISA, COBRA, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and HIPAA privacy and security. He routinely negotiates administrative-service agreements, businessassociate agreements, and nondisclosure and data-transmission agreements related to the operation and administration of selffunded medical plans. Art also advises health insurance companies and brokers on designing, documenting, and administering insurance products and services in a manner that comports with applicable law, most notably the ACA.
In ERISA claims and dispute resolution, Art helps claims administrators and administrative committees maintain compliantclaims procedures, communicate the procedures to participants, and adhere to the timeline, notice, and substantive requirements of the procedure and federal law to help preserve administrative discretion. When litigation is unavoidable, Art aggressively represents plan sponsors, service providers, employee benefit plans, and plan fiduciaries in the defense of ERISA benefits and fiduciary-breach claims. He has argued ERISA cases in federal courts across New York State, including the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and also represents plan sponsors and fiduciaries in connection with US Department of Labor investigations and enforcement matters.
Bri Zakala
Client Solutions Director, Robert Half
Bri Zakala is a Client Solutions Director with Robert Half, the world’s first and largest talent solutions firm. She sits within the Upstate NY Management Resources practice group which covers Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. Bri specializes in assisting companies with project needs or interim support in areas such as Accounting, Finance/FP&A, Audit, ERP, Supply Chain, Business Systems, PMP, and Tax, from senior levels up to Director/CFO.
A native of Central New York, Bri earned a B.S. in Business Administration from SUNY Geneseo in 2017. She began her professional journey at Paychex in the insurance sector before joining Robert Half's Rochester branch in 2019. When she began with the firm as a Practice Director, she spearheaded the development of the permanent placement accounting operations division. Her leadership led to a 200% revenue increase, making it one of the leading Permanent Placement Divisions in the Northeast.
Bryan Thomas
Senior Director of Sales Eastern US, rapid!/Green Dot Corporation
Bryan Thomas is the Senior Director of Sales for the Eastern US at rapid! and Green Dot Corporation. In addition to his leadership and management role at rapid!, Bryan travels the United States to promote knowledge and education in the PayCard and Earned Wage Access industries through supporting and speaking at numerous conferences, trade shows, and association meetings annually.
Bryan has been with rapid! since 2011. In his time at rapid!, he has also held the positions of Territory Manager for the Northeast and the Director of Relationship Management. Prior to joining rapid!, Bryan worked for the Boy Scouts of America in East Hartford, CT, and Portland, ME, for 13 years. He held many roles with the Boy Scouts including Chief Development Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
Bryan grew up in Bristol, CT, and currently resides in East Greenwich, RI. He and his wife, Sara, have two grown children. Bryan is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University.
Dan Lavin
Employment Tax Practice, Equifax Workforce Solutions LLC
Dan joined the Employment Tax Practice of Equifax Workforce Solutions LLC in August, 2021. In his current role as an Account Executive, Dan supports his clients in the East coast with identifying state unemployment insurance (SUI) opportunities to reduce an employer's SUI tax costs. He also specializes in all employment tax compliance issues associated with employers going through mergers, acquisitions and internal reorganizations.
Prior to joining Equifax Workforce Solutions Dan spent time in the property & casualty insurance field and over a decade as a payroll consultant. Dan and his wife, Chrissy, currently reside in East Brookfield, MA. Dan enjoys volunteering his time as a high school basketball coach and is dedicated to finding the perfect craft beverage.
Michael Sciotti
Partner, Barclay Damon
Michael is a trusted advisor, trainer, and litigator to hundreds of employers on labor and employment matters. His practice includes defending employers, owners, and members of management in all types of discrimination, harassment, whistleblower, and retaliation claims brought under Title VII, ADEA, ADA, FMLA, GINA, NYS Human Rights Law, and Labor Law. Michael also defends wage-and-hour actions and claims, including class-action lawsuits, brought under federal and state law. He has tried nearly two dozen cases to verdict in federal and state court and before the NYS Division of Human Rights.
Michael also provides day-to-day counseling for employers on all aspects of labor and employment law and conducts internal investigations; audits; and supervisory and employee training, including sexual harassment-prevention training, on a regular basis. He has given over 1,100 labor and employment presentations to organizations that include the Society for Human Resource Management, the American Payroll Association, the American Corporate Counsel Association, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, the Northern District of New York Federal Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and Lorman Education Services.
Rori Carney
Director, Employment Tax Services, Equifax Workforce Solutions
Rori Carney joined the Employment Tax Practice of Equifax Workforce Solutions in September, 2012. With over thirty (30) years of experience, Rori is a subject matter expert who specializes in all employment tax issues associated with mergers, acquisitions and internal reorganizations.
Working with the Equifax client base of over 3,600 accounts, Rori leads a wide variety of employment tax engagements within the practice focusing on compliance, advisory and controversy services. She has a strong technical knowledge of a wide variety of employment tax issues including state unemployment and withholding tax sourcing, federal and state payroll tax implications of mergers and acquisitions, federal and state taxpayer advocacy procedures and federal and state refund recovery analysis.
Prior to joining Equifax, Rori spent 11 years with EY where she was a Senior Manager and a leader for the firm’s Employment Tax practice in the Midwest region. She has also worked with the KPMG state and local tax practice as an Employment Tax Manager and at Barnett Associates as an Account Executive. Rori has a Bachelor of Business Administration, Accountancy from Hofstra University and has been a Certified Payroll Professional since 2008. Rori resides on Long Island with her husband Ray, daughter Caleigh (a recent Hofstra University graduate as well) and their wheaten terrier, Lily.
Rosemary Enright
Partner, Barclay Damon
With over 15 years in management and leadership roles at multinational software company Oracle Corporation, Rosemary serves as the firm's Labor & Employment Practice Group leader, primarily concentrating on helping companies comply with state and federal labor laws. She has extensive experience handling matters involving discrimination in hiring, firing, and promotion; wages; benefits; civil-rights claims; and workplace investigations of discrimination and harassment claims. Rosemary also routinely drafts employee manuals, employment agreements, severance agreements, noncompetition agreements, and employment policies and procedures.
Rosemary uses her hands-on experience with professional services, product development; training; and resource, facility, and operations management to gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and needs of her business clients.
Rosemary's business background is complemented by the four years she spent clerking at a small boutique law firm specializing in plaintiff-side employment matters. This experience gives her unique insight into how to counteract typical plaintiff strategies to maximize results for her clients.
The independent research company Chambers & Partners said Rosemary is recognized “for her skilled handling of both labor and employment matters.”
Stephanie Broussard
Regional Director, Robert Half
Stephanie Broussard is a Regional Director for Robert Half, the world’s first and largest specialized talent solutions firm. In her current role, she oversees offices located in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, NY, and Providence, RI. Stephanie joined the company in 2015, bringing more than six years of staffing industry experience.
She began her journey at Robert Half as a Division Director over the Rochester Branch and quickly rose through the ranks, earning titles such as Branch Manager and Metro Market Manager. Stephanie has played a crucial role in leading the company’s Professional Talent Solutions, including contract and permanent placement in accounting and finance, administrative and customer support, and management resources. Under her leadership, these groups have achieved several all-time highs.
Stephanie is recognized as one of the company’s key pillars in Upstate New York, having built a strong and dedicated leadership team. She graduated from West Virginia University in 2008.
Tricia Richardson
Tricia earned a Bachelor of Science in Management Studies from the University of Maryland University College. She holds certifications as a Payroll Professional (CPP) from PayrollOrg (formerly the American Payroll Association), a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the HR Certification Institute, and a Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) from the Society for Human Resource Management.
At PayrollOrg, Tricia participates in both the National Speakers Bureau and the Government Relations Task Force addressing Federal and State concerns. She has also authored articles for Paytech Magazine.
Within the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the American Payroll Association, Tricia has taught Payroll and Human Resource Certification Study Groups and has served as Vice President and President.
She also serves as Treasurer for a non-profit association in Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylvania.