Alex-Acosta

President Donald Trump has chosen American lawyer and current dean of the Florida International University College of Law, Alexander Acosta, as his new pick for Labor Secretary. Trump’s pick came one day after his first pick, CKE Restaurants CEO Andrew Puzder, withdrew his name from the position.

The president apparently didn’t waste any time once Puzder officially withdrew his name, meeting with Acosta Wednesday evening, according to Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs. Shortly after their meeting, the White House announced that Trump would reveal his pick early Thursday afternoon. At the press conference, Trump said he wished Acosta the best and he thinks he’s “going to be a tremendous Secretary of Labor.”

In January, the economy added 227,00 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up very slightly to 4.8 percent, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor force also grew by 584,000 people last month, raising the labor force participation rate by 0.2 percentage points, meaning more people were looking for work.

As Labor Secretary, Acosta will be charged with enforcing rules meant to protect American workers. Something he knows about well from his time as a member of the National Labor Relations Board from Dec. 17, 2002 through Aug. 21, 2003, where he participated in or authored more than 125 opinions. As a member of the board, Acosta was tasked with safeguarding employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative. The agency also acts to prevent and remedy unfair labor practices committed by private sector employers and unions.

In contrast to Puzder who had no public service experience, Acosta also served as assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division under President George W. Bush for just under two years until his resignation in June 2005. He has also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division and, more recently, as the U.S. Attorney for Southern District of Florida where he was the longest serving U.S. Attorney in the District since the 1970s.

If confirmed, Acosta would be the first Hispanic in Trump’s Cabinet. According to his bio on FIU’s website, he has twice been named one of the nation’s 50 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business Magazine, and he was named to the list of 100 most influential individuals in business ethics in 2008.

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.