New Hire Roundup–Securities America Promotes Hulett; Hendrickson Joins HSBC

The SEC announced Tuesday that Pamela A. Gibbs has been named as the inaugural director of the office of minority and women inclusion, which oversees diversity in the agency's employment, management, and business activities. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandated that federal financial regulators each establish an office devoted to workforce diversity, the use of minority and women-owned service providers, and the assessment of the diversity policies and practices of the businesses each regulates.

Gibbs comes to the SEC from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where she has served since October 2009 as the director of its office of diversity and inclusion. She also worked with the agency's office of general counsel and office of human resources to ensure fairness and consistency in the agency's personnel policies and practices.

Prior to the CFTC, Gibbs spent 18 years at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she started in 1991 as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division. She later was acting deputy director for program operation in the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and was director of the equal employment opportunity unit in the Employment Standards Administration from April 2006 to October 2009.

Secretary of Labor Solis Announces New Leadership for 2012 ERISA Advisory Council

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis (left) recently announced the appointments of five new members to the 2012 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council. She also announced the appointment of the incoming chair and vice chair of the council.

The 15-member council provides advice on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by ERISA. Council members serve for staggered three-year terms, with employee organizations, employers and the general public represented by three members each. Additionally, there is one representative each from the fields of insurance, corporate trust, actuarial counseling, investment counseling, investment management and accounting.

Current members Mildeen Worrell and Karen Kay Barnes will serve as the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the council. The newly appointed members and the expertise they represent are as follows:

Ralph C. Derbyshire (investment management) is senior vice president and deputy general counsel for FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, in Boston, and directs legal support for administrative services to more than 18,000 employee benefit plans, which together cover more than 19.5 million individuals. Before joining Fidelity, Derbyshire served as the chief ERISA counsel for Putnam Investments. He also is an adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School where he teaches courses on ERISA and retirement plans.

James English (employee organizations) of Pittsburgh is treasurer of the Blue Green Alliance and Blue Green Alliance Foundation. He recently retired after 41 years with the United Steel Workers, where he most recently served as secretary-treasurer overseeing investments and financial operations. He also has served as a trustee for both single and multi-employer plans.

Cindy Hounsell (general public) is the president of the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement, a nonprofit education and advocacy group in Washington, D.C. An attorney and retirement expert, Hounsell leads WISER's efforts to increase the financial literacy of women to reduce the disadvantages that they face while saving for retirement, as well as efforts to improve and expand women's access to retirement planning.

David C. Kaleda (corporate trust) is a partner at Alston & Bird LLP in Washington, D.C. He provides advice to fiduciaries of large plans, trusts and other arrangements on issues related to design, fiduciary responsibility and various aspects of ERISA compliance. Previously, he served as a legal advisor to the employee benefits trust and the record-keeping/administration divisions of the Vanguard Group.

Neal S. Schelberg (employers) is a senior partner at Proskauer Rose LLP in New York. He serves as legal counsel to the boards of trustees for more than 50 multi-employer and single employer pension and welfare benefits plans. He has more than 30 years of experience in the area of employee benefits, including co-authoring the "ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book," and teaching courses at Fordham University Law School and New York University.