Speakers
Dr. Amy Acton
Physician & Former Director, Ohio Department of Health
Dr. Amy Acton is a physician and community leader who has spent over 30 years pursuing her passion for public health and wellness. She is a life-long Ohioan who grew up in Youngstown, and raised her children in Bexley as she built her career in advocacy and education.
She was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to serve as the former Ohio State Health Department Director and was the first woman physician to ever hold the position. As Director, she helped save countless lives by leading the Covid response for 11.7 million Ohioans in addition to passing Tobacco-21, anti-vaping policies, and more.
For The Columbus Foundation, Dr. Acton served as the Vice President of Human:Kind and Director of Kind Columbus. She promoted kindness as an enduring community value to ensure a vibrant community in which all Ohio citizens can lead flourishing lives and contribute to their full potential. Acton is also running for Governor of Ohio, and believes it is time to give power back to the people and our communities.
Jack Buettner
Arbitrator
Jack Buettner joined the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in August 1973 and was assigned to the Cleveland Regional Office. He was responsible for mediating labor-management disputes with the public, private, and federal sectors throughout the United States.
In addition, Jack has presented a wide variety of training programs at both the state and national levels. He has addressed many educational, business, medical, and labor management organizations on a wide variety of topics. He has served as the health care coordinator, the district director, the preventive mediation coordinator, director of mediation services, and as regional director for the Midwestern region of the FMCS. He has worked with several international agencies to include the Western Caribbean Nations, the Irish Mediation Service, and the Taiwanese government.
Outside of work, Jack has served on the Cuyahoga County Library Board, the Advisory Board of the Catholic Social Services Agency, the Labor and Employment Relations Association, and as an instructor at Cleveland State University.
Mike Hunter
Attorney
Mike Hunter became a State Employee in 1969 when he was hired as an Aide at the Athens Mental Health Center. He became the President of AFSCME Local 1782 at the Center in 1973 and continued in that roll until 1977. In 1977 he became employed by AFSCME as a Staff Representative, a position he held until 1982. In that role he serviced public and private sector units, processing grievances, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, and organizing new units.
In the fall of 1982, Mike left his position with AFSCME in order to attend Capital University Law School. After graduating from Law School in 1985, he practiced union-side labor law, initially with the firm of Cloppert, Portman, Sauter, Latanick and Foley. In 1996, he co-founded the firm of Hunter, Carnahan, Shoub, Byard and Harshman, where he continued until stepping back from the day-to day practice of law in 2019.
Mike is admitted to practice before the state courts of Ohio, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts in Ohio, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Columbus Bar Association, the Ohio Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.