Joy Solomon, Esq, was the co-founder of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Justice.  Since 2004, Joy has provided leadership and vision to develop and grow the Weinberg Center from concept to a well-regarded national model.  Her expert strategic planning and consultation has been at the helm of the national replication of the shelter model, in a now burgeoning movement.  This includes spearheading the formation of the SPRiNG (Shelter Programs: Regional. National. Global.) Alliance™, a national network of elder abuse shelters and community of practice, based on the Weinberg model.

Joy is a frequent speaker on issues concerning elder abuse and elder justice, including testimony to the United States Senate, Special Commission on Aging.  Joy has also designed and provided extensive outreach and training to a diverse array of professionals, and as part of her global strategy to create elder abuse awareness among non-professionals, has created trainings that focus on the non-traditional trainee, including doormen, meals-on-wheels deliverers, and pharmacists. 

Screening for elder abuse detection in health care has been a priority for Joy.  In addition to developing evidence based screening protocols in long term care, Weinberg Center Risk and Abuse Prevention Screen (WC-RAPS), Joy has co-authored and published research papers relating to evidence based screening for elder abuse, co-authored numerous articles on elder justice, including a law review article, and most recently co-authored a chapter in a book on older adult safety. 

Joy’s work in long term care also includes an active role in the creation of sexual expression policies for residents, a resilience/well-being program for staff and caregivers, and a fresh look at death and dying in long term care.  Joy also developed a unique domestic violence initiative for all employees which includes training, human resource support, and a referral network.  Like the Weinberg Center and many of its innovative projects, these programs are easily replicable.

Joy was a founder of the Elder Abuse Committee of the New York State Bar Association.  In 2017, Joy was awarded the National Crime Victims Service Award by the United States Department of Justice. 

Joy was previously Director of Elder Abuse Services at the Pace Women’s Justice Center. For nearly a decade, Joy investigated and prosecuted a variety of crimes including child abuse, fraud, and elder abuse as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.

Joy is certified in mindfulness meditation and breathing, yoga, trauma-informed care and older adult mediation.  Joy also has training as a death doula.

Avery S. Fischer serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Ralph Lauren Corporation.  He is a member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team, leads the company’s global legal organization and is responsible for the company’s legal strategy, practices and policies.  He serves as a senior advisor to the company’s Board of Directors and leadership team on all complex global legal issues and business interests and manages all of the company’s global legal affairs.  He also has responsibility over the global International Trade, Risk Management and Health and Safety Compliance areas.  

Mr. Fischer advises the company on all corporate governance matters and counsels the company’s Board of Directors and each of the Board Committees.  His legal and business experience includes general corporate and commercial counseling, intellectual property, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, securities, real estate and corporate financing.  

Before joining Ralph Lauren in 2009, Mr. Fischer was a Corporate Partner at Kelley Drye & Warren, a large international law firm.  Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel of RSL Communications, a publicly-traded, global telecommunications company which operated in 22 countries.  He managed all the company’s global legal affairs, including the company’s initial public offering, and negotiated numerous mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and partnership agreements.

Earlier in  his career, Mr. Fischer served as a corporate attorney at Rosenman & Colin (currently Katten Muchin Rosenman), a large international law firm, with a practice concentrating in mergers and acquisitions, securities and general corporate counseling and, prior to that, served as a litigation associate at the New York based law firm of Shea & Gould.

Mr. Fischer has previously served on the Board of Directors of Delta Three, Inc., formerly a public company pioneering in IP telephony, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care.  He is currently an officer of The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation and served on the international Best Lawyers Advisory Board.  

Mr. Fischer has been a speaker at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Penn Law Symposium on the panel: “Fast Fashion: a system for democratization or for theft?” and at a Brooklyn Law School forum on “Fashion Law.”  He also participated at the Fashion Law Institute of the Fordham University Law School on several panels relating to the role of in-house counsel and fashion law and has been for the last several years a guest professor at Duke Law School on the topic of “The Chief Legal Officer’s Role in Business Strategy.”  Mr. Fischer received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School.