Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Goldman Sachs, 200 West St, New York, NY 10282.

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Hostage US will hold a daylong seminar in New York focusing on how organizations can effectively respond to kidnapping and the best practices in family support and hostage reintegration.

The seminar will answer key questions facing those responsible for kidnap response with organizations from security, legal, HR and communications disciplines:

What are my organizational and individual responsibilities and legal liabilities in relation to kidnapping? 

David McCraw, Assistant General Counsel at The New York Times will offer an organizational case study of a kidnapping and outline broader issues of duty of care facing employers.

How can my organization partner with the US Government in the event of the kidnapping of a member of staff or contractor?

Jeff Dubel, Acting Director of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell and Julia Nesheweit, Acting Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs will outline the structures and mechanisms for handling hostage cases within the US Government and how they work with the private sector in the event of a kidnapping.

What does it feel like to experience a kidnapping first hand both as a family member and a hostage?

Kristen Mulvihill and David Rohde were married two months before David was kidnapped and held captive for 7 months in Afghanistan. Kristen will speak about her experiences of handling the kidnapping as a family member and her experience working with other hostage families through her work as a board member of Hostage US. David, a double Pulitzer Prize winning journalist will talk about the challenges facing hostages when they return from captivity, including the mental, physical and return to work.

How can my organization assist families in handling the psychological, legal and practical challenges during a kidnapping?

Rachel Briggs OBE, Executive Director of Hostage US, will chair a panel discussion with Lydia Lin, Professional Support Lawyer at White & Case LLP, a Hostage US pro bono legal partner, and a mental health professional specializing in trauma. They will explore the wide range of legal, psychological and practical challenges that families can face throughout a kidnapping, the responsibilities of organizations to assist, and how best to organize this kind of support.

How can my organization support former hostages in dealing with their return home and to work?

Tim Phillips, CEO of Phillips & Company, a Hostage US pro bono financial advisory partner, and Eric Lebson, a national security and PR expert with the Crumpton Group who has worked on a number of hostage cases will outline some of the key challenges facing hostages and their employers after their release, including financial and PR/communications. Rachel Briggs will chair the discussion and introduce the Hostage US reintegration checklist for organizations.

What are the latest kidnapping trends? 
George Taylor Vice President of Global Operations at iJet has extensive experience in the security field and will outline the latest kidnapping trends and what they mean for your organization.

It will be held at the office of Goldman Sachs at 200 West St, New York, NY 10282.

In order to maintain the privacy of participants, the seminar will be held under the Chatham House rule and will not be open to the media.