Tripepi Smith Principal Katherine Griffiths, APR, will serve in a dual role at the upcoming California Public Employers Labor Relations Association (CALPELRA) Annual Conference, taking place Nov. 17–20 in Monterey. Katherine will lead onsite conference support for longtime client Renne Public Law Group (RPLG) while moderating a panel focused on one of public agencies’ most persistent workforce challenges: recruiting and retaining talented employees.
Throughout the conference, Katherine will help RPLG maximize its engagement with public-sector labor relations and human resources professionals. Her work will include supporting exhibit strategy and execution, identifying content and relationship-building opportunities and helping translate conference conversations into meaningful follow-up. The assignment builds on Tripepi Smith’s ongoing communications partnership with RPLG and reflects the firms’ shared commitment to helping public agencies address complex organizational challenges.
Katherine will also moderate “Culture First: How Workplace Environment Shapes Recruitment and Retention.”
Competitive compensation and benefits remain essential recruitment tools, but workplace culture increasingly influences whether employees choose to join — and stay with — a public agency. The session will examine how agencies can define, assess, communicate and strengthen their cultures while continuing to meet daily operational demands.
Katherine will be joined by City of Rancho Cucamonga Human Resources Director Robert Neiuber, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District Human Resources & Risk Manager Karen Resendez and City of Roseville Human Resources Manager Macy Dippert.
Together, the panelists will share practical strategies for assessing organizational culture, identifying gaps between stated values and employees’ experiences, navigating shifting workplace expectations and aligning culture-building initiatives with long-term recruitment and retention goals. Attendees will leave with approaches and tools they can adapt within their own organizations.
“CALPELRA gives us the opportunity to hear directly from public agency leaders about the workforce issues they are navigating,” said Katherine. “I’m excited to help RPLG turn those conversations into stronger connections and valuable follow-up while also leading a practical discussion about culture, recruitment and retention. If you’ll be in Monterey, I hope you’ll join our panel and seek me out with the RPLG team in the exhibit hall.”
About Renne Public Law Group
Named a Top Boutique Law Firm by the Daily Journal in 2019 and 2024, RPLG practices throughout California, advising and advocating for public agencies, nonprofit entities, individuals and private entities in need of effective, responsive and creative legal solutions.
About Tripepi Smith
Tripepi Smith is a California-based marketing, technology and public affairs firm that serves for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies. Its unique mix of marketing and technology prowess provides a competitive advantage to agencies seeking to leverage the internet to achieve their communication goals. The firm provides full content creation services, including: ghost writing, collateral development, photography, video production, aerial imagery, search engine optimization, email marketing campaigns and website design and execution. Tripepi Smith’s diverse clients include: City of American Canyon, City of Calabasas, City of Culver City, City of Cupertino, City of Daly City, City of Grover Beach, City of Indian Wells, City of La Cañada Flintridge, City of Lake Forest, City of Livermore, City of Malibu, City of Napa, City of Palmdale, City of Paramount, City of Tracy, CalChoice Energy Authority, California Joint Powers Insurance Authority, Santa Clara County Fire Department, Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Rowland Water District, California City Management Foundation, Renne Public Law Group, West Coast Arborists, Scripps College, Blind Children’s Center and Climatec.
