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About Gerstco

Our Affirmative Action Planning Consultants
Are Ready to Help Your Organization

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Our People

Gerstco employs experienced, seasoned professionals who can bring instant credibility to government compliance situations. Each Gerstco staff member has extensive education and training in Affirmative Action program development and strategic workforce planning.

Working with clients over time, Gerstco can recommend practical solutions and best practices to long-standing workforce issues. Our staff keep-up-to-date on all aspects of regulatory requirements and contractor obligations, including understanding when emerging regulatory issues can become contractor requirements.

"Beyond attracting and retaining professionals, Gerstco invests in the continued education of its employees to assure the quality and level of service our customers receive." – Sylvia Gerst, President, Gerstco

Meet our Executives and Senior Consultants

Sylvia R. Gerst
Sylvia R. Gerst
President & CEO
Sylvia is founder and President/CEO of Gerstco, Inc. Ms. Gerst's background includes positions with General Dynamics, San Diego, CA, Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA, (Corporate EEO Programs Manager), and The Boeing Company, Seattle, Washington (PHD recruiting). While employed at Hewlett-Packard, Sylvia was responsible for the development, implementation, and compliance of HP affirmative action programs for all domestic manufacturing and Sales & Service sites (120). She negotiated one of five US National Self-Monitoring and Reporting Systems (NSMRS) and Standard Affirmative Action Formats (SAAF) for the company, which allowed all HP AAP locations to be cleared at one time through OFCCP's National Office, for AAP reporting. She developed and implemented EO/AAP training programs for HP EEO Coordinators and chaired the Task Force to enhance HP AAP reporting systems in support of the NSMRS, which existed for five years. She piloted the company's first diversity program efforts and developed diversity training with PHD students from Stanford University.
Externally, Sylvia assisted in founding OFCCP Industry Liaison Groups in Silicon Valley and Denver, Colorado, and was Chair of the 1986 National ILG Conference, in San Francisco, CA. She received the Department of Labor / OFCCP award for her efforts in Industry Liaison Group activity. Sylvia attended San Diego State College and the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, majoring in Nursing and Psychology.
Since 1988, Sylvia has led Gerstco in its mission to provide expert consulting services and products to federal contractors. She also serves as a Trustee on the Boards of Sensory Access Foundation (SAF) and Project Hired in Santa Clara, California.
Tony Perkins
Tony Perkins
Vice President, Business Planning & Client Relations
Salvador T. "Tony" Perkins has been the Vice-President, Business Planning & Client Relations with Gerstco, Inc since 2003. He has over twenty years of experience in advising corporate managers on human resources and equal employment law matters. For ten and one-half years, Mr. Perkins was engaged in private law practice as a partner in the former Washington, D.C. firm of McGuiness, Norris & Williams, specializing in equal employment law. He was elected Secretary of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC), a non-profit association of major corporate employers affiliated with the law firm, and served as Counsel to EEAC's EEO/AA Compliance Committee where he provided counsel and advice to EEAC's member companies on a wide variety of employment law issues. Mr. Perkins also served as EEAC's principal trainer, developing and delivering a full curriculum of training programs for managers and human resources professionals on compliance with employment discrimination laws and regulations.
Mr. Perkins is co-author of "Developing Effective Affirmative Action Plans", 5th Edition, and, Equity at Work: A Manager's Guide to Fair Employment Laws and Practices, 2nd Edition, both published by EEAC. Prior to joining the law firm, Mr. Perkins spent ten years in private industry and the non-profit sector as a human resources professional, serving as a generalist with responsibility for directing the activities of the full HR department, and as a specialist in employee relations and equal employment opportunity compliance. His experience includes developing and implementing effective EEO policies and affirmative action plans, representing employers before federal and state enforcement agencies, and handling grievance and arbitration proceedings. He has worked in a variety of medium and large corporate organizations including financial services, aerospace, engineering and computer services.
Mr. Perkins received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Howard University in 1972, and a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1977.
Sharon Bragdon Koons
Sharon Bragdon Koons
Director of EEO and AAP Consulting
Sharon is a Senior AAP Consultant with Gerstco, Inc. Sharon has extensive experience in the EEO Compliance and Diversity field, first with Hewlett-Packard Organization and then with Agilent Technologies, Inc. Over the course of her career she has successfully completed numerous OFCCP audits.
Sharon's business affirmative action reporting has been cited as a "best practice example of clear and accurate information which can be used by my people when they are discussing diversity with their direct reports" by a former CEO of HP.
Sharon received a BA from the University at Buffalo (the State University of New York) and an MBA from San Francisco State University.

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