The People’s Music School (TPMS) is thrilled to welcome Sally Cohen, Eric Holder, and David Michael to our Board of Directors. Each brings a wealth of professional experience, a deep commitment to community, and a personal connection to the arts and music. We’re excited to have their expertise and perspectives helping guide TPMS as we continue expanding access to tuition-free, intensive music education for young people across Chicago.
Sally Cohen
Sally Cohen is an attorney at Hale Law, LLC in Chicago, where she practices post-conviction and appellate litigation, representing incarcerated clients and pursuing federal civil rights claims.
Sally began her career in commercial litigation at Latham & Watkins and went on to clerk for Justice Robert E. Gordon of the Illinois Appellate Court. Prior to joining Hale Law, she practiced indigent criminal defense at the Office of the State Appellate Defender. Sally earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. As a lifelong Chicagoan educated in Chicago Public Schools, she is proud to support TPMS’s work bringing tuition-free music education to children across the city.
Eric Holder
Eric Holder is a Wealth Advisor with Bernstein Private Wealth Management in Chicago, where he advises affluent families, family offices, foundations, and institutional clients. Before joining Bernstein in March 2022, he held positions as a Trust Portfolio Manager at Regions Bank in Nashville, where he managed multi-generational investment assets for prominent families in the southeast, and SunTrust Bank’s Foundations and Endowments Specialty Practice, comprised exclusively of nationwide nonprofits.
Originally a Denver native, he is a 20-year veteran of the investment industry and holds a BSBA in Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. A former touring musician, Eric enjoys playing guitar and serving the nonprofit arts community.
David Michael
David Michael is a Managing Partner and the Chair of the Human Resources & Employment Law Practice at Gould & Ratner LLP.
Companies turn to David for practical and experienced counsel informed by more than 31 years of handling complex human resources, employment, and labor issues for management. He helps employers navigate the often-tricky nature of multilayered government laws and regulations and advocates for them in disputes at governmental agencies and in state and federal courts.
David represents a wide variety of clients, ranging from middle-market public and private companies to closely held and family-run businesses to not-for-profit organizations. He works closely with employers and their HR professionals, providing proactive advice on a variety of particularly complex employment-related topics.
In addition to litigation, David also assists employers with training their workforces on employment-related topics. He routinely conducts training seminars for employers and their employees on topics such as harassment prevention, performance management, employment discrimination basics, hiring and firing, accommodating disabled employees, leadership, workplace violence, and risk management.
David frequently writes and speaks on current topics in human resources and employment law. In addition, he is the editor and a frequent contributor to Gould & Ratner’s HR Law Blog. David has served in a similar capacity for the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation and authored articles for numerous magazines and newsletters on a wide variety of employment-related topics.
When David is not helping his clients solve complicated employee problems, you can find him running, playing guitar, designing furniture, serving on community and charitable boards, or cheering on his beloved Manchester United and Indiana Hoosiers to victory.