| R. Alexander Acosta Secretary of Labor United States Department of Labor President Donald J. Trump nominated R. Alexander Acosta to be the 27th United States Secretary of Labor. He was sworn in on April 28, 2017. Secretary Acosta is the son of Cuban refugees, a native of Miami, and first-generation college graduate. He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University. Following law school, he worked as a law clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then worked at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis and went on to teach at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law. Secretary Acosta has served in three presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed positions. In 2002, he was appointed to serve as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, where he participated in or authored more than 125 opinions. In 2003, he was appointed Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and from 2005 to 2009 he served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Most recently, Secretary Acosta served as the dean of the FIU College of Law. Secretary Acosta has twice been named one of the nation’s 50 most influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business magazine. He was also named to the list of 100 most influential individuals in business ethics in 2008. In 2013, the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce presented him with the Chairman’s Higher Education Award in recognition of his “outstanding achievements, leadership and determination throughout a lifetime of caring and giving back to the community.” Secretary Acosta and his wife enjoy spending time together as a family, raising their two daughters. | |
| Susan Adzick Vice President, Sales & Marketing McLane Company As Vice President, Sales and Marketing for McLane Company’s Foodservice division, Susan Adzick is responsible for revenue of $7.5B, the strategic direction of the division and its 10 team members, business development and customer relationship management. She joined McLane Company in 2000, bringing more than 30 years of foodservice and supply chain leadership, chemical manufacturing and executive management experience to her role with the company. Working across all departments within McLane, Susan also leverages the strengths of the organization to develop optimal supply chain solutions for current and prospective customers. Since joining McLane, she has worked to elevate the McLane Foodservice brand to higher visibility within the industry and brand recognition across all categories, grew market share with existing brands and added new customers expanding into casual dining and fast casual brands, and developed innovative approaches to inbound freight programs to secure long-term revenue stream and optimum pricing for the company’s Foodservice customers. Prior to her time at McLane, Susan served as senior vice president, national accounts at AmeriServe Food Distribution. There, she was responsible for $3.2B in revenue accounts, negotiating contracts, expanding revenue streams, building market share and overall customer relationships. Before that, Susan held the title of vice president of operations at PepsiCo Food Systems, where she started her career in food distribution. | |
| Jill Ahern Senior Director-Insights & Design, Packaging HAVI Jill Ahern has focused her career to helping businesses create and implement sound strategies, build brands, and create winning products. In her current role as Senior Director of Insights & Design at HAVI, Jill leads the global packaging research and insights functions whose strategic direction and data guide some of the world’s largest foodservice brands, and touch an estimated 70 million consumers every day. Since joining and starting the practice at HAVI in 2012, Jill has developed proprietary consumer research techniques, consulted with Fortune 100 & 500 brands, and established the leading consumer trends and insights platform for the foodservice packaging markets. Jill frequently publishes and presents on global consumer trends, consumer behaviors and packaging semiotics. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, and a M.B.A. from the U of MN Carlson School of Management. | |
| Mark Allen President & CEO IFDA Mark Allen is President & CEO of the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), a McLean, Virginia based trade organization representing the $235 billion foodservice distribution industry. Allen oversees IFDA’s day-to-day operations, including all initiatives in education, research and government relations. He also serves on IFDA’s Board of Directors, which is composed of the presidents and CEOs of 25 major foodservice distribution companies. | |
| Art Bell Partner Kinetic12 Art brings more than 20 years of experience in consulting, client service and manufacturer marketing and sales. As a partner with Kinetic12, Art works with leading Foodservice companies to build new capabilities and organizations; develop and implement business strategies; and deliver positive enterprise value. Prior to co-founding Kinetic12, Art served as a partner at The Partnering Group where he was one of the leaders of establishing best practices in collaborative planning within the Foodservice industry. Art consulted with both B2B and B2C clients in areas such as category management, customer planning, route-to-market strategy, customer & channel segmentation, insight development & application, and pricing and trade spend strategy. Earlier in his career, Art held various marketing and pricing roles at Sara Lee Foodservice and was a consultant at Deloitte Consulting. Art has an MBA from the University of Michigan and received a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia. Art is a registered Certified Public Accountant in Illinois. | |
| Ira Blumenthal Founder & President CO-OPPORTUNITIES, INC. Ira Blumenthal is the founder and president of CO-OPPORTUNITIES, Inc., an Atlanta-based consulting company that has counseled world-class clients such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, McDonald’s, Disney, and Marriott, along with numerous others, in areas related to branding, strategic alliances, change management and business development. Before founding CO-OPPORTUNITIES, Inc., Ira held various executive management positions in foodservice manufacturing with companies such as Sara Lee and others. He was an instructor at The Foodservice Institute at the University of Notre Dame, as well as a visiting professor at the Food Industry Institute at Michigan State University. Ira was also the inaugural Executive-In-Residence at Georgia State University’s School of Hospitality. He is the recipient of numerous industry awards including IFMA’s “Key Person Award,” “The President’s Award,” etc. Ira also serves as the Executive Director of the Independent Broker Alliance (IBA), an organization comprised of 31 foodservice sales agencies covering 48 states. He sits on a number of foodservice industry as well as civic boards (i.e. Steven Tyler’s “Janie’s Fund;” Blaze Sports, the organization that supports U.S. Paralympics; The Pat Summitt Leadership Group; etc.) and was also the co-founder and former managing director of The Restaurant Industry Executive Council (RIEC), a group comprised of the CEOs from the top 35 grossing restaurant chains in the US. The RIEC is supported by the National Restaurant Association, The Women’s Foodservice Forum and The Coca-Cola Company. Ira was also the co-founder of the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation’s Resource Center for Workforce Solutions, The Foodservice Branding Institute and the National Association of Convenience Stores “CAFÉ” (Center for Achieving Foodservice Excellence). He is also a best-selling author (Managing Brand You) and an accomplished public speaker who has delivered over 2000 speeches on 5 continents. | |
| Dennis Clabby Executive Vice President Independent Purchasing Cooperative, Inc. Dennis Clabby offers more than 27 years of purchasing experience mostly in foodservice. In 1997, Clabby joined IPC, Independent Purchasing Cooperative, Inc., a supply chain management organization that supplies all goods and services to the international sandwich shop, SUBWAY®. Clabby began with IPC when SUBWAY® had 8,000 sandwich shops and has served on the SUBWAY® Strategic Planning Council to help grow the brand to 40,000+ units worldwide. IPC manages in excess of $5 billion annually covering food, packaging, equipment supplies, distribution and services. In addition to North America responsibilities, Clabby assisted in the startup of four additional IPC offices internationally for global supply chain coverage located in Sydney, Australia, covering Pacific Rim; London, England, covering Europe, Dubai covering the Middle East and Miami, Florida covering Latin America and the Caribbean. Clabby graduated from The College of New Jersey in 1977 with a major in Business Economics. In addition, Clabby earned a Master of Business Administration at Monmouth University in Monmouth, New Jersey. Clabby is a member of the Board of Directors for the Latin America and Caribbean IPC. | |
| Jason Dorsey Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer The Center for Generational Kinetics Jason Dorsey is the leading Millennials and Gen Z researcher and speaker. He has been featured on 60 Minutes, 20/20, The Today Show, and over 100 more TV interviews. His passion is solving tough generational challenges for organizations and leaders. Jason has received over 1,000 standing ovations from audiences as large as 16,000. He brings a new approach to generations based on his breakthrough research. He’s funny, too. Just ask his mom. Jason wrote this first bestselling book at age 18. His newest bestseller is Y-Size Your Business which solves the biggest challenges within a multi-generational workforce. Jason is Chief Strategy Officer at The Center for Generational Kinetics. He leads research for companies and organizations around the world. The diversity of his clients allows him to uncover trends early so you stay ahead of the curve. Jason won the Austin Under 40 Entrepreneur of the Year Award at age 25—one of the youngest winners ever. He now serves as a board member for venture-backed and emerging technology companies. | |
| Joan Driggs Director of Strategy Progressive Grocer Joan Driggs is Managing Director – Strategy, Member Development at Path to Purchase Institute and Director of Strategy, Progressive Grocer, both of which are part of EnsembleIQ, a business intelligence resource that helps people and their organizations succeed. For the Path to Purchase Institute, Joan works with industry partners to provide solutions for shared, focused challenges. Through her work on Progressive Grocer, Joan continues to support the U.S. grocery industry in the never-ending quest to “stay ahead of what’s next.” Prior to joining EnsembleIQ (the division known as Stagnito Business Information) Joan was Director of Research at Mintel, a global consumer and market research firm, where she oversaw the company’s robust series of syndicated reports. Joan is a member of the Western Michigan University Food/CPG Industry Advisory Board and of Les Dames d’Escoffier. Follow her on Twitter: @JoanPGrocer, twitter.com/JoanPGrocer | |
| Richie Etwaru Chief Digital Officer QuintilesIMS Richie Etwaru is QuintilesIMS’s chief digital officer, where he is responsible for identifying, prioritizing and embedding technology innovation and digital trends into the vision, strategy, and operating model of their Global Technology Solutions business unit. He is also the author of Blockchain: Trust Companies: Every Company Is at Risk of Being Disrupted by a Trusted Version of Itself In his speeches, Mr. Etwaru argues why blockchain and the digital currencies that use it will disrupt commerce in the coming years. He explores how blockchain has the potential to close the expanding trust gap in commerce by reducing intermediaries in transactions, decreasing the need for customer verification, and cutting down on fraud. He makes the case for why consumers will naturally trust companies utilizing these technologies. In his view, this means that companies across the board need to adopt blockchain, or risk being disrupted by more trusted blockchain versions of themselves. Richie Etwaru has delivered over 100 blockchain keynotes across the world and has advised governments and venture funds on blockchain opportunities. He is also an adjunct professor of blockchain management at Syracuse University in New York. | |
| Richard Ferranti Executive Vice President & COO Rich Products Corporation As Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Rich Products Corporation, Richard Ferranti is responsible for overseeing Rich’s five regional businesses: the United States/Canada Region (including the In-Store Bakery, Foodservice, Ingredients and Consumer Brands divisions), Asia Pacific Region, Latin America Region, Europe/Middle East Region and Africa Region. He is a member of Rich’s Executive Strategic Leadership Team, which guides the company’s business strategy and reports to the CEO. A Rich’s associate since June 1986, Richard has held various positions throughout the organization and has considerable experience in managing organizational expansion, negotiations, and employee leadership and development. Prior to becoming COO, Richard spent five years as president of Rich’s North America Business Group. Before that, he also served 10 years as president of Rich’s International Business Group, where he was responsible for international initiatives, including exports, foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures. Richard is involved with several industry associations, including serving as the Chairman of the Board of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) in 2015 after numerous years as a board member, and the World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara, an international business development organization that strengthens the competitive international position of companies in upstate New York and Niagara, Ontario. He is also active with Western New York community organizations, including the Leadership Society for the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, and is a board member of Jump Soft, a technology company. In addition to his community involvement, Richard is frequently a guest lecturer on international business and world affairs topics at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he is a member of UB’s Dean’s Advisory Board. Richard earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Buffalo’s Canisius College and a master’s in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program, which brings together political and business leaders from around the world. | |
| Edgar Gonzalez Prepared Foods Project Manager Northgate Gonzalez Markets Edgar Gonzalez is the Prepared Foods Project Manager for Northgate Gonzalez Markets, a family owned and operated Hispanic retailer based out of Southern California. With 42 locations in Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties, they specialize in authentic, regional, Hispanic foods found all over Latin America. Edgar is involved in the development and roll out of new programs for our prepared foods department. | |
| G.J. Hart Executive Chairman & CEO California Pizza Kitchen G.J. Hart is Executive Chairman and CEO for California Pizza Kitchen, the pioneer of creative dining with a California vibe. CPK fundamentally changed the way people think about pizza and California cuisine. From innovative pizzas to one-of-a-kind, entrees, salads, pastas and desserts, CPK is the leader in the Polished Casual Dining segment. Since joining CPK in August 2011, G.J. is leading the 32-year-old brand to its Next Chapter of growth with a program that infuses a fresh, contemporary look, innovative menu and world class service model. The transformation, which began in 2014, is elevating the guest experience in all of the company’s nearly 200 restaurants across the US, with its reimagined menu available nationwide as of April 2016, renovations continuing into 2017, and new restaurants opening in markets across the country. Since G.J. took the helm, CPK has also expanded its international footprint with franchised operations in 16 countries, with a total US and global footprint approaching 300 restaurants worldwide and growing. A highly respected industry leader with 36 years of foodservice operations and management experience, G.J. has a proven track record of growing casual dining concepts. Prior to joining CPK, he served as President and CEO of Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse restaurants where he expanded the brand to more than 450 restaurants in 49 states and two international markets. G.J. has been consistently recognized for his innovative leadership ideas in employee engagement, culture and philanthropy. His personal philosophy of leading with your heart and promoting positive change has resulted in powerful and unique organic initiatives such as CPK’s Inspired Acts community restoration and renewal program and CPK’s Kindness Fund, a 501c3 charitable fund established and funded by CPK employees to provide assistance to fellow employees who have a sudden financial emergency due to a catastrophe or crisis in their life. In 2012, G.J. was the first to be named into the James Madison University Hospitality School Hall of Fame. In 2015, he and his wife Heather Hart jointly announced a $3 million gift commitment to JMU resulting in the newly renamed Hart School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management. The intention of this gift is to help young people to be successful in work that emphasizes the importance of serving the public through a career in hospitality. He is on the National Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and serves advisory board memberships with the following organizations: Bellarmine University Trustee, Advisory Board at James Madison University Business School, Kosair Children's Hospital Foundation, Thornton Oil, and University of Louisville’s College of Business and Public Administration. He has been an active member of Habitat for Humanity, Volunteers of America, the Special Olympics, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America and was the Founder of the Louisville Metro Police Foundation. G.J. is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the World Presidents’ Organization (WPO) and was named a Top CEO for investor relations by IR Magazine. G.J. has been recognized for his entrepreneurial vision and leadership of California Pizza Kitchen’s Next Chapter as a finalist of EY’s prestigious 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Los Angeles and as the recipient of one of the industry’s highest honors, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association’s 2017 Silver Plate Award in the Chain Full Service category. | |
| Hattie Hill President and Chief Executive Officer Women’s Foodservice Forum Hattie Hill is President and Chief Executive Officer of WFF, the industry’s premier leadership development organization working since 1989 on advancing women in the food industry. Through competency-based education events and rich networking opportunities, WFF serves thousands of professionals and hundreds of employers across the country in advancing the careers of women in manufacturing, operations, distribution, publishing, consulting and all segments of the food industry ecosystem. Hattie is an international leadership development expert, business owner, best-selling author and globally renowned thought leader. Prior to WFF, she served as CEO of Hattie Hill Enterprises, Inc., a global management, employee engagement and development firm that provided leadership development for thousands of senior leaders at numerous Fortune 500 companies and major organizations throughout North America and 50 countries—including food industry companies, such as McDonald’s, Aramark and many others. Hattie is regularly quoted in local and national news publications, including: The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Dallas Business Journal. She has been recognized by several organizations including: Forbes Magazine, Ernst & Young, Savoy Magazine, the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce and Nations Restaurant News. Her current and past board memberships include: the Federal Reserve, Emory University Gozuieta Business School, Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, and past chair of Visit Dallas. | |
| Jack Li Builder Datassential Jack Li spearheads Datassential's custom insights and new products initiatives. Jack has led hundreds of research studies for foodservice manufacturers and distributors across a broad array of topics. Jack holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and is a 2003 recipient of the IFMA Sparkplug award. | |
| Liz Meyerdirk Senior Director, Business Development UberEverything Liz Meyerdirk leads the global business development team for UberEverything. As one of the early members of the UberEverything team, Liz has been involved in driving the business strategy, large partnerships and evolution of the UberEverything businesses, such as UberEATS. Prior to Uber, Liz served in a number of business development, corporate development and business analytics roles at growth stage technology companies. She started her career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and was a venture capital investor at Technology Crossover Ventures. Liz holds a BS in Biology and a BA in Economics from Stanford University. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Liz lives in San Francisco with her husband and two kids. She remains a loyal Michigan Wolverines sports fan. | |
| Dean Owens Dean T. Owens has been active in restaurant management and ownership, as well as holding senior leadership positions in merchandising and operations with some of the most innovative and respected food retailers in the US. A confirmed Foodie, Dean has been an influential executive in fresh food and developing clean profiles and healthy good-for-you foods. In 2017, Dean founded Adventurous Retail and Restaurant Consulting, a consulting firm specializing in business development, product and recipe development, strategic alignment of perishable food groups, creation of Meal Solution, Snack, Appetizer, and Cut-Fruit sets, design and layout of new food service venues and concepts, Natural and Organic - evaluate product ingredients to achieve a cleaner deck and adjusting retail sets. Mr. Owens was recruited to Raley’s a privately held, family-owned supermarket chain operating 121 stores in Northern California and Nevada Markets, in 2013, by the owner and CEO, to transform Raley's Nob Hill Division and Food Service program from conventional grocer to authentic, local fresh foods leader. He held total P&L responsibility for over $500 million in annual sales and successfully achieved impressive results from the effort. Prior experience with Whole Foods Market, a publicly traded (NASDAQ: WFM) Health Food/Supermarket chain, where Dean devised a comprehensive merchandising roadmap for the Southeast Division to improve store sales and profitability. Recognized by senior leadership for successfully creating the most profitable store in company history. Additionally, served as Perishable and Operations Director for H-E-B’s Central Market, a high-volume food store, specializing in high-quality, hard-to-find organic and international food selection, including a European-style bakery and extensive wine and beer selections. Heavily involved in-store introductions across Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, and Plano and creating new venues in Wine, Food Services, Produce, Cooking demonstrations, Housewares and both store and equipment design. H-E-B GROCERY COMPANY, is a legendary grocer and the largest privately-held company in the state of Texas operating over 300 stores with annual sales of $13 billion. Mr. Owens initial foray into food retailing was with industry icon, Harry Blazer, and Harry’s Farmers Markets, in Atlanta, GA, where Dean served as Director of Operations, and President of Harry’s in a Hurray, the innovative small store concept. With total P&L responsibility, reported to the Board of Directors for all financial and strategic results. Successfully increased store sales each year and improved store’s transaction by introducing innovative new products, pricing options, and merchandising plans. In 1992, Dean Played an integral role in the launch of the biggest brewing pub chain nationwide, The Mill Brewery, Eatery and Bakery, developing menus, store layouts, and organizational design. As Vice President of Operations/Partner, was responsible for a 19-unit chain in the Southeast region with $28 million in annual sales. Mr. Owens earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS. | |
| Fred Paglia President of Foodservice Kerry Fred Paglia is the President of Foodservice, Retail and Beverage for Kerry North America. In this role, Fred has full P&L responsibility across RDA, manufacturing, sales and marketing driving growth across all Kerry technologies. Prior to joining Kerry, Fred has spent over 30 years in Foodservice in numerous leadership roles and was last the President of Kraft North America Foodservice and U.S. Growth Channels with responsibility for Foodservice, Club, Value, Drug, E-commerce and Convenience Channels. Fred serves on the Board of Directors of the Women's Foodservice Forum as well holding a Board position with the International Food Manufacturers Association. He earned both his BS and MBA from Bentley University. | |
| Steve Pattison Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President, Business Analysis and Risk Management Restaurant Services, Inc., (RSI) Steve Pattison is Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President, Business Analysis and Risk Management of Restaurant Services, Inc., (RSI) located in Miami, Florida. RSI is the exclusive purchasing agent and supply chain manager for the Burger King system restaurants in North America. Steve also serves as General Manager of RSI’s wholly owned for profit subsidiary, Supply Chain Services LLC, which provides supply chain services to restaurant and retail chains outside the Burger King system. Prior to joining RSI, Steve held a number of progressive corporate finance roles at Burger King Corporation (“BKC”) for ten years. Prior to Burger King, practiced as a CPA for 12 years with KPMG Peat Marwick LLC providing auditing, accounting and business advisory services to clients in a variety of industries. Steve also serves as Chair of the national board of directors of the Florida State University (FSU) Alumni Association and a member of the board of the FSU Foundation Real Estate Board. He also represents RSI on the board of directors of the Burger King McLamore Foundation, which serves as the philanthropic vehicle for the Burger King system, and on the investment committee of the Broward Community Foundation, which oversees an investment portfolio of $140 billion. Steve is also a member of board of the Lambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation. Steve also serves as chairman of the board of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) Supply Chain Executive Study Group, and is a Trustee of the NRA Educational Foundation board. Steve is also a member of a number of industry advisory boards, including Texas Christian University Supply Chain department, the IFMA sponsored Supply Chain Optimization advisory board and South Florida Institute of CFO’s advisory board. | |
| Steven Petusevsky Chef Steven M. Petusevsky Enterprises Chef Steve was the National Director of Creative Food Development for Whole Foods Market from 1990 to 2002. He wrote the book on natural foods, quite literally. He is the author of The Whole Foods Market Cookbook – A Guide to Natural Foods with 350 Recipes published by Clarkson Potter in the fall of 2002. Since 2002, he has worked as an outside resource and industry consultant to innovate or create food service programs for major retail and restaurant chains and institutions including Google, Lettuce Entertain You Group, UCLA, UMASS, Roundy’s, Mariano’s , Foodlands Farms, and Lucky’s Markets, among others. His passion and expertise in “plant forward” and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine remains the central focus of his work. His recently published books, The Diabetes Vegetarian Cookbook and Sizzle and Smoke: Diabetes Friendly Recipes for Charcoal, Gas and Stovetop Grills were published by the American Diabetes Association in 2013 and early 2014. Chef Steve is currently a member of the Menus of Change Advisory Board for the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and is co-chair of the CIA’s new Appetites & Innovation initiative, a national leadership collaborative created for the purpose of advancing culinary excellence, health & wellness, sustainability, and cultures of innovation in retail food service. | |
| Jeff Schroeder Managing Partner Kinetic12 Jeff offers more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in sales, marketing, innovation, strategy and new product development with top tier CPG, Financial Services and Consulting Companies, including Procter & Gamble, Pepperidge Farm, American Express, The Partnering Group and Kinetic12. At the culmination of his nine-year career at Procter & Gamble, Jeff led the creation and development of national customer execution plans for such iconic brands as Pampers and Luvs. After cultivating multi-industry senior leadership positions, including Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Jeff joined The Partnering Group where he led the creation, development and execution of industry best practice initiatives such as the Full Plate Foodservice Category Management Platform. He additionally led engagements and client teams focused on innovation, new product development, strategy and marketing at companies, including Sara Lee, Georgia Pacific, PepsiCo, Campbell’s Soup and The Coca-Cola Company. Currently, Jeff holds the position of Managing Partner at Kinetic12, working with Foodservice Industry leaders to drive innovation, strategic planning, ground-breaking marketing strategy and excellence in sales execution. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Risk Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. | |
| Ken Shearer Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales HAVI Ken Shearer is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Business Development for HAVI. He is responsible for growing the entire suite of HAVI services and solutions business on a global basis. Ken has an extensive background in B2B sales, service, consulting, analytics and business leadership. He is an active member of IFMA and the NRA Supply Chain Study Group. His expertise is around connecting technical and analytical solutions to real business challenges for clients. Previous to HAVI, Ken was a senior Partner at Gallup, guiding senior clients on a global basis in medical device, pharmaceutical, hospitality, oil & gas, heavy industry and retail industries. Previously, he had been CEO and President of three different marketing and consulting firms with global operations. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has an MBA from the University of Denver. Ken and his wife reside in Illinois, where they serve as Directors of Fox Valley Food for Health, a charity that teaches high school kids to cook nutritious meals, and delivers them to cancer patients and their families. He is an avid golfer and loves travel, food and good music. | |
| Scott Sonnemaker Senior Vice President - International Foodservice Operations, Americas Sysco Corporation Scott Sonnemaker is Sysco’s Senior Vice President of International Foodservice Operations-Americas. In 1996, Scott began his career with Sysco as Director of Merchandising, Disposables at the corporate office in Houston. He transferred to Sysco Portland in 1998 to become the Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing. Scott continued his progression in Portland, ultimately being named President and CEO, in 2002. In January 2006, Scott was promoted to Senior Vice President of Foodservice Operations for the west region. In July of 2012, Scott was promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales and added Chief Customer Officer duties in July 2015. In July of 2016, Scott was promoted to his current position. Scott earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1985 and an MBA from the University of Denver in 1996. Scott also served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Scott and his wife Dotty have two children, Tyler and Tara. Tyler is working in public policy in Washington D.C., and Tara is a recent graduate of Chapman University in Orange, California. | |
| Dawn Sweeney President and CEO National Restaurant Association
Sweeney’s 25+ years of marketing, advocacy and policy experience include serving as president and CEO of AARP Services, the wholly owned taxable subsidiary of AARP, and holding leadership positions at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, a membership organization of consumer-owned electric utilities, and the International Dairy Foods Association, the trade association for the nation's dairy foods industry, where she played a key role in the launch of the “milk moustache” advertising campaign. Sweeney has been named one of the perennial top association CEOs in the country for each of the past several years. She serves on the boards the U.S. Travel Association and the Women’s Foodservice Forum. She is also a charter member of Child Obesity 180, a unique initiative of private, public, non-profit and academic leaders who have committed to taking a leadership role in preventing childhood obesity through evidence-based initiatives. | |
| Erik Thoresen Principal Technomic Since 2002, Erik Thoresen, Principal, has managed proprietary studies and consulting projects for leading food and beverage companies as well as developed new global information products and services. He also frequently shares his knowledge of the Consumer Direct channel (meal kits, 3rd party delivery and other online channels), team dynamics/engagement, the retail environment, consumer trends and emerging markets in presentations at conferences and other industry events, and has been quoted in the national media. Able to convert complex research findings into accessible insights, Erik has collaborated with numerous trade groups including the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association and several international trade organizations. He has also authored several Technomic whitepapers and a recently published book entitled Team Next: A Foundation for Building Agile Innovation Teams. Erik earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Marketing from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he served as Associate Director of the Food and Brand Lab. Erik has also received certification through the Managing Product Design and Development Executive Program at Northwestern University. | |
