Speakers

In Early February, Viviana was appointed as Head of Sustainability for Unilever North America. Prior to this, she was the Head of Corporate Strategy in the US. She has also been part of the Corporate Strategy team in London supporting the overall company medium-long term plans at a Global Level. Viviana has an Executive MBA from ESADE School of Management and BSBA in Business Management. Recent Executive Education at Harvard Business School and University of Oxford on Circular Economy topics, Leadership and Scenario Planning. Other positions in Unilever - Head of Strategy - North America - Global Corporate Strategy Manager - Global Strategies Social Business Models Project Leader - Unilever Foundation Global Ambassador – Oral Care Brand Planner Others: - Co-Founder of H2H ("Help to Haiti") - NGO in Haiti

In 2016, Mandar started the From India With Love initiative to reinvigorate the ancient message of nonviolence (or Ahimsa) in the world. Aligned with this mission, in Oct 2018, Mandar hosted the inaugural World Summit for Countering Violence & Extremism that brought together peace activists and law enforcement executives to promote peace and compassion in the world.

Until 2016, Mandar worked at Shell for 17 years at Shell International. In his last role, he managed Shell’s prestigious GameChanger social innovation program investing in ideas that create shared value - business value and social impact. Mandar is an acclaimed expert on leadership, entrepreneurship and social innovation and has spoken on these topics at many prestigious forums including TEDx, Wharton Business School, Social Innovation Summit, Sustainable Brands, London Business School, etc. He is also the winner of the prestigious Ashoka League of Intrapreneurs for designing and delivering an innovation learning program at Shell to over 2000 colleagues using meditation practice.

For over a decade, Mandar has taught leadership programs using meditation practices volunteering for the International Association for Human Values and the Art of Living Foundation.

For more info about Mandar's work click here.

Jessica Balsam is the Sustainability Director for APL Logistics.  She works to set a global strategic vision for sustainability and corporate social responsibility that is grounded in data and tied to business objectives.  Prior to joining APL Logistics, Jessica served in the US Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy overseeing communications for $12 billion in stimulus funding and managed global sustainability programs in Nike’s retail business.

James Barsimantov, Ph.D., Cofounder & COO at SupplyShift, received his doctorate in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz with a focus on environmental economics and resource management. Jamie has extensive consulting and academic experience in sustainability, climate action strategy, responsible supply chains and is frequent speaker in academic and corporate venues.

Before co-founding SupplyShift, Jamie co-founded EcoShift Consulting, taught environmental economics and sustainable design at UC Santa Cruz, conducted nation-wide research at the Urban Institute, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama. Jamie is the driving force behind connecting SupplyShift with its customers and partners, and ensuring successful outcomes and continuous improvement in supply chain operations.

Lori Berger joined the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Project in 2014. Prior to this, she was the Executive Director of the grower-supported California Specialty Crops Council, leading technical and regulatory affairs for a diverse array of fruit, vegetable, berry and vine crops valued at >$5 Billion produced on over 600,000 acres. Lori has been at the intersection of IPM, food systems, public policy, and sustainability over two decades.
Her work has focused on the production community as well as appointments to several EPA and USDA advisory federal committees (pollinator protection, water quality and soil health). She holds a BS in Crop Science, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Entomology, and an MBA. She is a licensed pest control advisor (PCA) and certified crop advisor (CCA) in sustainability. She is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.
Lori has worked for two Fortune 500 companies in R&D and Technical Services for new product and market development. She consults on a variety of research, marketing and regulatory projects.

Keith Berns combines over twenty years of no-till farming with ten years of teaching Agriculture and Computers. In addition to using no-till methods on 2,500 acres of irrigated and dryland corn, soybeans, rye, triticale, peas, sunflowers, and buckwheat in South Central Nebraska, he also co-owns and operates Green Cover Seed, one of the major cover crop seed providers and educators in the United States. Through Green Cover Seed, Keith has experimented with over 100 different cover crop types and hundreds of mixes planted into various situations and has learned a great deal about cover crop growth, nitrogen fixation, moisture usage, and grazing utilization of cover crops. Keith also developed the SmartMix Calculator™, one of the most widely used cover crop selection tools. Keith has a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Nebraska and regularly teaches on cover crops and soil health to various groups and audiences.

Dana Bolden serves as the Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer at Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, leading the company’s public policy and government affairs strategies, in addition to its sustainability, philanthropy, product stewardship and global regulatory activities. He previously served as the company’s communications officer where he led the employee, executive and functional communications; external communications; media relations; regional communications; corporate brand and advertising; platform communications; and digital and social communications. Once launched as a stand-alone company in 2019, Corteva Agriscience will offer a complete portfolio of products and technologies, and a robust pipeline of germplasm, traits and crop protection. The combined heritage and complementary capabilities of DuPont Crop Protection, Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences will make the future, intended agriculture company stronger, more competitive, and better-equipped to deliver growth and value.

Dana joined DuPont from The Coca-Cola Company where he held various leadership roles for most his career including global director for the Bottling Investments Group, communications director for the Eurasia Africa Group and director of financial communications. He led internal communications and stakeholder engagement programs to engage 70,000 employees and government relations strategies for a variety of countries. He implemented a digital stakeholder engagement program that leveraged big data to connect leaders with policymakers around the world. He brings extensive experience in designing and implementing training programs for all levels of leadership. Dana earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Washington & Lee University.  He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for his alma mater and chairs the Trusteeship Committee. He also serves on the College of Charleston’s Communications Advisory Council and lectures at his alma mater, CofC and several universities.

In her role as sustainable agriculture analyst at Campbell, Chu, 26, is focused on raising standards for suppliers, setting sustainable sourcing goals and tackling specific ingredients. She developed Campbell’s first enterprise-wide sustainable agriculture strategy, which provides greater transparency to consumers around how their food is grown.

Lawren Cooper is an Environmental Sustainability Manager at PepsiCo with fifteen years of experience promoting sustainable business practices.  Her responsibilities include leading the PepsiCo Recycling Events and Roadster programs, performing sustainability reviews of new products and projects, developing and executing sustainability strategies, and integrating sustainability into the business.  Other focus areas include carbon footprint reduction, product stewardship and customer outreach. Lawren received her B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Environmental Science & Engineering and an MPH from the University of Michigan in Environmental Health Science and Industrial Hygiene.

Annie Dee is the President of Dee River Ranch. Dee River Ranch is a 10,000-acre family operated farm located on the Alabama-Mississippi state line outside of Aliceville, Alabama. The farm works with a rotation of corn and soybeans produced in accordance with the operation’s commitment to sustainable production and conservation practices. Pines and hardwoods have also been planted on some of the farm’s acreage. Additionally, Dee River Ranch has over 1,000 head of Brahman and Angus cross-bred cattle.

Annie serves on the United Soybean Board, speaking at various conferences and events about the importance of conservation practices in U.S. agriculture. In 2018, her commitment to clean water, soil health and conservation planning was recognized by the National Conservation Planning Partnership when she was awarded the Hugh Hammond Bennett Award for Conservation Excellence. Annie was named a Top Producer by Farm Journal in 2016 and Dee River Ranch was awarded the Alabama Farm of Distinction Award in 2013.

Kevin Diehl leads the Global Regulatory Seed Platform for Corteva Agriscience, the Agriculture Division of Dow DuPont. He and his team develop and implement the strategic regulatory and advocacy plans to move products thru the research pipeline to the commercial business, and ultimately, to farmer customers around the world. They develop and execute the scientific studies that are used by regulatory agencies around the world to assess product safety.

Growing up on his family’s diversified crop and livestock farm in central Iowa, Kevin was focused on a career connected to agricultural. His interest evolved from working on the farm to working for DuPont, starting in 1993, to bring new science and technology to farmers globally. He has held research, agronomy, business improvement, marketing and sales management positions within DuPont, DuPont Pioneer and now Corteva Agriscience.

Kevin earned his Ph.D. in plant physiology and weed science from the University of Illinois and earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and agricultural studies from Iowa State University. He is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt.  Kevin participates in various leadership capacities in industry associations including Crop Life International (CLI) and Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).  Outside of work, he is active in the Johnston community and serves on the ALS Association, Iowa Chapter Board as Treasurer.

Bill Dolak is the Senior Manager, Product Sustainability for Walgreens (Walgreens-Boots Alliance North America). In this role Bill works to advance Sustainability initiatives across the non-pharmaceutical product offerings at Walgreens retail stores. This includes influencing the product’s chemical composition and ingredient provenance, packaging composition and recyclability communication, as well as Vendor Sustainability Practices (via the TSC toolkits). Prior to Walgreens, Bill worked in food manufacturing at General Mills, Tyson Foods, and in Private Brand Brokerage. Bill is a graduate of Indiana University and has done graduate studies at Indiana University School of Medicine and The University of Chicago School of Medicine. He lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with his wife, two daughters, and a puppy.

Leveraging over 20 years of experience in sustainable agriculture and supply chain management, Chisara is responsible for the design and implementation of Field to Market’s assurance processes. Prior to Field to Market, Chisara was the Vice President of Certification at Fair Trade USA where she designed and implemented certification strategies for agricultural supply chains to improve farmer and worker livelihoods, improve environmental outcomes, and increase transparency in sourcing. Chisara also formulated procurement and supply chain management strategies across multiple industries as a consultant.  Chisara holds a BBA in Marketing from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Duke University.

Judge Laura Safer Espinoza is the Executive Director of the Fair Food Standards Council, which monitors and enforces the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ groundbreaking agreements with growers and food retail buyers to ensure fundamental human rights for agricultural workers. The Fair Food Program has been recognized by the White House, the United Nations, Harvard Business Review, CNN International’s Freedom Project and numerous international human rights organizations, as one of the most successful programs in the world today to uncover, eliminate and prevent modern-day slavery, sexual violence, wage theft and other systemic abuses.

 Judge Safer Espinoza is a former NY State Supreme Court Justice who served as a judge and court administrator for twenty years. She helped to design and became the first presiding judge of an innovative alternative to incarceration court for non-violent offenders. Judge Safer Espinoza has an extensive history of work with government, human rights and legal organizations in the United States and Latin America. She has taught extensively in Latin America, in support of law reform and greater transparency.

Justice Safer Espinoza is a graduate of Barnard College and New York Law School. She is a recipient of the City University of New York’s Women in the Law Award and Encore’s ‘Purpose Prize’ Award, celebrating individuals who use their previous life experience to make a difference.

Zach Freeze is responsible for global product sustainability, working with buyers and suppliers in Walmart’s general merchandise and consumables categories, on key initiatives like factory energy efficiency, chemicals, and packaging. Zach has been on the sustainability team for over 3 years and with Walmart for over 10 years, holding a number of roles in Walmart, including environmental compliance and indirect sourcing and procurement. Prior to joining Walmart, Zach’s experience includes hazardous waste brokering, environmental consulting, and product specification testing. Zach earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Arkansas Tech University and a Master of Science in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Jay Golden is Vice Chancellor for Research, Economic Development and Engagement at ECU and a professor of Engineering with a secondary appointment in supply chain.

Dr. Golden comes to ECU from Duke University where he was faculty chair of the Business & Environment Program and Director of the Duke Center for Sustainability and Commerce.  Golden also served as Associate Vice Provost for Research and led Dukes Corporate Relations Office.

Dr. Golden received his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Cambridge, and his master's degree in environmental engineering and sustainable development from a joint program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge. He also holds a Organizational Mastery of Project Management from Stanford University and an MLE from Harvard University and a bachelors in management.

Author of more than 150 articles, Golden has participated in 100 invited presentations and more than 70 media interviews. He has testified before Congress and secured more than $30 million in research funding. Golden directed the National Center of Excellence on Sustainable Materials and Renewable Technologies while serving as a faculty member at Arizona State University.

Golden was presented the Faculty Pioneer Award by the Aspen Institute for his leadership in the field of sustainable engineering education and research. He was also named one of the 100 most influential people in business ethics by the Ethisphere Institute.  In 2017, Golden was nominated by peers and appointed to the Board of Scientific Counselors for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Golden brings both an entrepreneurial and business background to ECU, having founded a small business in Arizona that grew to have operations throughout the West and Southwest. He has also held leadership positions in multiple publicly traded companies, including a Fortune 150 international service and technology company. Golden serves on a number of boards, including the North Carolina Biotechnology Center Board of Directors and the Coastal Studies Institute.

Dr. Golden can be reached at GoldenJ17@ecu.edu

Ariane Grazian joined Walmart four years ago as the sustainability manager for general merchandise. Since, she’s managed Walmart’s factory efficiency programs in China and supported design for Walmart’s sustainable apparel strategy, including the stand up of a global textile mill sustainability program. Currently, she is the global program lead for Project Gigaton, Walmart’s commitment to eliminate 1 billion metric tons – a gigaton - of greenhouse gases from the global value chain by 2030. For Ariane, the most exciting part about her role is seeing the private sector lead from the front, and the role technology can play, to catalyze engagement and combat climate change.

Prior to joining Walmart, Ariane served as a client lead for the Strategy and Operations practice at Deloitte Consulting in Washington, D.C., specializing in program redesign and process optimization. She was born and raised in Chicago, and earned a degree in international business from the George Washington University.

Leigh has worked for The Nature Conservancy since December 2007. Leigh’s work focuses on bringing multiple stakeholders together to achieve common goals in Forest Health, including: managing the Don’t Move Firewood campaign, working to improve the international biosecurity measures in place for solid wood packaging, and convening the annual Continental Dialogue on Non-native Forest Insects and Diseases. Her leadership of the Don’t Move Firewood campaign has led to its being widely regarded as one of the most innovative public outreach arms of The Nature Conservancy. Leigh earned her B.A. in Biology at Williams College and her M.S. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana in Missoula, where she studied the intersection of native wildlife and invasive plants.

Karen Hanner is the Vice President, Manufacturing Partnerships for Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief and food rescue organization.  Her team is dedicated to relationship development with over 200 major manufacturers to ensure unsellable wholesome food and grocery products are donated to food banks to feed people and avoid being wasted. Primary focus is with industry partners at the farm/agricultural processor stage within the animal protein and dairy sectors as the area of highest need by food insecure populations. Hanner also leads the Sustainability, Purchasing and Disaster Services work for the national organization which supports 200-member food banks and their 60K agency partners committed to providing nutritious food to 46M Americans.  With a larger mission of ensuring all food insecure individuals have access to enough nutritious food. Prior to joining Feeding America in 2008 Hanner held positions in marketing and supply chain management at Kraft Foods, Keebler, and Nestle.  She holds a master’s degree in Management from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University.

Brent M. Heist leads the Global Packaging Sustainability team at Procter & Gamble. He is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Brent holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston and an MBA from Xavier University. In his twenty-four years at Procter & Gamble Brent has worked in Process Development, Products Research and most recently Packaging Development spanning several of P&G’s business units.

Philip Henson is a member of Hanesbrands corporate facility engineering team which has responsibility for leading engineering, energy demand, environmental sustainability, and safety activities on a global level. Mr. Henson earned his Industrial Engineering degree from Texas Tech University in 1991 (BSIE ’91) and a Master of Arts degree in sustainability from Wake Forest University in 2015 (MASus 2015).
Mr. Henson has a distinguished career in the textile manufacturing industry spanning over twenty-five years with HanesBrands and predecessor companies. Mr. Henson is an ambassador for sustainability and in recent years has helped elevate the level of energy management, energy data analysis and reporting, and environmental stewardship to internal and external stakeholders. He is an active participant within the ENERGY STAR industrial partner’s network and has helped Hanes leverage this partnership to improve company energy performance and garner US EPA ENERGY STAR award recognition for the past 8 years.

Dr. Wayne Honeycutt is the President and CEO of the Soil Health Institute, where he leads the Institute’s programs to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soils. He previously served for 5 years as the Deputy Chief for Science and Technology with USDA-NRCS in Washington, DC, where he led programs in technology acquisition, development, and transfer to ensure NRCS conservation practices reflect the latest scientific advances for conserving our nation’s soil, water, air, plant, animal, and energy resources. He served as a Research Soil Scientist for 14 years and a Research Leader for 10 years with the USDA-ARS New England Plant, Soil, and Water Laboratory, where he led and conducted interdisciplinary research on carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling and sustainable cropping systems development. In those roles he led national research teams for predicting nutrient availability, developed procedures adopted by ARS for enhancing national research coordination, and received regional and national awards for technology transfer.

He is a graduate of the “Mastering the Art of Public Leadership” executive development program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC and USDA’s “Performance Excellence and Knowledge” executive development program. He has served on assignments to the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, USDA-ARS National Program Staff, and USDA-ARS Area Office Staff.

Wayne’s commitment to agriculture is rooted in his experiences with raising tobacco, corn, and other crops on his family’s 120-acre farm in Metcalfe County, Kentucky. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Forestry and Master's degree in Soil Science from the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D. in Soil Genesis from Colorado State University.

Oren Jaffe is a social sustainability expert with over 14 years’ experience in helping global organizations build transparent, ethical, compliant, secure, and socially responsible supply chains. Currently, Oren runs the North America labor solutions group at Workplace Options, bringing integrated wellbeing solutions to minimum wage workers in emerging countries. His focus is helping companies go “beyond compliance” towards building worker voice and women’s empowerment programs utilizing mobile technologies. Oren’s experience includes working with companies in the apparel, footwear, high tech/electronic, consumer products, and toy industries. Prior to his work in corporate responsibility, Oren worked in brand advertising, professional sports, and even started an aerial outdoor advertising agency. Oren has a BS from the University of Oregon, and an MBA in International Management from the University of San Francisco.

Andrew is a Senior Product Stewardship and Sustainability Analyst with Church & Dwight. His work spans Church & Dwight’s sustainability efforts, with a particular focus on product formulation and ingredient disclosure. He is responsible for much of Church & Dwight’s communication to its retail partners in the areas of stewardship and sustainability.

Prior to joining Church & Dwight, Andrew served as a research chemist in GlaxoSmithKline’s antibacterial research operation. He holds a Masters degree in chemistry from MIT, and an M.Sci from the University of Glasgow in Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry.

Tom Langan is head of North America Communications, Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business for Unilever. Tom joined Unilever in 1995. He is a member of the Unilever Global Communications Leadership Team and an adjunct member of the Unilever U.S. Leadership Team, supporting the President of Unilever North America. In his role, Tom leads the North America Communications group to drive delivery of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan in North America, including external affairs, advocacy, partnerships, corporate media relations, and internal communications.

Tom is a public spokesman and leader of the company’s engagement with industry associations, customers, external stakeholders and key opinion formers. He serves on the board of directors of The Sustainability Coalition (TSC) and the advisory board of Sustainable Brands. He is a member of the board of directors of the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance (SFPA), which he helped create and launch in 2018, has held several committee leadership positions in the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC), and served on the board of directors for the Organization for International Investment (OFII).

Prior to joining Unilever, Tom held positions in state government affairs and communications at the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA). He served six years in the United States Naval Reserve. Tom earned a master's degree in public administration from George Mason University in 1993 and a B.A. from Old Dominion University in 1990.

Eli Levine leads the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI) to develop and leverage strategic partnerships to advance U.S. manufacturing. In this role, he is spearheading the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's (EERE) effort to increase U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing clean energy technologies by boosting energy productivity and leveraging low-cost domestic energy resources and feedstocks.
Since being promoted from serving as the CEMI Deputy Director, Eli has assumed new leadership responsibilities to implement the CEMI strategy, including the Technologist-In-Residence program and the Clean Energy Manufacturing Assessment Center. He is also developing high-profile engagements with strategic partners, including the Department of Commerce and the White House, to support the launch of the new Energy Materials Network.

Prior to joining EERE and CEMI, he worked on energy issues at the White House, at the Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget. Eli joined the Energy Department to help stand up the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy in 2010. At ARPA-E, he worked on legal, budgetary, and Congressional affairs matters. He is a graduate of Washington University School of Law and Cornell University.

In her role of Sustainable Solutions Manager, Jennifer enjoys the opportunity to lead the sustainability program at IIC to benefit our customers, vendors, employees and the planet. She develops and manages strategic relationships with food manufacturers at corporate and plant levels to repurpose food waste into high-value ingredients for pet food and animal feed. She implements a unique suite of metrics to help companies tell a sustainability story about upcycling byproducts and better meet their sustainability goals. She represents IIC at the Sustainability Oversight Committee at the American Feed Association and TSC’s Food Waste and Hunger Task Force. A sustainability professional with more than 20 years of broad-based experience in public and private sectors, Jennifer has expertise related to food policy, sustainable agriculture, and development of comprehensive sustainability metrics. Jennifer holds a BS in Social Policy from Northwestern University, a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Washington University.

Daniella serves as Deputy General Manager for the Cool Farm Alliance - a global industry platform for sustainable agricultural and carbon quantification providing the Cool Farm Tool for free to farmers everywhere. Since 2010 Daniella has been leading work to develop and use harmonized agricultural GHG quantification methods to encourage, motivate and rewards good practice in supply chains. Daniella has a background in project management, cultural communications, journalism, environmental education, software engineering and farming.

Vance Merolla is the Worldwide Director, Global Sustainability for Colgate-Palmolive Company, a consumer products company based in New York City, responsible for providing leadership on Colgate’s global sustainability strategy, and identifying technical and commercial integration opportunities throughout the company’s business. He also leads Colgate’s supply chain sustainability programs including climate, energy efficiency, water stewardship, zero waste and environmental risk management. Prior to his current 21 years with Colgate, he was an environmental consulting group manager for the URS Corporation. Vance holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Arizona State University and a Masters in Environmental Engineering from Rutgers University. He is a licensed professional engineer (PE) in the states of New York, New Jersey and Washington, and is a U.S. Green Building Council LEED-Accredited Professional, and a Member of the USGBC NJ Chapter Board of Directors. Mr. Merolla currently teaches a graduate level course on Sustainable Operations at Columbia University in NYC.

Maggie Monast is a Senior Manager on Environmental Defense Fund’s Agricultural Sustainability team, contributing expertise in conservation finance and the agriculture supply chain. Maggie works to quantify the farm financial impacts of conservation practice adoption, collaborates with major corporations to develop sustainability initiatives, and develops innovative financial incentives to advance sustainable agriculture. She has led EDF’s collaboration with Smithfield Foods since its beginning in 2013.

Maggie began working with EDF in 2011. She holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelors in Economics and Political Science from Tufts University.

Euan Murray became Chief Executive of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) in December 2016 with a focus on driving implementation of TSC tools by retailers and large purchasers, and working with TSC members on innovative solutions to supply chain sustainability problems. Murray joined TSC in 2012 and has held a number of leadership positions, most recently COO. Prior to joining TSC, Murray was Director of Footprinting at The Carbon Trust. There, he led projects with PepsiCo, Unilever, M&S, CDP and many other TSC members, focusing on product and supply chain carbon footprinting. He has held a number of other roles in sustainability, financial services and strategy consulting. Murray has a BA in Natural Sciences and an MSc. in Materials Science & Metallurgy from Cambridge University, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. He is married to Emily and has two sons, Oscar and Zac.

Dina’s current focus includes sustainable development planning for event and legacy, stakeholder and market engagement, communications and awareness campaigns designed to extend Expo 2020’s sustainability impact beyond the boundaries of its physical site.

JP Pasterczyk has over 25 years of experience in industrial water and wastewater quality, including chemical and biological treatment, filtration, membranes, disinfection and instrumentation. He has worked for Polybac Corporation (later acquired by Novozymes), Capital Controls (now part of De Nora), and GE Water (now part of Suez). He has experience with a broad range of process streams, from ultrapure water for biotechnology and pharmaceutical production, and clean utilities for steam generation and cooling towers, to complex, organic and inorganic, industrial effluents. JP received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. At the University of Colorado- Boulder, he earned a Master of Engineering degree in Engineering Management. This program for Business Performance Excellence specialized in Applied Statistics, Process Optimization, and Advanced Quality Management Systems. Through the university and the ROI Alliance, JP is a certified Black Belt in Six Sigma methodology. He is currently the Industrial Business Manager for Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc., headquartered in Rockford, Illinois, a process engineering company with a portfolio including biological wastewater treatment, aerators, mixers, cloth media filtration, membrane systems and ozone generators for oxidation and disinfection. JP works directly with customers and engineering firms to develop projects for sustainable applications to reduce footprint and operational costs, including reuse and compliance.

Laura Phillips is Senior Vice President, Global Sustainability for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Laura began her Walmart career 20 years ago as a store intern and has served across a variety of departments and in roles of increasing responsibility. In 2010, she was promoted to senior vice president and general merchandise manager, and most recently, Laura has been leading the company?s work in omni channel. Laura has been a strong advocate for sustainability, education and women?s empowerment during her tenure, and her accomplishments with Walmart include:

Member of the original group of key leaders that our former CEO Lee Scott assembled in 2004 to help develop Walmart?s sustainability strategy, initial goals and principles.

Helped launch Walmart?s "Sustainability Value Networks (SVN)," engaging stakeholders in industry, academia and NGOs to partner with Walmart to develop solutions to sustainable value chain creation.

Partnered with suppliers to reduce packaging content, increase recyclable content and exceed industry standards by implementing and executing the children?s product guidelines to test all toys for hazardous chemicals, well ahead of the government legislation.

Chair of the Walmart President?s Global Council for Women?s Leaders (2012-2013)

Board of advisors member, Bentonville Film Festival

Board of advisors for the University of Arkansas Walton MBA Alumni

She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Florida in Gainesville, an MBA from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and is a graduate of the Global 2020 program at the Tuck Business School at Dartmouth.

Bio coming soon

Nolan Quiros is a lawyer who studied Agricultural Economics. He completed his PhD at Oklahoma State University, USA, focusing on Natural Resources Management, and also completed a master’s degree in Comparative Law at American University, Washington D.C, USA.
Nolan is based in a small rural town called Atenas, which is located around 30 km from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. He is Costa Rican and was born into a big family with an affinity for studying and learning. Both his parents were high school teachers.
He has worked as a researcher for the USDA and as a market analyst for a US fertilizer company. Furthermore, he has also served as a field scientist for Boston University, a university professor in the USA and Costa Rica, and as an international consultant on carbon and water foot print calculations. During the last five years, Nolan worked for a banana producing company, where he managed third-party certifications, social and labor issues, and retailer relations with 72 farms in seven different countries in Latin America.
He enjoys teaching, academic pursuits, and exploring the outdoors .
Nolan is married to Jahel and has two teenage children, Samantha and Matthew.

Cathy Resler is the Head of Global Sustainability for Ocean Spray Cranberries - a Farmer-Owned Cooperative - where she leads sustainability strategy across the Cooperative, with Ocean Spray farmers and business partners. Her work on environmental and social responsibility initiatives focuses on building value across sustainable agriculture, operations, supply chain, sales, marketing, and customer and employee engagement,   She led the expansion and first publication of Ocean Spray’s Farm Sustainability Assessment a comprehensive  report of 700+ cranberry farmers performance on Integrated Pest Management, soil health, water, energy, ecosystem conservation, business stewardship, worker well-being and community impact.

Prior to joining Ocean Spray Cranberries, Cathy worked in the fashion, jewelry, and publishing industries contributing to the first industry adopted Restricted Substance List (RSL), Responsible Down and Wool Standards, Environmental Paper Assessment Tool (EPAT), sustainable textiles and leather, sustainable forestry management, packaging design, green store design guidelines, and community giving program development.  She also has worked at the U.S. EPA, Columbia University and holds an MS in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a BS from The George Washington University in Environmental Studies.

Georgia Rubenstein is Lead System Change Designer in Forum for the Future’s New York office. Her work at Forum focuses on process and strategy design and stakeholder engagement to drive system-level change for a sustainable future. She is an expert in system change methodologies and leads Forum’s School of System Change in the United States, equipping leaders from across sectors to drive deeper, more long-term change in their sectors. She is also one of Forum’s foremost facilitators and is currently expanding her expertise by exploring transformative facilitation techniques that are inclusive and challenge traditional power structures. She recently led the Beauty & Personal Care Sustainability Project, a multi-stakeholder collaboration of organizations including Target, Walmart, Unilever, Burt’s Bees, and Environmental Defense Fund, designed to tackle systemic sustainability challenges in the beauty and personal care sector. The group developed a publicly available product sustainability assessment tool, now being stewarded by The Sustainability Consortium.

Prior to joining Forum, Georgia worked at Minneapolis-based nonprofit Environmental Initiative, convening cross-sector leaders to advance sustainability in the Twin Cities region. She holds a BA in International Development and Russian Studies from McGill University, and a Master in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Bio coming soon

Jennifer currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Syngenta on the integration of sustainability into Syngenta’s commercial programs and developing solutions for sustainability in agriculture.  In 2007, Jennifer established a new Sustainability function in Syngenta where she developed a strategy to integrate Sustainability into the business. Since she has been a leader in sustainability in industry initiatives as well as establishing the Syngenta Sustainable Solutions program.  Other previous roles with Syngenta and legacy companies include Pesticide Regulatory Policy, Issues Management, Environmental Stewardship, Sustainable Agriculture and Ecological Risk Assessment. She has had several leadership and expert roles in industry and government multi-stakeholder initiatives focused on major environmental challenges for U.S. agriculture including endangered species and water quality.

Jennifer was raised on family farm in Scotland where she gained first-hand experience working in various cropping and animal systems. She has a B.Sc. with First Class Honors in Agricultural Zoology from the University of Glasgow and a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Aberdeen and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.

Priyamvada Singh is Head of Product and Propositions, Global Trade and Receivables Finance, North America for HSBC Bank USA N.A. In her role as Product Head, she is responsible for strengthening GTRF’s product capabilities and sector propositions in trade including supply chain and receivables finance as well as building on the strong foundation of traditional trade in adapting to technological change. As the leading trade bank in the world, HSBC has also led the way in embracing technological developments with digitalization of trade, automation and key ‘fintech’ partnerships. GTRF in North America has successfully established partnerships with external supply chain platforms to deliver end-to-end structured solutions and launched digital tools to enhance client on-boarding and access to trade transaction information.

Priyamvada has 20+ years of experience as a trade finance professional with global banks as well as leading trade and supply chain finance in emerging markets with the World Bank Group. Prior to joining HSBC in 2014, Priyamvada was Global Program Head for Supplier Finance at International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank. She joined IFC in June 2005 as Regional Head, Asia and Middle East in Trade and Supply Chain. As Principal, Trade Finance, she was involved in developing the multi-donor funded Global Trade Liquidity program in 2009 as a crisis response to supporting trade finance delivered through global banks. At IFC, Priyamvada established the Global Trade Supplier Finance program in 2010 under which IFC provides financing solutions for emerging market supply chains in partnership with global banks and alternative independent platform providers that includes sustainability metrics for improved supplier compliance with sustainability standards. Priyamvada has also been a regular speaker at trade finance and industry events on emerging markets trade and supply chain finance.

Christy Slay directs the science and research application activities for The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) to develop a global, transparent, scientifically based measurement and reporting system for product sustainability. She leads efforts with strategic partners to ensure TSC’s metrics, tools, and reporting systems are harmonized and interoperable with existing initiatives. Christy leads projects in agricultural supply chains including data mobility solutions as well as the development of spatial tools for visualizing the environmental and social impacts of global supply chains for TSC’s Commodity Mapping platform. Most recently she published research on the drivers of global forest loss in the journal Science. She has also published on population ecology, conservation management, sustainable agricultural metrics, and climate change resilience in supply chains. She co-leads cave ecology research for the HICAVES Project on the island of Hawaii documenting new species during her vacation time. Christy has been with TSC since its inception in 2009. She received her doctorate in biology from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville in 2010. Christy has 22 years of experience as an educator in both collegiate and environmental education settings. She serves on the board of the Ozark Natural Science Center, a residential nature education center for school children and teaches Sustainability for Business courses in the Walton College Graduate School of Business. Prior to her graduate research she led curriculum development and strategic planning with the National Audubon Society where she also authored articles for Audubon Magazine in New York. She received her B.A. in biology with a minor in religion from Hendrix College attending courses at Birkbeck College at the University of London.

Bio coming soon

Mark Spears is an eternal optimist who believes meaningful progress results from inclusive collaborative engagement. Having retired from The Walt Disney Company after nearly thirty years, he devotes his current efforts to promoting positive environmental and social change. In his spare time, he scours the world for emerging artisan coffee roasts and craft beer styles. His current focus areas include serving as an Advisory Board Member for Sustainable Brands, supporting the social entrepreneurship and innovation & technology programs at his alma mater as an advisor and mentor and contributing as a member of the Los Angeles Chief Sustainability Officer Strategic Taskforce. During his Disney career, Mark served in a number of senior business roles ranging from accounting, finance and strategic planning to corporate responsibility and sustainability. He served as Disney Consumer Products’ inaugural chief sustainability executive and led Disney’s involvement with The Sustainability Consortium as its first corporate Lead Director. Mark also directed Disney’s International Labor Standards program for 10 years addressing labor standards and human rights in the Company’s licensing and vendor supply chains and serving as the Company’s primary spokesperson. Before joining Disney, Mark was a senior consultant and audit professional at Arthur Young & Co. in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills specializing in the Firm’s media and entertainment, engineering and construction and litigation consulting practices. Mark holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He is also a certified public accountant and a former member of the American Arbitration Association.

Kristen Tetrick is the Director of Sustainability for Lucky’s Market, where she leads the sustainability strategy and programming across the company. Her programs focus on food waste reduction, recycling, in-house packaging improvements, sourcing policies, increased efficiencies to water and energy usage, and building the culture of sustainability awareness among their team members. She has been with Lucky’s since 2013 and was previously their Director of Marketing and Community Impact, where she developed the company’s social impact strategy. In her spare time, she volunteers for the nonprofit Slow Food USA, where she serves as the Slow Food State Governor for Colorado and serves on the Board of Directors for Slow Food Denver. She holds an MBA in marketing and a BFA in graphic design. She is passionate about food that is good, clean, and fair while achieving a shared well-being of the planet through meaningful connections and actions.

Paul provides leadership for SFI’s conservation programs, principal liaison with conservation organizations, and guidance toward the development of standards and programs that ensure the attainment of conservation objectives. He works to maintain partnerships, grow the network of conservation organizations involved in the SFI Program, and to ensure relevance of SFI’s work in promoting sustainable supply chains and responsible sourcing. Paul oversees SFI’s Conservation Impact initiative and its Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program. He monitors conservation research developments and advancements in sustainable forestry to identify opportunities to further the SFI Program and activities of SFI Program Participants. Paul brings nearly 30 years of experience in forestry, non-profit management, forest certification, collaborative partnerships, and landscape-scale conservation. Before joining SFI, Paul was Director of Southern Forest Conservation for the American Forest Foundation. Prior to AFF, Paul held numerous positions with The Nature Conservancy for almost 20 years, including roles in executive management, and nearly 10 years directing forest conservation strategies in the southeastern United States. Paul has a B.S. in Forest Resource Management from Virginia Tech, and a Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University.

Bio coming soon

Bio coming soon

Justin is responsible for leading the private brand sales for Henkel at Walmart. He plays a key role in the strategy development, innovation, and sustainability programs for Henkel/Walmart private brands.  He has spent the last 13 years at Henkel in sales, customer supply chain, and product development roles.

Kraig Westerbeek is Smithfield Foods senior director of Smithfield Renewables and hog production division environmental affairs. Smithfield Renewables is a new platform within the organization that will unify, lead and accelerate the company's industry-leading carbon reduction and renewable energy efforts. He will also lead an advisory committee that will evaluate projects and help direct a company-wide strategy for renewable energy projects across both farms and facilities.

Previously, Kraig served as vice president for environment, engineering, and support services for Smithfield’s Hog Production Division in Warsaw, N.C.  He was responsible for ensuring that the company is compliant with all state and federal environmental rules and regulations, in addition to providing oversight on engineering, feed manufacturing, and transportation activities.

Kraig began working for Murphy-Brown, now Smithfield Foods in 1993 as an environmental technician.

He is certified by the Irrigation Association as a spray irrigation designer and is certified by the Natural Resources and Conservation Service as a technical service provider to develop nutrient utilization plans for animal producers. He is also the chairman of the Duplin County Health Board.

A native of Clinton, N.C., Kraig earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 from North Carolina State University in Raleigh.