Anthony Bear is Senior Vice President of Strategic Accounts for OIG (Osiris Innovations Group), a global organization that enables companies to implement an e-Business strategy, accelerate revenue and achieve bottom-line results. The OIG interactive platform reduces costs, errors and cycle times throughout the supply chain and provides electronic closed loop integration needed to maximize the benefits of e-Business.
In his position, Bear is responsible for developing new client partnerships to generate revenue growth and for managing organic opportunities with existing clients. Moreover, he also is responsible for guiding sourcing strategies relating to a client’s domestic and international commodity-specific needs for products and services.
Prior to joining OIG in February of 2006, Bear gained significant experience from the manufacturing sector and specifically from the automotive and aerospace industries. He served in a senior role for Lear Corporation, a Michigan-based international tier one automotive supplier. He was responsible for managing all purchasing and e-procurement activity related to indirect material, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), services, prototype tooling and parts. Prior to his tenure at Lear Corporation, Bear served in leadership positions in purchasing and aftermarket sales for Bombardier Aerospace located in Toronto, Ontario. He began his career with the Ford Motor Company of Canada, limited.
Rob brings 15 years of experience in enterprise software to his position as CEO at Coupa. Prior to joining Coupa, Rob spent four years with SuccessFactors, the global leader in Performance and Talent Management delivered via the software-as-a-service model. As a member of the SuccessFactors executive management team he served as their global vice president of product marketing and management. Rob has also directed product management at Siebel Systems, where he contributed to building their Employee Relationship Management suite of applications into Siebel’s fastest-growing product two years after launch. Before that, Rob was an associate at McKinsey & Company and a global project manager at Accenture where he managed numerous successful global SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) software implementations. Rob holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems from the State University of New York at Albany and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Joan Chow joined ConAgra Foods as executive vice president and chief marketing officer in 2007. In this role, she is responsible for leading ConAgra Foods’ global marketing team, including marketing services, strategic marketing, integrated marketing, digital/interactive marketing, advertising, shopper/customer marketing, consumer insights, and multicultural marketing.
Joan takes an in-depth focus on marketing for ConAgra Foods’ brands across the portfolio. Her goals are to build integrated 360 marketing programs, including compelling advertising creative, effective media plans, sustainable customer/shopper linkage, and a strong return on marketing objectives. In 2007, Joan’s team launched ConAgra Foods’ health and wellness platform - StartMakingChoices.com: an online tool for consumers to manage and track their health to live a balanced life. A recent example of an insights-driven integrated 360 marketing program is the launch of Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers around the theme of “made fresh from your desk” targeted at the office lunch.
Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, Joan was senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Sears, Roebuck & Co., where she led all aspects of the company's marketing efforts. Prior to joining Sears in 1998, she spent seven years at Information Resources, Inc., where she built top-performing client services teams and led the development of a consumer-packaged goods trade promotion planning tool for IRI customers. Chow began her career in 1986 at Johnson & Johnson, where she brought strong results and market share gains as a leader of several product lines.
She earned her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor's degree in linguistics from Cornell University.
Randall C. Clark is a Global Senior Strategic Buyer for Volvo Group Non-Automotive Purchasing (NAP). His role is to create the procurement strategy for MRO and Packaging products and services required by the brands of Volvo Group worldwide. He is focused on the requirements of each manufacturing facility to create the process for supplier selection, negotiation, implementation and development. He has over 15 years of manufacturing experience focused on reducing cost, increasing revenue and streamlining operations through the procurement strategy. Cost containment, supplier rationalization and revenue enhancement are areas that he has contributed to several industries with strategic initiatives on a global basis.
Randall has also been featured in Purchasing magazine on several occasions regarding supplier selection, procurement strategy, and the overall distribution chain of MRO suppliers. He has served on Volvo Group NAP steering committees to develop the Strategic Sourcing Process and the Project Management Process. He is frequently asked by companies and universities to lead workshops and discussions on international business procedures.
One of his core values states that every meeting with a supplier is a negotiation. Our job in procurement is to understand the market so we can establish a fair profit margin and mutually beneficial business relationship for both buyer and seller.
Robert Clarkson is Vice President and General Manager of American Express U.S. Commercial Card for the large market. He and his team are responsible for all corporate card products including B2B settlement products and travel card.
Prior to joining American Express he was President, Global Business Development for GE responsible for leading new account acquisition team, global account management team, and proposal team.
He has over 19 years of experience in a variety of sales and business development roles within the corporate card sector. Before joining GE in 1994, Mr. Clarkson held sales management and client relationship roles with Citicorp. Mr. Clarkson has been quoted in multiple industry publications including, Purchasing Magazine and Business Travel Executive Magazine. Mr. Clarkson earned his Bachelors of Science in Finance at University of Vermont.
Jamie Crump has more than 20 years indirect strategic sourcing experience in a variety of industries including banking, medical products, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and welding. Her category experience includes advertising, benefits, BPO, brand, contingent staffing, facilities, financial services, human resources, IT, legal, marketing, meetings & events, MRO, office services, print, real estate, reprographics, telecommunications, transportation, travel, treasury, utilities and vehicles. She is currently Director of Indirect Strategic Sourcing for United Rentals, Inc., the largest equipment rental company in the world supporting over 12,000 employees in over 690 locations in 48 states, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico.
Carol brings extensive experience in global strategic sourcing, supplier and commodity management, process improvement, and organizational transformation for the procurement of both indirect and direct goods and services. She has held management positions of increasing responsibility at Colgate-Palmolive, Pitney Bowes, and Motorola.
Currently, Carol is the Vice President of Global Procurement at Mattel, Inc. where she was recruited to lead the Global Indirect Procurement organization. She and her team are delivering significant cost and process improvements while ensuring quality and service are improved fro multiple indirect categories including Advertising, Legal, HR, Benefits, Logistics, IT, Consulting, and Office Supplies.
Prior to joining Mattel, Carol was the Director of Global Indirect Procurement at Colgate-Palmolive where she was instrumental in the transformation of the Global Indirect Procurement organization. She had responsibility for staffing and implementing Colgate’s indirect procurement organization and processes, as well as, managing the third party relationship with its outsourcing provider of procurement services.
Ms. Danoff joined Pitney Bowes in April 2003 as Vice President, Indirect Procurement and Strategic Sourcing, Enterprise Procurement. She had responsibility for establishing and implementing Pitney Bowes’ global sourcing strategies for all non-product goods and services.
At Motorola, Carol led the successful implementation of a corporate wide internet based procurement system and the staffing of a global strategic sourcing organization in support of Motorola’s Global Non-Production Procurement initiative. She also held several management positions in Direct procurement during her 19 year tenure at Motorola.
Carol holds a B.A. degree in Business Administration and an MBA from Florida Atlantic University. She received her CPM certification from the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) in 1995 and was re-certified in 1998 and she has her CPIM from APICS. Carol was a member of the Board of Directors for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) in 2004 and 2005 where she chaired the Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain Committee.
BJ DeFelice is currently the Global Sourcing Leader for Indirect materials and services at GE Enterprise Solutions, GE Security, a division of GE Corporation. BJ also leads the Enterprise Solution Indirect team and is a member of GE Corporation’s Global Indirect Sourcing Leaders team. He oversees/manages a total indirect spend of $1 billion for 4 GE businesses in the ES Segment and 22 sites globally.
He has over 15 years of procurement experience with well-known companies including Harsco Track Technologies, Solectron, Marconi Networks and Bose Corporation and his specialties include low cost country outsourcing, temporary labor and BPO models.
Before taking on a procurement role, BJ spend 5 years as an engineer with the Reda Pump Company and Square D Company. He holds a BS in Petroleum Engineering and a BS in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University.
Ralph DeNino has over 20 years of experience in supply chain and operations management, e-commerce systems, and procurement consolidation programs. Prior to joining L-3 Communications, Ralph served as the principal associate of the DeNino Group, a consulting firm that advised L-3 and other Fortune 500 clients on cost-reducing procurement strategies. Prior to that, he served as director of corporate consolidated procurement for Lockheed Martin and held various subcontracts and procurement management positions for the Loral Corporation.
Michael recently joined Schreiber Foods to head up their Indirect Procurement activities. Before Schreiber Foods, he spent four years managing the central purchasing department at Johnson Controls. Michael gained a wealth of experience at Alcoa where he worked for over ten years in engineering and as their global capital procurement manager. He started his career as a maintenance engineer where he learned the real world impact of change management. Michael has also earned multiple patents and traveled globally upgrading production lines, negotiating capital purchases, and expanding new facilities.
Chris Duchene is Illinois Tool Works’ (ITW) Vice President of Corporate Strategic Sourcing, reporting directly to ITW’s Vice Chairman, SEVP. Chris leads a lean but effective global group of 25 team members. The Group’s areas of responsibility range across multiple commodities such as chemicals, global travel, IT hardware/software, logistics, mro, oem components, office supplies/equipment, packaging, resins/plastics, telecom, utilities, waste & recycling, and more..... These categories represent over $2.0 billion in annual spend (approx. 20% of ITW’s total spend) from across the various ITW Business Units. Throughout Chris’ tenure at ITW, he has gained an understanding of how to navigate and influence change in ITW’s challenging culture and decentralized business model.
Prior to joining ITW in 2001, Chris spent 8 years as a Supply Chain/Sourcing Consultant across numerous companies, driving operational improvements and bottom-line cost reductions. He consulted for various clients supporting their supply chain and procurement initiatives.
Chris holds an MBA Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and Accounting and Economics Undergraduate Degree from Eastern Illinois University. Chris is a member of the Board of Directors for the British American Business Council (BABC) and an active member of MAPI (Manufacturing Alliance).
Wayne is currently the Vice President, Head of Procurement for the Americas at DHL, the global market leader of the international express and logistics industry. His career in procurement spans more than 20 years in which he has held senior level procurement positions at Lockheed Martin, Unisys, and CBS. In addition, he was a Senior Manager for a “Big Five” consulting firm where he performed supply chain consulting services for industry leaders such as Boeing, Carnival Cruise Lines, Federal Express and BP. His current responsibilities include the procurement of more than $2.0 billion of goods and services across North and South America. Wayne graduated from The American University where he received a BA in Procurement and Acquisitions Management. He has been published by the Procurement Strategy Council and been a featured speaker at several supply chain forums and ISM conferences.
Dennis M. Gawlik, C.P.M., has twenty-five years of supply management, lean, sustainability and change management experience. Gawlik is the Director of Purchasing Services at the University of Washington. Most recently, he has held positions at Seattle Childrens Hospital, WaMu, Alaska Airlines and Starbucks / Seattle Coffee Company. Gawlik is on the faculty at Bainbridge Graduate Institute where he teaches sustainable operations. He has a BA degree from Northwestern University, a graduate diploma in business administration from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Science in transportation/business logistics from Penn State University.
Mr. Hart has overall responsibility for non-product commodity management, quality assurance processes, global SCM process innovation, and SCM team development. Mr. Hart and his team are focused on driving commodity strategy development, standardized processes, organizational development, and metrics that create competitive advantage for Dresser-Rand. His efforts center on value streams that intersect the supply base and Dresser-Rand. His responsibility includes the worldwide corrective action process, ISO certification governance, SCM, PI and Quality process development, D-R’s SCM/PI leadership development process, as well as SCM/PI technology.
Key areas of focus: spend management, performance metrics (TCO, Quality/COQ, On-Time Delivery, Lead Times), supplier risk/relationship management, supplier development, supplier diversity, scorecards, organizational effectiveness, and “lean” business operations.
Mr. Hart began his career with Dresser-Rand in 2006 as a Director, Indirect Non-Product Commodity Management. In 2007 this responsibility expanded to include all product direct materials commodities in addition to Non-Product commodities. Over the past three years, his leadership has contributed to improvements in team performance, supplier performance, and customer satisfaction. Prior to joining Dresser-Rand he held various positions in supply management and operations with Bristol Myers-Squibb, United Technologies Corporation, and The Vanguard Group.
He earned his Masters of Business Administration from The Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Additionally, He holds a BA from Washington & Lee University.
Bob Hellem, Vice President Indirect Procurement, ConAgra Foods Bob heads up the procurement for all ConAgra Foods Indirects (2009), prior to this role Bob was responsible for all Packaging and Non-Commodity Ingredients procurement and has been with ConAgra for over 4 years. Bob has more than 20 years of Procurement experience in addition to more than 5 years experience in Logistics Engineering and Supplier Quality Engineering and has worked for various industries including Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, OEM, Medical Device, and the Aerospace and Defense industry. Bob has worked for several Global companies and has significant International Procurement experience. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Technology from the University of North Dakota and a M.B.A from St. Thomas University.
John W. Henke Jr. is on the marketing faculty of the School of Business Administration at Oakland University (Rochester, MI). Prior to joining the academic community, he held sales and marketing management positions during a 15 year period with several firms, including the IBM Corporation, Data Processing Division, and the Automotive Division of General Automation, an international manufacturer of automated industrial processes. He has continued his association with the business world as President of Planning Perspectives, a management consulting firm specializing in business-to-business marketing, purchasing, and buyer-supplier relationships. In this capacity, he has worked with numerous organizations, including in recent years, American Plastics Council, ArvinMeritor, BP plc (formerly British Petroleum), Chrysler, Cisco Systems, Delphi, Flextronics, Ford, GE Healthcare, General Motors, Hilti Corporation, Holcim, Honda, Lubrizol, Mars, Nissan, PACCAR, PSCU Financial Services, Rolls-Royce plc, Royal Numico N.V., Toyota, US Air Force Materiel Command, and Visteon.
Under Professor Henke's direction, Planning Perspectives conducts the Annual North American Automotive OEM-Tier 1 Supplier Working Relations Study, a study of the working relations that exist between each of the six major North American OEMs (Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota) and their Tier 1 production suppliers. The annual OEM-Supplier Working Relations Index (WRI), which is based on suppliers' experiences with each OEM in over 1000 buying situations, has become the benchmark measure of OEM-supplier working relations in the automotive industry.
Prof. Henke has given numerous presentations in the United States, Europe, and Japan on business-to-business marketing and purchasing-related topics. His papers have been published in a variety of journals, including the Sloan Management Review, Marketing Letters, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Business Strategy, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Business Horizons, Systemica, Systems Research, and the International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management.
As Vice President, Enterprise Strategy, Kevin Iwamoto guides StarCite's overall strategy for engaging with buyers and suppliers. He also works with key influencers across industries to raise awareness of the benefits of strategic meetings management.
Prior to joining StarCite Iwamoto was a key manager in the Hewlett-Packard Global Travel & Meetings Team, serving as Global Corporate Card, Hotels & Meetings Category Manager.
His responsibilities included working with HP’s management team and global offices negotiating and creating worldwide purchasing and supplier strategies. He previously managed HP’s worldwide airline, car rental and ground programs for many years before assuming new responsibilities late in 2006.
Kevin Iwamoto is a former President & CEO of the Board of Directors for the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), the leading source for education, advocacy, networking, news and information for more than 2,700 corporate and government travel professionals and suppliers.
Iwamoto has been honored with every major business travel industry accolade, including most recently, the NBTA’s Industry Icon Award, the association’s highest honor which recognizes contributions to managed travel that are so important as to elevate an individual to the status of an industry icon. In July 2008, he was designated as one of Business Travel News’ Best Meeting Practitioners. With this accolade, Iwamoto holds the record for the most designations by Business Travel News in the category. In July 2005, for the second time, he was designated a Best Industry Practitioner by Business Travel News, having been given the same designation in 2000. A month later he was designated by MeetingNews as one of the top 25 Most Influential Executives Past & Present in the Meetings Industry. The award recognizes his efforts during his tenure as NBTA president (2002-2004), when he forged a relationship between NBTA and Meeting Planners International (MPI) and created the NBTA Groups and Meetings Committee. These innovations reflect the growing trend toward a merger of corporate travel and meetings management.
In 2004, Iwamoto was awarded the prestigious NBTA President’s Award for his numerous industry contributions and leadership. In 2003, Business Travel Executive named Iwamoto as one of 13 Top Visionaries in business travel. In 2002, Business Travel News named Iwamoto one the of the top 25 most influential executives in business travel and also named him Travel Manager of the Year for his leadership and industry contributions.
Prior to Hewlett-Packard, Mr. Iwamoto served as a Senior Travel Account Manager with The Walt Disney Company and as a Corporate Sales Manager with Northwest Airlines. Mr. Iwamoto holds a bachelor's of science degree in business administration from the University of Hawaii, Honolulu and a Global Leadership Professional (GLP) Masters designation from the Wharton School of Business.
Iwamoto is a sought after industry spokesperson representing business travel interests globally to the U.S. Congress and the media, including NBC Nightly News, CBNC, Bloomberg, Financial Times, USA Today, The Wall St. Journal, and other publications and media outlets. He is also often sought after to speak at industry events.
Known as a global leader with a passion for people and processes, Ms. Joshua drives operational excellence through her collaborative leadership style. While being interviewed, when asked if she would describe herself as a “global supply chain leader”, Tracy Joshua chuckled and replied enthusiastically, “No, instead I believe I would best describe myself as a ‘global visionary people and process focused leader”. This description is more fitting for someone who has built their career on continuous process improvements through people development and by establishing operational excellence.
She is currently the Senior Director of Corporate Goods & Services Sourcing at Bristol-Myers Squibb reporting directly to Quentin Roach, Senior Vice President / Chief Procurement Officer of Global Procurement. Ms. Joshua works closely with the corporate functions across the company on the acquisition of required goods and services. She has responsibility for indirect spend categories including travel services, meetings management, leased workers, employee services, fleet services, management consulting, legal services, and learning & development, among other categories. Also, she is the executive champion for the Supply Strategy Councils, a key initiative for the procurement organization.
Ms. Joshua began her career in Logistics with Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan as a Logistics Analyst. She was later recruited by General Motors Corporation. She held various positions with progressive leadership responsibilities in logistics, purchasing and operations. She was recruited to Ford Motor Company in 1999. In her role as Global Logistics/Purchasing Department Manager, she developed a global strategy and sourcing process that resulted in yearly savings totally approximately $170 Million. In her previous position as Global Business & Strategy Department Head, she developed and launched global turnaround strategies that leveraged global purchases and built strategic relationships with best-in-class suppliers.
With more than 25 years of experience in sourcing and procurement, Mr. Kelly is an innovative leader in spend and risk management.
Through Mr. Kelly’s leadership, JVKellyGroup, Inc. has become a leading professional services firm specializing in cost reduction and risk mitigation solutions for its expansive list of Fortune 1000 clients.
Before founding JVKellyGroup in 2002, Mr. Kelly was Managing Director of Global Purchasing Operations and eSourcing for Deutsche Bank, a Team Leader in Sourcing and Strategic Relations at Deloitte and Touche Consulting Group and the Vice President of US Purchasing Operations at Citibank.
A recognized thought leader, Mr. Kelly is a featured speaker for organizations and events such as the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), the Conference Board, APICS, the Procurement Leaders Network and ProcureCon Indirect.
In 2008, Mr. Kelly received the J.H. Leonard Award from NAPM-NY for significant efforts on behalf of the purchasing profession and for contributions to the growth, development, and professional stature of the association. Additionally, Mr. Kelly was named one of Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine’s Pros to Know in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Mr. Kelly is very active in his community of Huntington, NY. His commitment led him to be elected the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce in 2005, where he served for four years. As a result of his work in rebuilding the financial stability of the Chamber, Mr. Kelly was named one of Long Island’s Top 50 most influential people in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Kelly currently serves on the Advisory Board for the School of Business for Adelphi University, the Board of Advisors for the Huntington Arts Council, as well as the Long Island Medical Foundation.
Chuck Kinnebrew is Sr. Director of Indirect Procurement at The Home Depot Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for leading a team of Sourcing professionals to develop and execute strategic sourcing plans to procure $6.5B of goods and services for internal consumption. This span of control includes professional services, marketing, advertising, store supplies and services, store maintenance/construction/fixtures, logistics, procurement operations, e-Sourcing and travel.
Prior to joining The Home Depot, Kinnebrew worked for the DuPont Company where he acquired extensive experience in manufacturing, planning, marketing and supply chain. He has worked in supply chain for the last twelve years and established an in-depth understanding of strategic sourcing while holding several domestic, regional and global leadership positions with a focus on Strategic Sourcing/Purchasing. Kinnebrew has also been instrumental in transforming tactical/transactional buying organizations to one that would be “World Class” with a “Strategic Focus”.
Kinnebrew received his bachelor of education degree from the University of Georgia.
Minacs operates solutions for the financial services line of business from offices located in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the senior vice president of financial services, Michael’s responsibilities include new business development and implementation of in depth, cross-functional market strategies for financial services, as well as end-to-end leadership for the BPO and KPO businesses and relationship management.
Prior to joining Minacs, Michael was at Wachovia Bank for the past 14 years, where he was the SVP of Outsourcing Strategy and Governance. Michael also worked in offshoring at Wachovia for five years, leading over 130 transitions, and managing over 1000 SLAs, over four countries and three providers.
John Maguire is the Senior Director of Indirect Procurement at the Kellogg Company. With 2007 sales of almost $12 billion, Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) is the world’s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit snacks, frozen waffles, and veggie foods. Kellogg products are manufactured in 17 countries and marketed in more than 180 countries around the world.
In his 10 years with Kellogg John has held many supply-chain and finance positions including Plant Manager, Asia-Pacific Procurement Manager, Investor Relations Officer, Global Financial Planning Manager, and Global Procurement Financial Business Partner.
Prior to joining The Kellogg Company, John held positions with CSX Transportation and Mobil Oil Corporation. John holds a BA in Communications and an MBA in Finance from Michigan State University.
As Vice President of Procurement, Peter Directs a 75-person staff that purchases $260 million annually in communications, hardware, software, professional services, training, operational outsourcing and travel services for 7,000 North American employees and clients.
Manni holds a Masters Degree in Technical Business Management from Johnson and Wales University and a Bachelors Degree in Management also from Johnson and Wales University. He is on the Global Procurement Board for Siemens and a member of the Executive Capital Committee. He is a past CompTIA Board of Directors member, a member of the IBM Service Advisory Council, and served on the CompTIA Service Executive Council from 2002-2004.
Gary A. Miller is the Vice President of Global Supply Chain and Chief Procurement Officer at A. Schulman. He oversees the company's supply chain and procurement activities to better leverage its worldwide purchasing power, reduce materials inventories, eliminate waste and improve efficiency.
Gary is tasked with creating a new supply chain and procurement organization for A. Schulman with members from all business units around the world. His team focuses on three key priorities -- reducing the cost of materials used and purchased; improving working capital utilization; and identifying new sources of supply for existing products as well as new products in the pipeline to achieve corporate business objectives of returning North American operations to profitability and positioning the Company for long-term global growth.
Most recently, Gary was Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and President of Goodyear/SRI Global Purchasing Company, a joint venture between Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. He has more than 35 years of experience with Goodyear, including responsibility for the company's global purchasing activities for the past 16 years.
As the Vice President, Strategic Accounts at Ketera, Mary Ellen Mitchell is responsible for sales management of new and existing strategic opportunities and customer implementation. A multi-faceted executive, Mary Ellen has a record of driving growth and profits for startups, Fortune 500 companies and high profile management consulting firms including Microsoft, Oracle, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Ernst & Young. Her diverse experience encompasses strategic sourcing, outsourcing services and procurement. Working in each of these functional areas, she has exceeded savings goals, and reduced costs both domestically and internationally.
Before coming to Ketera, Mary Ellen was the Vice President, Global Strategic Sourcing and Procurement for Softtek a near shore outsourcer based in Mexico. As the lead of this practice area, she was responsible for business development. Prior to Softtek, Mary Ellen served as Director of Global Strategic Sourcing for Office Depot where she developed and implemented a global sourcing function, saving the company over $150 million.
Michael has more than 30 years of experience in the supply chain, sourcing, materials and project management arena. Currently he is the Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Corbus and is the former Director of Supply Management for Johnson Controls, Inc. He has worked for, directed and been a provider of procurement, project and materials management expertise for more than 80 middle-market and Fortune 1000 companies including GE, P&G, Johnson Controls, Shell Oil Company, Baxter Healthcare, Cardinal Industries, Celanese, Jacobs Engineering and Huntington National Bank.
He is recognized as a leading expert on outsourcing, strategic sourcing and supply chain management. He has authored multiple articles, conducted seminars globally and presented at a variety of professional conferences. Michael is recognized as a leading expert on outsourcing, strategic sourcing and supply chain management. Mike has a long and successful record of reducing costs while improving quality, service, efficiency and productivity for organizations in all industries.
Paul J. Perry is the Global Sourcing Director responsible for Nokia’s global travel spend and serves on Nokia’s global indirect sourcing senior management team. During his tenure in Nokia’s Indirect Sourcing group, Paul also directed the Marketing sourcing efforts for North and South America as well as the overall indirect sourcing efforts for the Americas region managing near €1 billion euros in annual spending. He’s a licensed attorney in Texas and has more than 28 years experience in global direct and indirect sourcing, logistics and supply chain management leadership roles with industry leaders like Compaq Computer Corporation and Schlumberger. Paul earned a BS in Industrial Management from Louisiana State University, an MBA from the University of Houston and a Jurisprudence Doctorate from South Texas College of Law. He enjoys deer hunting in Texas, playing drums and spending time with his wife, Zsuzsa and their five children.
John Proverbs has more than 18 years experience in strategic sourcing. Currently John is the Senior Director of Supply Chain at KLA-Tencor. Notably, KLA-Tencor was a recipient of the ISM's 2006 R. Gene Richter Award for Leadership and Excellence in Supply Management. Prior to KLA-Tencor, John was a Senior Executive at a start-up engaged in strategic sourcing solutions. Previously, John was an integral member of teams at Hewlett-Packard and IBM that received, in 1992 and in 1999 respectively, Purchasing Magazine's Medal of Professional Excellence for organizing global procurement transformation. While at IBM, he led global sourcing teams. He has experience in both direct and indirect supply chain with strong skills in strategy development, strategic sourcing, contracts development, negotiations and building organizational capability.
Frank began his career at Intel 17 years ago and has served in various engineering, operations and supply line management positions. He was appointed Director of Intel’s Non Production Sourcing group (formerly Global Indirect Procurement) in April of 2009. Prior to this role, Frank served as Director of System Materials and Outsource Mfg. where he was responsible for sourcing and supplier relationship management for all Intel board, systems and boxed processor businesses. This included product design and manufacturing services as well as direct and indirect materials sourcing. Prior to Intel, Frank worked briefly at IBM as a field systems engineer. Frank received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University.
Bill Schaefer is Vice President of IBM Procurement Services. He is responsible for IBM's commercial procurement solutions worldwide. He was an original member of IBM’s procurement executive council during IBM’s successful transformation of procurement in the 1990’s leading to the awarding of the Purchasing Medal of Excellence. He led the creation of IBM's commercial procurement services in 1998 which has grown to become the market leader in procurement BPO.
Bill joined IBM in 1982 and has extensive experience in procurement and manufacturing operations. He provided leadership for IBM's Production Procurement Commodity Sourcing Councils and IBM General Procurement Operations for North America. He also served in IBM corporate manufacturing and within IBM's Networking Hardware and Personal Systems divisions.
Julie Speer, Director of Business Development, CWT North America, is responsible for developing strategic service and program management solutions for potential clients and ensuring ongoing program success. A travel industry veteran, she has nearly 25 years of experience partnering with clients of all sizes. She has also led various other business functions and, at one time, owned her own travel agency. Julie has the keen ability to determine the “right” value proposition and ensure return on investment. She has a BA from Texas State University.
Adrian Tighe was appointed Head of Contract Management in January 2009 and is responsible for all British Airways’ major supplier contracts.
Adrian qualified as an accountant, CIMA in 1985 and worked for Cadbury Schweppes in Birmingham for 6 years, HP Bulmer (makers of Strongbow and Woodpecker) for 3 years and then joined the Dowty Group (now part of Smiths Industries or Ultra Group) for 6 years, all in financial and commercial roles.
He joined British Airways in 1994 and has worked in the airline industry for 15 years having held various posts within the UK and Europe. Adrian was initially based in Manchester as Finance Director for BA Regional, before adding the commercial function to his responsibilities. He then continued his career as GM UK & Africa until early 1997. He moved to Switzerland as AGM Central & Eastern Europe and returned to the UK in 1999 as GM Alliances, oneworld. Adrian managed all of British Airways alliance activities from 2005 to his appointment as Head of Contract Management in 2009.
Darren Toohey is Vice President of Global Program Solutions for Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), responsible for consulting with large global companies to enhance travel programs leveraging industry best practices and proprietary technology. Darren’s 2009 efforts involved companies with more than $1 Billion combined travel spend. Darren has 15 years experience within travel, financial services, and consulting. He holds an MBA in Supply Chain Management and a Masters in Organizational Leadership.
Ginny Tucker is Vice-President of Procurement Solutions for Xerox Corporation. She is responsible for helping customers drive productivity and profitability to give them a competitive edge in their marketplace. She does this by leveraging Xerox Corporation process, technology, and knowledge in the procurement arena.
Ginny is a senior executive who has global experience in a variety of business areas. She has staff and line experience in sales support and service operations, finance, master data management, knowledge management, Go-To-Market & channel development strategy.
Ginny holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Development from St. Mary’s College of Maryland as well as an Executive MBA from Emory University. She is also a Xerox certified Black Belt.
As Global eProcure's Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Jagadish "JT" Turimella leads the consulting practice and manages the company's operational functions. Under JT's leadership the company has grown into a leading procurement consulting, outsourcing and technology firm that won many industry accolades for growth and great client work. For his leadership within Global eProcure and in the broader supply chain field, JT has been named one of the ""Pros to Know,"" a list of top industry professionals, by the Supply & Demand Chain Executive. Prior to joining Global eProcure, JT was a senior manager within the operational and pharmaceutical practice at A.T. Kearney. Before A.T. Kearney, JT held various management positions at the Option Clearing Corporation and Intergraph Corporation. At Intergraph Corporation, JT was responsible for creating new software products and developing and executing go-to-market strategies. JT received his MBA with high honors from the University of Chicago. He also holds an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from Clemson University. JT also serves as an Advisory Board Member at Clemson's Department of Computer Science.
Jake joined Schreiber Foods as MRO, Category Manager in 2008. Jake’s background includes economics, finance and sales. His unique and powerful skills have been instrumental in building a strategic sourcing strategy that has lowered cost and improved lead times for Schreiber Foods. Jake has focused on relationships both internal and external to build collaboration, trust and results. Jake is presently leading spend categories for Schreiber Foods in excess of $120MM.
Prior to founding HCMWorks, Mr. Weyn served as Executive Vice President with White Amber. White Amber, now a part of Taleo Workforce On-Demand, was one of the industry’s first electronic procurement and management technologies for Human Capital Management. As one of the company’s co-founders, Mr. Weyn was instrumental in securing over 60% of the company’s revenue while developing the corporate infrastructure to support sales and strategic alliances. Mr. Weyn has instructed Fortune 100 companies such as Wachovia, CapitalOne, Entergy, Sony, Exxon, IBM, Thomas J. Lipton, First Fidelity and others in the efficient practices of contingent workforce management.
Mr. Weyn also served as the Executive Director of Information Technology Services with Acsys, Inc; a publicly traded professional staffing company. At Acsys, he was responsible for the firm’s Information Technology Staffing practice as well as overseeing the successful integration of several large acquisitions.
Today, Mr. Weyn provides consulting services and best practices insight to procurement executives seeking to gain visibility into and control over indirect services expenditures such as contingent labor, helping them to drive savings and compliance within their organizations.
Formerly Director, Indirect Procurement and Strategic Sourcing, Alltel Wireless