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2010 Conference Speakers


Paul S. Auerbach, MD, MS, FACEP, FAWM, Professor of Surgery in the Division of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University

Dr. Paul S. Auerbach is professor of surgery in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University. Former Chief of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University and Vanderbilt University, Auerbach is one of the world’s leading authorities on emergency medicine and is the world’s leading authority on wilderness medicine. A graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, Auerbach is editor of Wilderness Medicine and author of Medicine for the Outdoors, Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine, Diving the Rainbow Reefs, and Management Lessons from the E.R. Auerbach is founder and past president of the Wilderness Medical Society and editor emeritus of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. Auerbach is the national medical consultant on hazardous marine animals to the Divers Alert Network, a member of the National Medical Committee for the National Ski Patrol System, and chief medical officer for Healthline Networks. Auerbach is a recipient of the Outstanding Contribution in Education Award from the American College of Emergency Physicians, DAN America Award, NOGI Award from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences, Diver of the Year from Beneath the Sea, and DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year.

Ayesha Barenblat, Director, Consumer Products, Business Social Responsibility

Ayesha Barenblat is the director of consumer products for Business Social Responsibility (BSR). Barenblat leads engagement with BSR’s 70-plus consumer product member companies, and in this capacity provides strategic advice on the design and implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Her areas of focus include integration of CSR into core business processes, sustainable supply chain management, and stakeholder engagement. Prior to joining BSR, Barenblat served as financial analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and a strategy consultant at CRA Rogers Casey. She holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley and is fluent in English and Urdu.

Moderator: Joshua Cohen, PhD, Martha Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society; Professor of Political Science, Philosophy and Law; Director, Program on Global Justice, Freeman Spogli Institute

Joshua Cohen is a professor of law, political science, and philosophy, program leader for the Program on Global Justice at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, where he is also a principal investigator in the programs on Human Rights and Liberation Technology. A political theorist, trained in philosophy, Cohen has written on issues of democratic theory, particularly deliberative democracy and the implications for personal liberty, freedom of expression, and campaign finance. Currently, Professor Cohen is concentrating his scholarship on issues of global justice, including the foundations of human rights, distributive fairness, and supranational democratic governance. A first volume of his selected papers, Philosophy, Politics, Democracy is being published by Harvard University Press (fall 2009), and Rousseau: A Free Community of Equals is forthcoming from Oxford University Press. He is also editor of Boston Review, a bi-monthly magazine of political, cultural, and literary ideas.

Diane Del Signore, Executive Director, Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Diane Del Signore is the executive director of Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), the oldest and largest NGO advocating for family farmers and sustainable agriculture in the state of California. CAFF has pioneered many initiatives that have changed the face of farming and agriculture in the state through innovation and advocacy in the field (working directly with farmers to implement environmentally-sound management practices), the market, the classroom, and the statehouse. To make local food more available to California consumers, the 30-year-old group launched a growers’ collaborative that has opened new markets for small farmers. It is through this effort that CAFF works with Bon Appétit Food Management Company, enabling Bon Appétit to increase its supply of local produce provided on its menus. Del Signore had a career in technology management before discovering her passion for food and agriculture. She holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

João Paulo Ferreira, Vice President of Operations and Logistics, Natura Cosmetics Brazil

João Paulo Ferreira is vice president of operations and logistics at Natura and responsible for manufacturing, procurement, planning, distribution, and customer service. Before joining Natura in 2009, Ferreira served as vice president of supply chain at Unilever, where he worked for 18 years performing different local, regional, and global functions. With a degree in electronic engineering from the University of São Paulo, Ferreira also earned an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Maisie Greenawalt, Vice President, Bon Appétit Management Company

Maisie Greenawalt is vice president of Bon Appétit Management Company. Greenawalt got her first restaurant job at 14, attended the Cornell Hotel School and worked for several chains before coming to Bon Appétit Management Company. At Bon Appétit, Greenawalt oversees communications, culinary development, purchasing, and marketing. Her job includes shepherding the strategic initiative she was instrumental in creating—for Bon Appétit to be known as the most socially responsible company in the food service industry. Some of the issues Greenawalt has tackled include local purchasing, the overuse of antibiotics, sustainable seafood, cage-free eggs, food and climate change, and the plight of farm workers in the United States.

Michael Johanson, Senior Transport Analyst, Chiquita Brands

Michael Johanson is senior transport analyst for Chiquita Brands. At Chiquita, Johanson’s responsibilities include management of Chiquita’s transportation Green initiatives, development of the transportation related sustainability metrics, transportation regulatory compliance, innovative distribution technology development, and logistics support for all Innovations projects at Chiquita. Johanson’s 34-career includes retail and food service supply chain management, agro-tech and food manufacturing management, and international humanitarian and missions service in 13-countries.

Michael Kobori, Vice President, Social and Environmental Sustainability, Levi Strauss & Co.

Michael Kobori is vice president, social and environmental sustainability for Levi Strauss & Co. Under Kobori’s tenure, the company has made public its list of suppliers to encourage more industry collaboration and has led industry efforts to implement sustainability with fabric mills and component parts suppliers. Kobori led development of the company’s environmental vision, which seeks to establish a more sustainable supply chain, from farm to post-consumer. Kobori has 25 years of experience in sustainability and human rights. He serves on the boards of the Levi Strauss Foundation and the Better Cotton Initiative, and on the ILO Better Work program advisory committee.

Master of Ceremonies: Hau L. Lee, Director, Global Supply Chain Management Forum and Thoma Professor of Operations, Information, and Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Hau L. Lee is director of the Global Supply Chain Management Forum and Thoma Professor of Operations, Information, and Technology at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Lee’s research focuses on supply chain management work that addresses how to get products or services to their destination by managing the flow of materials, information, and money. His research has resulted, among other things, in the building of computer models for industrial implementation, as well as in the development of strategies and operational concepts for practitioners. Lee was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, an honor that is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Lee obtained his BSocSc in economics and statistics from the University of Hong Kong, his MSc in operational research from the London School of Economics, and his MS and PhD degrees in operations research from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Master of Ceremonies & Moderator: Kevin O’Marah, Group Vice President, Supply Chain Research, AMR Research

Kevin O’Marah is group vice president, supply chain research for AMR Research. During his ten years with the firm, O’Marah has worked with hundreds of companies on manufacturing, product lifecycle management, and supply chain strategy. O’Marah launched AMR’s PLM practice, and is a seminal author on PLM, having been included in over 100 articles defining the application’s footprint, business impact, and market dynamics. He has also contributed to the firm’s definition and coverage of demand-driven supply networks, having authored several reports, including the AMR Research Supply Chain Top 25, defining the link to business operating metrics. He was named an AMR Research Fellow in 2002. Prior to joining AMR Research, O’Marah worked on supply chain projects in a variety of industries including telecommunications, semiconductors, and chemicals. Previously, O’Marah worked at Oracle Corporation, Gemini Consulting (now part of Ernst & Young), Mercer Consulting in London, and Company Assistance Limited in Warsaw. O’Marah is a graduate of Boston College, Oxford University, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a widely published author and has been quoted in numerous business publications including The Financial Times, Fortune, BusinessWeek and The Wall Street Journal.

Steve Thompson, Vice President, Enterprise Application Solutions & Alliances, Johnson Controls Inc.

Steve Thompson is vice president of enterprise application solutions and alliances. Thompson has been involved in the design, development, and marketing of products serving commercial and institutional customers since 1980. From advanced digital controls to integrated security, Thompson has been working to apply technology to the application of energy management, sustainability, productivity, and comfort for buildings worldwide. Within Johnson Controls, Thompson has managed technology development in Asia, Europe, and North America and is a currently leading an effort to deliver energy and sustainability solutions to enterprise customer facilities worldwide.

Abhijit Upadhy, Director, National Supply Chain, Menu Management and New Business Channels, McDonald’s India

Abhijit Upadhye is director of national supply chain, menu management, and new business channels for McDonald’s India. Apart from being responsible for managing the complex supply chain of McDonald’s, Upadhye is responsible for developing new products and leading the entire new business channels initiatives that are responsible for the future sales and profit growth of McDonald’s in India. Prior to working with McDonald’s, Upadhye was heading the retail domain competency group at Infosys Technologies. The Retail Domain Competency Group was responsible for providing functional consulting, in the retail and distribution space, to fortune 500 retailers and consumer packaged goods companies across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Abhijit has written articles in leading publications like RIS News (North America), International Symposium of Logistics and currently writes a guest column for the Modern Food Processing Journal. Prior to working with Infosys, Upadhye worked for four years in McDonald’s India as a supply chain manager. He has also worked with Perfetti India in sales and with Philips India in marketing.

Dawn Vance, Director, Global Logistics, Infrastructure Sustainability, Nike Inc.

Dawn Vance is director of global logistics, infrastructure sustainability at Nike. A twelve-year veteran of Nike, much of her career here has been focused on the future of Nike’s Supply Chain. Vance’s first assignment at Nike was to lead the Global Y2K program, at that time the single largest program Nike had ever undertaken. After securing the operational viability of Nike’s existing IT and business process infrastructure, she shifted efforts to the newly designed Nike Supply Chain Program as global transition director. Once a successful Go-Live was achieved, Vance joined the U.S. region to help establish a small team known as “Supply Chain Innovation” where she currently directs the sustainability strategy and programs for Nike’s global logistics infrastructure. Prior to arriving at Nike, Vance spent twenty years in senior leadership positions in IT, manufacturing, procurement, marketing, and strategic planning in the high tech industry.

Ron Volpe, Customer Vice President - Logistics, Kraft Foods

Ron Volpe is customer vice president of logistics for Kraft Foods leading customer service and logistics activities for all Kraft Food business in the western U.S. Volpe is a member of the Kraft customer service and logistics senior leadershp team. Most recently, Volpe led the pilot that integrated customer service and logistics activities for all Kraft Routes to Market (DSD and warehouse delivered). This pilot was recently rolled out nationally for Kraft. Prior to this assignment, Volpe designed and led Kraft’s global customer collaboration efforts labeled Joint Value Creation developed with the innovation firm IDEO. This work was awarded the GMA’s inaugural award for Supply Chain Innovation, was a finalist for the CSCMP Award for Innovation, and was featured in the book The Ten Faces of Innovation by IDEO’ Tom Kelley. Vople is a frequent conference speaker on the topic of customer collaboration.

Henry Ward, Global Supply Chain Director, Sustainability, Security & Public Policy, The Dow Chemical Company

Henry Ward leads The Dow Chemical Company’s global programs for supply chain sustainability, security and public policy advocacy – with emphasis on Dow’s global supply chain energy and environmental (greenhouse gas) footprint, chemical transportation security threat and vulnerability assessments and risk mitigation, and public policy advocacy in the areas of transportation infrastructure and rail hazardous materials safety and security. Henry’s 35 years of experience in the chemical industry includes leadership roles in manufacturing, global supply chain operations and a wide range of environmental, health, safety and chemical security risk management disciplines. He joined Dow in Midland, Michigan in February 2001, following 16 years with Union Carbide Corporation and 10 years with Stauffer Chemical Company. Henry earned a BA in natural sciences from the Johns Hopkins University and an MS in industrial hygiene and air resources management from the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health.