Connie is the Vice President of Business Excellence for Greenfield Global, a leading producer and supplier of high-value, mission-critical raw materials, ingredients, and additives that are vital to businesses and integral to a lower-carbon economy. Connie is responsible for creating and implementing long-term integrated business improvement and technology projects. She leads multiple teams that will collectively and collaboratively deliver an enterprise-wide transformation program. This includes enterprise software selection projects, multi-year ERP and other technology implementations, foundational projects, business optimization, and continuous improvement projects. As Vice President of Business Excellence Connie is accountable for developing and leading a center of excellence to provide advanced leadership, training and support for optimizing the business, resolving complex business issues and driving continuous improvement/ learning across the organization. Connie is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Ottawa University. She has received a Black Belt certification in Lean.

Geoff manages many different functions within the Operations and Supply Chain areas, including Production, Quality, Customer Order Fulfilment, Warehousing and Logistics, but most of his experience is in Sourcing, Purchasing, and Planning. Geoff has worked with suppliers and customers in high-tech manufacturing and electronics distribution for over 20 years in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, dealing with some of their most complicated global supply chain challenges. Currently, he leads the Operations and Supply Chain areas at Cree Lighting, a leading provider of LED lighting solutions to retail, transportation, and industry with US manufacturing offshore ODM partners.

A versatile Supply Chain Executive with over 16 years’ progressive experience managing international strategic projects and teams at Saint-Gobain. As a results oriented strategic thinker, Gonzalo currently holds the role of Director of Supply Chain at CertainTeed Insulation North America, managing 160 people and a budget of $60M, reporting to the Group’s General Manager and serving as a member of the Executive team. During his tenure at Saint-Gobain, he has lived and worked internationally in France, UK, Morocco, Spain and North America leading projects involving customer service, S&OP, process improvement and implementing SAP. He has a successful track record of leading complex mergers and acquisitions, managing world-class supply chain programs, and providing financial management. Fluent in three languages, English/Spanish/French, Gonzalo is a proven leader, with a demonstrated ability to manage people as well as processes. In addition to supply chain, he has managed finance, Audit and IT projects across multinational boundaries. Representative accomplishments include: • Defined a new Value Proposition and executed an improvement program leading to customer service improvement (CSI from 92% to 96%), $15M annual profit increase and 15 days of working inventory reduction. • Successful implementation of a new S&OP process for tactical planning ensuring the alignment of Sales & Marketing, Planning, Production, WH and Transportation. • With a specific focus on Customer Service streamlined communication between Supply Chain, Sales and the Customer. • Implemented cost improvement through product simplification, regional freight bidding, external warehousing and other outsourced services reductions. • Implemented of SAP ERP including APO and MRP as well as QlikView for reporting. • Won Supply Chain Award for best 2019 Saint-Gobain’s worldwide business improver. • Instrumental in improving CertainTeed’s IG operating profit from - $43M in 2017 to +$30M in 2019. He graduated from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Madrid Spain with the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Throughout his career, Gonzalo has been known for getting the job done and making things happen to the betterment of the companies he has served. As a strong team player and contributor, he gained a reputation for dependability and technical savvy, and for bringing extraordinary value to his positions.

Results-driven and strategic leader who develops and aligns key business initiatives with more than 25 years of experience in manufacturing and quality systems from plastics, steel and other industries. Heinz holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, a certificate in project management from University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in organizational psychology from Adler University. He currently works for Primex Technologies as VP of Manufacturing, where he seeks advice and insight from his team members on how as a team, they can best drive growth. Heinz was a speaker at “Advantage through Excellence” by Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) in Toronto last year and collaborated this year with the University of Waterloo with an interview for their operations and supply chain management graduate studies.

Jerry Hamilton is a Procurement Engineer at Lockheed Martin. Jerry works with a team of engineers to employ the use of Lean Six Sigma and statistical tools/methods to production processes within the supply chain. He has worked in the semiconductor, transportation and aerospace industries and is certified through the American Society for Quality (ASQ) as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. He holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University.

Julianne Youngblood is the Strategic Program Director for Global Supply Chain Quality & Reliability at Intel Corporation. In this role, she is responsible for leading strategic programs including automation, supplier quality and traceability initiatives.  Youngblood also plays a key role in corporate and divisional diversity and inclusion programs including inclusive language, understanding bias, and emotional intelligence.

Prior to this role, she was the Director of Strategic Programs in the Silicon Engineering Group, where she led the organization responsible for driving execution reviews of key programs, quality program management, and the learning & development activities.

Youngblood joined Intel in 1997 as a senior environmental engineer.  She has held numerous leadership positions including Senior Operations Program Manager for Supply Chain Transformation, Quality Director for Manufacturing and Validation Engineering, Director, Strategic Technical Programs for the Windows OS Division, and the Director of Global Business Operations for the Software & Services Group.  In addition, she previously spent 8 years in Corporate Quality Network as a Quality Systems Account Manager.

Youngblood has a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, a master’s in organizational management, and completed her doctoral studies in Business Administration.  In addition, she is a Transformational Leadership Coach and Spot Coach Practitioner.

Dr. Justin Goldston is a Professor of Project and Supply Chain Management at Penn State University. He is also an industry veteran where he has worked with organizations around the world such as Intel, Siemens, and Blue Buffalo on business performance improvement, organizational change, and enterprise-wide digital transformation initiatives. Dr. Goldston is the author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles on supply chain management and innovative technologies, of Critical Success Factors in ERP Implementations, and is a five-time TEDx speaker where he discussed emerging technologies such as blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Goldston has also led and assisted in the development of Supply Chain Management and Business Analytics programs at Georgetown University, Texas A&M University, North Carolina Wesleyan College, and has evaluated programs for the Department of Higher Education while serving on the Management Advisory Board at various higher education institutions.

Miguel has over 30 years of experience as a technical leader in industrial automation, electricity, manufacturing execution systems and related engineering activities in manufacturing. His comprehensive technical experience includes functional leadership and guidance, capital investment planning & execution, compliance, building engineering capabilities, operational support, develop and manage strong network of professional and knowledge partners and suppliers, standardization, continuous improvements, operational innovations and renovations, technology evaluation and deployment of IoT platforms and solutions for the manufacturing industry. Thus, enabling manufacturing facilities to achieve high performance targets, manufacturing flexibility, cost improvements, substantial energy consumption reductions and improve manufacturing performance. In his current role as Director of Technology Programs at CESMII (The Smart Manufacturing Institute), Miguel is leading the development and execution of a comprehensive strategic evaluation and implementation program with regards to technical investigation areas and test-beds in Smart Manufacturing, MES systems, and large scale deployment to radically improve the precision, performance, efficiency, energy productivity and growth of U.S. manufacturing. In addition, Miguel’s responsibilities include supporting outreach, training, certification, communications, workforce development and education to improve the precision, performance and efficiency of U.S. advanced manufacturing.

Milson Gondim currently serves as Senior Vice President, Small Molecule Network - Elanco Manufacturing. Dr. Gondim has worked in various areas of leadership including biotechnology, consumer care, and small molecule. Strong focus on acquisition, integration, capacity modeling, improvement projects and strategic initiatives. Milson received his D.M.V. degree from the State University of Ceara, Brazil and Ph. D. in Immunology from the Ceara Federal University. Milson also received his MBA from the European Business School in Spain, and Project Management Master Degree from Dom Cabral University in Brazil.

Dr. Nourredine Boubekri is currently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of North Texas. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. He received both his Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Manufacturing Engineering. His career started at the University of Miami. There he founded the University of Miami Industrial Assessment Center in the year 2000, which is currently still funded by DOE. His experience includes his roles as Department chair /Director of Research and Innovation /Director of UNT SACSCOC reaffirmation. He directed more than thirty-five Master and Ph.D. Students and published more than 100 technical articles and journal papers in the areas of Green Manufacturing, New Product/Process Development Management, Project Management and Quality Management. His research funding exceeds five million dollars in grants and contracts. He has been an invited/Keynote speaker at a number of international conferences and symposiums.

At Veryable, Rich leads market operations for the Southwest region and supports organizational development initiatives for the company. Prior to Veryable, Rich was a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting and Slalom Consulting where he led consulting engagements across a number of industries and functional areas focusing on strategic planning, operational improvement, customer engagement, and organizational development. Rich holds a bachelors degree from Vanderbilt University and a MBA from Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Tom Butkiewicz is a Core Faculty-Research member in the PhD Management program at Walden University. Dr. Tom is the faculty advisor for The National Society of Leadership and Success and the PhD Management Fellowship program. He is a reviewer for the Academy of Management and the International Journal of Applied Management and Technology. Dr. Tom also serves as the vice president for the Walden University Virtual Fulbright Association Chapter. Dr. Tom worked 26 years as an operations manager in the automotive industry for Mitsubishi Motors. He proudly concluded 20 years of honorable service to our great country as a field operations Chief Warrant Officer (CWO-3) in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. Dr. Tom is a certified leadership speaker, coach, and trainer who serves individuals and organizations for sustainable competitive advantage outcomes. He pursues positive social change by supporting the Multiple Sclerosis Society through a fundraising commitment for 20 years. Dr. Tom's positive social change focus also is demonstrated by being a member of the strategic development committee for a new church building project in Southern California.

Bill has worked in the medical device industry for over thirty years in a variety of manufacturing, operations, and design roles. He holds several U.S. and International patents related to surgical implants and instruments, many of which have been successfully commercialized. His design activities range from direct product development and outside collaboration, to manufacturing process and equipment development. Bill is a board member of the Southern California Biomedical Council and Ventura County Workforce Development Board, and he advises academic programs at UC Riverside, Moorpark College, and the national Community College Consortium for Bioscience Credentials.