Session Speaker Biographies

Session Speakers

Tracy Beaudry, Health and Safety Manager, Goodrich Corp.

Tracy is the Health and Safety Manager for Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 company that is a leading global supplier of systems and services to the aerospace and defense industry. She is responsible for developing and implementing programs and best practices for continuous improvement in Health and Safety performance. She manages and delivers specialized education for Goodrich leaders focused in the areas of EHS leadership, operational risk management and EHS Management Systems. In addition, she is a lead auditor for Goodrich’s Enterprise EHS audit program that encompasses EHS management systems and compliance assurance. Tracy has 20 years experience in various aspects of manufacturing. Prior to joining Goodrich, she worked for Continental Tire in Charlotte, NC as the Health and Safety Manager where she implemented systems that significantly reduced worker injuries and associated compensation costs. Prior to joining Continental, Tracy worked 12 years for Cooper Industries as an Industrial Engineer and Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator. Tracy served in the United Stated Air Force for 9 years. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from Saint Leo College and the Associate Safety Professional Certification (ASP) from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. She is also a member of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the National Safety Council (NSC).

 

Barruch Ben-Zekry, Environmental & Sustainability Specialist, Levi Strauss & Co.

Barruch Ben-Zekry is the Environmental and Energy Specialist with Levi Strauss & Co. He is in charge of energy reduction projects and green house gas management for the company’s global owned and operated facilities. He is also active in life cycle analysis, manufacturing energy use optimization and corporate wide awareness building. As an intern with Levi Strauss he actually completed the company’s first GHG inventory. Barruch has a degree in Environmental Economics and Policy from the University of California – Berkeley.

 

Paul Bender, Compliance Assurance Manager, GE Aviation Systems

Paul Bender is the Environmental Health and Safety Compliance Assurance Leader for GE Aviation. He joined GE Aviation in 2005 as the Compliance Assurance Leader. Bender has taken on several additional roles including the Digitization Leader for EHS, the EHS representative on the GE Aviation Regulatory Council, as well as being involved with several acquisitions, transactions and divestitures. Before joining GE Aviation, Bender managed the GE Corporate Properties & Service Organization EHS/Crisis Manage Program for the European, Middle Eastern & African Regions and was located in Brussels, Belgium. Prior to this, he held several roles within GE Energy as his career grew. Bender joined General Electric in 1988 after finishing a tour of duty with the US Air Force. Bender holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technologies from the University of Southern Maine. GE Aviation, an operating unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet engines, components and integrated systems for commercial and military aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings.

 

Catherine Benoit, Lead Developer, Social Life Cycle Assessment Guidelines, United Nations Environment Programme

Catherine Benoît is the Strategy and Social Assessments director at New Earth, a non-profit organization (www.newearth.info). In particular she is the co-creator and executive director of New Earth Social Hotspots Database project (www.socialhotspot.org). She is the lead editor of the Guidelines for S-LCA that were published by the UNEP Life Cycle Initiative in May 2009 (http://lcinitiative.unep.fr/). Catherine is a visiting scholar at the University of New Hampshire and a project leader within the Sustainability Consortium. In 2008, she joined Sylvatica (www.sylvatica.com), a Life Cycle Assessment consulting firm, directing Social LCA projects. She is also leading the development of the social sustainability assessment capabilities of Earthster (www.earthster.org). Prior to her current positions, she was the research coordinator for social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) within CIRAIG (www.ciraig.org), based at the University of Quebec at Montreal business school (www.esg.uqam.ca) for 6 years (2004-2009). Catherine is also an advisor to sustainable purchasing initiatives, to social responsibility supply chains metrics development initiatives, to the Ecoinvent committee on impact indicators, a project leader within the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Initiative and the co-coordinator of the Stewardship index for specialty crops Human resources metrics development group.

 

Bill Blackburn, President, William Blackburn Consulting, Ltd.

William R. Blackburn is president of William Blackburn Consulting, Ltd., focusing on sustainability; environment, health and safety management; and emergency and crisis response. The firm is a social enterprise with all revenues beyond taxes and other expenses going to The Green Hollow Center, a nature preserve and sustainability learning center in the Loess Hills of Southwest Iowa. Bill has over 35 years experience in environmental law and management. Until 2003 he was vice president and chief counsel, Corporate EHS at Baxter International Inc. There, he led efforts in pioneering innovative environmental management standards; EHS performance measures; public reporting; and emergency response programs. Under his leadership, the Baxter EHS program received over 300 external awards. Bill’s book, The Sustainability Handbook—The Complete Management Guide to Achieving Social, Economic, and Environmental Responsibility, was published by the Environmental Law Institute and Earthscan in 2007, and is used for course work by many business schools.

 

He is currently Director of Health, Safety and Environmental Affairs for Barnes Precision Components.

 

Jeff Blake, Director, Health Safety and Environmental Affairs, Barnes Precision Components

Mr. Blake has 17 years of EHS management experience including 2 fortune 500 companies, Gillette and GE, across operations, segment and corporate levels. He has a Master’s Degree from Yale University in Industrial Environmental Management and is a Special Governmental Employee (SGE) for OSHA VPP Programs, a certified Lead Auditor for ISO 14001 management systems, and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.

 

Paul Bowen, Water Technology Director, The Coca Cola Co.

Paul Bowen joined The Coca-Cola Company in 1999 and currently works in the Environment and Water Resources Department where he leads the water efficiency and wastewater compliance efforts for the Global Water Stewardship Team. He also provides assistance with water and wastewater treatment issues and development of water treatment technologies for The Coca-Cola Company worldwide. Paul is The Company’s representative on the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), an organization he helped start. Outside of The Coca-Cola Company he is a member of the Water Environment Federation Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Water for People a non-profit group working to provide sustainable water and sanitation systems in areas of need around the world. Paul has a MS and Ph.D. in Environmental Systems Engineering from Clemson University.

 

Kathy Brewer, Product Stewardship Program Manager, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Kathy Brewer has a Bachelors degree in Chemistry and a Masters degree in Environmental Systems Engineering, both from Clemson University. Prior to coming to Hewlett-Packard, she worked for seven years as an environmental engineering consultant with CH2M HILL. Kathy joined Hewlett-Packard in 1996 and worked for thirteen years as a product steward for the Inkjet Supplies Business. Her primary responsibilities were providing support to product development teams to ensure that products meet all applicable regulatory requirements as well as Design for Environment goals. Currently, she is the Product Stewardship Program Manager for HP’s Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) with responsibilities for coordinating stewardship activities across product lines and implementing compliance and Design for Environment initiatives.

 

Candee Chambers, Employee Relations Consultant, American Electric Power Co. Inc

Candee Chambers is employed with American Electric Power, where she serves as a Sr. Workforce Diversity Consultant, specializing in Affirmative Action and EEO issues. She is also the primary trainer of Fair Employment Practices, Diversity, Harassment Education and Understanding Generational Differences courses at AEP. Candee also manages both the Transmission and Distribution Co-op Programs, where she recruits electrical engineering and civil engineering students from colleges across the United States. In February 2010, Candee was presented with the Lou Takacs Co-op Employer of the Year Award. Ms. Chambers holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Bowling Green State University. She also holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation.

 

Mike Christian, Manager EHS Stewardship, Goodrich Corp.

Located in Charlotte, NC, Mike has global responsibility for energy and climate, design for environment, pollution prevention, and enterprise EHS Metrics. In addition, Mike serves as a lead auditor for Goodrich and is an EHS steering committee member. Mike has worked for Goodrich for 12 years. Prior to his current assignment, he was the EHS Manager of Goodrich’s Engine Components business unit, where he had EHS responsibility for multiple locations. Mike holds a B.S. Degree in Biology from Fairmont State University in Fairmont, WV and a M.S. degree in Safety and Environmental Management from West Virginia University.

 

Shaun Clancy, Director, Product Regulatory Services, Evonik Degussa Corp.

Shaun Clancy is presently Director of Product Regulatory Services for Evonik Degussa Corporation, the U.S. subsidiary of Evonik Industries of Germany. Product Regulatory Services provides product safety and regulatory affairs support to many of Evonik’s businesses that operate in North America in collaboration with colleagues located around the world. He is a chemist and did his undergraduate work at the University of Buffalo, State University of New York and performed his graduate studies at Northwestern University. With respect to Nanotechnology Dr. Clancy is interested in learning and sharing information needed to ensure that nanoscale materials can be used safely and the impact of this information on chemical control laws and regulations.

 

Blaine Collison, Program Manager, Green Power Purchase Program, Environmental Protection Agency

Blaine Collison is the director of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. Since joining the EPA in 1996, Mr. Collison has managed energy efficiency efforts in residential new construction, consumer product performance labeling, commercial and institutional building management, and engagement of institutional investors. Prior to joining EPA, Mr. Collison was the Associate Director of the Sustainable Buildings Industries Council. He worked for Congressman Mel Levine (CA) on Capitol Hill during the 102nd Congress. Mr. Collison has a political science degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.

 

Laurie Counsel, Energy and Environmental Relations Director, Cummins Inc.

Laurie Counsel is Energy and Environmental Relations Director at Cummins, where she works to better drive internal actions, strengthen the company's external reputation and impact and respond to future regulations. In this capacity, she also works to educate business leaders broadly on climate change issues and encourages carbon reduction action by employees. She co-manages the Cummins Climate Change Working Group and leads energy and environment initiatives across the business and functional areas of the company. Laurie received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, Florida), a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Georgia and is a Six Sigma green belt.

 

Christoper Cox, Environmental Manager, Deere & Co.

Christopher Cox has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Safety with emphasis in Biology. He had worked for John Deere for 38 years. Over the span of his career, Chirs has worked in Deere and Company’s Foundry, Agriculture, Consumer Products, Golf and Turf and Construction & Forestry Divisions. At John Deere Facilities Chris is responsible for Occupational Safety, Ergonomics, Occupational Health, Industrial Hygiene, FAA/DOT, Security, Environmental Engineering, Energy etc. He is the past president Board of Directors of Iowa Illinois Safety Council. Chris has published approximately 28 professional articles/papers and has been featured in Fortune magazine.

 

Sally Curley, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, Cardinal Health Inc.

Sally is responsible for overseeing the company’s global investor relations (IR) efforts. In addition, she is a member of Cardinal Health’s Global Leadership Team, Finance Council and Political Action Committee Board of Directors. Sally also sits on the Steering Committee for the Company’s Women’s Initiative (Women in Business). Sally received her bachelor's degree from Colby College in Waterville, Maine and her master's degree in business administration from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Rob Currie, Director, Environment, Health & Safety, Baxter Healthcare Corp.

Rob has a B. S. in Chemical Engineering and an M. S. in Environmental Engineering, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana. Currently Rob is Director of Environment, Health & Safety with Baxter Healthcare Corporation and has been with Baxter for over 22 years. He is primarily responsible for Baxter’s global environmental and product stewardship programs. He provides EHS technical and engineering support to manufacturing facilities worldwide. Other current initiatives and areas of responsibility include incorporating EHS and sustainability concerns into the new product development process, using Lean and Six Sigma concepts to reduce waste generation and natural resource consumption, corporate sustainability programs, corporate EHS audits, and overall risk management and risk reduction. He has primary responisibility for all Product Stewardship compliance issues, including REACH, ROHS, and other global requirements.Prior to working for Baxter, he worked for Shell Oil Company as a Process and Project Engineer for five years, and spent one year with an environmental consulting firm.

 

Rodney Davis, Senior Manager, Global Sustainability, Mattel Inc.

Rodney earned his bachelor’s degree in occupational safety and risk management from Indiana State University and a master of public health (M.P.H.) degree in environmental sciences and epidemiology from Indiana University. He has over 15 years work experience in the areas of environmental, health, safety, quality, sustainability, corporate responsibility and risk management in both domestic and international settings. He has been with Mattel since 2002 and currently heads Mattel's Global Sustainability Strategy, Compliance and Management programs, including responsibility for all environmental, health, safety and sustainability programs, policies, compliance and initiatives for Mattel, Inc.

 

Larry Deeney, Senior Director , Environmental Sustainability, General Mills Inc.

Larry Deeney provides strategic direction and oversight on environmental initiatives throughout General Mills’ North America and International operations. In addition to his efforts to build a solid and vibrant environmental program within General Mills’ manufacturing operations, Larry guides the company on other EHS matters, including environmental performance metrics, CSR reporting, managing external stakeholders, and integrating the culture of sustainability into General Mills’ supply chain. Mr. Deeney has over 25 years of environmental experience, the past 16 with General Mills, and earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Minnesota.

 

Hal Ehrhardt, Manager, Energy and Environment, Lockheed Martin Corp.

Hal Ehrhardt is currently the Senior Manager of the Energy & Environmental Programs department with the corporate ESH staff at Lockheed Martin. His responsibilities include their Chemical Management Services initiative, along with other Energy and Environmental programs. With over 30 years of ESH and Process Engineering experience in the electronics and aerospace industry, as the site ESH Manager, he was a vocal opponent of CMS outsourcing until 2005 when his facility agreed to be the CMS pilot site within Lockheed Martin. He is now one of the most vocal proponents of CMS.

 

John Finisdore, Associate, Business & Ecosystem Services Project, World Resources Institute

John Finisdore leads WRI’s Business & Ecosystem Services Project that is advancing business strategies, markets, and policies that align corporate performance with ecosystem stewardship. He coauthored the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review; built Business & Ecosystems Leadership Group; and is working on several ecosystem valuation, agriculture, and forestry initiatives. He has years of field experience in Central America, Indonesia, and the South Pacific where he worked at the intersect of economic development and the environment. His sector portfolios include conservation, poverty reduction, small enterprise development, supply chains, and agriculture, and forestry. In this capacity he developed partnerships with several Fortune 500 firms. He holds degrees from New York University in Business Management and American University in International Development.

 

Diane Fitzgerald, Managing Director, Environmental Affairs, American Electric Power Co. Inc

Diane Fitzgerald has 30 years of experience in environmental, safety and health issues in the electric utility industry, including: managing ES&H compliance and permitting at the corporate level and at a nuclear facility; Influencing national and international climate change policy in the area of terrestrial carbon sequestration (forestry); Implementing AEP’s voluntary greenhouse gas reduction strategy through reforestation and forest conservation; Championing corporate environmental stewardship and education initiatives; Leading a team to conform AEP to ISO 14001 (environmental management systems) and OHSAS 18001 (safety and health management systems). Diane has a BA in Environmental Studies and Economics from Butler University and has completed the Darden Executive Partnership Program at the University of Virginia.

 

Mike Gromacki, Vice President, Operations and Chief Sustainability Officer, Dixie Chemical Co. Inc.

Mr. Gromacki is the Vice President of Operations / Chief Sustainability Officer for Dixie Chemical Company, Inc. in Pasadena, Texas. Dixie Chemical manufactures proprietary paper sizing chemicals, anhydride epoxy curing agents and reactive diluents. Dixie products support clean technology through synthetic and renewable chemistry. Mr. Gromacki is a Chemical Engineering graduate of the University of Wisconsin and began his career in environment and infrastructure (E&I) engineering. He later served the TOTAL subsidiary Cook Composites and Polymers (CCP) as QSE Director, Manufacturing Director-Composites, and Vice President of Engineering & Loss Control. His expertise is reducing waste and loss and improving productivity and sustainability through engineering design and management systems. He currently serves as Chair of the US Business Council for Sustainable Development and on the Advisory Board of Texas Industries of the Future.

 

Sulaiman Hamidi, Manager, EHS - Global Technical Operations, Allergan Inc.

Sulaiman Hamidi has over 17 years of experience developing, implementing and auditing environmental, health and safety programs in the pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries. He currently leads Allergan’s Corporate Health and Safety, EHS Information Systems, and sustainability reporting functions. Previously, Sulaiman led EHS programs at Watson Pharmaceuticals, and Baxter Healthcare. Sulaiman is a Certified Safety Professions (CSP), and Certified Hazardous Material Manager (CHMM). Sulaiman has a BS degree in Biology from UC Irvine.

 

Debbie Hammond, Director EHS Governance, Abbott Laboratories

Deb is the Director of Global EHS Governance for Abbott, based in the Chicagoland area. Abbott is a diversified healthcare company with businesses spanning pharmaceutical formulation, nutritional products, diagnostic testing, and medical devices. She has been with Abbott for 10 yrs and has primary responsibility to oversee Abbott’s EHS regulatory affairs, performance, and reporting programs across its business units worldwide. Prior to Abbott she spent 12 years in environmental consulting and laboratory analysis.

 

John Harris, Global HSE Product Stewardship Coordinator, Eli Lilly & Co.

John has over 30 years in the HSE field centered in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. His experience has been in the range of EH&S management systems, compliance, remediation, and due diligence throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. John’s recent emphasis is in integrating HSE with business processes where HSE can provide a differential value along the business’s value chain. He developed and manages Eli Lilly’s global product stewardship program, emphasizing how Lilly works with its’ value chain business partners in enhancing business performance through sustainable and EH&S aspects. This includes product design, packaging, customer use of products and end of use product management. He manages supply chain HSE processes to address risk associated with liability, business interruption and brand impact with contract manufacturers and material suppliers, and has responsibility for global crisis management and business continuity planning.

 

Don Hayden, EHS Manager, Reynolds Packaging Group

Don Hayden is a corporate Environmental, Health and Safety manager with Reynolds Packaging, a former business of Alcoa. In his current assignment he is responsible leading the development and implementation of EHS Management Systems that reflect the strategy of the newly formed enterprise. This includes leading the implementation of EHS data management systems, defining Key Performance Indicators by which the organization measures success and leading the Corporate EHS audit process. Prior to his current position, Don spent 15 years with Alcoa where he was the EHS manager for the Closure Systems International business unit. Don graduated with a Bachelors degree in Geology and received a Masters Degree in Occupational Health and Safety from Murray State University. He is both a Certified Industrial Hygienist and a Certified Safety Professional.

 

Steve Huntzinger, Director, EHS North America, Cephalon Inc.

Steve has held positions in the EHS field over the last 20 years with a broad range of experience. He presently is the Director of North American EHS for Cephalon, Inc. a pharmaceutical company based in West Chester, PA. Cephalon’s EHS needs span manufacturing, pilot plant and R&D facilities. Cephalon discovers and develops compounds often with high levels of potency requiring attention to safety considerations throughout their processing. Key areas of responsibility include Risk assessment programs, potent compound program development, audit and inspection programs, construction and contractor safety programs and all of the usual variety of related safety and environmental programs.

 

Balaji Jayaseelan, Manager, Global Sustainability, Newell Rubbermaid

Balaji is Program Manager of the Global Environment and Sustainability group at Newell Rubbermaid. He is in charge of providing strategic advice to business units on a wide range of sustainability issues including energy/climate change, waste management, product claims and Life cycle management. Balaji is a Chemical Engineer and holds a Masters (Magna Cum Laude) in Environmental management concentrating on Sustainability.

 

Willie Johnson, Product Supply Sustainability, Proctor & Gamble Co.

Willie is from New Orleans, LA and holds a BS Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee University. He has been employed at the Procter & Gamble Company since 1986. Since then, he has held a variety of engineering, operations and strategic planning assignments. In his assignments he worked in several business areas and in many different locations globally. Willie is currently P&G’s Global Product Supply Engineering Sustainability Leader. He is responsible for accelerating and enabling the delivery of key elements of P&G's PS Sustainability strategy. Most recently, Willie was the Family Care Business Unit Engineering Associate Director. In that organization, Willie held several roles including Charmin Technical Organization Leader, New Capacity Leader, and Process Technology Owner. He was responsible for leading new site projects, developing and launching new products, and development new technologies. He has managed a portfolio of projects that exceeds $600 million dollars.

 

Steve Kooy, Senior Environmental Engineer & Global Sustainability Leader, Haworth Inc.

Steve Kooy joined Haworth, Inc. in 2004 in the role of Corporate Environmental Engineer. He is responsible for supporting a broad range of Haworth’s sustainability initiatives including: ISO14001 auditing and implementation, LEED certification projects and working with product developers improve sustainability of products. His LEED experience includes co-managing the LEED submittal for Haworth’s Pune, India LEED CI Gold project. He also managed the LEED portion of Haworth’s Shanghai showroom also a LEED CI Gold project. Currently Steve is working with Haworth – EU to implement LEED criteria in the Zurich showroom. Before coming to Haworth, Kooy worked as a commercial construction project manager for a family owned business. He served as an Environmental Engineer for Steelcase, Inc. managing the environmental auditing and recycling programs. Kooy graduated from the University of Michigan where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with an environmental concentration and is LEED AP certified.

 

Linda Kurtz, Corporate Environmental Manager, Wm Wrigley Jr. Co.

Linda has over 18 years of experience in ESH management and currently is the Corporate Environmental Manager for the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. She began her career with Wrigley in 2002 as the ESH manager for Company’s gum manufacturing facility in Chicago and in 2005, transferred to the corporate ESH team. She currently directs the company’s environmental program and supports sustainability efforts. Prior to Wrigley, Linda held several positions in the ESH department at Northwestern University where her responsibilities included managing the hazardous waste disposal, emergency response, and chemical safety programs. Linda holds a BS degree in Chemistry and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering. She is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager and serves as chair on the Board of Health for her local community.

 

Thomas Laginess, Product Steward, BASF Chemicals

Tom currently is employed by BASF Corporation as a Senior Sustainability Specialist, within the Product Stewardship group. Tom has work for BASF for over 19 years and has spent most of his time in technical development within the automotive coatings group. Tom obtained a B.S. Degree in Polymers and Coatings Technology from Eastern Michigan University in 1991. Tom has been involved with Eco-Efficiency Analysis and Sustainability studies since 2000 and has had several of his technical development projects evaluated with the BASF methodology. In 2005, BASF was awarded the U.S. EPA Green Chemistry award for a UV curable Primer that was a technical project lead by Tom. The Sustainable analysis and the unique use of this product helped BASF win this award. For the past 2 years, Tom has been doing the Life Cycle Assessments, Total Cost of Ownership and Eco-Efficiency Studies for BASF. These studies along with SEEbalance make up the tools used by BASF for Sustainable Analysis.

 

Darryl LeDoux, Senior Manager Safety & Security, Autodesk Inc.

Darryl LeDoux has more than 40 years of experience in a variety of safety and security and EHS related management roles. Currently, he has EHS corporate responsibility for approximately 100 sites in 38 countries for Autodesk. These duties include safety, security, emergency preparedness, crisis management and business continuity. He has developed and is implementing the corporation’s first global safety program. Darryl began his career as a federal agent; moved from there as a Detective in municipal law enforcement; then as a State Deputy Director of Public Safety at the Oregon Health Sciences University. In the private sector, Darryl has held management positions in various industries including: warehousing and trucking; health care administration; pharmaceutical development, manufacturing and marketing; hi-tech silicon wafer manufacturing and set-top box technology; bio-tech development; and now software development. Darryl has published professional articles in Security Management Magazine and a chapter in the book, “Security Management for Safety and Health Professionals”, published by the National Safety Council, 1996.

 

Rina Levy, Environmental, Social and Governance Equity Analyst, Bloomberg L.P.

Rina Levy is an ESG analyst working at Bloomberg LP. Rina works with both clients and corporations to improve transparency and disclosure of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data. Prior to joining the ESG team Rina worked as a Fundamental Analyst covering North American Oil & Gas companies. She is currently a member of the Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN) steering committee. SIRAN is a network supporting more than 220 analysts who specialize in integrating environmental, social, and governance research with investing. She has a B.A. in History in Education from Rider College and an MBA from Rider University

 

Ray Lizotte, Group Expert, Office of Environmental Stewardship, American Power Conversion Corp.

As Director of the Environmental Stewardship Office, Ray is managing the company projects and business processes necessary to ensure conformance to the many product focused environmental requirements that face the company. Initially, the focus was on compliance with RoHS, REACH and other substance based regulations, but has since expanded to end-of-life management programs to ensure that customers have guidance and opportunities to discard products in an environmentally sound manner. Prior to his current position, Ray spent 15 years at Texas Instruments, where he had the opportunity to gain a wealth of experience in all sorts of environmental, health and safety areas. Ray has been involved with the NAEM since its very first years. Ray is a general application Toxics Use Reduction planner in Massachusetts and teaches pollution prevention tactics throughout New England. He is a graduate of MIT and lives in the Boston area with his wife and two children.

 

Mike Lloyd, Environmental Team Leader, Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Mike Lloyd is the Director of Global Environmental Services for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation and is based near Atlanta, Georgia. Kimberly-Clark is a consumer goods company with approximately 130 manufacturing facilities in over 30 countries with 53,000 employees and a sales revenue of $19 B known. Kimberly- Clark is known for brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, and Huggies. Mike has had a number of different roles with Kimberly-Clark including operations and maintenance. He has worked as an EHS Coordinator at facilities in the UK and USA. He has worked on environmental issues in the USA since 2000 joining the K-C Corporate environmental team in 2004 as a US regional manager and has held expanding leadership roles since. When not working Mike likes to cycle with his wife Karen.

 

Allan Loiselle, Corporate EHS Manager and VPP Lead, Raytheon Co.

Allan Loiselle is a Corporate EHS manager and the VPP lead at Raytheon Company in Waltham MA where he has been since 2002. In that role, he has the responsibility of implementing the Raytheon VPP strategy and assuring that all their domestic facilities achieve VPP certification by 2013. Prior to Raytheon, Al worked for Dow Chemical, Polaroid and DuPont in various EHS positions. He is a Certified Safety Professional and an OSHA Special Government Employee.

 

Andy Mangan, Executive Director, U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development

Andrew Mangan is co-founder and executive director of the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), a non-profit association of businesses launched in 2002 whose purpose is to create and deliver value driven sustainable development projects in the United States. Projects are member-led and designed to create value through economic returns and environmental and social benefits. Mr. Mangan holds a masters degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he attended the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs as an International Fellow. He currently serves on the board of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, on the board of the Center for Resilience at Ohio State University, is a member of the Education Committee for the International Society of Industrial Ecology, and a member of the Advisory Committee for the Environmental Science Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Vickie Mecsey, Manager of Global Environmental Programs, General Motors Corp.

Vickie Mecsey is a part of the General Motors, Worldwide Facilities Group, Energy and Environment staff. As the Manager of the Global Environmental Programs Group, she is the business owner of the company’s global Material Safety Data Sheet database (HMCS) and also has responsibility for the Chemicals Management (CM), Resource Management (RM), Design For the Environment (DfE), and Third Party Regulatory Reporting (GMR2) Programs. Vickie has been with GM for 21 years, all in the Environmental Engineering area. She has been in her current role as the manager of the CM, RM and DfE programs for the last seventeen months.

 

Chris Milici, Director, Global EHS & Security, JohnCrane Inc.

Chris Milici is the Director of Global Environment, Health & Safety and Security for John Crane, Inc., a division of Smiths Group. Based in Cranston, Rhode Island, he has overall EHS and Security responsibility for John Crane’s approximately 7,200 employees in 150 facilities worldwide. Prior, Chris was a Manager of EHS for Textron where he was responsible for the design, implementation, and management of EHS initiatives for the enterprise, including EHS Management Systems, compliance programs, auditing, and policies and standards. Chris was with Textron for 5 years, including one year at its Fluid & Power Division. He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

 

Mike Miller, Global EHS Director, Danaher Corp.

Michael Miller has been Global Director, Risk Management for Apex Tool Group, LLC since July 2010. Apex Tool Group LLC, a joint venture between Cooper Industries plc and Danaher Corporation, is the largest worldwide producer of industrial hand and power tools, tool storage, drill chucks, chain, and electronic soldering products. Michael is responsible for leading all Risk Management and EHS activities globally for ATG. Apex Tool Group has over locations in 30 countries globally with over 7500 employees. Prior to his role at ATG, Mike was Global Director EHS for Danaher’s Tools & Components Segment where Mike led the implementation and execution of a global EHS program aligned with lean manufacturing. Previously, Mike has held progressively responsible roles in EHS at Textron and Texas Instruments. Mike has a degree from Clark University in Environmental Science and Policy and has done graduate study at Clark, Columbia, and Bryant University.

 

Mitch Mitgang, Director, ESH Audit/ M&A, ITT Corporation

Mitchell has served as Director, ESH Audit/M&A since March 2009. He has over 25 years experience working with national and global companies on a broad spectrum of safety management, culture improvement, risk assessment and regulatory strategies that reduce and control risk. Mitchell’s experience began with Liberty Mutual Insurance. He has held various senior management positions with underwriting, logistics and consulting companies. His most recent position prior to joining ITT was Assistant Director, Aon Global Risk Consulting. He is a published, experienced speaker frequently invited to address safety system and regulatory management issues.

 

Zhaleh Naghibzadeh, Environmental Programs Manager, PepsiCo Inc.

Zhaleh Naghibzadeh is an Health, Safety and Environmental Manager for the Pepsi Americas Beverages (PAB) division of PepsiCo. In her role, she provides HSE support for the Gatorade and Tropicana business units in the US. The PAB HSE program is unique in that the foundation is based on proactive risk management. From auditing to core programming, the majority of the support provided to manufacturing and warehousing sites is based on identified risks and proactively controlling these risks. Previously, Zhaleh was an Environmental Engineer at Sun Chemical and Midwest Generation. She has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a MS in Environmental Management from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is also a licensed Professional Engineer (Environmental) in the State of Illinois.

 

Paul Narog, Manager, Environmental Operations, 3M Co.

Paul Narog is Manager of Environmental Operations in the corporate Environmental, Health and Safety Operations organization at 3M. He has over 20 years experience in the environmental field, with specific focus areas on air emission reduction, permitting and compliance management, and stakeholder communications (community, regulatory and legislative). Paul has also served as a Six Sigma Master Black Belt for the company’s environmental, health, safety and medical organizations. In his current position, Mr. Narog manages a group of environmental professionals with responsibility for regulatory compliance management, governance programs (policies and auditing), technical expertise to prevent pollution, and corporate-level sustainability strategy and communications. Mr. Narog is a member of NAEM, the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) and is a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP).

 

Stephen Newell, Director EH&S Programs, ORC Worldwide

Steve is a Principal for Mercer ORC Networks, a membership-based consulting business that services large multinational corporations on safety, health, and environmental matters. He contributes to several different Mercer ORC networks, including the Executive Business Issues Forum, the main Occupational Safety and Health Group, the OSH Lawyers Group, and the Global Safety and Health Forum. Steve joined ORC in January 1998. Prior to ORC, he was on the Executive Staff of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as the Director of the OSHA Office of Statistics with responsibility for targeting OSHA inspections and measuring agency performance. Before joining OSHA he headed the ongoing safety and health statistical programs for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Steve obtained his B.S. degree in economics from the University of Maryland and his J.D. degree from the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University. He is a past member of the District of Columbia and Maryland State Bars.

 

David Newman, Senior Director Sustainability, Millipore Corp.

Mr. Newman is Senior Director, Sustainability and EHS for EMD Millipore, a $3 Billion division of Merck KGaA. EMD Millipore provides products for life sciences research, development, scale-up and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Its customers include leading universities, laboratories, biotech and pharmaceutical firms worldwide. Mr. Newman leads the division’s Sustainability, EHS and Facilities Engineering functions. His accomplishments include starting and leading the division’s Sustainability program. Since 2007, EMD Millipore has implemented savings projects including a 15% reduction in energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, installation of an onsite 310KW solar system, changeover to a hybrid vehicle fleet, and implementation of product design for sustainability and innovative product recycling programs. Prior to joining EMD Millipore in 2003, Mr. Newman worked in EHS management consulting, and before that for a multi-national Fortune 100 manufacturing firm. He has master degrees in Public Health and Industrial Environmental Management, and is a CHMM, certified EMT and firefighter.

 

Monique Oxender, Global Supervisor, Supply Chain Sustainability, Ford Motor Co.

Monique Oxender manages sustainability efforts for Ford Motor Company's global supply chain. Ford's buy amounts to $65B and spans over 60 countries thus Monique leads a global team to set strategy aligned with Ford values and objectives as well as execute that strategy with the Global Purchasing organization. Those sustainability elements included to Ford's Supply Chain Sustainability program include Human Rights, GHG Management, Raw Materials Transparency and emergent issues such as Water. During her tenure with Ford Motor Company, Monique has developed curriculum for Human Rights training and designed leading strategic supplier programs for increased supplier capability to own Sustainability elements. In addition, Monique serves as Chair of multiple industry workgroups for the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) in order to lead North American-based automotive manufacturers in a collaborative effort to address sustainability issues in the global automotive supply chain. With a background in secondary education and sustainability, Monique has an MBA and an MS from the University of Michigan.

 

Wouter Peddemors, Director, Fiber/Technical, FutureMark Paper Co.

Wouter Peddemors has strategic and operational responsibility for fiber mill operations and manufacturing initiatives at FutureMark. He has over 20 years’ experience in the paper industry both in consulting engineering and plant operations, implementing both new manufacturing capital investment projects and modernization projects for companies such as SAPPI, Jaakko Pöyry and Mondi Paper, South Africa. Wouter holds a BSc. Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.

 

Lidia Peterson, Director, Environment, Safety and Health, ITT Systems Corp.

Lidia Peterson is the Director of ESH at ITT Systems. She is responsible for leading the division’s ESH Center of Excellence (COE), providing direction and oversight to support projects and programs worldwide. She has championed many improvement initiatives for the ESH COE , including: creating stronger programs for identifying ESH project requirements along with developing controls to minimize occupational health risks affecting our employees worldwide. Lidia has completed the ITT Systems Senior Intern Program (SIP) and is a current Six Sigma Green Belt. Lidia has more than 15 years of experience in the ESH career field through her work in the US Army and private industry. During her active duty she was assigned to logistics as Transportation Management Coordinator specializing in hazardous materials. Prior to rejoining ITT in 2004, she held key ESH roles at other companies, including Reliant Energy, Entrix, Inc., and Anteon.

 

Loren Polak, Director, Environmental Management, Bunge North America

Loren Polak is the Director of Environmental Management for Bunge North America, Inc., based in St. Louis, Missouri. He has 35 years of environmental management experience and has worked for Bunge since 1993, where he has overall corporate environmental management and sustainability responsibilities. Prior to employment with Bunge, he was employed 17 years for John Deere and prior to that was employed for two years by an environmental consulting firm. He received an M.S. degree in Environmental Health Science from the University of Michigan in 1974 and received a B.S. degree from Kansas State University in 1973.

 

William Porter, Research Engineer, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

William Porter is a researcher in the Musculoskeletal Disorders Prevention Team of Human Factors Branch at the NIOSH Office of Mine Safety and Health Research. He has a B.S. in Bioengineering and a M.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Porter has worked for NIOSH for the past five years as a research engineer. He has worked to test and operate the equipment needed for multiple field and laboratory studies including ingress/egress of mobile equipment, low-seam mining knee injuries, and haul truck related injuries. Along with colleagues at NIOSH he developed a training program for both managers and employees on normal processes of aging that could be expected to occur during a person’s working life (NIOSH IC 9505 Age Awareness Training for Miners).

 

David Raney, Senior Manager, Environmental and Energy Affairs, American Honda Motor Company Inc.

David Raney has been in the automotive and engine industry since 1980. He began his professional career with Deere & Co. in 1980 and continued at Saab-Scania of America from 1983 to 1993. He has been with American Honda Motor Co. Inc. for the past 15 years.
Raney has been involved in safety, environmental and energy technical and regulatory affairs in the automotive industry for the majority of his career. In his current post he oversees compliance and environmental and energy policy in the United States for all of Honda's passenger motor vehicles, small power products and engines, and motorcycle and off-highway recreational vehicles. Raney graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1980 and completed the executive MBA program at UCLA's Anderson School of Business in 2006. He is a government appointee to the Federal Clean Air Act Advisory Committee and that Committee's Mobile Source Technical Review Subcommittee. He serves on the board of directors of the Elementary Institute of Science in San Diego, the Santa Barbara Community Environmental Council, the Supporting Council of Resources for the Future, Advisory Council of Rand's Pardee Graduate School, and is a guest lecturer on environmental management and policy at Johns Hopkins University, U.C. Santa Barbara, and Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.

 

Nancy Roberts, Green MBA Faculty, Dominican University of California

Nancy Roberts (MBA, MA) has 20 years’ experience in marketing, communications and project management for mission-driven organizations. She co-teaches the capstone Strategic Enterprise Planning course and systemic thinking workshops at Dominican University of California, and is on a team from Dominican’s Environmental Finance Center researching environmental management tools for developing countries for the U.N.. Nancy is co-author of A California Green Plan: Making the Case for Business. She is co-founder of The Idea Hive, a group of Green MBAs offering research, consulting and facilitation services that combine triple-bottom-line values with cutting-edge thinking tools. Nancy is a GRI Certified Sustainability Reporter.

 

Chris Scholl, Director, SHE, Saint Gobain

Christopher Scholl is Director of Environment, Health and Safety for Saint-Gobain North America and Abrasives Division Worldwide in which he manages a staff of 15 professionals worldwide. Chris has 25 years experience in HSE, having worked as a state regulator, consultant, and now for industry for the past 10 years. He holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in Engineering. Chris’ strength is in the area of environmental compliance, but he also has a broad background in EHS including management systems, energy management, crisis planning, and industrial hygiene. His presentation today focuses on his work to reduce the chemical footprint from its Abrasives manufacturing.

 

Carol Singer, Executive Director, NAEM

Carol Singer Neuvelt is the Executive Director of NAEM, the premier association for EHS management. Under her leadership, NAEM has grown from a small group of environmental professionals with an idea into the largest professional community for EHS and Sustainability decision-makers. Prior to joining NAEM, she was the Deputy Director for the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Public Liaison under Administrator William Reilly. She also has served as the Congressional Affairs Officer for the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President. She began her career in the national defense arena, working on Capitol Hill and in the private industry as a lobbyist.

 

Bill Sisson, Director of Sustainability, United Technologies Research Center

William Sisson is presently the Director, Sustainability , United Technologies Research Center. From 2006 - 2009 he was the co-chair for United Technologies Corporation in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Energy Efficiency in Buildings Project. Since 1985, he has worked for UTC in a variety of technical and business leadership positions. He was Director, Carrier R&D Programs, at UTC’s central corporate research center, where he was responsible for Carrier’s longer range innovation portfolio, with emphasis on energy and environment. Mr. Sisson is an MIT Sloan Fellow since 1999, where he developed a thesis entitled “Fueling Innovation and Growth Strategies using Corporate Venturing”. He completed his undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech in Engineering Science and Mechanics, received his MS in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was awarded an MBA from the Sloan School at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Jay Spano, ESH Regional Manager, ITT Corporation Residential & Commercial Water

Jay Spano is currently an ESH Regional Manager for ITT Corporation’s Residential & Commercial Water Group. In this role, Jay continually works to integrate sound ESH practices into Lean Manufacturing and has designed several processes including Standard Work and the ESH Kaizen Playbook to ensure employee safety during both routine and non-routine work. Jay has spent much of his 12 years experience within the chemical industry. While working as the EHS Process Manager for Benjamin Moore Paints, Jay lowered OSHA recordables by 60% and achieved 365 days without a lost time accident. As the EHS Delivery Specialist for the Dow Chemical Corporation, Jay lowered OSHA recordables by 92%.Jay prides his career on lowering accident rates, improving industry’s impact on the environment and changing reactive safety cultures to proactive safety management systems. Jay holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies from The State University of New York at Buffalo and lives with his wife, Sheryl, in Seneca Falls, NY.

 

Lindsay Stoda, Senior Business Analysis, Sustainability, Interface Inc.

Lindsay Stoda is a Senior Business Analyst in the Sustainable Strategies Group at Interface, Inc. In this role, Lindsay manages Interface’s global greenhouse gas inventory, renewable energy purchases and internal employee engagement programs and provides analytical and communications support to the corporate Sustainable Strategies team. She also maintains external partnerships such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, EPA's Climate Leaders program and others, reporting on progress and communicating Interface’s sustainable business strategies. As part of the Sustainable Strategies Group, Lindsay helps facilitate Interface’s sustainability commitment and translate the company’s progress and goals to internal and external stakeholders. In addition to her responsibilities with the sustainability team, Lindsay also works directly with the company’s Senior Management team monitoring and reporting quarterly progress of global businesses, communicating results and strategies, and modeling and analyzing opportunities and initiatives. Prior to joining Interface, Lindsay was an investment banking analyst at BB&T Capital Markets where she gained significant experience in financial advisory services. Lindsay graduated from the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida with a BS in Finance.

 

Audrey Templeton, Corporate Environmental Engineer, MillerCoors

Audrey Templeton, Corporate Environmental Engineer with MillerCoors located in Milwaukee, WI. She has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from the University of Oklahoma and a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Audrey has been in the beer business for the past 13 plus years. She spent 10 years working as the Milwaukee Brewery energy and environmental manager and the last few years in the corporate role. Previous experiences include five years at Fermilab (a high energy physics research laboratory in Batavia, Il) and several years in environmental consulting. Audrey is married and mother to 3 kids, 1 dog, 1 cat and a leopard gecko.

 

Gay Trovei, Director of Responsible Care, Ashland Inc.

Ms. Trovei is a Director in the corporate Environmental, Health and Safety department of Ashland Inc., a FORTUNE 500, global specialty chemicals company, providing innovative products, services and solutions to customers around the globe. In her current position, Gay’s responsibilities include global direction and oversight for the company’s Responsible Care management system and integral processes, including Ashland’s Zero Incident Culture safety process. Previously, Gay was the global Director of Safety, Health and Environment for Hercules Incorporated, headquartered in Wilmington, DE. Ashland Inc. acquired Hercules in November 2008. Gay’s career began with Hercules in the early 80’s as a chemical engineer, shifted into environmental management by the early 90’s and expanded to include safety in 2005. Gay holds a Master of Engineering (Chemical) degree and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY

 

George Valaitis, RoHS Program Manager, Molecular Devices, AB SCIEX

George Valaitis graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Since graduation, Valaitis has held various design, project leadership and management roles with several high tech companies in Canada. At AB SCIEX since 1995 he has managed product development, manufacturing and sustaining activities, inspiring his teams to find creative ways of developing and supporting new and existing mass spectrometer products and services. In his most recent role he has taken on the challenge of establishing a comprehensive environmental management and compliance program across both AB SCIEX and Molecular Devices. He is a registered member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, on the executive board of the Product Development Management Associations Ontario chapter and has presented technical papers at a number of engineering, management and manufacturing related conferences and forums.

 

Anne Venneta Richard, Manager, EH&S and Product Safety, Alcatel-Lucent

Anne M. Venetta Richard is presently an Environmental Health & Safety and Product Safety Compliance Manager for Alcatel-Lucent. Anne has over 25 years experience in both the environmental health & safety and product safety compliance areas. She is responsible for the overall regulatory Laser Safety Compliance Program at Alcatel-Lucent. Anne has worked in various locations and organizations (i.e. corporate, manufacturing, research and development) throughout her career and her employment has spanned AT&T, Lucent Technologies and now Alcatel-Lucent in Westford, MA. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Denison University and Master’s degree in Industrial Hygiene from Temple University.

 

Samuel S. Waldo, Director, EHS & Support Services, Amphenol Corp.

Sam Waldo is Director of EHS & Support Services at Amphenol Corporation, the world’s 2nd largest manufacturer of electronic interconnect products, headquartered in Wallingford, Connecticut. His responsibilities include overall Corporate oversight of EHS and Sustainability activities at Amphenol’s 108 manufacturing operations, managing past practices remediation sites and EHS due diligence on M & A projects. He acts as liaison between executive management and worldwide operations on Sustainability and Product Compliance issues. Sam has been with Amphenol for the past 23 years and has worked in the environmental field for 35 years, implementing major environmental programs as a regulator and for industry.

Sam also serves as President of the Land Trust in his hometown, which manages approximately 525 acres of open space and farmland. Sam received a B.S. in Biology from William and Mary and an M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. Prior to joining Amphenol in 1987, Sam worked for the Virginia State Water Control Board and for Raytheon Company.

 

Steve Walker, Manager, Environmental Sustainability, Burt's Bees Inc.

Steve Walker leads the operational environmental sustainability and environmental compliance efforts at Burt's Bees. In addition, he helps direct the company's overall social & environmental sustainability course as a key member of the company's Sustainability Steering Committee. He also collaborates with other professionals within the rest of The Clorox Company to pioneer and share best practices related to EHS and sustainability. Prior to joining Burt's Bees, Steve was Global Environmental Manager for Federal-Mogul Corporation, a Fortune 500 automotive supplier. Steve holds a MS in Environmental Management from the University of Findlay (Ohio) and a BS in Environmental Engineering Technology from the University of Dayton (Ohio).

 

David Wilkerson, Corporate Director, Sustainability and Product Stewardship, Shaw Group Inc.

After graduating with honors from the University of Tennessee in 1976, David Wilkerson joined Shaw Industries’ inaugural Management Training Class in August of that year. Over his 33 year career he has held numerous management positions in sales, marketing and product development on both the carpet and hard surface sides of Shaw’s business. In his current role as Corporate Director of Sustainability and Product Stewardship, David is responsible for identifying, planning and leading key sustainability initiatives for Shaw’s residential carpet, rug and hard surface divisions. In this capacity he works closely with the residential sales and marketing teams as well as Shaw’s corporate communications department and product innovation group. Prior to this current position, David led the start up of Shaw’s Hard Surface Division where he served 10 years as Vice President of Marketing and Product Development. David is based in Dalton, GA at Shaw’s corporate headquarters.