Visionary Headliners, Rockstars &
Fab Facilitators
Interested in Becoming or Nominating a Speaker?
Rockstar Insights
Jennifer Brace
Chief Futurist
Ford
Jen is the Chief Futurist at Ford where she leads discussions on long-term thinking, planning and strategic development. By researching demographic shifts, identifying market outliers and developing data driven scenarios for the future, she challenges her colleagues to think through a broad range of possible narratives before settling on a plan of action.
Kelsi Doran
Director, Sustainability Strategy & Business Architecture
Cisco
Kelsi leads Sustainability Strategy and Business Architecture at Cisco, a role that puts her at the intersection of sustainability and technology. She recently led the development of the company’s next-generation environmental strategy, and her team works across the Cisco ecosystem to accelerate its strategic priorities and to integrate the company’s sustainability goals with its culture of ongoing innovation.
Jeff Fried
Director of Product Management
InterSystems
Partner, Growth Innovation Leadership Council
Jeff is a long-standing data management nerd, and particularly passionate about helping people create powerful data-driven applications. Prior to joining InterSystems, Jeff was CTO of BA Insight and Empirix, and ran product management for FAST Search and Transfer and for Microsoft. He has extensive experience in data management, text analytics, enterprise search, machine learning, and interoperability.
Scott Hartman
Market Development Manager
ExxonMobil
Scott began to hone his skills as an innovation practitioner when he moved to the US for an assignment building new businesses through technology partnerships across the downstream. In 2018 Scott joined ExxonMobil as Commercial Innovation manager within the Chemical company where advanced recycling was first initiated. A dedicated innovator, Scott takes his inspiration from many sources including the late great Clayton Christensen, Eric Ries, and not least of all, his three young daughters. Scott believes innovation can be defined very simply in five words: something new that creates value.
Vishnu Jayamohan
Director, Portfolio Strategy,
Innovation & Software Services
Nissan North America
Vishnu has led product strategy and innovation teams both in the physical and software worlds in 3 different Fortune 500 companies. His multi-disciplinary experience in engineering, manufacturing, program management and marketing worlds helps him convince organizations cross-functionally to embrace new innovations with a customer-first mindset. He believes finding a balance between a collaborative, startup-like mindset within his teams against the backdrop of established corporate expectations can lead to high employee satisfaction and real customer value.
Dr. Nikola Juhasz
Global Technical Director, Sustainability
Sun Chemical
Dr. Juhasz is a scientist by day, unwrapping the mysteries of sustainable packaging development, and a drummer at night, driving the rhythm forward. With a mind wired for analytical thought and hands skilled in the art of percussion, she brings a unique blend of precision and passion to every endeavor. You do not want to miss a beat … or this session on sustainability!
Alyssa Muto
Director, Sustainability and Mobility Department
City of San Diego
With a combination of both public and private sector experience, Alyssa has developed and championed initiatives within the City of San Diego to further climate action and expand sustainable and safe mobility options for all residents. She has been participating in international dialogues on topics including new mobility technologies, innovative procurement and contracting, and effective climate policy implementation, sharing these successful solutions employed by the City of San Diego to address common municipal challenges.
Kevin Reyer
Program Manager, Value Chain Sustainability
MilliporeSigma
Kevin is a rising leader in MilliporeSigma’s Sustainability and Social Business Innovation group. He is spearheading the strategic development of a supply chain sustainability program aiming to reach climate neutrality by 2040. His challenge to revolutionize supply chain sustainability is not unique, but he aims to accomplish these milestones through partnerships and co-innovations with engaged suppliers.
Elizabeth Rhue
Vice President Global Environmental, Sustainability, & Technical Services
Sonoco
Elizabeth has been a product development and sustainability leader in the packaging field for nearly two decades. Her experience in supporting customers across several industries from consumer goods, to healthcare, to the industrial sector gives her a broad perspective of the sustainability challenges faced across these industries and the role innovation can play in solving these challenges.
Paul Roben Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor, Innovation & Commercialization
UC San Diego
Dr. Roben oversees the Office of Innovation & Commercialization to establish a campus-wide innovation platform in service of three goals- 1) build a systemic and sustainable innovation culture, 2) create a vibrant regional ecosystem, and 3) accelerate the commercialization of UC San Diego inventions. Working with the Vice Chancellor for Research in this position since June 2015, Dr. Roben is transforming the functions provided by the Technology Transfer Office, Industry Research Alliances, and Industry Contracting into an integrated organization to include patenting, strategic corporate research partnering and industry contracts.
Fredrick Royan
Global Practice Area Leader,
Sustainability and Circular Economy
Frost & Sullivan
Fred is one of the leading thought leaders in the sustainability field with more than two decades of experience focused on water and resource management. He is able to bring together a system thinking and data driven approach to tackling some of the complex sustainability challenges.
Russ Schneidewind
Director of Business Development
HydraForce, Inc.
Partner, Growth Innovation Leadership Council
With extensive experience spanning decades in manufacturing, product development, and innovation, Russ brings a wealth of practical knowledge and insights to the table. He has led cross-functional teams in conceptualizing, designing, and launching successful products that meet customer needs and exceed market expectations. Russ’s expertise encompasses every stage of the product lifecycle, from ideation and prototyping to testing, manufacturing, and commercialization.
Kevin Tubbs
Vice President, Chief Ethics, Compliance and Sustainability Officer
Oshkosh Corporation
Kevin has been a thought leader in Sustainability for over a quarter century for Fortune 500 Companies. His experience in the development and implementation of sustainability processes and practices give him an informed perspective on the business value of sustainable practices. Kevin was named to the inaugural list of the Purposeful 50 ESG influencers who are driving change and received the Wisconsin Sustainability Champion Award. Under his leadership, Oshkosh Corporation has been on the DJSI World Sustainability Index for 5 consecutive years and recognized as One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies” for the ninth consecutive year.
Cassandra Wilfore
Senior Director, Innovation and Product Development
Daymon
Cassie has spent the last 19 years rising as an innovation thought leader with world’s largest private brand development company, where she has partnered with some of the world’s leading grocery retailers to help them build their strategy, talent, structure, and processes to stay competitive and become more innovative in their brand & product development efforts. Globally she has been invited to consult and share on her experience as an innovation leader by leading retailers, suppliers and government trade associations across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Master of Ceremonies
Brian Fitzpatrick
Partner, Events
Frost & Sullivan