For the past five years, Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive have honored and celebrated female leaders with its annual Women in Supply Chain award. This year is no exception.
The Women in Supply Chain award, sponsored exclusively by Let’s Talk Supply Chain podcast and Blended Pledge, continues to celebrate the real movers and shakers of the supply chain industry. From truck drivers to CEOs, this award provides a safe space for women to support other women, for men to support their female counterparts and for women to even advocate for and support themselves.
This year especially, it’s all about the quality of the submissions. These women are doing remarkable things for their communities, organizations and teams and are paving the way for future young female leaders to be a part of an industry that’s making a difference. This year’s applications were superb. Not only did these winners go above and beyond what’s expected in their jobs, but they also were able to articulate their many initiatives and achievements in a way that told their story, that explained their journey, that described why mentoring young professionals, creating DEI programs and instilling a positive company culture is so important to all female logistics leaders.
So, we selected four overall winners from the new sub-categories: Rising Stars; Trailblazers; DEI Pioneer; and Workforce Innovator, and then four Outstanding Acknowledgements from each of the four sub-categories, whose applications made it impossible to select just one winner.
About the award
Overall, we had close to 350 submissions. Of those applications, 305 were named winners.
Of those 350 submissions, 81 were submitted by male counterparts, nominating their boss, co-worker or associate.
Forty-six women self-nominated, an uptick from last year’s award, which saw 39 self-nominations and a large increase from previous years, which just saw 12 self-nominations.
And, 53 of the companies participating have more than one winner.
The four overall winners will be in person and on stage at this year’s Women in Supply Chain Forum, Nov. 12-13 in Atlanta, to share their experiences, their journeys, their visions and provide advice for the future.
Many of this year’s winners will also be in attendance at this year’s Forum, themed “Shattering Glass Ceilings” to network and become a part of our women in supply chain community.
This award is not just about making sure women have a seat at the Big Boy table. It’s about mentorship, self-advocacy, collaboration, closing the gender gap and what it takes to move the needle and pave the way for future female leaders in logistics. This year’s winners exemplify the future of supply chain.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. CLICK HERE to meet all of the winners.
Meet the overall winners
Rising Stars –> Lida Hakobyan, founder of Freight Freedom
Hakobyan started out as an over-the-road truck driver and fleet manager dispatcher, then started her own freight broker agency, and today, is founder of Freedom Freight, LLC. CLICK HERE to read more and watch an exclusive interview discussing the importance of being your own brand.
Trailblazers –> Jennifer McKeehan, SVP, transportation and delivery for Walmart
McKeehan knows what it takes to put the customer first. She and her team are embarking on a journey of regeneration that encompasses everything from sustainable packaging to building next-gen facilities. CLICK HERE to read more and listen to an exclusive interview on what it takes to be a Trailblazer in the fast-paced e-commerce world.
DEI Pioneer –> Eileen Dabrowski, learning and development innovator at Werner Enterprises
For Dabrowski, DEI initiatives aren’t just a checklist; they’re a way of life. CLICK HERE to read more and watch an exclusive interview about the importance of involving people in organizational change management and why striving for equity should be the ultimate goal.
Workforce Innovator –> Kristy Bates, SVP, revenue for GoBolt
Whether it’s developing the Women’s Employee Resource Group or an in-house mentorship program, Bates’ true superpower is to grow teams. CLICK HERE to read more and watch an exclusive interview about why ideas over hierarchy is crucial in building up internal teams.
Meet the Outstanding Acknowledgment winners
This year’s submissions made it next to impossible to select just one winner. The new Outstanding Acknowledgement section highlights the runners up. Let’s meet those winners for each category.
RISING STARS
Siyaa Munjal, GM of marketing and growth at AtoB
Siyaa Munjal wanted to be a neuroscientist. After spending her undergrad years in both the chemical and social elements of the field, she was fascinated by the human brain and the little things that make humans tick. Yet, less than three years later, at just 25 years old, she found herself helming the marketing strategy for CloudKitchens. Now at AtoB, she’s has been at the forefront of revolutionizing fuel card solutions for the American trucking industry. Her leadership has streamlined operations, enhancing both efficiency and cost-effectiveness for fleet operators.
Tasha Patel, senior manager, product and pricing insights, Hilton Supply Management
Tasha Patel leverages over $13 billion in purchasing power to service 17,000-plus Hilton properties worldwide. In her current role, she oversees market-based benchmarking activities, product insights and strategic reporting for HSM’s sales, account management and category sourcing teams in the Americas. Previously, she supported analytics and business intelligence development for nearly five years as a member of HSM’s Category Intelligence team; and gained six years’ experience in strategic sourcing for another global supply chain operation prior to joining the Hilton family. Also at Hilton, Patel established a new standard operating procedure, which reduced benchmarking turnaround times by half—from six weeks down to three—doubling the customer engagement team’s productivity and performance in new customer outreach. She also developed a comprehensive benchmarking summary template that provides better transparency into product match types and HSM supplier capabilities.
Whitney Ennis, VP, marketing and communications, Trailer Bridge, Inc.
For more than a decade, Whitney Ennis’ career has been dedicated to serving the marketing and communication needs of businesses focused on the maritime, transportation and logistics sector. She’s worked for a distributor, a port and now a service provider. For the past 8 years, Ennis has served on the Board for the Propeller Club-Port of Jacksonville, which advocates for the maritime and transportation industry in Northeast Florida. During this time, she’s grown attendance, raised record dollars to support community giving efforts and established the club’s first scholarship with Keiser University to support transportation and logistics students. Since joining Trailer Bridge in 2021, Ennis has grown from the marketing manager to VP of marketing and communications, leading the organization’s brand strategy, building a team of three to six, expanding digital presence and more.
Anna Peckhart, VP, supplier operations, Ulta Beauty
In 2023, Anna Peckhart led the development of Ulta Beauty’s ship-from-store (SFS) roadmap and strategy as well as the expansion of the SFS program to over 300 stores. She also led the efforts to create a more efficient e-commerce supply chain by exploring ways to use more sustainable packaging materials and less packaging overall. Through Peckhart’s leadership, Ulta removed most plastic bubble wrap and tested smaller box sizes to fit more orders into trucks. In partnership with Women Impacting Supply Chain Excellence, Peckhart hosted the Finding the JOY in your JOurneY event for more than 45 students and faculty from 16 universities at the Ulta Beauty headquarters. Event sessions focused on offering career-based advice and knowledge, making connections, and encouraging discussion and understanding of challenges pertaining to gender diversity in the supply chain industry.
TRAILBLAZERS
Vijaya Neela, president and CEO, aThingz
Vijaya Neela has over 25 years of supply chain industry experience and has held several leadership positions throughout her career, leading to her latest role as founder, president and CEO of aThingz. She was the first member of her family to come to the United States in 1996, where she completed advanced certification programs in IT project management at Stanford University. She held program management and consulting roles at Compuware and Ford, and spent 10 years at Hewlett-Packard as a program and delivery leader, ensuring the success of client projects and managing upwards. Neela has also been the leading architect of using first principles design thinking to reconfigure solutions for end-to-end supply chain management. She’s pioneered a “triple-double” design technique, which involves the fusion of the information (or data) supply chain with the physical supply chain (movement of goods and services) with the financial supply chain (cost to serve). Operational impacts include 90%-plus network data quality, 5-10% inventory cost reductions and 90%-plus demand forecast accuracy; autonomous cost savings and efficiency improvements include 25-35% productivity improvements and 12-18% freight spend reductions.
Sheila Serafin, VP, global sales, RIM Logistics
Since 1997, Sheila Serafin has served as the co-owner of RIM Logistics, taking the company from one customer to over 1,000 customers, and from two co-owners with a home base in Schaumburg, Ill., to a global company with over 400 employees. In 2008, Serafin assisted in opening the company’s first European offices by being on the ground in the infancy stages, assisting in the onboarding of customers and supporting and developing the operational teams. She followed suit in 2010, when she opened the company’s first Canadian office in Ottawa, Canada, followed by opening offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Hamburg, Tuttlingen, Cologne, Frankfurt, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Hong Kong. Outside of RIM, Serafin serves as a mentor for a local high school’s business incubator program that focuses on helping support young business students. She also founded Women in Logistics (WIL), an employee resource group focused on supporting, developing, and giving a path forward for the women of RIM.
Kimberly Cockrell Corley, CEO and founder, Upward Bound Ventures
For the past 22 years, Kimberly Cockrell Corley has reshaped the supply chain industry. It started in a classroom at the University of Alabama, where Cockrell Corley, struck by the complexity of International Logistics 400, vowed to connect corners of the world through her career. By 21, her academic accolades landed her in Maersk’s elite international management program, where she moved to Panama at the age of 25 to set up Maersk’s Latin American headquarters and oversee media and communications. After returning to the United States, she turned a languishing sales territory into a $22 million success story in just two years. Her path also led her to Belgium, where with no prior experience in routing optimization or terminal operations, she took on the P&L for an entire liner trade route and boosted profit by 300%. After returning back to the States, she led major Fortune 100 companies to uncover and rectify inefficiencies in their supply chains, resulting in $2.4 million in additional business and new partnerships across the Asia-Pacific region. Cockrell Corley launched Upward Bound Ventures in April.
Melissa Gresham, director, safety operations, Veho
Melissa Gresham started her safety career in the United States Army as a helicopter pilot, and then took on the additional role of an aviation safety officer. She deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and continued to manage the health and safety of all aviation aspects for tactical and non-tactical operations. The impact of her safety efforts resulted in zero fatalities related to non-tactical risk, minimal damage to aviation assets, and maintained an operational tempo, allowing the aviation unit to support the infantry 24/7. After the military, Gresham moved into corporate safety, specifically supply chain and logistics. At CVS Health, she managed the EHS program for 19 large distribution centers in the United States, where she launched a behavior-based safety program, developed a safety dashboard with measurable metrics for continuous improvement, and created a workplace violence and lone worker policy. While at CVS Health, Gresham also developed a strategic plan and budget to obtain a safety manager position in all distribution centers. After CVS Health, she took on her current role of director of safety at Veho, where she’s enhancing the safety culture.
DEI PIONEER
Karolina Kural, global diversity, equity and inclusion manager, Kinaxis
Karolina Kural moved from Poland to Canada in 2010 to head up Kinaxis’ DEI function. She spent her first 8 years as a recruiter, representing those who are underrepresented. Today, she serves as global diversity, equity and inclusion manager, where she’s built a program that revolves around promoting employee training and awareness, giving employees a voice, providing inclusive and equitable programs, and creating meaningful partnerships. She’s also formalized DEI goals for Kinaxis, revised Kinaxis’ hiring process to give more opportunity to diverse talent, developed a comprehensive exploration of workforce demographics and conducted the company’s first-ever analysis of DEI sentiments across the global landscape. She also implemented a global DEI training initiative with a 95.6% completion rate in its first year; and coordinated and hosted eight DEI-focused learning sessions in the first half of 2024. Kural also created Employee Resource Groups (ERG), where over 370 employees take part in ERGs or committees, which currently include Women in Kinaxis, Women in India, Rainbow Response (LGBTQIA+), Divergent Minds (Neurodiversity), Indigenous Allies, Partners, DEI Committee and Culture Committee. These groups and committees offer a sense of belonging, inclusion, opportunity for professional development and mentorship, and provide insights that shape policies and initiatives.
Darcy MacClaren, chief revenue officer, SAP
Darcy MacClaren maintains more than 30 years of experience growing, differentiating, and improving businesses through technology transformation, with a focus on supply chain. She’s contributed to the success of SAP Digital Supply Chain with more than 12 years of leadership experience, currently serving as global chief revenue officer and previously as SVP of digital supply chain and Industry 4.0 for SAP North America. In 2021, MacClaren founded the SAP Empowering Women in Supply Chain Network, bringing together a community of supply chain professionals to identify, encourage, develop, and elevate a new generation of women. Today, the network comprises 1,300-plus supply chain professionals at all career levels, including SAP employees, partners, customers, and students.
Heidi McKenna, VP, people, STG Logistics
Starting out as a senior director of people partners at STG Logistics in 2022, Heidi McKenna climbed the ranks to VP, people in April 2023, where her team revamped the employee handbook and policies, introduced the organization’s compensation structure, and made significant improvements in internal communications, compliance training, and new hire training. McKenna and her team also prioritized DEI initiatives, and in 2023, dedicated over 3,380 hours to training programs on preventing harassment and discrimination, emphasizing the organization’s commitment to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace. Under McKenna’s guidance, STG extended benefits to cover family planning, fertility benefits for all genders, and same-sex partner benefits. She also helped introduce a diversity holiday, granting employees 8 hours to celebrate diversity in a way that resonates with them. Her team was also instrumental in launching the initial Sustainability Report, which included a focus on human capital, and developed the Sustainability Report and Roadmap for the STG DE&I Strategy.
Maasha Kah, head of diversity, Uber Freight
Having immigrated to the United States from the Gambia, Maasha Kah has traveled to over 30 countries, partnering with and learning from people across many dimensions of life to advance her work. As head of diversity, inclusion and social impact for Uber Freight, she’s improved employee belonging sentiments by 6 percentage points in just one year and has championed efforts that have resulted in increased diverse representation for women and underrepresented managers and above. In 2023, her effort engaged over 220 diverse creators and influencers, encouraging them to expand their businesses and giving them resources to help them do so. She also designed an inaugural Supplier Diversity Exchange, which brought together more than 200 influential leaders and advocates dedicated to advancing shipper and carrier diversity in Chicago. In a few short months, she also consolidated Uber Freight’s Supplier Diversity efforts and enacted a sustainable Tier 2 Spend reporting system for customers. Previously, as head of outreach and inclusion at DocuSign, she championed diverse hiring practices and inclusive policies. Before her tenure at DocuSign, Kah served as global head of diversity and inclusion at Eventbrite, where she led a team in shaping and implementing core strategies for diversity and inclusion, both internally and externally. She also spent over 5 years at Google, where she provided strategic thought leadership and program management for various teams, including corporate social responsibility, diversity, benefits, compensation, and recognition.
WORKFORCE INNOVATOR
Élise Crevier, president, C3 Solutions
Élise Crevier’s journey at C3 Solutions started in 2003 as an HR manager and rising through various roles, including to her current role as president. Under her leadership, she’s spearheaded major strategic pivots and expansions, significantly influencing the company’s market position and operational efficiency. She introduced the Employee Happiness Program, aimed at enhancing job satisfaction and overall wellbeing of the workforce. The program includes a choice of working days at the office, free meals, access to the gym, transport pass, and access to a mental health platform. She implemented comprehensive onboarding programs designed to ensure that new hires are well-equipped and aligned with the company’s culture and goals. The onboarding and happiness programs collectively contributed to a significant reduction in employee turnover, where 50% of employees have been with C3 for more than 5 years, and some have been with C3 for more than 20 years. She also spearheaded the renovation of C3’s home offices to enhance the work environment and employee morale.
Leah Shaver, president and CEO, National Transportation Institute (NTI)
Leah Shaver has been dedicated to making the profession of truck driving a more rewarding and appealing career choice for more than two decades. In her 9-year tenure at NTI, where she assumed the role of president and CEO in 2020, she has collaborated closely with thousands of private and for-hire trucking fleets and large shippers to create an engaged, satisfied, and appropriately compensated workforce through improved hiring practices, professional development opportunities for drivers, health and wellness initiatives, mentorship programs, and retention strategies that prioritize drivers’ well-being and career advancement. In March 2022, she completed three consecutive terms on the Board of Directors of Women in Trucking (WIT), where she chaired the membership committee, leading to a tripling of membership. She organized a mentorship program connecting new drivers with advocates and role models and helped establish a partnership with the Girl Scouts to create “Trucks are for Girls” events and a corresponding WIT badge/patch. In 2021, Shaver co-founded The Next Generation in Trucking Association, a non-profit that partners with high schools, community colleges, and trade schools nationwide to establish truck driver training programs and provide professionally developed curriculum. Additionally, Shaver hosts live call-in shows on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking channel, where she interacts daily with drivers to address their questions about HR, pay, legal matters, safety, and other topics. Before joining NTI in 2015 as VP of sales and marketing, Shaver spent 14 years at a multi-platform truckload carrier, starting as a driver recruiter at 22 years old and rising to head of the HR, recruiting, and retention, and serving on the company’s executive committee.
Lindsey Trent, president and co-founder, Next Generation in Trucking Association (NGTA)
As president and co-founder of NGTA, Lindsey Trent assembled a board of directors from leaders across the industry to tackle and decipher the 501(c)(6) and 501(c)(3) IRS filing paperwork, organized marketing and media relations, and meets with hundreds of schools from across the United States interested in starting a trucking program. In January 2022, Trent left her role at Ryder Systems to work full-time for NGTA. During her time, she’s been instrumental in securing a grant from the Bendix Corporation that allowed NGTA to offer a high school CDL training program written by a professional curriculum writing company. This turnkey, pre-packaged program includes curriculum recommendations, best practices, pacing guides, and enrichment activities and will be given to schools free-of-charge to help initiate programs in a timely manner and provide the support and guidance that schools need. She is currently working with industry leaders to create a Zero Emission Vehicle curriculum, sponsored by CALSTART, to provide insight into zero emission vehicle technology and how to operate these vehicles safely and efficiently.
Katie McGovern, senior director of operations, Zipline Logistics
With more than 12 years of experience in 3PL, Katie McGovern serves as senior director of operations at Zipline Logistics, where she uses analytics and metrics to drive data-informed decisions, and fosters a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and transparency. She is responsible for managing a team of 30-plus customer service operators and managers. McGovern’s biggest career highlight includes growing and maintaining 200-plus top Zipline clients with a combined $100 million in transportation spend. She also spearheaded several large projects that have ultimately propelled the Zipline brand forward, including the development of Zipline’s KANOPI Consolidation Program, Zipline’s Customer Playbook, and the migration of Zipline data into a new customer management system.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. CLICK HERE to meet all of the winners.
Additional standouts
Below are a couple of additional standouts (in alpha order by company name).
Alexandra Griffon
CEO and Co-Founder, BlueCargo
www.bluecargo.io
Category: Rising Stars
Alexandra Griffon is the CEO and co-founder of BlueCargo. With a background in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, Griffon transitioned into the logistics sector, focusing on port terminal operations software. She honed her expertise in this field at UC Berkeley, where she met her co-founder, Laura Theveniau. Together, they developed port operations and yard stacking algorithms for marine port terminals across Europe and the United States. Recognizing the need to address inefficiencies and challenges within port operations, Griffon and Theveniau launched BlueCargo. Under Griffon’s leadership, BlueCargo has been a part of Y Combinator, propelling its growth and impact within the industry; evolved from a 2-person startup to a team of 30 professionals; and today, serves over 700 importers, logistics providers and freight forwarders in the United States. Her goals for the next 12 months entail opening the freight audit to rails and being able to apply BlueCargo’s business model to European ports.
Saskia van Gendt, Chief Sustainability Officer, Blue Yonder
Saskia van Gendt
Chief Sustainability Officer, Blue Yonder
www.blueyonder.com
Category: Trailblazers
Saskia van Gendt serves as chief sustainability officer at Blue Yonder, responsible for developing and executing Blue Yonder’s sustainability strategy and driving sustainability initiatives in product roadmaps and across the company. van Gendt is an environmental scientist with 18 years of experience in sustainability working across consumer products, retail, government, and manufacturing. She started her career working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a sustainable materials manager, focusing on innovative waste reduction and green building practices. Part of her role was to quantify the cost, fuel, and particulate matter reductions achievable across the packaging supply chain to encourage fuel efficiency, light-weighting, and cube optimization. She scaled up the implementation of reusable transport packaging from a regional $40,000 pilot to a $500,000 national project. The expected results of this project will avoid 1,200 tons of waste and 16,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually. Also while at the EPA, van Gendt received a Service to America medal and was recognized by former First Lady Michelle Obama for her work in diverting construction waste by promoting innovative design for deconstruction building practices. van Gendt then went on to serve as senior director of sustainability for Method, responsible for working with the supply chain teams to find and source more innovative and sustainable materials; seek out partnerships with suppliers to improve sustainability performance; and identify ways to use renewable energy and update delivery methods. van Gendt was also heavily involved in making the factory a TRUE Zero-Waste-certified facility and achieving LEED Platinum designation. Prior to joining Blue Yonder, van Gendt was head of sustainability for Rothy’s, where she pioneered the brand’s commitment to circular production and net zero carbon, implementing programs for footwear recycling, zero waste manufacturing, and decarbonizing shipping.
Kimberly Rodriguez, Consultant/Manager, BSI Consulting
Kimberly Rodriguez
Consultant/Manager, BSI Consulting
www.bsigroup.com
Category: Rising Stars
Kimberly Rodriguez serves as consultant and manager, specializing in sustainable supply chains for BSI Consulting. As a student in NYU Abu Dhabi, she advocated for the rights of migrant workers involved in large construction projects, facilitating complex conversations between key academic and business stakeholders and getting first-hand exposure to supply chain issues related to labor rights. From this experience, she nurtured her focus on the intersection of supply chain, business, and human rights at the NYU Leonard N. Stern School of Business as an MBA graduate, where she worked closely with the Center for Business and Human Rights and Center for Sustainable Business. She’s spent the last 7 years at BSI, where she’s continued to pursue her passion for amplifying companies’ impacts through proactive supply chain engagements, especially in the areas of social compliance and human rights. She’s led on-site investigations on supplier sites throughout Southeast Asia, developed new service areas for BSI’s sustainability team such as supplier engagement programs for clients’ Tier-N suppliers, and serves as the technical lead for BSI’s supplier engagement programs and training on modern slavery and forced labor.
Yasmine Decosterd, Experience Officer, CloudSort Corporation
Yasmine Decosterd
Experience Officer, CloudSort Corporation
www.cloudsort.com
Category: DEI Pioneer
Yasmine Decosterd serves as experience officer for CloudSort Corporation, a role that enables her to showcase a commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace through intentional actions and policies aimed at embracing differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, and background. In doing so, Decosterd champions inclusive leadership practices, such as actively promoting diversity, empowering underrepresented voices, and creating an environment where all employees feel valued and respected. She also advocates for equity by addressing systemic barriers, promoting fair opportunities for advancement, and ensuring that all employees have access to the resources and support needed to thrive in the organization. She fosters cultural competence across the organization, promoting understanding and respect for diverse perspectives and experiences, and leads mentorship programs, diversity training and recruitment strategies focused on underrepresented talent. During her time, she’s implemented comprehensive diversity and inclusion training programs for employees at all levels, and conducted a thorough analysis of pay equity within the organization to identify and address any disparities based on gender, race, or other demographic factors. Decosterd also established metrics and KPIs to track the impact of DEI initiatives and measure progress over time.
Amber Salley, VP, Industry Solutions, GAINS Systems
Amber Salley
VP, Industry Solutions, GAINS Systems
www.gainsystems.com
Category: Trailblazers
As VP of industry solutions for GAINS Systems, Amber Salley promotes a culture of continuous learning and development, which involves staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends, technologies, and best practices. She’s also strengthened collaboration within GAINS and external partners by leveraging partnerships, participating in industry consortia, and engaging in collaborative projects. One of Salley’s achievements includes creating and leading the most recent Gartner supply chain planning hype cycle, a comprehensive guide for SCP technology leaders that’s instrumental in shaping long-term strategies for technology and organizational investments in supply chains. She also spearheaded research on topics related to SCP talent strategies, organization design, and change management; advocates for modern supply chain management approaches with emphasis on probabilistic planning and composable thinking; and maintains expertise in understanding the applicability of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and IoT in supply chain planning. Salley is also a 2024 Pros to Know award winner, presented by Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Kelley Kirkman, Senior Product Manager, Inmar Intelligence
Kelley Kirkman
Senior Product Manager, Inmar Intelligence
www.inmar.com
Category: Trailblazers
Kelley Kirkman has spent the last 31 years at Inmar Intelligence, with 15 of those years in supply chain. As senior product manager, Kirkman’s focus is on the proprietary scanning and financial software and WMS used across multiple Inmar and client warehouses for reverse logistics. Throughout her tenure, she’s designed the financial system used to support monetization of retail returns; completed all documentation and training of users for the new features/functionality; managed the team responsible for onboarding new clients; identified requirements for all features within a new WMS and then implemented those changes; and assisted with a major conversion of supply chain’s legacy warehouse system to a new system for a large retail client. She also works directly with Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions, the joint venture between Inmar Intelligence and Doddle, a Blue Yonder company, in integrating returns initiation with returns processing and supply chain analytics. She plans on leveraging all aspects of the returns experience to help reduce costs and waste while increasing sustainability, and will drive workforce innovation by placing in-store, self-service, returns kiosks in select accounts.
Beverly Steele, Business Development Director, Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions
Beverly Steele
Business Development Director, Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions
www.inmar.com
Category: Workforce Innovator
For nearly 25 years, Beverly Steele has consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership and innovation within the supply chain industry. As business development manager for Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions (IPPS), she helped fuel the growth of IPPS, a joint venture created by Inmar Intelligence and Doddle, a Blue Yonder company, bringing retailers into the IPPS nationwide network of return drop-off locations. She forged strategic partnerships with key technology providers, retail brands, and logistics companies to enhance the capabilities of IPPS, and devised a targeted go-to-market strategy, focusing on both existing clients and new market segments. She established a customer-centric approach, including dedicated support teams and a feedback loop to continually improve the solution based on user experiences, which secured several Fortune 500 companies. Recently, she introduced new industry benchmarks for internal use, which are instrumental for product development teams as they continuously strive to anticipate the needs of clients and consumers.
Alina Horai, Delivery Manager, Innovecs
Alina Horai
Delivery Manager, Innovecs
https://innovecs.com
Category: Rising Stars
Although Alina Horai holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Credit, Banking; a Bachelor’s in Law; and a Master’s in Risk Management and Insurance, she transitioned into the IT industry without a formal IT degree. She began as an administrator in a clothing showroom, served as a key account manager in a corporate English school for nearly four years, and then became compliance manager at Genesis. But she found her calling at Innovecs, where in 2021, her first supply chain project was with Autosled, and in 2022, launched the East Coast Warehouse & Distribution project. With Innovecs, she’s also built long-term, effective client relationships, leading to immediate follow-up projects and retaining 80% of the original team. She led a small team to create the Customer Portal, which serves over 250 customers. Within three months, Horai and her team developed an internal system for managing and accounting for all client company vehicles and parts, and organized EDI for numerous clients, considering each customer’s unique requirements, thus streamlining document processing and exchange.
Megan Bishop, VP, Client Success, Intelligent Audit
Megan Bishop
VP, Client Success, Intelligent Audit
www.intelligentaudit.com
Category: Rising Stars
Megan Bishop maintains over 10 years of experience in supply chain and freight audit and payment solutions, leading global teams focusing on operations and client success. Her leadership as VP, client success at Intelligent Audit has helped position the company for high client retention and unprecedented growth, leading transformation of the client success group to a structure and methodology that drives high client satisfaction, ARR, and renewals. Her initiatives have also created governance and visibility around how Intelligent Audit manages customer satisfaction, resulting in an uptick in client satisfaction, client retention and renewal rates. Her goals for the next 12 months are to drive CSAT scores to a positive level, achieve a 100% renewal rate, meet or exceed upsell opportunities and continue to build out the client success team globally to scale for continued growth.
Tammy Tippins, Director, Professional Services, Intelligent Audit
Tammy Tippins
Director, Professional Services, Intelligent Audit
www.intelligentaudit.com
Category: Workforce Innovator
Tammy Tippins has been a leader in the transportation industry for many years. Her experience spans freight audit and bill pay, shipper-side sourcing with over a decade at GE< and consulting. She previously served as a transportation leader at GE, serving as North American ground leader, and then Americas ground leader. Since then, she moved to the consulting side, as director of professional services at Intelligent Audit, where she’s tasked with growing the company’s audit practice and continuing to prioritize her clients’ needs.
Stephanie Cicciarella, Senior Manager, Pricing Administration & Merchandising Support, Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Stephanie Cicciarella
Senior Manager, Pricing Administration & Merchandising Support, Liquor Control Board of Ontario
www.lcbo.com
Category: DEI Pioneer
Stephanie Cicciarella maintains over 20 years of experience in the supply chain industry. In 2021, she launched a Supply Chain Women’s Network within the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, where she serves as senior manager, pricing administration and merchandising support. Today, the Supply Chain Women’s Network hosts close to 1,000 members. Her ability to bridge the gap between strategic vision and operational execution demonstrates her commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. She actively participates in fundraising efforts for the Desantos Foundation, and in 2023, joined the Canadian Institute of Transportation and Technology’s women’s network committee, where she serves as Chair.
Cate Davis, Business Development Manager, Miebach
Cate Davis
Business Development Manager, Miebach
www.miebach.com
Category: Rising Stars
Cate Davis’ strategic mindset and care for people has been paramount in Miebach’s doubling in revenue since the pandemic and continued expansion across its delivery lines. Davis serves as business development manager for Miebach, where she’s led the restructuring of the sales organization, developed new ways of working, and has been instrumental in the advisement and rollout of its new brand in 2023. Further, she overhauled the regional training for all engagement leads, and maintains an innate ability to quickly analyze differing options and deliver a recommendation that weighs perspectives from a variety of angles. For the past several years, she has been the regional representative on Miebach’s Global Life Science Center of Excellence, where she’s supported benchmarking, key account management, and thought leadership development for Miebach’s second largest industry practice. She was also recently tasked with overhauling a major module of Miebach’s global training program with an expected rollout within the next year.
Kristy Ryan, Chief Operating Officer, Move For Hunger
Kristy Ryan
Chief Operating Officer, Move For Hunger
www.moveforhunger.org
Category: Trailblazers
As chief operating officer for Move For Hunger, Kristy Ryan helped launch a new charity freight program to answer the call of both freight and logistics partners. Collaborating closely with the partnership manager, Ryan forged alliances with logistics companies, amplifying the organization’s social impact and showcasing her visionary leadership in the supply chain domain. Ryan started out with Move For Hunger as senior manager of operations, and then acting director of operations, where she orchestrated the intricate logistics support essential for the organization’s seamless inter-island functioning. Coordinating with hundreds of vendors and partners, she optimized efficiency while maintaining cost-effectiveness. Ryan also managed the emergency protocols to secure the properties and established a communication and access plan for emergency and military personnel to traverse and transport manpower and supplies in response to declarations of emergencies. She also worked with the retail and programs team to streamline operations for the retail program, ensuring timely delivery and distribution across the islands. She then became property development and construction project manager, where she managed multi-million-dollar projects, oversaw the procurement of trans-Pacific supplies and manpower, orchestrated seamless operations across borders and navigated road conditions to transport supplies. As senior product manager, she orchestrated seamless procurement operations, catering to the unique requirements of military, government, and embassy clients.
Deborah A. Bennett, Managing Director, MUFG
Deborah A. Bennett
Managing Director, MUFG
www.tradepayables.com
Category: Trailblazers
Deborah Bennett is a results-driven leader with more than 20 years’ experience in supply chain finance (SCF). Bennett serves as managing director in MUFG’s SCF business, responsible for supplier outreach for SCF globally; managing a team of 15 subject matter experts, who speak English, Spanish, and Mandarin to communicate with suppliers in their native language; and deepening the country jurisdictions in which the bank can operate. She started with the ability to support only U.S. domestic flows but under her leadership, MUFG now offers early payment solutions to suppliers in more than 40 countries. Bennett also established the legal framework, documentation, and educational resources needed to create pitch documents, training webinars, microsites, and onboarding packages to streamline processes. She’s also been instrumental in the rollout of e-signature capabilities for supplier contracts and documents. Bennett annually achieves her revenue targets and delivered an 86% conversion rate of suppliers in the past year and newly activated supplier spend of $1.8 billion to the bank for buyer-led accounts receivables purchases. At a prior firm, she grew its supplier base from 200 U.S.-based suppliers to tens of thousands globally. She also created the Receivables Purchase Agreement, which has become the industry standard contract all U.S. suppliers sign when they join an early payment program.
Caroline Lyle, Chief Marketing Officer, National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc.
Caroline Lyle
Chief Marketing Officer, National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc. (NMFTA)
https://nmfta.org
Category: Trailblazers
With over 20 years of documented experience, Caroline Lyle serves as chief marketing officer of the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, Inc. (NMFTA), where she continues to represent the interests of the LTL motor carrier industry, carriers, shippers, and 3PLs alike. Before joining NMFTA, she founded Torque Marketing Group, where under her leadership, launched 11 profitable B2B supply chain SaaS startups and grew the firm to $1 million in its first year, achieving 2 times growth and eventually selling the firm in January 2022. Then she moved on to become VP, marketing/inside sales for Transportation Insight, where she led a 14-person team to increase demand and lead generation by 20% within three months. She also led a complete company rebrand, doubled website traffic conversion rates and boosted demand generation. She then served as VP, marketing for Trimble (formerly TMW Systems), where she oversaw marketing, partnership alliances, and lead generation. She integrated digital and traditional marketing approaches to enhance brand awareness and market position, and led the “Using Data Decisively” marketing campaign, launching 200 new products in two years. She then served as director of business development and marketing for McLeod Software, where she generated over $14 million in annual revenue, increased sales by 37% and reduced expenses by over $30,000. She also founded Driven Brands, which helped launch 11 supply chain technology startups, and raised revenues of over $22 million for a TMS company in two years.
Christine Barnhart, Chief Marketing & Industry Officer, Nulogy
Christine Barnhart
Chief Marketing & Industry Officer, Nulogy
https://nulogy.com
Category: Trailblazers
Christine Barnhart maintains over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, purchasing, and planning, having worked at companies like Berry Global, Mead Johnson Nutrition, and Whirlpool. She most recently served as VP, product strategy and go-to-market at Verusen, and before that, senior director of product and industry market strategy at Infor, focusing on supply chain management solutions. Barnhart currently serves as chief marketing and industry officer at Nulogy, and is a part of Nulogy’s DEI committee, playing a pivotal role in championing diversity within the workplace, emphasizing the importance of supporting and mentoring women. Barnhart’s team is composed of more than 60% diverse candidates, and she coaches several female product managers outside of the organization to support their growth and success. She also serves on several boards supporting organizations that promote unbiased political participation among women, or any activity that empowers women. Barnhart was named a Women in Supply Chain winner in 2021 and 2022, and is a 2022 and 2023 recipient of Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Pros to Know award. She is also actively involved with the Association of Supply Chain Management and The Secret Society of Supply Chain’s Women in Supply Chain cohort.
Shachi Rai Gupta, VP, Strategy, ORO Labs
Shachi Rai Gupta
VP, Strategy, ORO Labs
www.orolabs.ai
Category: Trailblazers
Shachi Rai Gupta is a global strategy, intelligence and enterprise transformation executive with approximately 20 years of experience leading strategic planning, product innovation, and large-scale business and digital transformation. Gupta joined ORO Labs as VP, strategy, where she helps lead strategic planning and value generation, fosters growth and solidifies the company’s overall strategy. Born in Zambia and having lived in Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Tanzania, and India, Gupta is a first-generation immigrant who brings a global perspective to her work. Gupta fell in love with procurement and the supply chain while working at Bunge, where she played a pivotal role in product innovation within commodity trading and agriculture. Her work involved creating in-house products for grain origination, logistics execution, and financial risk management. One of her notable achievements at Bunge was her ability to integrate the physical and paper aspects of commodity trading, enhancing efficiency and reducing risk. She’s also held executive and leadership roles at Bristol Myers Squibb, Mars Inc., and Bunge Ltd. At ORO Labs, Gupta serves as a jack-of-all-trades, instrumental in enhancing the company’s market presence.
Jessica Dzugan, VP, Technology, PalletTrader
Jessica Dzugan
VP, Technology, PalletTrader
www.pallettrader.com
Category: Trailblazers
Jessica Dzugan has spearheaded numerous initiatives that leverage cutting-edge technologies to optimize supply chain operations, with a focus on managing supply chain solutions across transportation, logistics, warehousing, and pallet management sectors. As VP, technology and innovation at PalletTrader, she’s responsible for steering the technological direction of PalletTrader, including developing new product updates, expanding platform capabilities and bringing solution offerings to pallet buyers or sellers. She started her 16-year tenure at Bettaway Supply Chain Solutions and PalletTrader as the lead technologist, where she led multiple projects that revolutionized pallet management solutions, ultimately leading to the creation of PalletTrader. Her efforts contributed to a managed service program supported by the largest online digital supplier network and a centralized suite of pallet services. Under Dzugan’s leadership, both PalletTrader and Bettaway Supply Chain Services have brought improvements in operational efficiency and pallet procurement to both buyers and sellers, providing better resource management, increased cost savings, and enhanced service delivery for clients.
Jenny Perlitch, CEO, Perlitch Transport
Jenny Perlitch
CEO, Perlitch Transport
www.perlitchtransport.com
Category: Trailblazers
With nearly two decades of experience in transport and logistics, Jenny Perlitch’s story begins with humble beginnings. Born in Ukraine, she moved to Germany as a young girl with only a couple of hundred dollars before immigrating to Canada at 18, where she pursued studies in computer science, real estate and investments. After a summer job in logistics, she bought a truck and started her own transport company. Today, as CEO, Perlitch Transport boasts an impressive fleet of trucks and a dedicated team. She fostered a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, and developed a proprietary TMS tailored to the specific needs of Perlitch Transport and its clients. Since the beginning of 2024, the TMS has grown to include over 110 additional functions, manages trucks and staff and more. Over the next 12 months, Perlitch plans to increase the company’s fleet and staff, and aims to leverage her platform to engage with the community and inspire the next generation of female leaders. Perlitch was also a 2024 recipient of the Pros to Know award, presented by Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Laura Peacock, President, Americas, Phoenix International Freight Services, Inc.
Laura Peacock
President, Americas, Phoenix International Freight Services, Inc.
www.phoenixintlinc.com
Category: Trailblazers
Laura Peacock serves as president, Americas for Phoenix International Freight Services, and for the past five years, has been named the company’s top sales representative. Under her leadership, Phoenix International grew from two compact offices to three strategically placed outposts on the coasts and in the Midwest. Additionally, the company’s workforce increased from 4 to 44 as a result of the expansion, which in turn, brought in over $118 million in revenue in 2022. Peacock was also instrumental in rebranding the company from Transformers Network, Inc. to Phoenix International Freight Services, which improved marketability and brought it more in line with its mission and fundamental principles. She also oversaw a company-wide customer service initiative that greatly strengthened the business’ distinctive service delivery and enhanced customer loyalty and satisfaction. Going forward, she’s aiming to start a workplace volunteering team to promote a culture of community service.
Christa Rugova, Senior Director, Business Support Services, PLM Fleet, LLC
Christa Rugova
Senior Director, Business Support Services, PLM Fleet, LLC
www.plmfleet.com
Category: Trailblazers
Christa Rugova joined PLM Fleet in 2015 as national account support specialist in the Fleet Solutions Center headquarters. In 2020, she became manager, customer onboarding digital transformation and earlier this year, was promoted to her current role of senior director, business support services, where she serves as the leader of digital transformation in operational processes for both rental and lease. Her focus is on building a streamlined and world-class customer experience utilizing modern digital tools. She developed and implemented digital rental quoting and reservation functionality within the sales platform, and has designed, developed, and employed an innovative digital trailer inspection to include photos and digital signatures. She also collaborated on the design and implementation of QR code decals found on the side of PLM Fleet’s refrigerated trailers; developed and managed the contract creation, close-out, extension, and renewal for all accounts; established and implemented case tracking capabilities within the company’s sales platform; and actively participates at local food banks to help individuals and families with food insecurity.
Shannon Curtis, Senior Manager, Technology Solutions & Marketing, Raymond Corporation
Shannon Curtis
Senior Manager, Technology Solutions & Marketing, Raymond Corporation
www.raymondcorp.com
Category: Rising Stars
Shannon Curtis started her journey with The Raymond Corporation in 2014 as a new product development manager, and was recently promoted to her current role as senior manager, technology solutions and marketing, where she’s played a pivotal part in introducing the iWAREHOUSE Integrated Tether and spearheaded the launch of the Raymond High Capacity Orderpicker. Curtis also leads the strategic planning process for seven business units within Raymond, collaborating with other business managers to create and execute objective product development plans. Her holistic approach to integrating insights from marketing, finance, engineering, and manufacturing has helped to align various teams toward achieving Raymond’s goals. In the next 12 months, Curtis aims to achieve commercialization of the newly launched Integrated Tether System and support the introduction of technology-based Lidar Systems for object detection.
Jennifer Lupo, VP, Energy Solutions, Supply Chain & Leasing, Raymond Corporation
Jennifer Lupo
VP, Energy Solutions, Supply Chain & Leasing, Raymond Corporation
www.raymondcorp.com
Category: Trailblazers
Jennifer Lupo serves as VP, energy solutions, supply chain and leasing at The Raymond Corporation, responsible for energy storage solutions and leading the company’s alternative energy initiatives. Over the past 20 years, Lupo has consistently demonstrated her global supply chain and operations expertise, supporting companies such as Amphenol Aerospace, Endicott Interconnect Technologies, and Welch Allyn. At Raymond Corporation, Lupo has spearheaded numerous initiatives, including acting as the leader of Energy Storage Solutions, where she drove Raymond’s alternative energy initiatives. She’s also led teams to find innovative solutions to challenges associated with electrification and reshoring supply chains, and plays a crucial role in shaping the Energy Solutions Strategy, ensuring alignment with broader industry trends and technological advancements. Under her leadership, Raymond Corporation enhanced its infrastructure to support stationary and motive power electrification.
Tammy Rimes, Director, Supply Chain Operations and Programs, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
Tammy Rimes
Director, Supply Chain Operations and Programs, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
www.savannahrivernuclearsolutions.com
Category: Workforce Innovator
Tammy Rimes serves as director of supply chain operations and programs for the management and operations contract at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS), responsible for materials management, chemical management, inventory control, distribution, and disposition of government assets with acquisition values exceeding $2 billion. She is accountable for delivering compliant operations in accordance with prime contract requirements, federal/state laws, federal acquisition regulations, and DOE directives, and leads an organization of 150 personnel, responsible for an annual operating budget of $20 million. Under Rimes’ leadership, her organization has maintained an approved Government Property Management System with inventory accuracy levels above 99% for over $2.8 billion in assets; led a multi-million-dollar inventory transition and property disposition effort to align Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) to execute future NNSA missions; and successfully implemented the first commercial-off-the-shelf, cloud-based software solution for chemical inventory management and reporting. She recently established a Supply Chain Management Apprenticeship Program designed to train apprentices on the processes necessary to perform as a qualified full-service employee in the supply chain discipline.
Lisa Tanner, Small Business Liaison Officer & Senior Manager of Supply Chain Excellence, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
Lisa Tanner
Small Business Liaison Officer & Senior Manager of Supply Chain Excellence, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
www.savannahrivernuclearsolutions.com
Category: DEI Pioneer
Lisa Tanner serves as the small business liaison officer and senior manager of supply chain excellence for the management and operations contract at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS), responsible for liaising with small businesses and the procurement department in support of acquisition values that exceed $2 billion. She is further accountable for developing solutions that support the procurement in meeting the needs of DOE. Over time, she’s developed and implemented strategic initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion within the supply chain sector. Previously, Tanner served as a low-level enlisted member of the U.S. Navy, where during her assignment in Sigonella, Italy, she established a mentoring circle for women new to the military and helped these women map out their career development plans, study for advancement exams and overcome the challenges of being stationed overseas at a young age. When she transferred to Charleston, S.C., Tanner was selected as Sailor of the Quarter and Sailor of the Year on numerous occasions. When she left the military, she joined the civilian ranks in manufacturing, starting her career as an administrative assistant and eventually as director of supply chain. Tanner has also spearheaded efforts to address unconscious bias and promote cultural competency within supply chain organizations, and has been a catalyst for collaboration across industries, forging partnerships with diversity-focused organizations, educational institutions, and community groups. In the last 12 months, Tanner has worked with procurement to increase the spend with these businesses by $126 million. And, in the last fiscal year, more than 60% of organizations spend was with these businesses. The outreach work that Tanner leads has resulted in job growth nationally of 126,000-plus over the last 10 years with local growth exceeding 16,000-plus over this same period.
Elizabeth Wooten, Business Program Manager, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
Elizabeth Wooten
Business Program Manager, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions
www.savannahrivernuclearsolutions.com
Category: Rising Stars
Elizabeth Wooten serves as business programs manager for supply chain procurement for Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), where she oversees the policy, procedures, training, independent file reviews, independent cost or price analysis, competition advocacy, foreign, ownership control and influence for subcontractors and sustainable acquisition programs. At 26, Wooten conducted in-person benchmarking of other government entities who used the same ERP system to identify improvement opportunities. The initiative eliminated the need for interoffice mail services, physical file storage, delays associated with transporting interoffice mail over a 527-square-mile area, and approval delays for carbon copy physical documents. Wooten also aided in the initiative to transition from annual live auctions of surplus material to the use of web-based GovDeals year-round, which led to over a 500% increase in profits on surplus items. She was promoted to socioeconomics and policy manager, where she continued to oversee the small business program and all supply chain management policy and training, supplier setup, and p-card program. During this time, she oversaw the management of over 13,000 physical site records and hundreds of thousands of electronic records on behalf of department. Today, as a supply chain management advisor to policy and compliance, she supports the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) during the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility termination and transition, which includes development of policies and procedures using Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Universal Commercial Code, existing company level procedures and hundreds of transition correspondence documents between the terminated MOX Contract, NNSA and SRNS.
Kristie Neal, Director, Learning & Development, Scanco
Kristie Neal
Director, Learning & Development, Scanco
https://scanco.com
Category: Workforce Innovator
Kristie Neal’s journey in the supply chain began with her mastering advanced terminology and processes. She quickly progressed to become a Sage-certified ERP consultant, showcasing her technical acumen and dedication to continuous learning. She joined Scano in charge of professional services, where she played a pivotal role in driving efficiency and innovation. Recently, Neal created the learning and development department at Scanco, which she now serves as director of, bridging a crucial knowledge gap for those accounting partners unfamiliar with supply chain best practices. Neal also developed a learning management system to revolutionize on-demand customer training, enhance employee onboarding processes, and simplify complex supply chain concepts for partners. Neal also conducts on-site consulting practices and provides hands-on experience for new consultants.
Heidi McKenna, VP, People, STG Logistics
Heidi McKenna
VP, People, STG Logistics
www.stgusa.com
Category: DEI Pioneer
Since joining STG Logistics in human resources in July 2022, Heidi McKenna has expanded the People Partner and People Team function by hiring four additional people partners within her first year. Starting as a senior director of people partners, McKenna climbed the ranks to her current role as VP, people in April 2023, in which she revamped the employee handbook and policies; introduced the organization’s compensation structure; and made significant improvements in internal communications, compliance training, and new hire training. McKenna and her team have also prioritized DEI initiatives, where in 2023, STG employees dedicated over 3,380 hours to training programs on preventing harassment and discrimination. Under McKenna’s guidance, STG extended benefits to be more inclusive, covering family planning, fertility benefits for all genders, and same-sex partner benefits, in addition to a diversity holiday, granting employees 8 hours to celebrate diversity in a way that resonates with them.
Nikki Driskill, VP, Customer Service, STG Logistics
Nikki Driskill
VP, Customer Service, STG Logistics
www.stgusa.com
Category: Trailblazers
Nikki Driskill began her career in 1998 as a logistics specialist with Rail Van, LCC, and when Rail Van was acquired by Pacer International, Driskill’s responsibilities steadily increased, from director of customer solutions to senior customer account manager over the course of eight years. When XPO acquired Pacer in 2014, Driskill again moved with the organization, eventually becoming XPO’s director of customer service. When XPO became part of STG Logistics in 2022, Driskill began as the director of operations. Today, she serves as VP, customer service, responsible for capturing EDI/API, financial setup, day-to-day operational SOP, communication and reporting requirements, final inspection and invoice expectations. She’s also working on enhancements to the company’s customer onboarding processes and protocols.
Mercedes Pina, VP, Client Services & Expedited Pricing, STG Logistics
Mercedes Pina
VP, Client Services & Expedited Pricing, STG Logistics
www.stgusa.com
Category: Rising Stars
Mercedes Pina serves as VP, client services and expedited pricing at STG Logistics, tasked with managing pricing inquiries, account management, problem-solving, and building strong customer relationships. In 2012, she moved to Los Angeles, where she began her career in logistics as a temporary data entry position at AZ West, where within her first year, was hired and promoted to the Inland department customer service division. In 2016, AZ West was acquired and merged with St. George Logistics (now STG Logistics), and Pina was the first employee nominated to transfer after the acquisition. In 2018, Pina was promoted to project manager with the client services group, where she helped develop the account management division while managing top accounts throughout the STG/CFS network. In 2020, she was promoted to sales director, and then again to her current role in 2022.
Lina Castaneda, Chief Customer Officer, Tai Software
Lina Castaneda
Chief Customer Officer, Tai Software
www.taisoftware.com
Category: Rising Stars
When Lina Castaneda joined Tai Software, she was stepping into an entirely new industry without prior experience in the supply chain. Castaneda’s initial role was to assist in onboarding new customers into the TMS during the COVID-19 pandemic. She quickly transitioned into the role of director of operations, and then earlier this year, was promoted to chief customer officer, where she now oversees the company’s entire customer operations. Under this role, she’s spearheaded several transformative initiatives, and identified highly qualified personnel within her teams and actively promoted them to Level 2 roles. She also established a comprehensive Customer Feedback Loop that collects and analyzes customer input. This has led to a 20% increase in customer retention, a 15% rise in overall satisfaction scores, a 30% decrease in support requests and a 25% increase in user engagement with Tai’s software. She also created the company’s onboarding department from the ground up, establishing necessary standard operating procedures and hiring the right people to fulfill those roles. She expanded her team from 5 to 35 in less than two years, created two new departments dedicated to EDI integrations and training, and played an instrumental role in constructing a positive company culture.
Annie Torikian, VP, Enhanced Business Solutions, Tecsys
Annie Torikian
VP, Enhanced Business Solutions, Tecsys
www.tecsys.com
Category: Trailblazers
As VP, enhanced business services at Tecsys, Annie Torikian plays a critical role in the supply chain operations of hundreds of organizations. She guides her team in developing software customizations that enable these organizations to run their businesses at peak levels. Immigrating to Canada in 1993 and starting at Tecsys in 1998 as a developer, Torikian has amassed 25 years of diverse experience, playing almost all the roles in her department, including leadership ones such as development manager, team manager, project delivery manager, director, senior director, and now VP. In 2011, she initiated and spearheaded a Developers’ Team, focusing on implementing best practices, streamlining processes, preparing a developer’s guide, and setting coding standards. To fully embrace her role as a supply chain project delivery manager, in 2015, Torikian obtained her PMP certification, enhancing her role efficiency and exposing those around her to project management principles. This includes building integrations with dimensioning and weighing systems to allow the transfer of measurements/weights of inventory items to the WMS. Torikian and her team have helped North American supply chain organizations integrate automation and material handling equipment, including vertical and horizontal carousels, autonomous mobile robots, automated guided vehicles, automated storage and retrieval systems and conveyors, as well as automated dispensing systems to streamline medication distribution. During COVID-19, she built dynamic strategies to mitigate disruption, ensuring orders were fulfilled by substitute items first to avoid waste. She also served as a mentor for the McGill Women’s Mentorship Program in 2021.
Marla Clark-Hlas, VP, Operations, TIG – The Integration Group
Marla Clark-Hlas
VP, Operations, TIG – The Integration Group
www.tigdistributing.com
Category: Trailblazers
Marla Clark-Hlas joined TIG-The Integration Group in December 2020 as VP, operations, after a successful career with John Deere. In less than three months, Clark-Hlas phased out the two previous owners who were extremely critical to TIG’s success, and immediately improved the execution of the entire company. As part of her process, she learned each position within the company, streamlined processes, brought discipline and standards to protocols, and took over budgeting. When TIG’s main location faced a lack of capacity, Clark-Hlas developed a detailed plan to completely overhaul warehousing space by rotating all pallet racking 90 degrees, converting to narrow aisle arrangements, and setting up for wire-guided picking equipment. The result was a 30% increase in pallet capacity. Clark-Hlas also leveraged her cross-functional team to restructure how individual customer orders were batched, organized, and processed, eliminating the need for extra processing at the cross docks. This brought a particular customer a cost savings opportunity while addressing the capacity issues and decreasing delivery times.
Jennifer Kobus, SVP, Supply Chain Planning & Operations, Ulta Beauty
Jennifer Kobus
SVP, Supply Chain Planning & Operations, Ulta Beauty
www.ulta.com
Category: Trailblazers
Jennifer Kobus serves as SVP, supply chain planning and operations at Ulta Beauty, where she’s tasked with optimizing processes, aligning sales and operations, managing supplier relations, overseeing network fulfillment, and driving innovation. Since joining Ulta Beauty in 2017 as director of outbound transportation, Kobus has been instrumental in driving the company’s supply chain transformation. Through her continuous improvement efforts and optimization strategies across transportation modes, she has achieved significant savings and efficiencies for the organization. Kobus maintains 29 years of experience in supply chain management, plays a key role in shaping the Supply Chain DEI Council and serves as the Keynote Speaker for this year’s Women in Supply Chain Forum.
Kimberly Cockrell Corley, CEO & Founder, Upward Bound Ventures
Kimberly Cockrell Corley
CEO & Founder, Upward Bound Ventures
https://upwardboundventures.com
Category: Trailblazers
For the past 22 years, Kimberly Cockrell Corley consistently fosters win-win solutions that drive growth and innovation. Joining Maersk straight out of the University of Alabama, Cockrell Corley sought out challenging roles across the globe. Relocating to Panama, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, and across the United States, she transformed underperforming sales territories, unlocked untapped markets, and launched new ventures from the ground up. In 2017, she joined the New York Shipping Exchange as VP, sales and marketing, where, under leadership, NYSHEX’s membership base tripled annually and revenues soared by 300%, and NYSHEX established a new standard for trust and accountability. In June, Cockrell Corley launched Upward Bound Ventures, where she’s dedicated to helping companies break into the market, refine their sales and marketing strategies, and accelerate revenue growth.
Alexia McLaughlin, Head of Enterprise Sales, Veho
Alexia McLaughlin
Head of Enterprise Sales, Veho
www.shipveho.com
Category: Rising Stars
Alexia McLaughlin embarked on her journey with Veho in September 2021, stepping into the role of the company’s inaugural full-time sales representative. At that juncture, Veho operated under a founder-led sales model, predominantly catering to subscription meal kit companies. Recognizing the need to broaden Veho’s market horizon, McLaughlin steered Veho toward new frontiers, particularly targeting retailers and cosmetic companies. Through her strategic initiatives, she facilitated Veho’s entry into this untapped segment, bringing on several renowned household brands. Other achievements include the onboarding of a household name brand, and spearheading the closure of deals amounting to $24 million before taking three months maternity leave. She later assumed the role of head of enterprise sales, where she is committed to fostering a culture of excellence and empowerment, and invests in the training and development of her team members.
Melissa Gresham, Director, Safety Operations, Veho
Melissa Gresham
Director, Safety Operations, Veho
www.shipveho.com
Category: Trailblazers
Melissa Gresham started her safety career in the United States Army as a helicopter pilot, then later took on the additional role of an aviation safety officer. Gresham deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and continued to manage the health and safety of all aviation aspects for tactical and non-tactical operations. The impact of her safety efforts resulted in zero fatalities related to non-tactical risk, minimal damage to millions of dollars in aviation assets, and maintained an operational tempo allowing the aviation unit to support the infantry 24/7. After the military, Gresham moved into corporate safety, specifically supply chain and logistics. At CVS Health, she managed the EHS program for 19 large distribution centers in the United States. Other achievements include launching a behavior-based safety program, developing a safety dashboard with measurable metrics for continuous improvement, and creating a workplace violence and lone worker policy. The results of these initiatives combined behaviors and conditions to complete a safety program within 19 distribution centers. Also while at CVS Health, Gresham developed a strategic plan and budget to obtain a safety manager position in all distribution centers. This role resulted in increased safety oversight and compliance in all buildings. After CVS Health, she joined Veho as director of safety, where she works to enhance the safety culture.
Maria Madrigal, Director, Operations, WSI
Maria Madrigal
Director, Operations, WSI
www.wsinc.com
Category: Trailblazers
Maria Madrigal started her career as a window clerk, and without any formal logistics education or experience, eventually became the first female director of operations for WSI (Warehouse Specialists LLC), responsible for warehousing operations across multiple states and overseeing three facilities with exceptional performance. Throughout her 24-year-career, she’s achieved key metrics for safety, quality, productivity, and cost; maintained a 0% incident rate for the past 5 years; and oversaw multiple complex system implementations and technology upgrades, including two enterprise-grade WMS and several customer-specific systems. She’s also onboarded and supported over 25 new customer accounts in the last 5 years; mentored and developed seven new managers and manager trainees, which contributed to three internal promotions; collaborated with cross-functional teams to develop and implement an updated training curriculum; and serves as a trusted advisor and key resource for customers, sales teams, and internal stakeholders. Madrigal has successfully closed and opened sites, including a 24-hour-per-day facility, with strategic planning, and operated some of the company’s first fulfillment accounts in Southern California, including in apparel, toys, stationary, etc.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners. CLICK HERE to meet all of the winners.
