Overview
IDFA's new The Power of People virtual program is an experiential learning event that immerses participants in valuable, informative sessions focused on building a community of leaders across the dairy industry. The conference programming, developed in knowledge collaboration with Egon Zehnder and McKinsey & Company, will focus on innovative people practices, workplace culture, leadership skill development, talent optimization, succession planning, and building teams of integrity and accountability.
IDFA is focused on ensuring our members have the knowledge, tools and talent to succeed in a more competitive future. Participants will leave the program inspired by the possibility of what they can do with their organizations and feeling empowered as accountable agents of change.
Chief Executive Officers, Chief Human Resource Officers, and Human Resource Leaders are encouraged to register for this year's virtual conference.
Continuing Education Credits
This program has been approved for 7.5 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ recertification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®).
The use of this official seal confirms that this Activity has met HR Certification Institute’s® (HRCI®) criteria for recertification credit pre-approval.
Sponsors
Questions?
Please contact Heather Soubra at hsoubra@idfa.org.
Agenda
| October 19, 2020 | Event | Speaker | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:00pm - 1:30pm |
Welcome and 10% Happier with Dan Harris
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--0.5 HR (General) credit hours-- Dan Harris is the co-anchor of ABC News' "Nightline" and the weekend edition of "Good Morning America,". After covering the religion beat for ABC News, he discovered meditation and wrote the bestselling book 10% Happier. Unlike over-promising self-help gurus who guarantee overnight life-changing miracles, Harris advocates simple, secular, scientifically validated ways to boost your happiness.
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| 1:30pm - 2:30pm |
Organizing for the Future: The 9 Imperatives as a System
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--1 HR (General) credit hours-- In this session, McKinsey & Company will present its perspectives on Organizing for the Future – how to unlock huge performance gains by reshaping organizations around identity, agility, and scalability. McKinsey & Company will introduce the nine imperatives of Organizing for the Future and how they work as a system, and the macro trends that are driving these imperatives. Attendees will have an opportunity to explore the imperatives in the context of their own organizations.
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| 2:30pm - 2:45pm |
Break
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| 2:45pm - 3:15pm |
Global Diversity and Inclusivity
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--0.5 HR (General) credit hours--
• Grounding in the definitions of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
• Root causes of diversity issues that companies are facing today
• The latest thinking on inclusive leadership and its role in developing diverse, inclusive cultures
• Inclusive Leadership Competencies to assess and develop inclusive leadership capabilities at the top of the house and across the enterprise
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| 3:15pm - 3:45pm |
Identifying and Developing High Potentials in 2020 and Beyond
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--0.5 HR (General) credit hours-- Today, organizations around the world are struggling on one key metric of success: leadership development. According to research from the Corporate Executive Board, 66 percent of companies invest in programs that aim to identify high-potential employees and help them advance, but only 24 percent of senior executives at those firms consider the programs to be a success. In today’s world, what does High Potential really mean? Potential for what? In this session, based on the latest research, learn how to identify types of potential and then turn that potential into success.
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| 3:45pm - 4:00pm |
Debrief and Closing Remarks
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| October 20, 2020 | Event | Speaker | Location |
| 1:00pm - 1:15pm |
Introduction and Mindfulness at Work
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--0.25 HR (General) credit hours-- Overview of meditation in the workplace and guided meditation experience.
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| 1:15pm - 2:15pm |
A Panel of Chief People Officers: Industry Perspectives
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--1 HR (General) credit hours-- An interactive and thought-provoking discussion sharing best practices and pitfalls from both inside and outside the dairy industry. Moderated by: Sebastien D’Incau, Consultant, Egon Zehnder. Speakers: Dave Coble, Vice President, Human Resources, Schreiber Foods, Inc.; Loren Heeringa, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Marie-Claude Milot, Head of Human Resources, Darigold, Inc.; and Sandra Lamartine, Chief People Officer, Glanbia Nutritionals
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| 2:15pm - 2:30pm |
Break
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| 2:30pm - 3:45pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 1): Diversity and Inclusion
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- Interactive session and visioning exercise to explore what some of the diversity and inclusion best practices discussed the first day mean for your organization, your teams and yourself.
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| 2:30pm - 3:45pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 2): Identity
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- Identity: A deep dive exploration of 3 of the imperatives focused on identity: being clear about your organization’s why, what and how – why you exist, what you do, and how you run the place.
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| 2:30pm - 3:45pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 3): Leadership of Tomorrow – What is the New Generation Expecting of its Leaders?
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- “Humble leader”, “Servant leader”, “Authentic Leader”, “True North Leadership”... Cutting through the buzz words, how has leadership really changed in the last decade and what it means for today’s senior leaders who will have to lead an ever-changing and more demanding workforce.
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| 2:30pm - 3:45pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 4): Operating Model
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- A deep dive exploration of three of the imperatives focused on agility: radically flattening structure to empower the edges, rewiring decision-making to unleash speed, and treating talent as the scarce capital.
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| 3:45pm - 4:00pm |
Debrief and Closing Remarks
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| October 21, 2020 | Event | Speaker | Location |
| 1:00pm - 1:15pm |
Introduction and Remarks
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--0.25 HR (General) credit hours-- Overview of meditation in the workplace and guided meditation experience.
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| 1:15pm - 2:30pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 1): Applying the 9 Imperatives
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- Attendees explore practically and tactically what they might want to experiment with and implement in their own organizations and learn how other organizations have launched and scaled integrative, future-oriented organization transformations.
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| 1:15pm - 2:30pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 2): Promising Practices for Integrating New Leaders
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- We all know the first 6-12 months are critical for a new leader coming into the organization and the cost when s/he fails. In this interactive session we will discuss best practices to ensure new leaders “hit the ground running” and avoid some of the coming pitfalls in their first months – becoming high performer faster and limiting the risk of “tissue rejection”.
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| 1:15pm - 2:30pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 3): Scalability
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- A deep dive exploration of three of the imperatives focused on scalability: Getting and staying ahead by out learning your competitors, finding more value in data, and leveraging an ecosystem to tap the new drivers of value creation.
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| 1:15pm - 2:30pm |
Breakout Sessions (Option 4): Succession Planning and Harnessing the Potential of Your Organization
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--1.25 HR (General) credit hours-- How can organizations fully tap and develop the potential that exists within them? In this interactive session, we will discuss what promising practices help organizations “unlock” the full potential of their leaders.
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| 2:30pm - 2:45pm |
Break
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| 2:45pm - 3:45pm |
Leadership Learnings in Time of Crisis
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--1 HR (General) credit hours-- An interactive and thought-provoking discussion on learnings from leaders in the dairy industry on the recent COVID-19 crisis. Moderated by: Michael Dykes, President & CEO, International Dairy Foods Association. Featured panelists: Ron Dunford, President & CEO, Schreiber Foods, Inc.; Yin Woon Rani, CEO, Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP); Patricia D. Stroup, Global Vice President and Head of Commodities, Nestle S.A.; and Stan Ryan, President & CEO, Darigold, Inc.
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| 3:45pm - 4:00pm |
Closing Remarks and Reflections
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Welcome and 10% Happier with Dan Harris
Heather Soubra, ACC
Heather Soubra is wildly optimistic that all people can love what they do and do what they love. Her coaching empowers professionals who want to develop their leadership skills, unlock their own inner wisdom, and step into the best possible version of themselves. Her direct experiences as a senior leader supplement her education and inform her experience as a leadership and executive coach.
Heather is dedicated to empowering her clients to reach their highest potential. She brings out the leader within; a leader with confidence to navigate any challenge. Heather believes the magic happens when individuals access their own inner wisdom through a process of contemplating powerful questions and getting curious about themselves. Senior executive leaders have reported that Heather has helped them to build confidence and trust in their own internal guidance system. She is passionate about cultivating workplaces where people thrive, creating their own paths for achievement while actively building team unity and open communication.
As leadership coach, and lead coaching coordinator for program development at one of the nation's leading financial institutions, Heather works alongside executives to identify their professional priorities and align them with business objectives, both immediate and long-term. She designs and develops individual and group coaching programs that serve as a catalyst for growth and awareness, working to ensure that individuals are empowered, finding breakthroughs in their work and lives, which positively impact performance at their jobs, and beyond.
Heather’s role as Chief of Staff, Strategist, and Consultant for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) provided her experience overseeing and facilitating complex systems, human development, collaboration, and inclusiveness across the organization to achieve strategic goals. Heather conceptualized, designed, implemented, and led the IDFA People Strategy. With it, she designed and created a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as on building the workforce and organizations of the future.
Most recently, she has joined the team at the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon to facilitate and lead workshops and trainings to incorporate George Washington's approach to leadership strategy into tangible leadership practices for today's leaders with tools and resources that can be used right away. She has experienced firsthand the challenges and opportunities for leaders in a complex organization. Heather also has vast experience leading governance structures, developing programs, and executing within global organizations at the most senior levels.
A graduate of George Mason University, Heather earned her degree in intercultural communication and received her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence. She received her ACC coaching credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF.) She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol.
Dan Harris
Dan Harris is a co-anchor the weekend edition of Good Morning America on ABC News, as well as a correspondent for such broadcasts as Nightline and World News Tonight. He is also the author of 10% Happier, a #1 New York Times best-selling book about a fidgety, skeptical news anchor who stumbles upon meditation. Recently, Harris launched an app specifically designed to teach meditation to doubters and busy people. This ancient practice – too long associated exclusively with hippies and robed gurus – has been shown by modern science to boost resilience, focus, creativity, emotional intelligence, and overall mental and physical health. With meditation and mindfulness now being embraced by executives, athletes, educators and entertainers, Harris has become a leading voice for pushing for the practice into the mainstream, using plain English and dry humor. He has spoken in front of a variety of audiences—corporations, health and wellness organizations, and schools and universities.
In 10% Happier, Harris tells his story as only a reporter can: through deep research, tough questions, and a healthy dose of irony. The book is part investigation and part immersive journalism: one man’s accidental quest to boost his happiness quotient without losing his professional drive. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower blood pressure to essentially rewire the brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even Marines who use the practice to be calmer, happier, and less yanked around by their emotions. The book takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, leaving them with takeaways that could actually change their lives.
The app Harris co-founded—called 10% Happier: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics—mixes the irreverence of the book with simple, practical, down-to-earth instructions. Users receive short daily videos, in which Dan discusses the practice with some of the world’s greatest teachers. The app also comes with a personal coach, who can answer questions and keep users accountable.
10% Happier is also available in podcast form, and features in-depth conversations about meditation and happiness with celebrities, doctors, scholars, and other icons, including the Dalai Lama.
Harris’ new book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, was released in December 2017 and quickly made its way onto the New York Time’s Best-seller list.
Previously, Harris was the anchor of the Sunday edition of World News. He regularly contributes stories on ABC for such shows as 20/20, World News Tonight with David Muir, and the weekday edition of Good Morning America. Harris has reported from all over the world, covering wars in Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, and Iraq, and producing investigative reports in Haiti, Cambodia, and the Congo. He has also spent many years covering America’s faith scene, with a focus on evangelicals—who have treated him kindly despite the fact that he is openly agnostic.
Harris has been at ABC News for 16 years, receiving Murrow and Emmy awards for his reporting. Prior to joining ABC, he was in local news in Boston and Maine.
Harris grew up outside of Boston and currently lives with his wife, Bianca, and their son, Alexander, in New York City.
Organizing for the Future: The 9 Imperatives as a System
Aaron De Smet
Aaron De Smet is Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. De Smet counsels leadership teams as they transform their organizations to improve performance, organizational health, speed, and agility. He is also an expert on organizational design, corporate culture, leadership development, team effectiveness, capability building, and transformational change.
Much of Aaron’s work focuses on helping large distributed organizations to achieve growth, innovation, productivity, and organizational agility. He serves clients across several industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, chemicals, energy, financial services, and healthcare.
Elizabeth Mygatt
Liz is one of the leaders of Organizing for the Future, a McKinsey initiative offering integrated, bold approaches to designing operating models, defining organizational identity, and meeting the challenges of growth. Since joining the firm in 2011, she has advised companies across sectors, focused on what it takes for organizations to thrive.
The rapid pace of change puts pressure on companies to operate with speed and simplicity. In support of stronger performance, Liz partners with executives to keep up with demand and scale their organizations flexibly. This support often includes reshaping governance and decision-making models and establishing new approaches to managing talent.
In many cases, Liz supports broad-based organizational and performance transformations across entire companies, setting new agile operating models, and shifting culture in fundamental ways.
Examples of her recent client work include the following:
- supporting a post-merger performance transformation, including defining a new company-wide culture; in just eight months organizational health scores improved dramatically
- establishing an agile operating model for an industrial company to successfully meet soaring demand
- streamlining the operating model and top-team design for a healthcare organization, improving the quality of governance and speed of decision making
- building an enterprise-wide human capital strategy for a health insurance provider to support a bold growth strategy, including fostering a more performance-based culture
- helping a national healthcare provider transform performance by improving strategic talent development, investing in organizational health and building new capabilities
- architecting a new leadership model and operating approach for a technology company, enabling rapid growth and better decision making
Interested in helping leaders anticipate and stay ahead of trends, Liz publishes frequently on how work is changing and what successful organizations can do to prepare for the future.
Global Diversity and Inclusivity
Vanessa Chehlawi
Vanessa Chehlawi, based in Toronto, leverages her experience in advising clients on solving leadership challenges and transforming operating models. She is an active member of Egon Zehnder's Executive Assessment & Development practice and is involved in the Diversity & Inclusion practice, as well as in executive search in Technology and Communications, Healthcare, and the Public and Social Sector.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Vanessa was with McKinsey & Company, starting as a Business Analyst and advancing to the roles of Associate and then Engagement Manager. While serving clients across Canada, the U.S., and Australia, she led digital transformations and managed teams to design and deliver agile capability building programs. Before McKinsey, Vanessa held positions in silicon photonics research at the University of Surrey, and solution architecture at Ericsson.
Vanessa graduated from McMaster University with a double major in Engineering Physics and in Management, specializing in nanotechnology, and then earned an MEng in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside work, Vanessa feels passionate about the refugee crisis, and offers support through work with NGOs in Canada and
in Lebanon. She also enjoys yoga, meditation, dance, traveling, culinary experiences and learning new languages.
Cynthia Soledad
Cynthia Soledad, based in Chicago, coleads Egon Zehnder's Diversity and Inclusion Practice and is an active member of the firm 's Consumer and Chief Marketing Officers practices. She is a respected provider of executive search and management appraisal services across all consumer goods and services, while drawing on deep experience in consumer durables, packaged goods, and retail.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Cynthia served as Senior Brand Director at Whirlpool Corporation with responsibility for the KitchenAid brand, which included refreshing its positioning and redesigning the main products. She also led Marketing Services and established the company's first digital center of excellence. Earlier, Cynthia was a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble, where she held various roles in business delivery, upstream innovation, and shopper marketing. Throughout her career, Cynthia has been engaged in developing leadership and promoting employee diversity and inclusion, for example by leading the Whirlpool Women's Network and P&G's Asians in Marketing and CMK group.
Cynthia earned a BA in anthropology from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Outside work, she enjoys singing. Her husband and two children as well as her large extended family are very important to her.
Identifying and Developing High Potentials in 2020 and Beyond
Sebastien D’Incau
Sebastien D’Incau co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a member of the Board Practice. Based in Montreal, he is a trusted advisor to both boards and executive teams. He has extensive experience in executive search as well as leadership advisory topics including succession planning, team effectiveness, culture transformation, management appraisal, and leadership development. He advises both industry leaders as well as disruptors.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sebastien was a Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with clients in consumer goods, retail and financial services. He began his career in market strategy and planning and customer business development at Procter & Gamble.
Andrea Kilpatrick
Andrea is a leader in Egon Zehnder’s Consumer Practice where she advises clients on organizational and senior leadership needs, especially around business transformation. Her work in the dairy industry has focused on leadership recruitment, assessment and development around commercial, operations and functional roles. She is also the U.S. Leader of the firm’s Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Practice and serves as a core member of the Public and Social Sector Practice.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Andrea spent eight years as a consultant with McKinsey & Company serving companies in the U.S. and abroad across multiple sectors with a focus on strategy, business-building and organizational effectiveness. Andrea was also a leader in the firm’s Nonprofit Practice working on foundation and NGO projects.
Andrea has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. in Educational Studies from Oxford University, and a B.A. in English from Princeton University.
Rebecca Spaulding
Rebecca is the Global Practice Specialist for Egon Zehnder’s Leadership Advisory practice group. She has deep knowledge and experience assessing executives, and she works with senior leaders to solve their talent challenges in C-suite succession, mergers and acquisitions, and team effectiveness. Rebecca has served several of the world’s largest companies in the financial services, healthcare, industrial, and consumer products sectors. In addition to her client work, she partners with the Global Head of the Leadership Advisory group to manage the practice internally. She is based in New York.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Rebecca held multiple positions conducting interviews to diagnose participants with clinical disorders. She specialized in interviewing and diagnosing inmates, veterans, and chronic substance users. She is trained to administer the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) to diagnose psychopathic individuals and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID-IV) to diagnose major mental disorders, substance use disorders, and personality disorders. Earlier in her career, she researched the cognitive abilities of monkeys and domestic dogs in laboratories and at field sites.
Heather Soubra, ACC
Heather Soubra is wildly optimistic that all people can love what they do and do what they love. Her coaching empowers professionals who want to develop their leadership skills, unlock their own inner wisdom, and step into the best possible version of themselves. Her direct experiences as a senior leader supplement her education and inform her experience as a leadership and executive coach.
Heather is dedicated to empowering her clients to reach their highest potential. She brings out the leader within; a leader with confidence to navigate any challenge. Heather believes the magic happens when individuals access their own inner wisdom through a process of contemplating powerful questions and getting curious about themselves. Senior executive leaders have reported that Heather has helped them to build confidence and trust in their own internal guidance system. She is passionate about cultivating workplaces where people thrive, creating their own paths for achievement while actively building team unity and open communication.
As leadership coach, and lead coaching coordinator for program development at one of the nation's leading financial institutions, Heather works alongside executives to identify their professional priorities and align them with business objectives, both immediate and long-term. She designs and develops individual and group coaching programs that serve as a catalyst for growth and awareness, working to ensure that individuals are empowered, finding breakthroughs in their work and lives, which positively impact performance at their jobs, and beyond.
Heather’s role as Chief of Staff, Strategist, and Consultant for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) provided her experience overseeing and facilitating complex systems, human development, collaboration, and inclusiveness across the organization to achieve strategic goals. Heather conceptualized, designed, implemented, and led the IDFA People Strategy. With it, she designed and created a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as on building the workforce and organizations of the future.
Most recently, she has joined the team at the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon to facilitate and lead workshops and trainings to incorporate George Washington's approach to leadership strategy into tangible leadership practices for today's leaders with tools and resources that can be used right away. She has experienced firsthand the challenges and opportunities for leaders in a complex organization. Heather also has vast experience leading governance structures, developing programs, and executing within global organizations at the most senior levels.
A graduate of George Mason University, Heather earned her degree in intercultural communication and received her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence. She received her ACC coaching credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF.) She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol.
Introduction and Mindfulness at Work
Heather Soubra, ACC
Heather Soubra is wildly optimistic that all people can love what they do and do what they love. Her coaching empowers professionals who want to develop their leadership skills, unlock their own inner wisdom, and step into the best possible version of themselves. Her direct experiences as a senior leader supplement her education and inform her experience as a leadership and executive coach.
Heather is dedicated to empowering her clients to reach their highest potential. She brings out the leader within; a leader with confidence to navigate any challenge. Heather believes the magic happens when individuals access their own inner wisdom through a process of contemplating powerful questions and getting curious about themselves. Senior executive leaders have reported that Heather has helped them to build confidence and trust in their own internal guidance system. She is passionate about cultivating workplaces where people thrive, creating their own paths for achievement while actively building team unity and open communication.
As leadership coach, and lead coaching coordinator for program development at one of the nation's leading financial institutions, Heather works alongside executives to identify their professional priorities and align them with business objectives, both immediate and long-term. She designs and develops individual and group coaching programs that serve as a catalyst for growth and awareness, working to ensure that individuals are empowered, finding breakthroughs in their work and lives, which positively impact performance at their jobs, and beyond.
Heather’s role as Chief of Staff, Strategist, and Consultant for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) provided her experience overseeing and facilitating complex systems, human development, collaboration, and inclusiveness across the organization to achieve strategic goals. Heather conceptualized, designed, implemented, and led the IDFA People Strategy. With it, she designed and created a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as on building the workforce and organizations of the future.
Most recently, she has joined the team at the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon to facilitate and lead workshops and trainings to incorporate George Washington's approach to leadership strategy into tangible leadership practices for today's leaders with tools and resources that can be used right away. She has experienced firsthand the challenges and opportunities for leaders in a complex organization. Heather also has vast experience leading governance structures, developing programs, and executing within global organizations at the most senior levels.
A graduate of George Mason University, Heather earned her degree in intercultural communication and received her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence. She received her ACC coaching credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF.) She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol.
A Panel of Chief People Officers: Industry Perspectives
Dave Coble
Dave Coble is Senior Vice President of Human Resource Systems and Strategy. Dave earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ohio University and his MBA in Labor Relations and Human Resource Management from Ohio State University. He also served in the Air National Guard.
He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. In the community, Dave is involved with CASA of Brown County, serving as a member of the corporate board and advisory council. Dave and his wife, Chris, live in the Green Bay area in Wisconsin. They have three children. Away from work, Dave enjoys biking, running, skiing (downhill and cross country), golfing, and reading military books and biographies.
Loren Heeringa
Loren serves as senior vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Land O’Lakes, Inc. He joined Land O’Lakes in 2004, bringing more than 35 years of human resources and large-scale change management experience in multiple companies and industries. Before joining Land O’Lakes, he served as vice president of human resources at Honeywell International and the University of St. Thomas. He is on the Institute for Corporate Productivity CHRO Board, the Gartner CHRO Board, the Board of Governors of the Midwest CHRO Leadership Summit, the board of Camp Fire of Minnesota, the advisory council for the Ivy Executive MBA program at Iowa State University, and the executive council at Hamline University School of Business. Loren has a bachelor’s in psychology from Hamline University and completed all but dissertation for a doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Education
B.A., Hamline University
Ph.D. Coursework, University of Minnesota
Experience
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Honeywell
University of St. Thomas
Industry leadership
CHRO Board, Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp)
CHRO Global Leadership Board, Gartner
Co-chair of the board of governors, Midwest CHRO Leadership Summit
Advisory Council, Ivy Executive MBA program at Iowa State University
Executive Council, Hamline University School of Business
Community leadership
President of the board of directors, Camp Fire Minnesota
Marie-Claude Milot
Marie-Claude Milot is a global HR leader and strategic thinker with deep expertise in high performance leadership, cultural transformation and business alignment across functions, regions and industries. She is committed to helping companies achieve profitable growth by building a world-class HR function that encompasses the full spectrum of best-in-class HR practices including organizational design, total rewards, payroll, talent acquisition, labor relations, employee engagement and succession planning. Over her 30-year career she has also held P&L responsibility in a sales role, and have led legal, IT, social media and public relations functions.
Sandra Lamartine
Sandra Lamartine is the Chief People Officer for Glanbia Nutritionals, where she is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the global people strategy. She joined in 2016 as the Nutritionals business unit was established and has worked to develop a cohesive values-led organization. Glanbia Nutritionals is currently the number one provider of whey-based nutritional ingredients globally and the number one producer of American-style cheddar cheese, with a direct presence in 21 countries, manufacturing facilities in the US, Canada, Germany and China, and international sales and technical offices around the world.
Prior to Glanbia, Sandra was the head of HR for James Hardie Building Products for 6 years. While at James Hardie as top HR executive, Sandra oversaw an employee population growth of 42% and an increase of 66% net operating profit. Prior industry experiences in HR and Organizational Development, spanning 25 years, comes from telecommunications and professional services.
Sandra is a graduate of McGill University, and holds a Masters degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from California State Long Beach. She lives outside of Chicago with her family.
Sebastien D’Incau
Sebastien D’Incau co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a member of the Board Practice. Based in Montreal, he is a trusted advisor to both boards and executive teams. He has extensive experience in executive search as well as leadership advisory topics including succession planning, team effectiveness, culture transformation, management appraisal, and leadership development. He advises both industry leaders as well as disruptors.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sebastien was a Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with clients in consumer goods, retail and financial services. He began his career in market strategy and planning and customer business development at Procter & Gamble.
Breakout Sessions (Option 1): Diversity and Inclusion
Vanessa Chehlawi
Vanessa Chehlawi, based in Toronto, leverages her experience in advising clients on solving leadership challenges and transforming operating models. She is an active member of Egon Zehnder's Executive Assessment & Development practice and is involved in the Diversity & Inclusion practice, as well as in executive search in Technology and Communications, Healthcare, and the Public and Social Sector.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Vanessa was with McKinsey & Company, starting as a Business Analyst and advancing to the roles of Associate and then Engagement Manager. While serving clients across Canada, the U.S., and Australia, she led digital transformations and managed teams to design and deliver agile capability building programs. Before McKinsey, Vanessa held positions in silicon photonics research at the University of Surrey, and solution architecture at Ericsson.
Vanessa graduated from McMaster University with a double major in Engineering Physics and in Management, specializing in nanotechnology, and then earned an MEng in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside work, Vanessa feels passionate about the refugee crisis, and offers support through work with NGOs in Canada and
in Lebanon. She also enjoys yoga, meditation, dance, traveling, culinary experiences and learning new languages.
Cynthia Soledad
Cynthia Soledad, based in Chicago, coleads Egon Zehnder's Diversity and Inclusion Practice and is an active member of the firm 's Consumer and Chief Marketing Officers practices. She is a respected provider of executive search and management appraisal services across all consumer goods and services, while drawing on deep experience in consumer durables, packaged goods, and retail.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Cynthia served as Senior Brand Director at Whirlpool Corporation with responsibility for the KitchenAid brand, which included refreshing its positioning and redesigning the main products. She also led Marketing Services and established the company's first digital center of excellence. Earlier, Cynthia was a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble, where she held various roles in business delivery, upstream innovation, and shopper marketing. Throughout her career, Cynthia has been engaged in developing leadership and promoting employee diversity and inclusion, for example by leading the Whirlpool Women's Network and P&G's Asians in Marketing and CMK group.
Cynthia earned a BA in anthropology from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Outside work, she enjoys singing. Her husband and two children as well as her large extended family are very important to her.
Breakout Sessions (Option 2): Identity
Aaron De Smet
Aaron De Smet is Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. De Smet counsels leadership teams as they transform their organizations to improve performance, organizational health, speed, and agility. He is also an expert on organizational design, corporate culture, leadership development, team effectiveness, capability building, and transformational change.
Much of Aaron’s work focuses on helping large distributed organizations to achieve growth, innovation, productivity, and organizational agility. He serves clients across several industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, chemicals, energy, financial services, and healthcare.
Elizabeth Mygatt
Liz is one of the leaders of Organizing for the Future, a McKinsey initiative offering integrated, bold approaches to designing operating models, defining organizational identity, and meeting the challenges of growth. Since joining the firm in 2011, she has advised companies across sectors, focused on what it takes for organizations to thrive.
The rapid pace of change puts pressure on companies to operate with speed and simplicity. In support of stronger performance, Liz partners with executives to keep up with demand and scale their organizations flexibly. This support often includes reshaping governance and decision-making models and establishing new approaches to managing talent.
In many cases, Liz supports broad-based organizational and performance transformations across entire companies, setting new agile operating models, and shifting culture in fundamental ways.
Examples of her recent client work include the following:
- supporting a post-merger performance transformation, including defining a new company-wide culture; in just eight months organizational health scores improved dramatically
- establishing an agile operating model for an industrial company to successfully meet soaring demand
- streamlining the operating model and top-team design for a healthcare organization, improving the quality of governance and speed of decision making
- building an enterprise-wide human capital strategy for a health insurance provider to support a bold growth strategy, including fostering a more performance-based culture
- helping a national healthcare provider transform performance by improving strategic talent development, investing in organizational health and building new capabilities
- architecting a new leadership model and operating approach for a technology company, enabling rapid growth and better decision making
Interested in helping leaders anticipate and stay ahead of trends, Liz publishes frequently on how work is changing and what successful organizations can do to prepare for the future.
Breakout Sessions (Option 3): Leadership of Tomorrow – What is the New Generation Expecting of its Leaders?
Kasey Clavelle
Kasey Clavelle is a core member of Egon Zehnder’s Consumer and CEO Advisory Practices. She partners with Boards, CEOs and senior leaders in CEO succession, board consulting, talent advisory and the recruitment of senior-level executives. Kasey’s work spans from emerging start-ups to large global companies across the consumer products and retail sectors. She is based in Egon Zehnder’s Boston office.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Kasey held multiple roles in public health and education. She served as the Boston Program Associate for Peer Health Exchange, a national nonprofit organization that trains college students to deliver health education in public high schools. Additionally, she completed a year-long fellowship with Fenway Health, a leading community health center in Boston. Her fellowship focused on quality improvement and patient research on Fenway Health’s mammography services. Kasey earned a BA in International Relations and Community Health from Tufts University.
Sebastien D’Incau
Sebastien D’Incau co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a member of the Board Practice. Based in Montreal, he is a trusted advisor to both boards and executive teams. He has extensive experience in executive search as well as leadership advisory topics including succession planning, team effectiveness, culture transformation, management appraisal, and leadership development. He advises both industry leaders as well as disruptors.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sebastien was a Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with clients in consumer goods, retail and financial services. He began his career in market strategy and planning and customer business development at Procter & Gamble.
Andrea Kilpatrick
Andrea is a leader in Egon Zehnder’s Consumer Practice where she advises clients on organizational and senior leadership needs, especially around business transformation. Her work in the dairy industry has focused on leadership recruitment, assessment and development around commercial, operations and functional roles. She is also the U.S. Leader of the firm’s Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Practice and serves as a core member of the Public and Social Sector Practice.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Andrea spent eight years as a consultant with McKinsey & Company serving companies in the U.S. and abroad across multiple sectors with a focus on strategy, business-building and organizational effectiveness. Andrea was also a leader in the firm’s Nonprofit Practice working on foundation and NGO projects.
Andrea has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. in Educational Studies from Oxford University, and a B.A. in English from Princeton University.
Breakout Sessions (Option 4): Operating Model
Aaron De Smet
Aaron De Smet is Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. De Smet counsels leadership teams as they transform their organizations to improve performance, organizational health, speed, and agility. He is also an expert on organizational design, corporate culture, leadership development, team effectiveness, capability building, and transformational change.
Much of Aaron’s work focuses on helping large distributed organizations to achieve growth, innovation, productivity, and organizational agility. He serves clients across several industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, chemicals, energy, financial services, and healthcare.
Elizabeth Mygatt
Liz is one of the leaders of Organizing for the Future, a McKinsey initiative offering integrated, bold approaches to designing operating models, defining organizational identity, and meeting the challenges of growth. Since joining the firm in 2011, she has advised companies across sectors, focused on what it takes for organizations to thrive.
The rapid pace of change puts pressure on companies to operate with speed and simplicity. In support of stronger performance, Liz partners with executives to keep up with demand and scale their organizations flexibly. This support often includes reshaping governance and decision-making models and establishing new approaches to managing talent.
In many cases, Liz supports broad-based organizational and performance transformations across entire companies, setting new agile operating models, and shifting culture in fundamental ways.
Examples of her recent client work include the following:
- supporting a post-merger performance transformation, including defining a new company-wide culture; in just eight months organizational health scores improved dramatically
- establishing an agile operating model for an industrial company to successfully meet soaring demand
- streamlining the operating model and top-team design for a healthcare organization, improving the quality of governance and speed of decision making
- building an enterprise-wide human capital strategy for a health insurance provider to support a bold growth strategy, including fostering a more performance-based culture
- helping a national healthcare provider transform performance by improving strategic talent development, investing in organizational health and building new capabilities
- architecting a new leadership model and operating approach for a technology company, enabling rapid growth and better decision making
Interested in helping leaders anticipate and stay ahead of trends, Liz publishes frequently on how work is changing and what successful organizations can do to prepare for the future.
Heather Soubra, ACC
Heather Soubra is wildly optimistic that all people can love what they do and do what they love. Her coaching empowers professionals who want to develop their leadership skills, unlock their own inner wisdom, and step into the best possible version of themselves. Her direct experiences as a senior leader supplement her education and inform her experience as a leadership and executive coach.
Heather is dedicated to empowering her clients to reach their highest potential. She brings out the leader within; a leader with confidence to navigate any challenge. Heather believes the magic happens when individuals access their own inner wisdom through a process of contemplating powerful questions and getting curious about themselves. Senior executive leaders have reported that Heather has helped them to build confidence and trust in their own internal guidance system. She is passionate about cultivating workplaces where people thrive, creating their own paths for achievement while actively building team unity and open communication.
As leadership coach, and lead coaching coordinator for program development at one of the nation's leading financial institutions, Heather works alongside executives to identify their professional priorities and align them with business objectives, both immediate and long-term. She designs and develops individual and group coaching programs that serve as a catalyst for growth and awareness, working to ensure that individuals are empowered, finding breakthroughs in their work and lives, which positively impact performance at their jobs, and beyond.
Heather’s role as Chief of Staff, Strategist, and Consultant for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) provided her experience overseeing and facilitating complex systems, human development, collaboration, and inclusiveness across the organization to achieve strategic goals. Heather conceptualized, designed, implemented, and led the IDFA People Strategy. With it, she designed and created a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as on building the workforce and organizations of the future.
Most recently, she has joined the team at the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon to facilitate and lead workshops and trainings to incorporate George Washington's approach to leadership strategy into tangible leadership practices for today's leaders with tools and resources that can be used right away. She has experienced firsthand the challenges and opportunities for leaders in a complex organization. Heather also has vast experience leading governance structures, developing programs, and executing within global organizations at the most senior levels.
A graduate of George Mason University, Heather earned her degree in intercultural communication and received her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence. She received her ACC coaching credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF.) She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol.
Introduction and Remarks
Heather Soubra, ACC
Heather Soubra is wildly optimistic that all people can love what they do and do what they love. Her coaching empowers professionals who want to develop their leadership skills, unlock their own inner wisdom, and step into the best possible version of themselves. Her direct experiences as a senior leader supplement her education and inform her experience as a leadership and executive coach.
Heather is dedicated to empowering her clients to reach their highest potential. She brings out the leader within; a leader with confidence to navigate any challenge. Heather believes the magic happens when individuals access their own inner wisdom through a process of contemplating powerful questions and getting curious about themselves. Senior executive leaders have reported that Heather has helped them to build confidence and trust in their own internal guidance system. She is passionate about cultivating workplaces where people thrive, creating their own paths for achievement while actively building team unity and open communication.
As leadership coach, and lead coaching coordinator for program development at one of the nation's leading financial institutions, Heather works alongside executives to identify their professional priorities and align them with business objectives, both immediate and long-term. She designs and develops individual and group coaching programs that serve as a catalyst for growth and awareness, working to ensure that individuals are empowered, finding breakthroughs in their work and lives, which positively impact performance at their jobs, and beyond.
Heather’s role as Chief of Staff, Strategist, and Consultant for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) provided her experience overseeing and facilitating complex systems, human development, collaboration, and inclusiveness across the organization to achieve strategic goals. Heather conceptualized, designed, implemented, and led the IDFA People Strategy. With it, she designed and created a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as on building the workforce and organizations of the future.
Most recently, she has joined the team at the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon to facilitate and lead workshops and trainings to incorporate George Washington's approach to leadership strategy into tangible leadership practices for today's leaders with tools and resources that can be used right away. She has experienced firsthand the challenges and opportunities for leaders in a complex organization. Heather also has vast experience leading governance structures, developing programs, and executing within global organizations at the most senior levels.
A graduate of George Mason University, Heather earned her degree in intercultural communication and received her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence. She received her ACC coaching credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF.) She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol.
Breakout Sessions (Option 1): Applying the 9 Imperatives
Aaron De Smet
Aaron De Smet is Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. De Smet counsels leadership teams as they transform their organizations to improve performance, organizational health, speed, and agility. He is also an expert on organizational design, corporate culture, leadership development, team effectiveness, capability building, and transformational change.
Much of Aaron’s work focuses on helping large distributed organizations to achieve growth, innovation, productivity, and organizational agility. He serves clients across several industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, chemicals, energy, financial services, and healthcare.
Elizabeth Mygatt
Liz is one of the leaders of Organizing for the Future, a McKinsey initiative offering integrated, bold approaches to designing operating models, defining organizational identity, and meeting the challenges of growth. Since joining the firm in 2011, she has advised companies across sectors, focused on what it takes for organizations to thrive.
The rapid pace of change puts pressure on companies to operate with speed and simplicity. In support of stronger performance, Liz partners with executives to keep up with demand and scale their organizations flexibly. This support often includes reshaping governance and decision-making models and establishing new approaches to managing talent.
In many cases, Liz supports broad-based organizational and performance transformations across entire companies, setting new agile operating models, and shifting culture in fundamental ways.
Examples of her recent client work include the following:
- supporting a post-merger performance transformation, including defining a new company-wide culture; in just eight months organizational health scores improved dramatically
- establishing an agile operating model for an industrial company to successfully meet soaring demand
- streamlining the operating model and top-team design for a healthcare organization, improving the quality of governance and speed of decision making
- building an enterprise-wide human capital strategy for a health insurance provider to support a bold growth strategy, including fostering a more performance-based culture
- helping a national healthcare provider transform performance by improving strategic talent development, investing in organizational health and building new capabilities
- architecting a new leadership model and operating approach for a technology company, enabling rapid growth and better decision making
Interested in helping leaders anticipate and stay ahead of trends, Liz publishes frequently on how work is changing and what successful organizations can do to prepare for the future.
Breakout Sessions (Option 2): Promising Practices for Integrating New Leaders
Sebastien D’Incau
Sebastien D’Incau co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a member of the Board Practice. Based in Montreal, he is a trusted advisor to both boards and executive teams. He has extensive experience in executive search as well as leadership advisory topics including succession planning, team effectiveness, culture transformation, management appraisal, and leadership development. He advises both industry leaders as well as disruptors.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sebastien was a Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with clients in consumer goods, retail and financial services. He began his career in market strategy and planning and customer business development at Procter & Gamble.
Andrea Kilpatrick
Andrea is a leader in Egon Zehnder’s Consumer Practice where she advises clients on organizational and senior leadership needs, especially around business transformation. Her work in the dairy industry has focused on leadership recruitment, assessment and development around commercial, operations and functional roles. She is also the U.S. Leader of the firm’s Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Practice and serves as a core member of the Public and Social Sector Practice.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Andrea spent eight years as a consultant with McKinsey & Company serving companies in the U.S. and abroad across multiple sectors with a focus on strategy, business-building and organizational effectiveness. Andrea was also a leader in the firm’s Nonprofit Practice working on foundation and NGO projects.
Andrea has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. in Educational Studies from Oxford University, and a B.A. in English from Princeton University.
Breakout Sessions (Option 3): Scalability
Aaron De Smet
Aaron De Smet is Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. De Smet counsels leadership teams as they transform their organizations to improve performance, organizational health, speed, and agility. He is also an expert on organizational design, corporate culture, leadership development, team effectiveness, capability building, and transformational change.
Much of Aaron’s work focuses on helping large distributed organizations to achieve growth, innovation, productivity, and organizational agility. He serves clients across several industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, chemicals, energy, financial services, and healthcare.
Elizabeth Mygatt
Liz is one of the leaders of Organizing for the Future, a McKinsey initiative offering integrated, bold approaches to designing operating models, defining organizational identity, and meeting the challenges of growth. Since joining the firm in 2011, she has advised companies across sectors, focused on what it takes for organizations to thrive.
The rapid pace of change puts pressure on companies to operate with speed and simplicity. In support of stronger performance, Liz partners with executives to keep up with demand and scale their organizations flexibly. This support often includes reshaping governance and decision-making models and establishing new approaches to managing talent.
In many cases, Liz supports broad-based organizational and performance transformations across entire companies, setting new agile operating models, and shifting culture in fundamental ways.
Examples of her recent client work include the following:
- supporting a post-merger performance transformation, including defining a new company-wide culture; in just eight months organizational health scores improved dramatically
- establishing an agile operating model for an industrial company to successfully meet soaring demand
- streamlining the operating model and top-team design for a healthcare organization, improving the quality of governance and speed of decision making
- building an enterprise-wide human capital strategy for a health insurance provider to support a bold growth strategy, including fostering a more performance-based culture
- helping a national healthcare provider transform performance by improving strategic talent development, investing in organizational health and building new capabilities
- architecting a new leadership model and operating approach for a technology company, enabling rapid growth and better decision making
Interested in helping leaders anticipate and stay ahead of trends, Liz publishes frequently on how work is changing and what successful organizations can do to prepare for the future.
Breakout Sessions (Option 4): Succession Planning and Harnessing the Potential of Your Organization
Vanessa Chehlawi
Vanessa Chehlawi, based in Toronto, leverages her experience in advising clients on solving leadership challenges and transforming operating models. She is an active member of Egon Zehnder's Executive Assessment & Development practice and is involved in the Diversity & Inclusion practice, as well as in executive search in Technology and Communications, Healthcare, and the Public and Social Sector.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Vanessa was with McKinsey & Company, starting as a Business Analyst and advancing to the roles of Associate and then Engagement Manager. While serving clients across Canada, the U.S., and Australia, she led digital transformations and managed teams to design and deliver agile capability building programs. Before McKinsey, Vanessa held positions in silicon photonics research at the University of Surrey, and solution architecture at Ericsson.
Vanessa graduated from McMaster University with a double major in Engineering Physics and in Management, specializing in nanotechnology, and then earned an MEng in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside work, Vanessa feels passionate about the refugee crisis, and offers support through work with NGOs in Canada and
in Lebanon. She also enjoys yoga, meditation, dance, traveling, culinary experiences and learning new languages.
Kasey Clavelle
Kasey Clavelle is a core member of Egon Zehnder’s Consumer and CEO Advisory Practices. She partners with Boards, CEOs and senior leaders in CEO succession, board consulting, talent advisory and the recruitment of senior-level executives. Kasey’s work spans from emerging start-ups to large global companies across the consumer products and retail sectors. She is based in Egon Zehnder’s Boston office.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Kasey held multiple roles in public health and education. She served as the Boston Program Associate for Peer Health Exchange, a national nonprofit organization that trains college students to deliver health education in public high schools. Additionally, she completed a year-long fellowship with Fenway Health, a leading community health center in Boston. Her fellowship focused on quality improvement and patient research on Fenway Health’s mammography services. Kasey earned a BA in International Relations and Community Health from Tufts University.
Sebastien D’Incau
Sebastien D’Incau co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a member of the Board Practice. Based in Montreal, he is a trusted advisor to both boards and executive teams. He has extensive experience in executive search as well as leadership advisory topics including succession planning, team effectiveness, culture transformation, management appraisal, and leadership development. He advises both industry leaders as well as disruptors.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sebastien was a Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with clients in consumer goods, retail and financial services. He began his career in market strategy and planning and customer business development at Procter & Gamble.
Leadership Learnings in Time of Crisis
Michael Dykes
Michael Dykes, D.V.M., a long-time government affairs strategist, agricultural policy expert, and veterinarian, became president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association in January 2017. In this role, he represents members that make most of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts, and dairy-derived ingredients produced in the United States and marketed throughout the world. Since joining IDFA, Dykes has been a strong advocate for putting U.S. dairy at the center of health and wellness, innovation, sustainability, a vibrant U.S. economy, a stable and diverse workforce, and leading the world in global dairy exports. Prior to assuming his role at IDFA, Dykes served as vice president of government affairs for Monsanto, where he was responsible for developing and implementing a portfolio of U.S. government relations strategies and programs that included agricultural biotechnology policy. He led Monsanto's office in Washington, D.C., and served as the company's primary point of contact for elected officials, regulatory authorities, U.S. farm organizations, key industry participants, trade associations, international organizations and embassies. He directed the company's efforts in state and local government affairs, in addition to government affairs in Mexico and Canada. Dykes is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the National Academy of Practitioners. He is also a member of the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC), which provides U.S. trade policy advice to the current presidential administration.
Dykes grew up on a small dairy and tobacco farm in Kentucky. He earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Auburn University. He also attended the University of Kentucky where he received a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science.
Ron Dunford
Ron Dunford was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Schreiber Foods in 2019. He is Schreiber’s eighth President and CEO. Ron spent more than 40 years in the dairy industry.
Ron joined Schreiber in 1996 at the Green Bay, Wisconsin, home office. He was named a Vice President in 2000, Senior Vice President in 2002, President & COO of Schreiber Chain Sales in 2003, President & COO Operations in 2006, and President Schreiber U.S. in 2014. Additionally, Ron was elected to the Schreiber Foods Board of Directors in 2003.
Ron serves as a Board Member for the Utah State University Center for Entrepreneurship, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy where he serves as Food Safety Vice Chair. He also served a 2-year term as the Chairman of the National Cheese Institute. In the community, Ron is actively involved with non-profits and in serving the needs of others.
He earned a B.S. in Geology from Utah State University in Logan, Utah.
He and his wife Dana have two married sons and have been blessed with four grandchildren. Ron enjoys spending time in the mountains; skiing, hiking, and biking. He is also a life-long learner with a passion for helping others achieve their dreams.
Schreiber Foods strives to do good through food every day. Based in North America, we’re a customer-brand leader in cream cheese, natural cheese, process cheese, shelf-stable beverages and yogurt. Our more than 10,000 employees and presence on five continents enable us to be an essential ingredient in our customers’ success. With annual sales of more than $7 billion, we partner with the best retailers, restaurants, distributors and food manufacturers around the globe. We also recognize our responsibility to do good in the world and are driven to make a difference in everything we do.
Yin Woon Rani
Rani brings nearly 25 years of integrated marketing experience across CPG companies and marketing agencies to MilkPEP. As CEO, she is excited to address the challenges ahead with thoughtful, sustained solutions and looks forward to working with the entire industry to help ensure a positive impact.
Prior to joining MilkPEP, Rani was VP, Chief Customer Experience Officer for the Campbell Soup Company, where she was instrumental in modernizing the company’s marketing across content, media, design, martech and digital – as well as improving the business trajectory for important core brands and new launches. Before joining Campbell Soup, Rani was president, North America of Universal McCann, the largest operating unit within IPG’s Mediabrands group.
Rani earned a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business, New York University. She is active and respected within the marketing industry, earning recognition from a range of industry awards, both as a marketer and as an advocate for diversity – including YWCA’s Women of Year, SheRunsIt “Working Mother of the Year,” Brand Innovators Top 50 Women in Marketing, Path to Purchase Institute “Who’s Who in Shopper Marketing,” among others.
Patricia Stroup
Patty Stroup is the former senior vice president and chief procurement officer at Nestlé and managing director of Nestrade S.A. She has a long history in the dairy industry, with previous experience heading both North American and global dairy procurement for Nestle, as well as prior leadership roles at Hilmar Cheese Company in California and Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers in Virginia. Her career started as co-owner and manager of dairy farms in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
She holds a bachelors degree in communications with a cognate in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech, an MBA focused on Food and Agricultural Economics from Purdue University, and a leadership certificate from the London Business School.
Stan Ryan
Stanley Ryan is President and CEO of Darigold, a global dairy ingredient and consumer products cooperative based in Seattle, Wash. Prior to joining Darigold in February 2016, Ryan served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE) based in New York City.
Ryan brings 25 years of international leadership experience from Cargill, Inc., where he served in a number of executive and general management roles. From 2011 to 2014, he was a Corporate Platform Leader responsible for co-leading all of Cargill’s global agricultural supply chain businesses (soft commodities), based in Shanghai, China. In 2010, he was President/Managing Director for Cargill Food Ingredients Australia/New Zealand in Sydney, Australia. From 2006 to 2010, Ryan was the President/Managing Director of Cargill Refined Oils Europe based in Schiedam, The Netherlands. From 1999 until 2006, he was stationed in Minneapolis, Minn., as President of Cargill’s North American Dressings, Sauces and Oils business. In 1998, Ryan was General Manager of Cargill’s Brazil Refined Oils in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Between1992 and 1997, he served as General Manager for Cargill’s Venezuela Refined Oils business in Caracas, Venezuela, and for Oilseeds Processing in Sidney, Ohio.
Ryan joined Cargill in 1989 at its global headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn., and worked in the Strategy and Business Development function until 1992.
He earned two master’s degrees from the University of Chicago in 1989 – an MA in international relations and MBA. He received his bachelor's degree in economics and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame in 1984.
Ryan resides in Seattle with his wife and daughter.
Heather Soubra, ACC
Heather Soubra is wildly optimistic that all people can love what they do and do what they love. Her coaching empowers professionals who want to develop their leadership skills, unlock their own inner wisdom, and step into the best possible version of themselves. Her direct experiences as a senior leader supplement her education and inform her experience as a leadership and executive coach.
Heather is dedicated to empowering her clients to reach their highest potential. She brings out the leader within; a leader with confidence to navigate any challenge. Heather believes the magic happens when individuals access their own inner wisdom through a process of contemplating powerful questions and getting curious about themselves. Senior executive leaders have reported that Heather has helped them to build confidence and trust in their own internal guidance system. She is passionate about cultivating workplaces where people thrive, creating their own paths for achievement while actively building team unity and open communication.
As leadership coach, and lead coaching coordinator for program development at one of the nation's leading financial institutions, Heather works alongside executives to identify their professional priorities and align them with business objectives, both immediate and long-term. She designs and develops individual and group coaching programs that serve as a catalyst for growth and awareness, working to ensure that individuals are empowered, finding breakthroughs in their work and lives, which positively impact performance at their jobs, and beyond.
Heather’s role as Chief of Staff, Strategist, and Consultant for the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) provided her experience overseeing and facilitating complex systems, human development, collaboration, and inclusiveness across the organization to achieve strategic goals. Heather conceptualized, designed, implemented, and led the IDFA People Strategy. With it, she designed and created a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as on building the workforce and organizations of the future.
Most recently, she has joined the team at the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon to facilitate and lead workshops and trainings to incorporate George Washington's approach to leadership strategy into tangible leadership practices for today's leaders with tools and resources that can be used right away. She has experienced firsthand the challenges and opportunities for leaders in a complex organization. Heather also has vast experience leading governance structures, developing programs, and executing within global organizations at the most senior levels.
A graduate of George Mason University, Heather earned her degree in intercultural communication and received her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence. She received her ACC coaching credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF.) She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol.
All Times Eastern
Speakers
Vanessa Chehlawi
Consultant, Toronto | Egon Zehnder
Vanessa Chehlawi
Vanessa Chehlawi, based in Toronto, leverages her experience in advising clients on solving leadership challenges and transforming operating models. She is an active member of Egon Zehnder's Executive Assessment & Development practice and is involved in the Diversity & Inclusion practice, as well as in executive search in Technology and Communications, Healthcare, and the Public and Social Sector.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Vanessa was with McKinsey & Company, starting as a Business Analyst and advancing to the roles of Associate and then Engagement Manager. While serving clients across Canada, the U.S., and Australia, she led digital transformations and managed teams to design and deliver agile capability building programs. Before McKinsey, Vanessa held positions in silicon photonics research at the University of Surrey, and solution architecture at Ericsson.
Vanessa graduated from McMaster University with a double major in Engineering Physics and in Management, specializing in nanotechnology, and then earned an MEng in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Outside work, Vanessa feels passionate about the refugee crisis, and offers support through work with NGOs in Canada and
in Lebanon. She also enjoys yoga, meditation, dance, traveling, culinary experiences and learning new languages.
Kasey Clavelle
Associate and Boston Team Lead | Egon Zehnder
Kasey Clavelle
Kasey Clavelle is a core member of Egon Zehnder’s Consumer and CEO Advisory Practices. She partners with Boards, CEOs and senior leaders in CEO succession, board consulting, talent advisory and the recruitment of senior-level executives. Kasey’s work spans from emerging start-ups to large global companies across the consumer products and retail sectors. She is based in Egon Zehnder’s Boston office.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Kasey held multiple roles in public health and education. She served as the Boston Program Associate for Peer Health Exchange, a national nonprofit organization that trains college students to deliver health education in public high schools. Additionally, she completed a year-long fellowship with Fenway Health, a leading community health center in Boston. Her fellowship focused on quality improvement and patient research on Fenway Health’s mammography services. Kasey earned a BA in International Relations and Community Health from Tufts University.
Dave Coble
Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Schreiber Foods Inc.
Dave Coble
Dave Coble is Senior Vice President of Human Resource Systems and Strategy. Dave earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ohio University and his MBA in Labor Relations and Human Resource Management from Ohio State University. He also served in the Air National Guard.
He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. In the community, Dave is involved with CASA of Brown County, serving as a member of the corporate board and advisory council. Dave and his wife, Chris, live in the Green Bay area in Wisconsin. They have three children. Away from work, Dave enjoys biking, running, skiing (downhill and cross country), golfing, and reading military books and biographies.
Aaron De Smet
Senior Partner | McKinsey & Company
Aaron De Smet
Aaron De Smet is Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company. De Smet counsels leadership teams as they transform their organizations to improve performance, organizational health, speed, and agility. He is also an expert on organizational design, corporate culture, leadership development, team effectiveness, capability building, and transformational change.
Much of Aaron’s work focuses on helping large distributed organizations to achieve growth, innovation, productivity, and organizational agility. He serves clients across several industries, including agriculture, biotechnology, chemicals, energy, financial services, and healthcare.
Ron Dunford
President and CEO, Schreiber Foods
Ron Dunford
Ron Dunford was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Schreiber Foods in 2019. He is Schreiber’s eighth President and CEO. Ron spent more than 40 years in the dairy industry.
Ron joined Schreiber in 1996 at the Green Bay, Wisconsin, home office. He was named a Vice President in 2000, Senior Vice President in 2002, President & COO of Schreiber Chain Sales in 2003, President & COO Operations in 2006, and President Schreiber U.S. in 2014. Additionally, Ron was elected to the Schreiber Foods Board of Directors in 2003.
Ron serves as a Board Member for the Utah State University Center for Entrepreneurship, the International Dairy Foods Association, and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy where he serves as Food Safety Vice Chair. He also served a 2-year term as the Chairman of the National Cheese Institute. In the community, Ron is actively involved with non-profits and in serving the needs of others.
He earned a B.S. in Geology from Utah State University in Logan, Utah.
He and his wife Dana have two married sons and have been blessed with four grandchildren. Ron enjoys spending time in the mountains; skiing, hiking, and biking. He is also a life-long learner with a passion for helping others achieve their dreams.
Schreiber Foods strives to do good through food every day. Based in North America, we’re a customer-brand leader in cream cheese, natural cheese, process cheese, shelf-stable beverages and yogurt. Our more than 10,000 employees and presence on five continents enable us to be an essential ingredient in our customers’ success. With annual sales of more than $7 billion, we partner with the best retailers, restaurants, distributors and food manufacturers around the globe. We also recognize our responsibility to do good in the world and are driven to make a difference in everything we do.
Michael Dykes, D.V.M.
President & CEO | International Dairy Foods Association
Michael Dykes, D.V.M.
Michael Dykes, D.V.M., a long-time government affairs strategist, agricultural policy expert, and veterinarian, became president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association in January 2017. In this role, he represents members that make more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States. Since joining IDFA, Dykes has been a strong advocate for the importance of global competitiveness to the future of the U.S. dairy industry. He has made preserving trade partnerships with Mexico and improving Canadian market access for U.S. dairy exports in all future trade agreements a priority for IDFA. Prior to assuming his role at IDFA, Dykes served as vice president of government affairs for Monsanto, where he was responsible for developing and implementing a portfolio of U.S. government relations strategies and programs that included agricultural biotechnology policy. He led Monsanto's office in Washington, D.C., and served as the company's primary point of contact for elected officials, regulatory authorities, U.S. farm organizations, key industry participants, trade associations, international organizations and embassies. He directed the company's efforts in state and local government affairs, in addition to government affairs in Mexico and Canada. Dykes is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the National Academy of Practitioners. He has served on the Farmhouse Fraternity board for 3+ years. He is also a member of the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC) and has served on the USDA Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture (AC21).
Dykes grew up on a small dairy and tobacco farm in Kentucky. He earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Auburn University. He also attended the University of Kentucky where he received a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science.
Sebastien D’Incau
Global Consumer Practice Co-Leader | Egon Zehnder
Sebastien D’Incau
Sebastien D’Incau co-leads Egon Zehnder’s Global Consumer Practice and is a member of the Board Practice. Based in Montreal, he is a trusted advisor to both boards and executive teams. He has extensive experience in executive search as well as leadership advisory topics including succession planning, team effectiveness, culture transformation, management appraisal, and leadership development. He advises both industry leaders as well as disruptors.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Sebastien was a Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with clients in consumer goods, retail and financial services. He began his career in market strategy and planning and customer business development at Procter & Gamble.
Dan Harris
Award-Winning ABC News Anchor and Host of the Ten Percent Happier Podcast
Dan Harris
Dan Harris is a co-anchor the weekend edition of Good Morning America on ABC News, as well as a correspondent for such broadcasts as Nightline and World News Tonight. He is also the author of 10% Happier, a #1 New York Times best-selling book about a fidgety, skeptical news anchor who stumbles upon meditation. Recently, Harris launched an app specifically designed to teach meditation to doubters and busy people. This ancient practice – too long associated exclusively with hippies and robed gurus – has been shown by modern science to boost resilience, focus, creativity, emotional intelligence, and overall mental and physical health. With meditation and mindfulness now being embraced by executives, athletes, educators and entertainers, Harris has become a leading voice for pushing for the practice into the mainstream, using plain English and dry humor. He has spoken in front of a variety of audiences—corporations, health and wellness organizations, and schools and universities.
In 10% Happier, Harris tells his story as only a reporter can: through deep research, tough questions, and a healthy dose of irony. The book is part investigation and part immersive journalism: one man’s accidental quest to boost his happiness quotient without losing his professional drive. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower blood pressure to essentially rewire the brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even Marines who use the practice to be calmer, happier, and less yanked around by their emotions. The book takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, leaving them with takeaways that could actually change their lives.
The app Harris co-founded—called 10% Happier: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics—mixes the irreverence of the book with simple, practical, down-to-earth instructions. Users receive short daily videos, in which Dan discusses the practice with some of the world’s greatest teachers. The app also comes with a personal coach, who can answer questions and keep users accountable.
10% Happier is also available in podcast form, and features in-depth conversations about meditation and happiness with celebrities, doctors, scholars, and other icons, including the Dalai Lama.
Harris’ new book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, was released in December 2017 and quickly made its way onto the New York Time’s Best-seller list.
Previously, Harris was the anchor of the Sunday edition of World News. He regularly contributes stories on ABC for such shows as 20/20, World News Tonight with David Muir, and the weekday edition of Good Morning America. Harris has reported from all over the world, covering wars in Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, and Iraq, and producing investigative reports in Haiti, Cambodia, and the Congo. He has also spent many years covering America’s faith scene, with a focus on evangelicals—who have treated him kindly despite the fact that he is openly agnostic.
Harris has been at ABC News for 16 years, receiving Murrow and Emmy awards for his reporting. Prior to joining ABC, he was in local news in Boston and Maine.
Harris grew up outside of Boston and currently lives with his wife, Bianca, and their son, Alexander, in New York City.
Loren Heeringa
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer | Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Loren Heeringa
Loren serves as senior vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Land O’Lakes, Inc. He joined Land O’Lakes in 2004, bringing more than 35 years of human resources and large-scale change management experience in multiple companies and industries. Before joining Land O’Lakes, he served as vice president of human resources at Honeywell International and the University of St. Thomas. He is on the Institute for Corporate Productivity CHRO Board, the Gartner CHRO Board, the Board of Governors of the Midwest CHRO Leadership Summit, the board of Camp Fire of Minnesota, the advisory council for the Ivy Executive MBA program at Iowa State University, and the executive council at Hamline University School of Business. Loren has a bachelor’s in psychology from Hamline University and completed all but dissertation for a doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Minnesota.
Education
B.A., Hamline University
Ph.D. Coursework, University of Minnesota
Experience
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Honeywell
University of St. Thomas
Industry leadership
CHRO Board, Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp)
CHRO Global Leadership Board, Gartner
Co-chair of the board of governors, Midwest CHRO Leadership Summit
Advisory Council, Ivy Executive MBA program at Iowa State University
Executive Council, Hamline University School of Business
Community leadership
President of the board of directors, Camp Fire Minnesota
Andrea Kilpatrick
Consultant | Egon Zehnder
Andrea Kilpatrick
Andrea is a leader in Egon Zehnder’s Consumer Practice where she advises clients on organizational and senior leadership needs, especially around business transformation. Her work in the dairy industry has focused on leadership recruitment, assessment and development around commercial, operations and functional roles. She is also the U.S. Leader of the firm’s Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Practice and serves as a core member of the Public and Social Sector Practice.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Andrea spent eight years as a consultant with McKinsey & Company serving companies in the U.S. and abroad across multiple sectors with a focus on strategy, business-building and organizational effectiveness. Andrea was also a leader in the firm’s Nonprofit Practice working on foundation and NGO projects.
Andrea has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. in Educational Studies from Oxford University, and a B.A. in English from Princeton University.
Sandra Lamartine
Chief People Officer | Glanbia Nutritionals
Sandra Lamartine
Sandra Lamartine is the Chief People Officer for Glanbia Nutritionals, where she is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the global people strategy. She joined in 2016 as the Nutritionals business unit was established and has worked to develop a cohesive values-led organization. Glanbia Nutritionals is currently the number one provider of whey-based nutritional ingredients globally and the number one producer of American-style cheddar cheese, with a direct presence in 21 countries, manufacturing facilities in the US, Canada, Germany and China, and international sales and technical offices around the world.
Prior to Glanbia, Sandra was the head of HR for James Hardie Building Products for 6 years. While at James Hardie as top HR executive, Sandra oversaw an employee population growth of 42% and an increase of 66% net operating profit. Prior industry experiences in HR and Organizational Development, spanning 25 years, comes from telecommunications and professional services.
Sandra is a graduate of McGill University, and holds a Masters degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from California State Long Beach. She lives outside of Chicago with her family.
Marie-Claude Milot
Head of People, Culture and Engagement | Darigold, Inc.
Marie-Claude Milot
Marie-Claude Milot is a global HR leader and strategic thinker with deep expertise in high performance leadership, cultural transformation and business alignment across functions, regions and industries. She is committed to helping companies achieve profitable growth by building a world-class HR function that encompasses the full spectrum of best-in-class HR practices including organizational design, total rewards, payroll, talent acquisition, labor relations, employee engagement and succession planning. Over her 30-year career she has also held P&L responsibility in a sales role, and have led legal, IT, social media and public relations functions.
Elizabeth Mygatt
Partner | McKinsey & Company
Elizabeth Mygatt
Liz is one of the leaders of Organizing for the Future, a McKinsey initiative offering integrated, bold approaches to designing operating models, defining organizational identity, and meeting the challenges of growth. Since joining the firm in 2011, she has advised companies across sectors, focused on what it takes for organizations to thrive.
The rapid pace of change puts pressure on companies to operate with speed and simplicity. In support of stronger performance, Liz partners with executives to keep up with demand and scale their organizations flexibly. This support often includes reshaping governance and decision-making models and establishing new approaches to managing talent.
In many cases, Liz supports broad-based organizational and performance transformations across entire companies, setting new agile operating models, and shifting culture in fundamental ways.
Examples of her recent client work include the following:
- supporting a post-merger performance transformation, including defining a new company-wide culture; in just eight months organizational health scores improved dramatically
- establishing an agile operating model for an industrial company to successfully meet soaring demand
- streamlining the operating model and top-team design for a healthcare organization, improving the quality of governance and speed of decision making
- building an enterprise-wide human capital strategy for a health insurance provider to support a bold growth strategy, including fostering a more performance-based culture
- helping a national healthcare provider transform performance by improving strategic talent development, investing in organizational health and building new capabilities
- architecting a new leadership model and operating approach for a technology company, enabling rapid growth and better decision making
Interested in helping leaders anticipate and stay ahead of trends, Liz publishes frequently on how work is changing and what successful organizations can do to prepare for the future.
Yin Woon Rani
CEO, Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP)
Yin Woon Rani
Rani brings nearly 25 years of integrated marketing experience across CPG companies and marketing agencies to MilkPEP. As CEO, she is excited to address the challenges ahead with thoughtful, sustained solutions and looks forward to working with the entire industry to help ensure a positive impact.
Prior to joining MilkPEP, Rani was VP, Chief Customer Experience Officer for the Campbell Soup Company, where she was instrumental in modernizing the company’s marketing across content, media, design, martech and digital – as well as improving the business trajectory for important core brands and new launches. Before joining Campbell Soup, Rani was president, North America of Universal McCann, the largest operating unit within IPG’s Mediabrands group.
Rani earned a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration from the Stern School of Business, New York University. She is active and respected within the marketing industry, earning recognition from a range of industry awards, both as a marketer and as an advocate for diversity – including YWCA’s Women of Year, SheRunsIt “Working Mother of the Year,” Brand Innovators Top 50 Women in Marketing, Path to Purchase Institute “Who’s Who in Shopper Marketing,” among others.
Stan Ryan
President & CEO | Darigold, Inc.
Stan Ryan
Stanley Ryan is President and CEO of Darigold, a global dairy ingredient and consumer products cooperative based in Seattle, Wash. Prior to joining Darigold in February 2016, Ryan served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of Eagle Bulk Shipping (Nasdaq: EGLE) based in New York City.
Ryan brings 25 years of international leadership experience from Cargill, Inc., where he served in a number of executive and general management roles. From 2011 to 2014, he was a Corporate Platform Leader responsible for co-leading all of Cargill’s global agricultural supply chain businesses (soft commodities), based in Shanghai, China. In 2010, he was President/Managing Director for Cargill Food Ingredients Australia/New Zealand in Sydney, Australia. From 2006 to 2010, Ryan was the President/Managing Director of Cargill Refined Oils Europe based in Schiedam, The Netherlands. From 1999 until 2006, he was stationed in Minneapolis, Minn., as President of Cargill’s North American Dressings, Sauces and Oils business. In 1998, Ryan was General Manager of Cargill’s Brazil Refined Oils in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Between1992 and 1997, he served as General Manager for Cargill’s Venezuela Refined Oils business in Caracas, Venezuela, and for Oilseeds Processing in Sidney, Ohio.
Ryan joined Cargill in 1989 at its global headquarters in Minneapolis, Minn., and worked in the Strategy and Business Development function until 1992.
He earned two master’s degrees from the University of Chicago in 1989 – an MA in international relations and MBA. He received his bachelor's degree in economics and computer applications from the University of Notre Dame in 1984.
Ryan resides in Seattle with his wife and daughter.
Cynthia Soledad
Consultant, Chicago | Egon Zehnder
Cynthia Soledad
Cynthia Soledad, based in Chicago, coleads Egon Zehnder's Diversity and Inclusion Practice and is an active member of the firm 's Consumer and Chief Marketing Officers practices. She is a respected provider of executive search and management appraisal services across all consumer goods and services, while drawing on deep experience in consumer durables, packaged goods, and retail.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Cynthia served as Senior Brand Director at Whirlpool Corporation with responsibility for the KitchenAid brand, which included refreshing its positioning and redesigning the main products. She also led Marketing Services and established the company's first digital center of excellence. Earlier, Cynthia was a Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble, where she held various roles in business delivery, upstream innovation, and shopper marketing. Throughout her career, Cynthia has been engaged in developing leadership and promoting employee diversity and inclusion, for example by leading the Whirlpool Women's Network and P&G's Asians in Marketing and CMK group.
Cynthia earned a BA in anthropology from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia. Outside work, she enjoys singing. Her husband and two children as well as her large extended family are very important to her.
Heather Soubra
Chief of Staff | International Dairy Foods Association
Heather Soubra
Having joined IDFA in 2008, Heather Soubra directs the organization’s key initiatives, leading day-to-day operations of the executive office. Executing on the strategic priorities of President and CEO, Michael Dykes, D.V.M, Soubra serves as strategist and consultant, facilitating collaboration and inclusiveness across the association to achieve organizational goals.
Soubra is the executive office’s liaison with IDFA members and members of the IDFA governance structure. She also leads IDFA program development and execution, including IDFA’s Dairy Forum which convenes 1,000 + stakeholders annually for the industry’s best-in-class thought leadership and strategic sharing of next-practices.
Soubra designed, implemented, and leads the IDFA People Strategy, including a suite of programs focused on leadership and the cultivation of organizational well-being, as well as building the workforce and organizations of the future. The programs include the NextGen Leadership Program, Women in Dairy, HR Leaders in Dairy, and The Power of People. The Power of People is an interactive conference which Soubra developed in collaboration with Egon Zehnder and McKinsey & Company, for chief executive officers and human resource leaders in the dairy industry.
Soubra studied international affairs at George Washington University, earned her bachelor’s degree in intercultural communication from George Mason University, and her certificate in coaching from George Mason University’s Institute for Leadership Excellence through their Leadership Coaching for Organizational Well-Being program, designed for business professionals striving for positive change in team and organizational culture. She is also a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington where she earned certification in corporate etiquette and international protocol. Soubra and her husband have two grown daughters and are adjusting to life as empty nesters. See LinkedIn Profile.
Rebecca Spaulding
Associate and Global Practice Specialist | Egon Zehnder
Rebecca Spaulding
Rebecca is the Global Practice Specialist for Egon Zehnder’s Leadership Advisory practice group. She has deep knowledge and experience assessing executives, and she works with senior leaders to solve their talent challenges in C-suite succession, mergers and acquisitions, and team effectiveness. Rebecca has served several of the world’s largest companies in the financial services, healthcare, industrial, and consumer products sectors. In addition to her client work, she partners with the Global Head of the Leadership Advisory group to manage the practice internally. She is based in New York.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Rebecca held multiple positions conducting interviews to diagnose participants with clinical disorders. She specialized in interviewing and diagnosing inmates, veterans, and chronic substance users. She is trained to administer the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) to diagnose psychopathic individuals and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders (SCID-IV) to diagnose major mental disorders, substance use disorders, and personality disorders. Earlier in her career, she researched the cognitive abilities of monkeys and domestic dogs in laboratories and at field sites.
Patricia Stroup
Former Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, Nestle S.A. and Chief Executive Officer, Nestrade S.A.
Patricia Stroup
Patty Stroup is the former senior vice president and chief procurement officer at Nestlé and managing director of Nestrade S.A. She has a long history in the dairy industry, with previous experience heading both North American and global dairy procurement for Nestle, as well as prior leadership roles at Hilmar Cheese Company in California and Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers in Virginia. Her career started as co-owner and manager of dairy farms in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
She holds a bachelors degree in communications with a cognate in Dairy Science from Virginia Tech, an MBA focused on Food and Agricultural Economics from Purdue University, and a leadership certificate from the London Business School.
The Power of People is sponsored by
Sponsorship Opportunities
As a sponsor, your company will gain visibility and respect among industry peers and showcase your commitment to ensuring the dairy industry has the knowledge, tools and talent to succeed in a more competitive future. Each level of sponsorship offers opportunities to build awareness of your brand, promote your products and services and engage with colleagues, industry insiders and potential partners. The setting is interactive, engaging and intimate, providing the perfect opportunity to build relationships with chief executive officers, chief human resource officers and talent and workforce leaders across the dairy industry.
Presenting Sponsor | $15,000
• Two (2) conference registrations
• Pre-conference exposure on marketing materials and conference website
• Onsite podium recognition and logo placement on event materials and signage
• Post-conference newsletter recognition
• Option to provide a giveaway to attendees
Premier Sponsor | $5,000
• Pre-conference exposure on marketing materials and conference website
• Onsite podium recognition and logo placement on event materials and signage
• Post-conference newsletter recognition
Please contact IDFA Director of Programs & Partnerships Melissa Lembke at mlembke@idfa.org to sponsor The Power of People.
Staff Contact for Sponsorships
Melissa Lembke
Former Associate Vice President, Programs & Partnerships
Registration fees: Member: $599 | Non-Member: $799
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Cancellation Policy: Registration cancellations received in writing will be accepted prior to September 21, 2020 for a full refund. Your registration fee is non-refundable after September 21, 2020. Substitutions may be made without penalty. All cancellations and substitutions must be received in writing at registrar@idfa.org.
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