Dr. Sally Uren
 

Deputy Chief Executive, Forum for the Future

CONSUMER FUTURES 2020: What Does This Mean for Sustainability?

Sally is passionate about creating a sustainable future.  She’s also very clear that businesses and brands, big and small, are key to making progress.  At Forum for the Future she oversees partnerships with leading global brands, such as Unilever, Pepsico and HP, where the ambition is to deliver truly sustainable business models.  She is also responsible for Forum’s networks and communication activities, Forum’s sustainable business practice and Forum’s work in the food system.

Sally has particular expertise in the retail and food sectors and regularly works across these sectors to create a shared understanding of sustainability challenges and to create solutions, most recently a vision for a sustainable UK dairy sector. She is also passionate about the potentially transformative role of brands in creating a more sustainable future and has helped many leading brands, from Green & Blacks to Tata Tea, weave sustainability into their brand identities.

Sally is Chair of Kingfisher plc’s Independent Stakeholder Panel (B&Q in the UK), a Panel Member of the UK’s Green Energy Supply Certification Scheme and an independent member of The Carbon Neutral Company’s Technical Advisory Board.  She is also Chair of the Advisory Committee overseeing Forum for the Future’s growing operations in the US.

Sally writes for the Guardian Sustainable Business site, Greenbiz and speaks regularly at national and international sustainability conferences.
 
Prior to joining the Forum, all the way back in 1992, Sally founded and directed the Sustainability Group at private consultancy Casella Stanger (now owned by Bureau Veritas). Before that you could find her in the rainforests of Borneo, working out how best to logged rainforests to regenerate.

Kersten-Karl Barth

Director of Sustainability, Siemens AG

Global Food Security and Sustainability: Links, Solutions and Partnerships

Kersten is Sustainability Director at Siemens AG and responsible for the company’s global sustainability program and implementation. A particular focus of his work lies in turning sustainability into a competitive advantage for the Business Units. During his almost 20 years at Siemens, Kersten has held various positions across the company’s portfolio and geographical reach, ranging from hydropower in Latin America to industrial energy efficiency in Europe and field service for power plants worldwide. He holds a Master’s degree in engineering from the University of Dortmund.

Caroline Hermans

Head, Energy and Ecosystems, Clinton Global Initiative

Global Food Security and Sustainability: Links, Solutions and Partnerships

Dr. Caroline Hermans heads the Ecosystems Group and Consumer Products at the Clinton Global Initiative. Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. To date CGI members have made more than 2,100 commitments, which are already improving the lives of nearly 400 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $69.2 billion. Dr. Hermans works with CGI members to develop commitments in the area of sustainable systems, with a focus on supply chain sustainability, natural capital and ecosystem services, waste and recycling, and agricultural systems and food security. Prior to joining CGI, Caroline worked at the U.S. Geological Survey conducting research on human-nature interactions and natural resource management. Caroline earned her Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from the University of Vermont.

Paul Weisenfeld

Assistant Administrator, USAID Bureau for Food Security

Global Food Security and Sustainability: Links, Solutions and Partnerships

Paul Weisenfeld is the Assistant to the Administrator directing USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, which leads President Obama’s Feed the Future initiative. In this capacity, he oversees USAID’s institutional expertise focused on sustainably reducing hunger, poverty and under-nutrition. The Bureau works with host government and private sector partners to promote smallholder farmers and agribusinesses; strengthen the enabling environment; promote research; and increase investments in nutrition while supporting humanitarian food assistance. A Career Minister in the Senior Foreign Service, Weisenfeld has served for more than twenty years at USAID in four overseas posts and in Washington, D.C. Prior to this assignment, Weisenfeld was the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean; the Coordinator of the Haiti Task Team; Mission Director in Peru; and Mission Director in Zimbabwe. His career with USAID also includes serving as Senior Regional Legal Advisor in Egypt from 1999-2002; South Africa from 1995-1999; and the Office of the General Counsel from 1991-1995. Weisenfeld worked as an attorney with the law firms Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge from 1989-1991 and White & Case from 1987-1989. A New York City native, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Queens College and his law degree from The Harvard Law School. 

Bob Willard

Author, The New Sustainability Advantage

Having It All: Competitive Advantage and a Triple Bottom Line

Business leaders are paid to focus on the bottom-line, and they should. They acknowledge that environmental and social concerns deserve attention, but not at the expense of company profits, especially in sectors with razor-thin margins. Surprisingly, many companies are discovering that they can enhance their competitive positioning by behaving more responsibly. This presentation repositions smart, innovative sustainability strategies as a means to achieving existing company goals, rather than a separate imperative to worry about. In his talk, Bob will be unveiling a new, recalibrated, and more compelling business case for sustainability strategies, to reflect findings in his new book, The New Sustainability Advantage, just released in March 2012. Using best-practice sustainability strategies from real companies, he shows how a typical company could improve its profit by 51% to 81% within three to five years, while risking profits dropping by -16% to -36% if it did nothing. That is, he identifies awakened market forces that could jeopardize a company’s reputational value if it fails to be more environmentally and socially responsible, and quantifies potential bottom-line benefits from operating more sustainably, even in an economic recession.

Brian Kelley

Chief Product Supply Officer, Coca-Cola Refreshments

Harnessing the Power of "And"

Brian P. Kelley, Chief Product Supply Officer, is directly responsible for all operational elements of Coca-Cola Refreshments including Purchasing, Manufacturing, Bottling, Procurement, Warehousing, Distribution, Drivers, Fleet, Engineering, Orange Processing/Blending and Scientific & Regulatory Affairs across North America which includes 100 manufacturing facilities, 450 Distribution Centers, 30,000 fleet and 35,000 associates. Brian led the integration of The Coca-Cola Company’s and Coca-Cola Enterprises’ (CCE) North American operations to a successful close in October 2010. He joined Coca-Cola North America in April 2007 as President and General Manager of Still Beverages and Supply Chain. He was also responsible for the CCNA Supply Chain which includes 23 company-owned plants, 30 co-packer facilities and more than 60 logistics warehouses. Prior to joining CCNA, Brian was President, CEO, and board member of SIRVA, Inc., a $3.7 billion global company that provides relocation solutions to corporations, governments and consumers in over 40 countries. Additionally, Brian held several positions with Ford Motor Company including President of Lincoln Mercury, where he oversaw all facets of the $13 billion company, VP of global marketing and consumer services, and COO of the Ford Investment Company. He served on the Board of Advisors for Mazda and Hertz. From 1994 through 1999, Brian held a series of marketing and general manager assignments including his role as VP and General Manager in GE’s appliance business. He began his career at Procter & Gamble in 1983 where, for 11 years, he had a number of brand management, marketing and sales assignments. Brian has a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. 

John Phillips

Senior Vice President, Customer Supply Chain and Logistics, PepsiCo, Inc.

Future Value Chain 2020

John Phillips is Senior Vice President, Customer Supply Chain and Logistics for PepsiCo, Inc. He has been with PepsiCo for over 25 years and has worked in a number of different sales and field operations roles since joining the company as a route salesperson with Frito-Lay. Prior to his current role, John was Vice President of Customer Delivery Systems for Frito-Lay North America where he led the development and implementation of new DSD delivery systems and the development of the next generation of frontline handheld computers for the DSD sales force. In his current role, John is responsible for working with PepsiCo’s largest customers on supply chain and collaboration initiatives to drive both effectiveness and efficiency across the shared supply chains. John is a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) DSD and Logistics Committees. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) and is a member of the GS1 B2C Project Board. John is also active in The Consumer Goods Forum as Co-Chair of the Supply Chain Committee and is a member of the 2020 Future Value Chain Steering Group and the Global Scorecard Working Group. In addition, John is a member of the Western Michigan University Food/CPG Marketing Advisory Board. Prior to joining PepsiCo, John spent ten years in retail store operations with Jewel Food Stores in Chicago and was also a Territory Sales Representative for Procter & Gamble. John attended Western Michigan University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Food Distribution in 1986. 

Hal Hamilton

Director, Sustainable Food Lab

Farming on Demand: Dialogue about Sustainability Between Farmers and Buyers

Hal Hamilton Hal founded and now directs the Sustainable Food Lab, a consortium of over 50 companies and nonprofits whose purpose is to mainstream sustainability in global food and agriculture. Organizations as diverse as Sysco, Sodexo, Aramark, Unilever, PepsiCo, Costco, Conservation International, and Oxfam partner to incorporate sustainability into supply chains and organizational strategy. The Sustainable Food Lab incubates and manages projects, and creates experiences by which learning is shared and innovations diffuse. In the past Hal was Executive Director of Sustainability Institute, founded by Donella Meadows, principal author of the Club of Rome Limits to Growth study. Hal was a commercial dairy farmer from 1973 to 1988. Hal has degrees from Stanford University and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Heserves on a variety of boards and advisory groups, is a frequent guest faculty or lecturer at universities, keynote speaker at conferences, and has published widely. He lives on a working farm in Hartland Vermont, and is a proud father of four and grandfather of three.

Walter Scheib

White House Executive Chef (1994-2005)

Walter Scheib has quite a story to tell. In fact, he has two stories to tell. The first involves the rise of an American chef to the most storied position in the land. The second offers an intimate, human view of two First Families, the corridors of political power, international personalities, and the most famous building in the United States, from a unique vantage point: the kitchen. In April 1994, after a lengthy application and screening process, Walter Scheib became the chef to America’s chief executive and the First Family. First Lady Hillary Clinton, impressed by the comprehensive spa menu Scheib had developed for the Greenbrier resort, as well as his highlighting of American cuisine, personally hired Scheib. For 11 years, he prepared everything from simple family meals to elaborate and formal State Dinners. His culinary creations dazzled and delighted White House guests including Nelson Mandela, Emperor Aikihito, Jacques Chirac, Boris Yeltsin, Vaclav Havel, Lady Diana Spencer, Tony Blair, Vicente Fox, and others, not to mention the thousands of congressional members, journalists, and other House visitors who got to know his food. A highlight of Scheib’s White House achievement was his creation of a distinctly American repertoire for the nation’s First House. He continues to speak with eloquence and pride about America’s bounty today, praising the artisan cheese makers, green grocers, mushroom foragers, master bread makers, fishermen, ranchers, and farmers who have helped our national market basket evolve, and make quality cooking more accessible than ever. “America is rich in amazing produce, meats, and fish,” Scheib says. “Using just a few excellent ingredients, anyone can make a perfect meal with very little formal training.”