Speakers

Kelsi Duarte

Strategy Director, Barrows

Kelsi has over 10 years of global experience in communications, marketing and retail transformation. As Strategy Director, she finds and leverages rich human insights to develop powerful marketing strategies that drive volume for some of the world’s largest brands in the CPG industry. She’s led by an infinite curiosity about human nature and the world around her.

Her work spans a variety of industries from fashion and beauty to health, nutrition, alcohol and beyond.

Tom Duffy

Senior Advisor, Nonfoods Community Development, FMI

Tom Duffy is a senior advisor to FMI for building the nonfoods community and growth initiative as part of the FMI vision for total store collaboration. In this role, Tom enhances trading partner collaboration to address challenges, opportunity gaps and innovations designed to drive profitable growth in General Merchandise, Household, and HBC categories and to better serve consumers.

As former vice president of member development at GMDC/Retail Tomorrow, and prior roles with Acosta and Nielsen, Tom brings a depth of relevant programming and growth opportunities to the FMI initiative. Tom is based in southern New Jersey and enjoys spending time with family, golfing, surf fishing and rooting for the Philadelphia sports teams.  

Colette Heimowitz

M.Sc., The Simply Good Foods Company

As vice president of nutrition and education at Simply Good Foods Company – Colette Heimowitz has been a driving force behind the constant scientific development and education of the low carb, low sugar diet. A New York Times bestselling author, with over 20 years’ experience as a clinical nutritionist, including four years spent working with the founder of the Atkins diet, Dr Robert Atkins, at The Atkins Centre for Complementary Medicine.

Colette led the formation of the Simply Good Foods Science Advisory Board. In collaboration with the Science Advisory Board, she provides up-to-date educational tools to help consumers successfully achieve their weight-wellness and management goals.

Craig Hodnett

VP, Category Management & Strategy, The Simply Good Foods Company

Craig has 25+ years creating and leasing Category Management Teams. Prior to Simply good , Craig has led Category Management business processes at IRI, Georgia Pacific and De. Pepper Snapple Group. Despite being the smaller player in many for those categories, many retailers relied on Craig as their strategic advisor in the category, Craig’s Category Management Teams have won numerous Category Captain Awards and have won many industry awards for both methodologies and technologies.

Craig serves on the Category Management Association (CMA) Manufacturer Board of Category Management. Craig is part of the team that is responsible for creating Category Management 2.0 and 3.0 and is the Co-Chair responsible for creating all three levels of Category Management Certification at the CMA; CPCA, CPCM, CPSA. 

Steve Markenson

Steve Markenson, Vice President, Research, FMI

In his role at FMI, Markenson oversees the research & insights practice. He leads the discovery process on the latest industry trends and operational insights that champion FMI as a credible voice of the food retail industry. Markenson is a market research executive with 30 years of progressive experience in his field. His diverse experience includes research design, information/data collection and analysis and strategic planning.

Markenson was formerly the president of WBA Research, a national market research firm founded in 1987, where he oversaw more than 30 full-time professionals, along with a part-time staff of more than 100 telephone interviewers, field interviewers and support staff. Earlier in his career, Markenson worked at Snyder Communications, where he directed all aspects of more than 90 annual market research studies and presented results to brand management, market research departments, advertising and promotion agencies.

Marisa Miranda

Director, Retailer Supplier Collaboration, Circana

Marisa is a lead on the Retailer-Supplier Collaboration team.  This team works with 20 retailers and over 200 suppliers to ensure seamless collaboration, sharing one version of data between retailers and suppliers.  Marisa has spent the last 7 years working with retailers and suppliers, helping them partner more closely with market data, building insights and recommendations to ultimately improve their market share.  Prior to Marisa’s role at Circana she spent 10+ years working in corporate retail as a buyer and planner.  Marisa resides on Long Island, NY with her French Bulldog Bowie. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology and in her spare time enjoys yoga and the beach.

Colin Rocker

Client Partner Lead, Barrows

Colin Rocker brings a unique blend of strategy, digital product design and client partnership expertise from a career that has spanned consulting, startups, and retail marketing. As a Client Partner Lead at Barrows, Colin has experience in a breadth of verticals, notably in CPG and Home Furnishings.

He lives in Manhattan, New York, and is a soon-to-be father. He enjoys running through Central Park and cheering on his college team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

Jim Sleightholm

Vice President, Business Intelligence, Client Insights, Acosta

Jim leads Acosta’s Client Insights Team for HBC GM Clients and has over 25 years experience with leadership positions in Sales & Category Management at companies such as Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola and Red Bull.  He has broad experience across all retail channels bringing category and shopper insights to action at many of the nation’s top retailers. 

Margaret Swiatkowski

Executive Director, Retail Center of Excellence, Circana

Margaret leads a team of analysts dedicated to Circana’s retail partners. The team transforms complexity into clarity leveraging Circana’s unparalleled technology and complete view of the consumer, inspiring clients to act and unlock business growth. ​Maggie sources her inspiration for insight from 12+ years of experience in retail data analysis. She is a proud graduate of Florida State University, and when not working, she enjoys spending time with her family. Fun Fact, she has twin 4-year-old boys!