Sponsored by:

Lead Partner:

Jack Ampuja,
President,
Supply Chain Optimizers (New York)

A citizen of USA, Canada and Finland, Jack has over 35 years of supply chain management experience with five Fortune 500 firms. His career has included stints in consulting, manufacturing and third party logistics; jobs have ranged from direct supervision of Teamsters and Longshoremen at 23 years of age to Senior Vice President of Operations at a multi-billion dollar international company heading up a $200 million division with 800 employees. Jack has extensive knowledge of the food industry working 25 consecutive years for member firms of the Grocery Manufacturers Association.  He spent most of the 90’s as Vice President of Purchasing & Logistics for Rich Products in Buffalo.

Jack writes articles for trade journals and is a regular speaker on supply chain issues and trends making over 50 hours of presentations annually to management groups. He has spoken in Canada, Belgium and on behalf of the US Agency for International Development at the first logistics conference ever held in Ghana, Africa.

In conjunction with his consulting and educational efforts Jack serves on the Business School Dean’s Advisory Council at the University of Massachusetts. At Niagara University he is also the Business Executive-in-Residence. For the Buffalo Niagara Partnership [Chamber of Commerce] he co-chairs the Logistics Council and serves on the board of directors for Continental 1 [Toronto to Miami Trade Corridor] and is an advisor to TSE Global Logistics of Atlanta. He is a member of the editorial advisory board for Supply Chain Management Review.

Jack has a BS degree in business administration from the University of Massachusetts, a year of post graduate study in transportation at Northeastern University (Boston), and an MBA degree from the University of Connecticut.

Helmi Ansari,
Sustainability Leader and Operations Analyst,
Frito Lay Canada

A supply chain professional, Helmi Ansari has worked in Manufacturing Supply Chain and over a dozen food and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants across North America. He started his career in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, and progressed on to the food industry working with world leaders PepsiCo and H.J.Heinz. At PepsiCo and H.J.Heinz Helmi has led manufacturing plants with staff of upto 800 people .

He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arkansas, and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Currently Helmi is the Sustainability Leader and Ops Analyst with Frito Lay Canada where he is responsible for leading the company’s aggressive agenda on environmental sustainability, strategic financial planning, annual operating and productivity plan development, and Continuous Improvement (CI) for operations.

He also gives talks on topics of Environmental Sustainability, and Sustainable Supply chains at Colleges, Universities, and seminars.

Helmi and his wife have 3 daughters, and they are settled in Cambridge Ontario.

Bob Armstrong, C.I.T.P, P. Log.,
President,
SCL Canada

Bob Armstrong, C.I.T.P, is President of Armstrong Trade and Logistics Advisory Services Inc. (ATLAS). On November 1, 2007 Bob was appointed President of Supply Chain & Logistics Association Canada (SCL). Bob has over 35 years of experience in the fields of Global Supply Chain, International Trade, Cross Border Logistics and Customs Regulations and procedures.

Bob Armstrong also served as President and CEO for the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters Inc. for nine years and as President of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada (AIAMC) for nine years.

Prior experience includes nine years in senior management in the supply chain & logistics industry and several years in Ottawa with a major government relations firm and earlier as a partner of a major public accounting firm.

Since establishing his own business in February 2006, Bob has specialized in the marine sector, acting as the Project Director for MarineLink, Inc., which is developing several short sea shipping initiatives to be launched in 2008. MarineLink is a subsidiary of Upperlakes Group Inc. and has been established to develop and implement container feeder services from the East Coast into the Great Lakes and other short sea shipping services such as a cross lake truck ferry service on Lake Erie (between Canada and the USA).

Bob Armstrong is a well known national and international speaker, author, and expert on issues related to international trade, cross-border logistics, the global supply chain, and customs and security issues. Bob is very active on the Board of Directors for 6 different industry Associations such as FITT, IECanada , the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (Chair, Borders, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee), and HKCBA. Bob also serves on the METROLINX Advisory Committee studying transportation challenges from Durham Region through to Hamilton.

In May 2005, Mr. Armstrong was awarded the prestigious McMillan Binch Mendelsohn Canadian Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Canada and to Canada’s advancement in International Trade.

Carol Boutin,
Program Manager,
Sustainability Purchasing Network

Carol Boutin is the Program Manager for the BuySmart Network (formerly the Sustainability Purchasing Network), a Vancouver-based non-profit program that strives to be the primary source of information and education on sustainability purchasing and supply chains in Canada. BuySmart supports organizations of all stripes in their efforts to buy smarter, greener, and with more social consciousness, believing that if we can harness the power of supply chains to drive an organization’s sustainability agenda we can meet today’s challenges while setting the stage for a positive future. Carol spent 18 years in the corporate sector, the last five of which were spent immersed in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. BuySmart is a program of the Fraser Basin Council, an organization that is dedicated to advancing social, environmental, and economic aspects of sustainability in BC and beyond.

Valerie Chort,
National Leader Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability,
Deloitte LLP

Valerie Chort is a Partner with Deloitte’s Enterprise Risk Services and is also the National Leader of their Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Practice. In this capacity, she provides national direction, coordination and expertise in the areas of Environment, Health & Safety (EHS), Corporate Responsibility (CR), and Climate Change. She also acts as Deloitte Canada’s Corporate Responsibility Officer and is a member of Deloitte Global Corporate Responsibility Council.

For 16 years Valerie has helped national and international businesses, governments and non-government organizations create opportunity by proactively managing environmental and social risks, and implementing programs that deliver both shareholder and stakeholder value.

She advises clients on how to better understand, plan and manage sustainability and corporate responsibility issues including climate change, emissions trading, contingent financial environmental liabilities, verification of non-financial information, environmental and sustainability reporting, and stakeholder engagement.

Prior to joining the firm, she was the Vice-President, EHS with Husky Injection Molding Systems where she integrated EHS into all aspects of Husky’s business including: people, technological developments, product design, manufacturing, campus and building design, and supplier selection. In this capacity she led Husky’s climate change strategy which involved the development of a climate change strategy and action plan (rated as a Platinum level reporter), greening of buildings, and investments in alternative energy sources and green energy purchases. She represented Husky in various climate change government/industry groups (i.e. CIPEC, NRTEE Working Group on Climate Change).

Valerie currently serves as chair of the CICA Annual Report Awards–Sustainability Reporting Category; as a judge for the Ceres-ACCA North American Sustainability Reporting 2006 and 2007 Awards. She served on the Advisory Panel of the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2006, 2007, and 2008; as well, she sat on the development and selection panel for the Conference Board’s Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (2007 and 2008), and acted as an advisor to the Conference Board Study on Climate Change Adaptation. She is an advisor to a number of universities including the University of Toronto’s Environmental Finance Program and Queen’s University CSR Advisory Board. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of CR and Climate Change in Canada and the US. She is a frequent speaker on the topics of CR and Climate Change in Canada and the US; and has authored a number of articles and surveys on these topics.

In 2006 and 2007, Valerie co-led the Deloitte Canada survey of large emitters, which identified key issues related to industry readiness for emissions regulation.
Valerie graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering. She is fluent in French and Spanish.

Ed Costa,
Program Manager, Global Social and Environmental Responsibility Operations,
Hewlett Packard Company

Ed Costa is an environmental compliance program manager with the Global Operations Social Environmental Responsibility (GoSER) organization, hosted by Hewlett-Packard’s IPG Worldwide Operations organization.  Ed’s focus is to manage the pan-HP program for compliance to the EU REACH [1] regulation, develop strategies and implement processes and systems for efficiency and effectiveness across all impacted functions in HP.

Ed’s previous role was global controls and compliance within the asset recovery arm of HP Financial Services.   Here, he developed a deep understanding of compliance and controls (includes environmental, licensing, and privacy practices). 

Looking at Ed’s history, you will find him servicing customers (internal, external, including vendors) in a number of roles, writing directive policies for global implementation of compliance processes (e.g. RoHS & REACH) and translating complex policies and legal requirements into simple-to-understand processes and solutions (e.g. utilizing IT, collecting data, establishing metrics). 

Ed has an MBA in Leadership and a BS in Business Management both from Franklin Pierce University in NH. 

Ed’s accomplishments include launching a $45 million remarketing business with over 100 staff, leading a cross region development of capabilities for lifecycle management centers, and creating and implementing worldwide channel services strategies attaining $400 million in revenue. 

[1] The REACH regulation, which currently refers to the legislation enacted by the EU, will most likely be used as a general reference for all potential “REACH-like” legislation outside of the European Union. 

Vellay Kannappen,
Director of Supply Chain Planning,
Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (California)

I was born and raised in Chennai India. Completed my Bachelor of Engineering(Mechanical Engineering) degree at Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu, India. After which I went to do my Master of Engineering Management at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. On completion, I went to Singapore to look for work and started as Plant Engineer with Energizer Battery Company. Worked for five years in various positions within Operations. Then I decided to move to the US and found work at Centillium Communications as a Production Analyst/Planner. This was a fabless semiconductor chip company in Fremont, California. Since 2000 I have been living in Fremont, which is part of the San Francisco Bay Area.
 
In 2003, I started working for Ghirardelli Chocolate Company as Senior Master Scheduler. After a successful MRP implementation, I was promoted to Planning Manager. Then I was promoted to take on more responsibilities as Senior Manager of Planning and Projects. In 2008, I was promoted to Director of Planning and recently in 2009 took on a new title as Director of Supply Chain Planning. Currently I am leading a team to implement SAP APO for demand planning. With this implementation, I will be leading the supply and demand teams for Ghirardelli.

Wendy Potomski,
VP Sustainable Business Solutions and Climate Change,
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Wendy Potomski is a Vice President and is a Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder within PwC’s Climate Change and Sustainability Practice, where she leads the Toronto Climate Change Services group. Since joining PwC, Wendy has been involved in a variety of assignments ranging from the development of business plans and business cases to evaluation of strategic options and change management strategies to assist clients respond to regulatory changes and new industry developments.  She has also been involved in a variety of assignments conducting external surveys to collect specific organization data against which to benchmark clients.

Wendy has followed closely the issue of climate change for the past ten years, and has assisted a variety of clients develop GHG emissions inventories, develop energy and carbon reduction strategies, and to report GHG emissions reduction results on a regular basis.  Wendy brings over 15 years of consulting experience assisting clients identify existing and potential risks and opportunities within a carbon constrained environment.

Natasha Renaud,
Director Communications and Social Responsibility,
Grand & Toy

Ms. Renaud joined Grand & Toy in 2006 with more than 10 years of experience in Corporate Communications, a Master’s degree in Communications from Boston University and an MBA from McGill University. In addition to managing all the corporate communications initiatives at Grand & Toy, she is also responsible for the corporate sustainability journey Grand & Toy embarked on in 2007.

With a new brand, mission and business strategy, Grand & Toy is transforming the way they do business by becoming a strategic ally rather than a simple supplier of office products. Sustainability is a key component of Grand & Toy’s customer advocacy approach - and with over 126 years of experience in providing every-day solutions to 200, 000 businesses across Canada, Grand & Toy realized the responsibility and potential influence it has on Canadian organizations.

Ms. Renaud oversees the management of the company’s sustainability journey while supporting the teams work on sustainability-specific projects. She ensures that Grand & Toy’s efforts are communicated to its customers and that the company remains on target with its sustainability efforts.

John Scheel,
Vice-President, Supply Chain,
Grand & Toy

Mr. Scheel joined Grand & Toy in 1999 to re-engineer the company’s transportation network. He brought with him 16 years of logistics management experience with Purolator Courier. Since joining, Mr. Scheel has proven instrumental to the success of the organization’s processes, re-engineering the company’s transportation network and bringing a strategic approach to logistics capability. He has developed
Grand & Toy’s transportation and warehousing system design, implemented process improvement initiatives and in his current role, he leads the entire supply chain team.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Scheel was also Director of the Vaughan Distribution Centre at Grand & Toy. During this time, Mr. Scheel implemented a project that dramatically enhanced distribution centre capacity and product flow during the peak sales period, with no impact on service. He also reduced year-over-year operating costs from September 2005 through March 2006.

Mr. Scheel’s 25 years experience in supply chain logistics includes an exceptional track record that has helped change Grand & Toy’s supply chain team structure to drive focus, accountability and reduction of relative costs. He has also helped improve the team’s relationship with other groups in the organization.

Mr. Scheel is known for his ability to understand the human and technical components of the supply chain and how they best interact to achieve optimum quality and productivity without compromising workplace culture.

Mr. Scheel earned his Political Science Degree from McMaster University.

Victoria Wakefield,
Manager of Logistics/Sustainability,
University of British Columbia

Victoria Wakefield is no stranger to sustainability. In procurement circles, she is affectionately known as the 'queen of green.' It is a well-earned moniker, considering the years she has spent incorporating ethics and the environment into purchasing policies.
With 20 years in the public and private sectors, a Certified Professional Purchaser and member of the Purchasing Management Association of Canada. Vicki is known throughout the country for her dedication to social responsibility and for her willingness to share what she has learned.

In 2005 Vicki was hired by the City of Vancouver to implement the policy on ethical and sustainable purchasing, along with a list of admirable expectations from City Council. Vicki’s responsibilities included implementation of the new green policy, training buyers and educating vendors that wished to do business and were not sure how to compete under the new criteria of “green”.

Vicki continues her work in Sustainability now at the University of British Columbia as the Manager of Logistics and Sustainability for Supply Management. Vicki is an advisory committee member for the Sustainable Purchasing Network, and a well sought after speaker on Sustainable and Ethical Purchasing in Canada. 

Vicki presented at the 2005 McMaster University Supply Chain Symposium, 2006 state of the Fraser Basin Conference, 2008 ACTE Conference in Alberta, UBC Leading Practices Forum in both 2007 and 2008 was featured on the cover of B2B Canadian Manufacturing Magazine in February 2009 and is a regular presenter at the Sustainability Purchasing Network in Vancouver.