Speakers 2019

Amelia is the Director of Packaging at Blue Apron, where her focus is on improving the physical touch-points of the Blue Apron experience throughout the customer journey. A passionate advocate for the user - she brings over 15 years of experience applying a human-centered design approach to creating more sustainable business practices across creative industries.

Anu Gadhiraju currently works for GSK Consumer Healthcare as a Packaging Development Manager in R&D Respiratory Category which consists of a complete portfolio of leading, over the counter brands in multiple categories, including Allergy and Decongestion. In this role, Anu is primarily responsible for managing the strategy and execution of gross margin improvement initiatives across allergy and smokers’ health sub-categories along with innovation initiatives. Anu graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors degree in Packaging Engineering and brings with her 14 years of experience in Packaging Design and Development with a concentration in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to GSK, Anu worked for Bayer Healthcare Diabetes division, where she was responsible for NPI projects focused on improvement of patient experience and innovative packaging solutions for diabetes meter kits as well as cost and process improvement projects. Prior to Bayer, Anu worked in packaging engineering roles with BMS and Pfizer based in the US and 3M based in the UK, with a similar focus on innovation and lifecycle management.

Benjamin is a Business Development Manager at TerraCycle, responsible for their new Loop platform. TerraCycle is a 16 year old company with the simple mission of Eliminating the Idea of Waste®. Loop is a TerraCycle’s business unit which helps companies create more sustainable packaging solutions by shifting supply chains from single use to reusable products. Ben is an experienced Business Development professional who has worked in the Greater Cleveland, Philadelphia & New York markets as well as managed a pipeline of global clients. Ben holds a B.S. from Saint Joseph's University and an M.B.A. from Villanova University.

Chris currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer at SpoonfulOne. SpoonfulOne is a consumer-centric Silicon Valley start-up creating a new health and wellness platform to prevent food allergies around the world. Prior to SpoonfulOne, Chris served as Chief Innovation Officer of Revolution Foods, another Silicon Valley start-up dedicated to making healthy foods accessible in K-12 to improve the health and well-being of every student. In each instance, Chris’ goal was to build high-performing innovation teams to create new products, new services, new categories and new brands to drive shareholder value, facilitate customer adoption and make the food eco-system better for both emerging and established brands. Prior to holding these two positions, Chris was Founder and CEO of the consulting and design firm DINE. DINE was created with the aim of helping food entrepreneurs and multi-nationals launch and promote disruptive new food products and brands. As CEO of DINE, Chris grew the company and then successfully sold it to Mattson, the largest independent food and beverage innovation company in the country. As a combined entity, Mattson/DINE assembled a team of 70 food professionals to create one of the richest environments in the food industry to innovate collaboratively with clients and consumers. During his tenure, Chris and his team launched over 50 new food brands and 100+ SKUs for single entrepreneurs, mid-tier companies and multi-nationals. Chris began his career in marketing and advertising for Klondike Ice Cream Bars, Betty Crocker and Yoplait Frozen Yogurt. His background roles include CEO, strategist, innovation leader, and creative director with numerous food brands. Chris is a frequent speaker and lecturer at industry events including Food Vision, Fancy Food Show, Best of Food and Beverage Packaging, Next Level Summits, IFT and the American Association of Advertising Agencies. In addition, Chris is a featured contributor to business and food publications and has served as host of Lifetime’s TV show "Supermarket Superstar".

Product, brand and marketing professional with extensive experience in new product development, package design, strategic brand positioning, retail package design, POP/ POS sales promotion. Strong international collaboration with Swiss and French counterparts. North American lead for Swiss corporate HQ Global Brand / Product Development Team. Industrial design package engineering and product development background includes product ideation, structural design, manufacturing, sourcing, procurement and licensing. Disciplines include; visual merchandising, counterfeit labeling authentication, additive manufacturing, stereo lithography prototyping, interactive packaging that drives web traffic. Sustainability / carbon footprint leader. U-S-A patent holder D694,064

After a long career as a creative director at some of the world’s top ad agencies, Dion founded creative brand consultancy Persuasion Arts & Sciences, using creativity to help grow businesses such as Apple, Best Buy, and Lowe’s. In 2018, he applied his problem-solving skills to a challenge of a different kind – plastic waste. The company he has created, HiBAR, is a fast-growing brand of salon-quality shampoos and conditioners. Dion is a multiple Adweek All-Star Creative, has dozens of Effie awards for marketing effectiveness, and was featured in the NYTimes best seller Decisive, by Chip and Dan Heath.

Gaurav leads the packaging engineering function at Blue Apron, and is responsible for engineering design, R&D, validation and implementation of all packaging. Gaurav oversees the development and testing of new packaging solutions including efforts to implement new sustainable materials in the Blue Apron supply chain. He brings over 14 years of packaging & engineering experience and has previously worked at Chiquita, Johnson & Johnson, and Genentech.

Jeff Cheng is the Senior Packaging and Print Production Manager at Fossil Group. Fossil Group is a global design, marketing, distribution and innovation company specializing in lifestyle accessories. Jeff leads a team of packaging managers that oversees the packaging development for all of Fossil Group’s owned and licensed brands. These packaging items include product packaging for watch, jewelry, and leather categories, retail store packaging, and e-commerce packaging. Since joining Fossil Group, Jeff has pushed Fossil Group’s packaging development to be more integrated into the overall product lifecycle and established processes to connect packaging tighter into supply-chain operations.

John is a 30-year veteran of Procter and Gamble where he was responsible for the development of packaging across its many business units including Healthcare, Beauty Care and Household products, based in the UK and Belgium. He led the development of the Company’s first globally-identical packaging for Haircare products in the late 90s. His time at P&G was punctuated by a period at Coty Inc. Barcelona where he was Director of Packaging responsible for the mass fragrance, color cosmetics and personal care businesses. Since 2012 John has been based in Redmond, Washington where he leads the Packaging Development and Engineering function at Microsoft.

Jos is Global Head of Design Strategy at leading FMCG innovator, Reckitt Benckiser. His focus is enabling Design to lead brand strategy throughout the consumer journey. He has spent the last 20 years leading design thinking in all areas of the creative industry – always with a focus on the end-user and an agenda to drive sustainable business practices.

Ken joined Procter & Gamble following completion of his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and has been working in a corporate Procter & Gamble R&D role in the Cincinnati area for the past 25 years. Ken’s equity is that of a serial inventor making unobvious technology connections with a vision for consumer and business propositions leveraging his strong background in materials science. Ken holds more than 50 Patents as an enabling inventor on ThermaCare, Press’n Seal, Bounty Basic, and most recently the AeroFlexx packaging technology that is revolutionizing liquid packaging.

As Microsoft’s Creative Director of Global Packaging and Content, Kevin leads a world-class team of designers and is responsible for the vision and creative strategy of Microsoft’s packaging for its worldwide line of products including Surface, XBOX, Hololens, PC Hardware and others. He believes that today’s consumers expect intuitive, connected product journeys and well-crafted packaging is one of a brand’s most vital assets in creating meaningful and lasting consumer relationships. Prior to joining Microsoft he was Creative Director of Marc Rosen Associates, a New York based, award-winning design firm specializing in luxury, beauty and consumer packaged goods. Prior to that, he was Global Packaging Design Director for Avon Products, Inc. responsible for packaging across global brands. With over 25 years of packaging design experience, his passion is for leading talented teams that leverage the power of inspired design while launching memorable experiences that delight consumers and build brand equity.

Kiersten Wilmes is the Packaging Engineering Manager at Hallmark Cards, Inc. In this role, Kiersten is responsible for packaging development for Hallmark’s greeting card, gift presentation, stationery and boxed card lines. While currently providing leadership to the Packaging Engineering team, Kiersten has been with Hallmark for over 22 years. Her experience at Hallmark includes Product Development Engineering, Project Management and Manufacturing prior to her current role. She leads a team who executes packaging development by leveraging global resources to deliver compelling packaging solutions by combining business needs, consumer needs, and creative aspirations with existing and emerging capabilities. Kiersten holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from Clemson University. She will now share some insights with you as to how packaging is executed at Hallmark.

Call him a 21st century renaissance man: Laszlo Moharita, Global Director of R&D e-Commerce and New Business Initiatives at Johnson & Johnson, describes himself as a “squared up engineer who also likes to paint.” This yin-yang quality is more likely than not how he’s found himself in charge of creating everyday objects so well designed and engineered, we all take them for granted. Lotion pumps, dental floss, perfume bottles – Laszlo is the brain behind the most minute details of these items, from how much lotion comes out of the bottle to which way the box opens to the delightful unboxing experience of direct-to-consumer products. He has built himself to be a bit of an engineer, a bit of a designer, a bit of a BigCo business man with an entrepreneurial spirit.

Lindsey McCoy has a master’s degree from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and spent 10 years running environmental education nonprofits in The Bahamas - islands that are overwhelmingly full of single-use plastic. After her return to the United States, she and her sister co-founded Plaine Products in February, 2017 in order to help minimize single-use plastic and reduce waste in bathrooms across the country. Plaine Products offers premium personal care products in uniquely sustainable packaging: aluminum bottles that can be returned (for free), refilled and reused. Plaine Products has already diverted over 50,000 plastic bottles from landfills to date. Get more tips about reducing the plastic in your life by following Plaine Products on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Pinterest

Design and Packaging Engineering Director for the Latin-America division at Colgate-Palmolive Industrial Designer degree from Universidad Anahuac Master degree in Marketing from Universidad Anahuac Master degree in Innovation from Universidad Autónoma de Queretaro Luis has been working in global Companies as Kimberly Clark, Alberto Culver and Colgate Palmolive for the last 24 years, passionate about Innovation, Design, Production and sustainability to elevate Design and Packaging Engineering as a strategic value add for the company incorporating technical and Design expertise always focused in production efficiency.

Luis Carlos Chacón leads the BusinessCase team, a Boutique-Global-Firm that works with multinational FMCG's identifying emerging and future business opportunities. Also, has been a columnist for Forbes for several years, and currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in Global Business at the University of Oxford (where previously graduated in Strategy and Innovation), his educational background also includes studies like Stanford, The University of Manchester, and Houston University. In business, he has worked for more than twenty years for the global and regional operations of FMCG companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Diageo, Kellogg’s, Unilever, AbInbev among many others.

Melissa Dandy, Associate Director of R&D e-Commerce and New Business Initiatives at Johnson & Johnson, is known as the “creative engineer”. Known for creative and strategic visions and out of the box thinking, she is responsible for developing many Packaging solutions in her 15 year career in FMCG Packaging Innovation. Having a key eye for business strategy allows her to take the complex engineering world and turn it into a valuable competitive advantage for her Commercial partners. She is obsessed with understanding the consumer and providing an element of delight with every Packaging experience.

Natasha Vandenhurk is the CEO and one of the founders of Three Farmers Foods, a brand born on the Canadian prairies by, literally, three farmers. Natasha and her sister Elysia, daughters to one of the three farmers, began their venture in their early 20s with the purpose of providing healthy, wholesome foods to customers in a direct and transparent manner. At Three Farmers, the belief is that everyone deserves access to clean, nutritious foods and so they manufacture roasted plant based snack lines, consisting of roasted chickpeas, roasted green peas and their latest innovation, whole roasted lentils.

Paul has over 25 years experience implementing design & automation technology in manufacturing. He has worked for Kraft Foods, Reckitt Benkiser, Unilever, and Church & Dwight. As the R & D Equipment Engineering Manager, his areas of special expertise are in Creative Problem Solving, Technology Assessment, Strategic Planning, & Product Innovation. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of OMAC (the Organization of Machine Automation & Controls) as Chairman Emeritus . He is also a Technical Contributor for Packaging World’s Playbook Series including the Automation & Controls Playbook. Paul has also served on technical panels and spoken at the ASQ World conference, the ARC Advisory conference, the Think Tank, the American Packaging Summit, Pack Expo, NSBE and at the Automation World Conference. Paul has served on editorial advisory boards and has collaborated to produce several problem solving articles for Packaging World magazine, Packaging Technology & Engineering, Packaging Strategies, Automation.com, Modern Machine Shop, Plant Services, & Kepner-Tregoe’s Forum magazine. Paul has two daughters: Racquel, age 30, who graduated in June from Stanford University as a Fellow in Bio-Design Engineering and Roxanne, age 23, who is a student-athlete at the University of New Haven who just earned her Master’s in Mechanical Engineering. He recently celebrated his 32nd anniversary with his dear wife Rosemary and he is currently engaged in a healthy debate with his wife and daughters about the role of Fathers in purchasing decisions. His interests include volunteering, reading, walking and playing golf. Paul holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Hofstra University and a Masters in Engineering Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He also holds an EIT Professional Engineering Certificate and he is a Certified Green Belt, Certified TPM Instructor & Certified Program Leader with Kepner-Tregoe.

Rebekah Burns Valberg is the newly appointed VP of Growth at MassChallenge, charged with leading the Net New partner development team across all US markets. Rebekah comes to MassChallenge with a 15-year career leading multi-media sales and marketing teams for high growth and turnaround organizations. She has had the honor of working hand in hand with the world's top marketers and innovators while being an active industry association leader. In 2018, Rebekah was chosen as one of Boston's Top 20 Women in Tech and looks forward to being part of the worlds largest, zero-equity startup accelerator.