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Margarita Gomez is the Director of Food Safety and Quality at Ocean Spray Cranberries where she leads and is responsible for the company’s global strategy and execution of food safety and quality management system programs as well as maintaining compliance with food safety regulatory requirements. She began her career as a Microbiologist and Food Scientist providing consulting services internationally, moved for a while to the pharmaceutical industry where, aside for conducting validation activities, she developed and delivered training programs in areas such as microbial control and monitoring and sterilization processes.

Lone is a Principal with Cultivate LLC, an organization dedicated to help food manufacturers globally make safe, great tasting food through cultural effectiveness. Lone has significant experience with food manufacturing, having previously spent eleven years with Maple Leaf Foods. Following the tragic event in 2008 when Maple Leaf products caused the loss of lives of 23 Canadians, Lone lead the execution of the Maple Leaf Foods, food safety strategy and its operations learning strategy. Prior to that, Lone worked for Woodbridge Foam as Engineering and Operations manager responsible for the safety and quality of automobile safety products. Lone holds a Master in Mechanical Engineering from Syd Dansk University, Denmark, a Master of Food Science from the University of Guelph, Canada and is presently pursuing her Ph.D. on Culture Enabled Food Safety with Dr. Mansel Griffiths at the University of Guelph. Lone currently servers as chair of the GFSI technical working group on Food Safety Culture, a group dedicated to characterizing and quantifying food safety culture across the global food industry from farm to fork.

Dr. Barb Masters is the Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Food and Agriculture at Tyson Foods, Inc., where she provides regulatory vision and support for food safety and quality policies and procedures. She serves on the Board of Directors for GFSI.

Prior to joining Tyson Foods, Dr. Masters served as the Global Vice President for Food Safety and Quality at Keystone Foods. She served as the key technical resource for the plant teams across the globe. Dr. Masters spent nine years as a Senior Policy Advisor at Olsson Frank Weeda, where she worked closely to advise with the meat and poultry industry to ensure regulatory compliance.

Dr. Masters served as Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service where she established a solid infrastructure of science-based policies and data analysis to reduce foodborne illness and product recalls. She was responsible for re-energizing the Agency’s training program and ensuring training reflected national policies.

Dr. Masters holds her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Mississippi State University and a Food Animal Internship from Kansas State University.

Bob McNaney is a globally minded crisis management and crisis communications strategy counselor who drives results by supporting organizations of all sizes through crisis and issue response, crisis-preparedness management, executive and senior leadership counseling, and media coaching.

Bob serves as trusted outside crisis counsel to CEOs, boards and executive leadership teams before, during and after situations which may impact the bottom line and reputation of their enterprises. Bob supports organizations in various sectors, including health care, higher education, financial and retail.

Clients praise his ability to quickly assess a crisis and cut through the noise to provide concrete, actionable counsel.

Prior to joining Padilla, Bob was a National Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist with more than 24 years of international reporting experience.

Bob earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has served as a member of its Next Generation Steering Committee and Tommie Club Cabinet. He has volunteered as a youth coach and youth sports board member.

Bob is a recognized business leader who is an active mentor to young professionals.

David Bain has over 20 years of experience in beverage manufacturing working for Ocean Spray Cranberries in Henderson, Nevada. He began working for Ocean Spray in March 1995. Dave’s career has progressed through several positions in Operations, Maintenance, Performance Excellence, and Quality. Since Ocean Spray began using Alchemy in 2013 Dave has been the Ocean Spray Training Platform Specialist. He is the organization’s single source point of contact for end-users serving 21 locations in the US, Canada, and Chile for the Alchemy Training platform.

Gene Barnard is the Director of Quality at The Gluten Free Bar. With 25 years of experience in Quality and Safety in multiple industries, he has survived well over 200 Regulatory, Food Safety, Workplace Safety and Customer audits. Gene helped develop and launch comprehensive training programs that provide all employees with the knowledge and support they need to be safe, effective and engaged. He is currently a member of Alchemy’s Content Expertise Board and has used Alchemy with two different employers.

With a background in military and civil special operations, Guy Beveridge is an internationally known trainer, speaker, professional security consultant and licensed master peace officer in Texas. He is an expert in security management, crime, loss prevention, investigations, and crisis response and has managed security projects, both national and international for businesses that top the Fortune 500 list. He specializes in prediction, recognition, and evaluation of crime risk and consults with business owners, managers, insurance carriers, and police worldwide developing congruent plans to reduce crime risk through policy design and training. Guy worked on the FBI Joint Terrorism task force immediately following the events of 9/11 to develop first responder response protocols and capabilities for terrorist attacks. In his current role he is the Director of Business Development for Strategos International - the worldwide leader in safety and security solutions for businesses. Additionally, he is an adjunct instructor for the ALERRT Center (Texas State University), the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), The Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) and is a member of the board for Texas Justice of the Peace and Constables education and training development.

Michael has been at KDP for 9 yrs, 5 as training coordinator for distribution. Certified PIT train the trainer and administrator for the PIT program. Have worked in distribution for the past 24 years between KDP and Energizer. Degree in accounting and economics from Lemoyne College in Syracuse NY Hobbies are hockey, custom guitar building, and family time.

Lisa Buck is an Environmental, Health and Safety Manager with Ocean Spray Cranberries. After spending over twenty years developing and implementing world-class safety programs, she has not only achieved OSHA’s SHARP program, but VPP twice. Lisa not only leads safety efforts but drives engagement by motivating and rewarding employees for safe behaviors. Traveling throughout North and South America, Lisa has evaluated and audited a multitude of facilities and assisted in the implementation of regulatory requirements and best practices. Lisa was recently recognized with Ocean Spray’s President’s Award of Distinction and is furthering her education with Columbia Southern University.

Jeff has over 30 years of experience in the food industry, specializing in food safety, quality assurance, and plant management. Prior to Alchemy, Jeff was the founder and President of Chilton Consulting Group for 18 years, helping clients achieve and sustain GFSI certification under the SQF, BRC, and FSSC 22000 standards along with USDA and FDA Regulatory Compliance services for HACCP and Food Safety Plan.

Jeff is a certified SQF Auditor, SQF Consultant, Preventive Control for Human Food Lead Instructor, and International HACCP Alliance Lead Instructor. Prior to starting Chilton Consulting Group, Jeff was a Plant Manager at two large food processing companies and a Director of Quality Assurance. Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Management from Tampa College, Tampa FL.

Bill is Dean of SugarCreekU – building a better version of our employees and our company. Bill created SugarCreekU to foster a new management culture in the fast-growing protein business. Bill taught as an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Xavier University and Director of the Xavier Entrepreneurial Center. He holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.

Gayle Dardar is a learning and development professional with over 25 years of experience. For the past 5 years she has been a Training Coordinator for Keurig Dr Pepper in Windsor, Virginia. She has experience creating and delivering training material in many different industries including manufacturing, communications, and insurance. Gayle’s speaking engagements include Sloan-C and the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education Conferences. Outside of work, Gayle volunteers supporting individuals with their job searches, creating curriculum vitae, resumes, and cover letters. She is a licensed Real Estate Agent and enjoys the “small zoo” she has at her home.

Rick has 25 years of experience in environmental, health, and safety with work in diverse industries, including food production, automotive and aerospace manufacturing, government and defense, electric power generation, chemicals, and more. He is a veteran EHS consultant, auditor, and trainer. Prior to Alchemy, Rick worked for Intertek as Green Services Associate Program Manager.

Rick is a certified management systems Lead Auditor with experience in ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, LEED green building certification, business development, and certification program management. Rick earned his Associate of Applied Science in Intelligence Collection from the Community College of the Air Force and his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Environmental Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Gregoire is Vice-President for the Food Services Business in the US & Canada at Intertek and Vice-President for Sales at Alchemy Systems. He brings over 15 years of direct experience in helping global food clients reach their safety & quality goals.

Intertek is an industry leading Total Quality Assurance provider that delivers assurance, testing, inspection and certification services to the food industry. Intertek’s network of over 1000 laboratories in 100 countries and employs over 46,000 people globally. To expand as a leader in Total Quality Assurance, Intertek acquired Alchemy Systems in August 2018 to deliver People Assurance solutions. Alchemy Systems is the global leader in frontline workforce training and consulting and currently trains more than 20% of the food industry in North America.

Gregoire is a graduate from HEC Paris with a Specialized Master’s Degree in Marketing and also holds a degree as a Quality Engineer in Bio-Industries from Ecole de Biologie Industrielle (EBI) Graduate school. Prior to joining Intertek, Gregoire spent 8 years at Silliker / Mérieux NutriSciences as the EMEA Global Key Accounts Director and part of the International Business Development and Marketing teams. Gregoire joined Intertek in 2013 and prior to his current role as VP Food Services, he served as the Global Director of Strategic Business Development for Food Services based in Paris, France.

Gregoire is currently based in Chicago, IL, USA.

Brian Krafczyk is the Continuous Improvement and Training Manager at Chicken of the Sea canning plant in Lyons, GA. Brian’s passion for influencing culture change by valuing people and developing leaders makes his current role a perfect fit. His favorite work activities are facilitating problem solving and challenging the status quo by asking “WHY?”. When he is not involved in shaking up the system, he can be found creating a homestead using permaculture principles, aquaponics, heritage breed farm animals and heirloom fruits and vegetables. When not knee deep in dirt or construction you can find him @brian.krafczyk@thaiunion.com or www.linkedin.com/in/brian-krafczyk

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Laura joins Alchemy with over 25 years of experience implementing food safety and quality control programs for processing, packaging, food service, and retail operations. She has worked with global retailers and manufacturers in the implementation of their GFSI certification programs. Prior to Alchemy, Laura managed Silliker’s South Region food testing laboratories, implemented ISO 17025 requirements, conducted GMP and HACCP audits, and trained food safety auditors. Her hands-on experience in testing food products has assisted food companies in the successful implementation of good manufacturing practices (GMP), quality assurance, and HACCP programs. Laura is a graduate of University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology.

Mary Reindl is the Training Supervisor within Palermo’s Pizza’s Training Department and oversees a team of three trainers. As part of her role, Mary is creating a training culture that enhances continuous learning and professional development by leveraging Alchemy and its Coach platform. With these tools, Palermo’s can assess and discover training gaps and establish learning plans for employees. Mary aspires to expand practices beyond the plant floor to other departments. Before Palermo’s, Mary taught high school history for 6 years. She applies these educational principles to the manufacturing setting inspiring innovative trainings and creating a solid foundation for future programs.

Bob has over 25 years in the Training & Development field, holding both leadership roles as well as direct implementation roles in the fields of Education, Recruiting, Human Resources, Medical Devices, Medical Administration, & Food Manufacturing. He is the Human Resources Training Manager, with Hearthside Food Solutions and strives to be a coach at work as well as at home and in his community.

Bob leverages the Alchemy Systems Learning Platform as Administrator and Creator to match that of the Hearthside Performance Model and necessary learning plans across the organization, while creating a fun twist to learning.

Kyle Schmidt is the Instructional Design Specialist at Alchemy Systems and an award-winning writer. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the Michener Center, has plays regularly produced across the country, and is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of storytelling as a teaching tool.

Penny Smither, Sr Continuous Improvement Specialist, with 29 years’ experience in food industry, Penny began her career on the frontline and continued to work various frontline positions for the next 18 years. The past 11 years Penny has been leading and coaching cross functional teams in learning and development with continuous improvement focus, Alchemy has been a big part of that journey. In her spare time, Penny focuses on her 25 grandchildren, she loves to spend time with family in the outdoors, camping and fishing.

Elizabeth Stroud has 41 years experience at her facility, first as Lance, Inc., then Snyder's-Lance, and now Campbell's Snacks. To see she's the glue that keeps the site running would not be an understatement! She has been utilizing Alchemy since 2013 to keep the workforce aligned, leadership informed, and managers educated.

Coming Soon.

Eric has been in the Food Manufacturing business for over a decade and has held roles in Food Safety, R&D, Continuous Improvement, and Workplace Safety. He is currently the Senior Training Manager at Tyson Foods, focused on leadership and safety awareness training and evelopment.

Dr. van de Ligt has an extensive background in animal feed and human food production, nutrition, modeling, safety, and regulations, with academic, industry, and global perspectives. A key focus of her current food and feed security, safety, defense, and supply-chain resiliency research portfolio is building collaborations with and transitioning solutions into the food industry. She also serves as Director of the Integrated Food Systems Leadership program, an online learning program dedicated to improving the leadership and systems thinking capabilities of early to mid-career professionals affiliated with any aspect of the food system.

Brian Williams is a Senior Manager of Area Safety for Tyson foods responsible for the people safety at 13 locations within the Prepared Foods Business Segment. Prior to joining Tyson Foods, he served in Safety roles at AdvancePierre Foods, Dow Chemical, and Owens Corning. Brian has his Bachelors Degree in Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health from the University of Findlay.