By attending The Chemical Summit, you will engage with peers and experts, learn from best practices and success stories, gain insights into industry trends, and benchmark your performance against your competitors. We hope that you will leave the conference with a renewed sense of inspiration and motivation to drive your organization towards greater success.
Carpenter Co. is a diversified manufacturer of polyurethane foams, chemicals and insulation materials. The primary markets are comfort cushioning materials, CASE, and insulation. The company is based in Richmond, VA and is privately held.
Brad joined the company in the fall of 2008 as National Sales Manager, Chemicals. He became General Manager and then Vice President of Chemicals. In 2018 he became the President & Chief Operating Officer, and in 2020 transitioned to President & Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Carpenter, Brad worked for Stepan Company for 18+ years where he started in the sales group before eventually moving into product and business management including Global Manager, Flexible Polyols.
Education: Received a Bachelor of Science from Bethel University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Jeremy Bess is a vital member of ITR Economics’ team of expert economists and consultants. With a decade of consulting experience, he lends his expertise to the production of client reports, forecast reviews and research, and frequent communications with clients.
Jeremy majored in economics at the University of Tampa and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida. His accomplishments include being featured on The Working Lunch podcast, speaking at the 2017 World Tea Expo, presenting a pricing workshop at the 2019 Burger King Global Convention, hosting a workshop at the University of South Florida’s Executive Peer Workshop Series, and publishing several blogs and articles on economic developments.
Prior to joining the ITR Economics team, Jeremy got his start at an investment management and insurance advisory firm, researching economic and financial information to inform clients on investment strategies. From there, he held various positions at a business consulting and data analysis firm, working his way up to senior director of North America consulting services, a role in which he worked closely with C-suite executives to optimize business profitability.
Michael Clark is a chemical engineer from Texas A&M and is currently a Technical Sales Leader - Natural Gas. He spent most of his career in several technical and technical sales roles with UOP working to support the natural gas, petrochemical, refining, hydrogen and syngas production, gasification, and LNG industries.
Greg Facchine began his career as a Chemical Engineer at BASF, where he worked to digitalize various aspects of the chemical manufacturing process. Seeking innovation, Greg transitioned to Product Development at Milliken, playing a pivotal role in bringing new products to market.
Recognizing the growing synergy between science and technology, Greg pursued a Master's in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology, amplifying his analytical capabilities, particularly in the domain of Artificial Intelligence.
Currently, Greg serves as a Data Scientist within Milliken’s corporate development team. In this capacity, his mission revolves around digitalizing Milliken’s research community.
Greg foresees that in the coming years, leading innovative companies will be characterized by their capacity to leverage their digital assets, rather than solely relying on their patent holdings.
Kelly Gilroy, VP Sustainable & Natural Products leads the development and commercialization of sustainable and natural ingredients across Univar Solutions. Kelly supports customers on their sustainability journeys and works closely with the Univar Solutions global supplier base to identify markets and opportunities to launch innovative ingredients that meet evolving market, regulatory and societal expectations. Kelly joined Univar Solutions in 2014 to build our Beauty and Personal Care specialties business, and previously worked at The Lubrizol Corporation and Nalco, an Ecolab Company. Kelly holds a BS, Accountancy from the University of Illinois and is a CPA.
In April’22 Dario Giudici has been appointed as Global Director CustomerCentricity, where he is leading the vision definition, org. structure and related build up, the related project execution of a critical and foundational transformation that, ultimately, will have to bring the Customer at the center of what we do everyday at LYB.
Previously has been Ass. Director Indirect Sales within the Polyolefins Europe team, focusing on developing and implementing channel-to-market, product and pricing strategies which, ultimately, created differential value for LYB and our customers. His key responsibilities were to achieve the best balance between expanding sales in the premium channels (e.g. Distribution and Export) and supporting best return and/or loading for our European assets in the Trading area. Not secondarily, to motivate and coach his previous team, making sure to keep hiring and developing the future talents of the LYB community.
Before joining the European Polyolefins Sales team, Dario has been Marketing Manager for PP&CTY Flexible and Textile, while, previously, he started in LYB within the I&D division as Account Manager for Southern Europe, before becoming Sales & Distribution Manager EMEA.
Dario has been leading the deployment of various key projects like the Marketing Excellence Program, couple of S&OP Optimisation Projects, Product Owner for Demand Forecast Project using Advanced Analytics and, previously, he has been the Global Project (Business) Leader for the SalesForce implementation. Last exercise was developing a clear and detailed Service LevelAgreement to support our Customer Classification efforts in Europe.
Prior to joining LYB, Dario worked as Sales & Marketing Manager for PolymerLatex (Synthomer) and he started his career at Henkel technologies where he has been Sales Engineer and Market Manager for the Italian market.
Dario holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the Polytechnic of Milan and an Executive
Master in Business Administration (EMBA) from Bocconi University with a specific elite program focused on M&A and Corporate Entrepreneurship.
Meg is the Owner and CEO of TRInternational, Inc., a US-based chemical distributor headquartered in Edmonds, WA, and the Owner of Chemblend of America, a chemical blending and tolling facility in Bensenville, IL. Ever mindful that "the buck stops here," Meg is ultimately accountable for Company performance. She is an energetic leader who crafts and implements a creative vision for the Company's future. Meg’s background as an attorney makes her pragmatic and effective. She is passionate about the development of people and commerce- she challenges her team to be both excellent and rigorous.
Meg currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD). She is an Executive Advisor on the Board of Women in Chemicals. She is a past NACD Director at Large, and the former Treasurer of the Chemical Education Foundation. She has served as a member of several industry committees, and is deeply committed to the strength of American enterprise.
For more almost four decades, Terry Hill has worked in the distribution business. His early career began in medical distribution, but quickly switched to chemical distribution, in which Terry spent 30 years with Univar Solutions. Serving in various global leadership roles, including President of the U.S., Chief Commercial Officer, and Executive Vice President, Terry was responsible for Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and ChemPoint.
In 2019, Terry joined Maroon Group, acquired by Barentz in 2020, as CEO of North America. He held this position until his appointment to the Supervisory Board in March of 2023. Terry also currently serves on the Board of Blue Pallet, and formally on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Chemical Distributors, as well as Board Member of the Chemical Educational Foundation. Terry Hill holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology & Chemistry from Texas Tech University. Terry is married to Shari Hill and has 4 grown Children.
Kevin Huntsman, as President of Mastio & Company, draws upon 26+ years in spearheading customer experience-centric data initiatives within logistics, energy, and chemicals. He has led 300+ global projects and specializes in soliciting feedback from B2B customers regarding their logistics provider interactions. Mastio's focus lies in the meticulous capture of B2B customer sentiments. Notably, the company has conducted 40,000+ interviews with LTL shippers in the U.S. and Canada during its 19-year-long Annual LTL Shipper Experience Study. Kevin is a Missouri Western State University graduate with a BBA in Marketing.
As an environmental lawyer, Karin has worked to improve policies and procedures related to sustainable development worldwide for more than 25 years. She is currently Managing Director for Sustainability at the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Prior to joining ACC, Ms. Krchnak worked in the World Bank Group, managing the 2030 Water Resources Group. In this role, she partnered with over 300 companies in multi-stakeholder mechanisms to advance the incubation and implementation of innovative programs, projects, and policy reform processes to accelerate action to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. She has worked for non-governmental organizations and the private sector building good governance systems to further sustainability, including through public-private partnerships.
Karin received her B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. She has published extensively in the area of international environmental policy and sustainable development, particularly on freshwater issues.
Yasmine McColl is an acclaimed thought leader and expert in the energy and chemicals industry. As Global Business Development Leader for Schneider Electric's chemicals segment, she leverages over 20 years of experience to drive new opportunities worldwide.
Yasmine is a sought-after speaker on process electrification, energy efficiency, and digital transformation in chemicals. Her talks provide insights on reducing carbon emissions and enabling sustainability through readily available solutions. With deep expertise in energy management, automation, and software, Yasmine helps chemical companies transform their operations. She guides clients on their journey to electrify processes and transition to sustainable energy sources. In addition, Yasmine assists chemical producers in leveraging digital technologies integrating products, software, and data analytics to accelerate transformation. With her technical knowledge and commercial experience, Yasmine is known for propelling innovation in the chemical industry.
Yasmine also plays an active leadership role in the industry. She serves on the board of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers South Texas Section and has served on the board of directors for the Women's Energy Network (WEN) Houston, ECC (Engineering and construction Contracting) future leader program, and vice president of SWE (Society of Women Engineers) college chapter promoting diversity, young professional development, and sustainability goals. She holds and MBA, and BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston where she resides with her family.
Emelia Nosser is the new Chief Procurement Officer of PactivEvergreen. She has led both global and regional organizations, responsible for reshaping procurement and driving positive financial impacts to the P/L.
Her experience spans several industries, including consumer products, electronics, medical equipment, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, holding leadership roles in verticals like operations, transportation, logistics, IT and procurement. Prior to Pactiv Evergreen she held key roles in Fortune 500 companies, including Unilever, Pfizer, Intel Church and Dwight and most recently Shiseido.
Emelia is a dedicated leader and collaborative business partner,building strong and lasting relationships. When she’s not at work she is spending time with her husband on their farm raising large and small animals. They have five children, four daughters and a son, all working and/or studying across the U.S.
Jonas Oxgaard is an Expert Associate Partner in McKinsey’s New York Office. He serves chemical companies with a focus on chemical commodities, including hydrogen, fertilizers, and petrochemicals. He leads the firms petrochemical outlooks and is a leader in the North American green ammonia service line.
Engagement Experience
Prior Experience and Education
From 2014 – 2021, Jonas worked at Bernstein Research, a premier equity research firm, covering US Chemicals. During his tenure as an equity analyst, he successfully called the decline of global plastic recycling and how it would cause a global polyethylene shortage, the bottom of the most recent agricultural cycle, and the rise of hydrogen following the EU budget declarations.
Prior to this, Jonas spent six years at McKinsey serving clients in energy and chemicals, primarily focusing on the intersection of microeconomics and petrochemicals.
Jonas holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from University of Notre Dame, as well as a Masters of Chemical Engineering from Chalmers Institute of Technology (Sweden). He is the author of 50+ peer-reviewed scientific papers, books, and patents.
Jennifer Sadenwater is currently Senior Managing Director of ESG Lynk, where she specializes in ESG strategy development, reporting, and assurance readiness services. Prior to ESG Lynk, Jennifer was an Audit Manager at KPMG, and also led her own consulting practice which focused on SEC reporting and technical accounting research. Her background in financial reporting contributes to her ability to help companies assess the financial materiality of ESG disclosures, evaluate their attestation readiness, and understand how to mitigate risk and maximize opportunities across their operations.
Jennifer received her BS in Accounting from Louisiana State University and is a Texas Certified Public Accountant. She holds the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential issued by SASB under the IFRS Foundation, is a subject matter contributor for the FSA exam, and develops and conducts training courses related to ESG reporting for her fellow CPAs through the Texas Society of CPAs.
Walter Sanchez is the General Manager of Global Supply Chain at Chevron Phillips Chemical, a global petrochemical company jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66.
Sanchez has 29 years of industry experience. Before becoming General Manager of Global Supply Chain in 2020, he served in various operations and commercial management roles across Chevron Phillips Chemical.
Prior to joining Chevron Phillips Chemical in 2000, he worked as Operations Manager at A&R Transport (Quantix) and Highway Transport as Terminal Supervisor.
Sanchez earned his undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University.
Sunil Sanghavi is CEO of NobleAI, a pioneer in Science-based AI solutions for chemical and material informatics. Sunil brings a rich and diverse operating background of over 30 years to NobleAI. He has direct experience in tech company functions such as engineering, marketing, business development and management. Sunil has worked both in big companies and in start-up environments and has been successful at every level, up to and including multiple CEO roles. Most recently, he was Senior Investment Director at Intel Capital, where he invested in AI/ML hardware and software companies including Motivo, Untether AI, Syntiant, and Kyndi. He attended the MSc Chemistry program at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and obtained a BSEE from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
Shirin Swanson is the Vice President of Strategic Development at NUCO Logistics with more than two decades of expertise in the logistics industry. As the head of the Commercial, Procurement and Sustainability, she is responsible for developing new strategic markets, maintaining a high standard of service quality in all shipment transactions and compliance with global sustainability standards according to EcoVadis’ ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) and DE&I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) protocols. Shirin contributes to the long-term planning of NUCO, including initiatives for operational excellence and management, planning, systems, and controls. Shirin holds a BA in math and an MBA.
Emilio Tenuta is senior vice president of Corporate Sustainability and chief sustainability officer for Ecolab. For the past 11 years, he has led Ecolab’s strategic sustainability journey and is actively involved in advancing global sustainability practices, with a significant focus on water stewardship and climate action.
In recent years, he’s become a leader in environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and reporting. Partnering with investor relations and Ecolab’s Chief Executive Officer, Tenuta has advanced Ecolab’s reputation as an ESG leading company. He is chair of the board of directors of the World Environment Center, a global non-profit, non-advocacy organization. Emilio is also on the leadership council of the Corporate Eco Forum.
Pam Walker is an experienced business leader with over 20 years of experience in the chemicals industry and digital transformation. Having held various commercial roles with major chemical companies, her experience encompasses executive leadership, business planning, sales operations and international business strategy. In her current role as the Director and General Manager of Data Intelligence and Insights at UL Solutions, Pam is focused on the development of solutions that address supply chain transparency, implementation of digital technologies, material discovery, compliance and go-to-market challenges.
Ron Zmich is an accomplished sales and business development professional with a successful career spanning three decades in specialty chemicals. Joining Palmer Holland, Inc. in 2006, Ron currently serves as Senior Vice President – Industrial Specialties, leading both the development and execution of strategies to serve the CASE, Plastics and Lubricants markets. He began his career with Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. working in engineering, applications development, supply chain and sales roles across both Industrial Gases and Chemicals Divisions. Subsequently, Ron held sales management positions at both Sauereisen, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA) and GMZ, Inc. (now Azelis Americas, LLC) before joining Palmer Holland. Ron holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University with concentrations in both Polymer Science and Economics. He and his family reside in Northeast Ohio.