Rick Hughes began his work career in the US Army, attending Airborne School and Ranger School, and serving in the US and abroad. He was also certified as a Federal Procurement Officer and attended the Officer’s Advanced Course in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. After six years of active duty, Rick remained with the US Army Reserves until 1991, attaining the rank of Major.

In 1982, Rick began his career with P&G as a Purchasing Manager for the company’s Baby Care and Feminine Care businesses. He then served in a variety of roles in Purchasing and in a Customer Business Development role over his 31+ years. In 2001, he was appointed to lead the P&G purchasing organization as Manager, Corporate Purchases, and was appointed Vice President of Global Purchases in 2004, and Chief Purchasing Officer in 2005, serving as CPO until Februrary, 2014.

Rick is now advising C-Suite executives on how to grow their business, transform their supply chains and obtain greater value from their external supply base. He is also a speaker on a variety of topics, like leadership, strategy development and execution, talent enhancement, supply innovation and risk management. He is also the Chairman of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, an organization of 20 Fortune 100 companies who annually spend over $1B on supplier diversity. He is working with GEP Consulting in an advisory role to help grow and develop their procurement consulting business, and helping several other mid-market companies with strategy, growth and expansion.

As the face of CIPS to global organisations around the world Will has a broad understanding of how procurement professionals need to and can develop themselves into world-class procurement experts within their enterprise. Will’s background is in sales and business development at Energy Quote, IQPC, Travelex and Prenax before joining CIPS in 2010.

Ted has specific expertise in enabling large enterprises to streamline their third party due-diligence and on-boarding processes.  He is a regular contributor to Europe’s leading procurement and supplier risk management forums. Ted also provides market feedback to ensure Bureau van Dijk’s product development strategy meets the evolving needs of today’s procurement professionals.   

David Marks is an accomplished senior executive with substantial leadership experience in Sales, Marketing and General Management across travel and technology industries. At Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), David leads a Business Development team responsible for consistently generating more than $100 Million in new sales annually.
Prior to joining CWT, David served as Group General Manager for International SOS’s, a worldwide leader in travel security and medical assistance services, with responsibility for all online products and services.
David’s background includes executive positions in travel, financial services and technology industries with both established and startup companies.
David holds a BA from Hamilton College and a business degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He is also the recipient of a Direct Marketing Association Silver Echo award.
David lives in Doylestown, PA with his wife and three sons

As Vice President, Strategy and Market Development, Gabe Perez draws on his experience in sales, implementation and solutions consulting to develop go-to-market strategies across Coupa's solutions portfolio. He is also responsible for emerging market development and analyst relations, evangelizing for Coupa across the globe.
Gabe has deep knowledge of Coupa’s products and the customer consideration process, and he combines the two to speak directly, authentically and compellingly to their needs and concerns as they make what for many is a bold decision—purchasing cloud software from a relative newcomer to the enterprise space. He is a futuristic thinker willing to challenge the status quo, and skilled at emboldening others to do the same. He is good at rooting out the hidden assumptions and unstated fears that prevent organizations from moving forward with positive change.
Gabe is well positioned to help people see the bigger picture of how Software-as-a-Service is changing the way companies do business and how Coupa fits into that picture. It is not simply a replacement for current software. Like many software upstarts, it helps companies address areas of inefficiency that legacy software has left untouched.
Gabe has been at Coupa for more than 5 years. He has held a many roles, from being a project manager to running our presales team globally, prior to that he worked at Ariba where he participated in many global rollouts of their software.

Eric has more than 10 years of sourcing strategy and global services industry analysis expertise, first as a consultant and then in ongoing management of Everest Group’s research practice. His overarching goal is to ensure enterprises, service providers, and investors have the combination of fact- and experience-based insight they require to make informed, actionable, impactful, and value-generating global services decisions.

Key research initiatives Eric has conceived, driven and helped create include: the industry’s first-ever detailed coverage of BPO in an offshore context, published in 2008 in partnership with NASSCOM; Everest Group’s Market Vista offering, which provides a unique, comprehensive look into the key forces and metrics defining the market; and ongoing coverage of the captive offshoring market.

Eric holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, both in Mechanical Engineering, from Texas A&M University.

Pierre-Francois is the co-founder of EcoVadis, which operates the 1st collaborative platform, allowing companies to assess the Sustainability performance of their suppliers. Since its launch in 2007 more than 100 "Global 500" companies, have selected the EcoVadis solution, to manage risks and drive eco-innovations in their supply chain across 100 countries. Pierre-François brings 15 years experience in Procurement and business development of innovative solutions for Procurement organizations. He was previously CEO of B2Build SA the 1st B2B marketplace for the European construction industry. Prior to founding EcoVadis, he was a director of Ariba Procurement BPO business in EMEA. Pierre-Francois has been presenting on Sustainable Procurement in more than 50 conferences in Europe and USA and the author of multiple research studies on Sustainable Supply Chain with HEC or INSEAD Business Schools. He’s member of the strategic advisory board of the Sustainable Procurement Leadership Council (Washington). Pierre-François is an electrical engineer by trade, holding a Master of Science from Supelec and a MBA from Insead.

Doug has over 20 years of consulting and operations experience and has supported large-scale, transformational programs for clients around the world in a variety of industries. His areas of specialty include process transformation, service delivery strategy, change management, organization design, and technology rationalization.

Prior to joining Insight Sourcing Group, Doug was an Executive Partner with Accenture where he was an architect of several of Accenture’s largest and most complex consulting and outsourcing programs. He is also a former Partner with IBM’s Business Consulting Services and a former Senior Project Engineer with Pratt & Whitney.

Doug received an M.B.A. with honors from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University.

Debbie is a member of the key leadership team of CIPS, with responsibility for business development in EMEA. Her role brings her in close contact with senior procurement and supply chain leaders as she helps to shape and communicate learning and accreditation services offered by one of the world's best recognised providers of professional development for procurement practitioners.

Patrick Fogarty, CEO Americas is the leader of Charterhouse’s business across the US and has full responsibility for all aspects of the business including sales, operations, human resources, marketing, information technology and finance.  Patrick is a member of Charterhouse’s Board and reports directly to Gary Mahoney, Group CEO.

Prior to joining Charterhouse, Patrick was the global leader for Pitney Bowes Management Services’ Marketing Lifecycle Solutions (MLS) business, Customer Communications Management (CCM) solutions platform and the Commercial Sector across the US which included a diverse client base of over 450 clients and $480M in annual revenues.  These solutions leveraged predictive analytics and supply chain efficiencies to enable businesses to communicate more effectively with their customers through multi-channel marketing including print.

Prior to joining Pitney Bowes, Patrick was National Vice President, Enterprise Sales and Solutions at Williams Lea, a $2B global marketing services organization.  Patrick also held senior sales and leadership positions at Bowne Business Solutions, R.R. Donnelley Enterprise Solutions, and Eastman Kodak.

Patrick earned a J.D. from St. John’s University and a B.A. from Fairfield University.  Patrick is a member of the New York and Connecticut state bars.

David Braxton has been with SunTrust Banks, Inc. for approximately 9 years and is the Strategic Sourcing Relationship Manager (RM) for the Consumer & Private Wealth Management (CPWM) Line of Business. The RM for CPWM facilitates the development and implementation of third party commercial services to include outsourcing/offshoring solutions as well as other strategic sourcing projects across the company. 

Currently, David leads a team of professionals that facilitate over 250 strategic sourcing projects annually, accountable for governing more than $1 billion in annual third party spending in such areas as Technology enabled Business Services, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), Corporate Real Estate, Loan & Credit Card Processing, Branch Banking, Digital/Omni Channel, Payment Processing, and Investment Processing.

In March of 2012, his existing Global Outsourcing responsibilities were expanded to incorporate the Business Services Strategic Sourcing team; he also led enterprise-wide corporate efficiency and effectiveness initiatives by partnering with outside consultants to identify, validate, and implement cost savings opportunities.  Mr. Braxton has a broad range of financial, operational and strategic experience through his diverse experience gained from supporting various SunTrust Lines of Business and Functions as a member of the Corporate Global Outsourcing Team.

At Digital River, Dawn Buchanan is responsible for global sourcing and procurement.  She specializes in transforming decentralized procurement activities into a global, center-led strategic sourcing organization.  Prior to joining Digital River, Buchanan was the Global Sourcing leader for Corporate Materials and Services for Cargill where she helped to transform a globally decentralized procurement group into a World Class center-led sourcing function.   She also spent 15 years in Big Five consulting with a focus in supply chain and strategic sourcing including outsourcing of the procurement function.  Buchanan has worked in a variety of industries including Consumer Goods, Retail, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Energy.  Her experience includes both sourcing of direct and indirect categories.

Melissa leads world-wide sourcing, procurement, and supplier management teams for both direct and indirect categories. 
 
She is responsible for building the Commercial Claims Spend Management organization at Liberty Mutual Insurance. She manages $3.5B in spend.  Additionally, she leads procurement strategy for Claims, Global Human Resources & Benefits, Professional Services, Facilities, and Travel. 
 
Melissa delivers holistic and sustainable results through supplier management, demand management, and process compliance.  She does this by implementing a progressive procurement program across a historically decentralized organization that has experienced major growth via acquisitions.
 
Melissa is a recognized leader of indirect procurement.  She is speaking at the upcoming 2015 Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) convention.  She was also a featured speaker at ProcureCon Indirect in 2013 and 2012. 
 
Melissa has 18 years of increased global responsibilities in procurement, strategic sourcing, supplier diversity, BPO, real estate, and supply chain management.
 
She utilizes her cross functional skills as a liaison with business groups, suppliers, customers and executive management across the globe. 
 
Melissa has received numerous awards.  She has been lauded as visionary; demonstrating the ability to integrate theory and practice in creating and executing innovative approaches and methods to accomplish complex business objectives.
 
Previously, Melissa developed departmental policies, governance and led supplier optimization activities during mergers and acquisitions processes.  She also energized SSC activities, with an emphasis on realizing immediate results.

Michelle Cambron has more than 8 years Procurement experience. Michelle is currently the Corporate Procurement Operations Manager for KLA-Tencor Corporation, where her career has spanned over 18 years. Michelle has held several management positions within Corporate Procurement, Corporate Learning, and HR Systems Operations, focusing on global business process re-engineering, business requirements development, and global systems implementation and integration. In her current role, Michelle is responsible for managing Corporate Procurement Operations including global online requisitioning, offshore service provider management, supplier management, supplier on-boarding, contracts management, SOX and internal audit compliance, and the Corporate Card Program. Notably in 2013 KLA-Tencor was recognized by the IAAPS in 2013 for Best-In-Class Outsourcing Management, as well as by the ISM for its Excellence in Supply Management. KLA-Tencor was a recipient of the ISM's 2006 R. Gene Richter Award for Leadership and Excellence in Supply Management. Michelle holds a Master of Science in Information Systems Management and a Bachelor of Science in Strategic Management.

Richard Crane is currently the Sr. Vice President of Commodity Management at Philips Healthcare, located in Andover, MA where he is responsible for sourcing and commodity management of direct material across all divisions of Philips Healthcare globally, and for indirect spend across all Philips businesses in North America.   

Prior to joining Philips, Richard was Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Siemens Corporation where he was responsible for driving productivity and cost savings across all Siemens businesses within North America.  He began his career with Siemens in 1992 where he has held several procurement, supply chain, and project management roles across the company in Siemens Communications, Siemens Medical Solutions, and Siemens AG - Automation & Drives. 
 
Richard Crane holds a BA in Business Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and an MBA in Transnational Management from Fordham University. 

Currently Corporate Manager of Global Indirect Sourcing within the Global Operations organization of SPX Corporation. Doug is responsible for identifying, developing, and implementing best-in-class programs and processes to support SPX’s strategic sourcing initiatives.

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, SPX Corporation (NYSE: SPXC) is, along with its subsidiaries, a diversified, global supplier of infrastructure equipment with scalable growth platforms in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), and detection and measurement markets, and a strong presence in power and energy markets. With operations in 20 countries and approximately $2 billion in annual revenue, we offer a wide array of highly engineered infrastructure products with strong brands.

Prior to working at SPX, Doug has held various sourcing positions at Cummins, Electrolux, Colfax, Volvo and Carrier Corporation.
 
Doug holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of North Carolina – Wilmington. Doug is a Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) and Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM).

Ken Hartman is an accomplished procurement professional with diverse experience improving profitability through strategic procurement, purchase-to-pay process optimization, enabling technologies, and driving business success throughout the supply chain. He has worked in the  Software, Medical Device, Public Utility, Aerospace and Defense, and Investment Banking industries. He has implemented procurement best practices and tools for such companies as Progress Software, Boston Scientific, Detroit Edison, and many others as a principal consultant for IBM Global Services. 

Chuck Hatsis currently serves as Global Chief Procurement Officer at Groupon where he is responsible for indirect, real estate, facilities, and supply chain expenditures across 30+ countries.  Prior to joining Groupon, he held executive positions at Deloitte Consulting, Nationwide, ABN Amro, and Surge Consulting, the specialized marketing procurement firm he founded in 2009.  He graduated magna cum laude in Finance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and earned his MBA in Strategy and Marketing from UCLA Anderson.

David Hearn has been leading procurement organizations for the past 25 years.  He has led both manufacturing and indirect teams.  

His skills were honed at Sun Microsystems, Kaiser Permanente, and most recently at Juniper Networks.  In all three companies, he also drove the change management of major ERP system replacements, as well as the business process change to become world class in their management of the Procure-to-Pay processes.  David is now providing consulting services to CPO's, procurement professionals, and Coupa.  Coupa was the best and easiest to install Spend Management tool of all the tools he has implemented.

Dawn Luttrell is the Director of Strategic Sourcing for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. She leads a team that manages all indirect spend categories, logistics, warehousing and contract administration supporting 11 domestic theme parks across the country including the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Sesame Place brands.
 
Previous to SeaWorld, Dawn was a Sourcing Leader with The Walt Disney Company for 15 years. While there, she led the marketing, entertainment and print sourcing team. She also supported FF&E, sourcing furnishings for over 20,000 guest rooms at the Walt Disney World Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort & Disney Vacation Club.

Matt received his bachelor's degree from Duquesne University in 2011 (Major was Supply Chain Management). He started working at Mylan Inc. in Global Indirect Procurement as an intern in 2010, and has continuously been employed in positions of increasing responsibility. He is currently 50% of his way through the MBA program at Robert Morris University.

Mike Owens is the Executive Director of Indirect Procurement at Dell.  He is a 13 year veteran with the company.  In his current role, Mike works closely with IT, Facilities, Services, and Sales operations to support their 3rd party sourcing needs.  Mike’s team manages sourcing activities for facilities, security, hardware, telecom, warranty services, call center services, break/fix services, deployment services, and other related 3rd party needs.  Mike also has responsibility for the General Procurement Mergers and Acquisitions workstreams, DSG procurement operations, and sales support for large managed services deals.  Prior to joining the General Procurement organization, Mike led the Software Procurement team at Dell and managed sourcing relationships with key partners such as Microsoft, Oracle, VMware, McAfee, Adobe, and others.  Mike joined Dell in 1999 and his previous roles at Dell include time spent in operations, alliances, product marketing, and procurement.  For a 3 year period between 2008-2011 Mike spent 3 years outside of Dell during which time he worked at BMC Software as the Senior Director of Alliances.  Prior to Dell, Mike worked as an IT Strategist at the Procter & Gamble Company and he also served for 5 years as a Military Intelligence Officer in the United States Army.  Mike graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, and he received his masters in information systems from Drexel University. Away from work, Mike is active in the community volunteering at his local church as a youth leader, coaching youth basketball, and working with the Austin charity organization Mobile Loaves and Fishes to help feed Austin’s homeless population.  Mike is married and has 3 children ranging in ages from 12 to 21.

Derek Gowdy is Chief Procurement Officier of Novolex and reports directly to the Chairmen and CEO.  He transferred to Hilex Poly in 2003 as part of the acquisition from Sonoco Products.   Derek’s directive was to build the Supply Management function from the ground up as Hilex established itself as a stand-alone business.  

Hilex has since grown from a $250M initial business into Novolex which is a $2B leader in the packaging industry.  The Supply Management Group of Novolex continues to play a significant role in driving change while implementing best-in-class global strategic sourcing solutions during on-going M&A activities.  
   
Derek was previously with Pirelli in various roles including Vice President of Procurement.  He has also worked with Sonoco Products, Rio Tinto and Oxford Industries.  Derek holds an MBA from The University of South Carolina along with both a lifetime C.P.M. and CPSM certification from the Institute for Supply Management.

Randy possesses over 25 years of Supply Chain experience in a variety of industries (aviation, power generation, industrial manufacturing, fire & security, defense and nuclear).  He has held senior roles at GE, Ingersoll Rand, Curtiss-Wright and Tyco leading major transformations while delivering significant value enhancement to these companies and their customers.   He holds B.S. in Manufacturing Technology from Bowling Green State University and Masters of Business Administration from Xavier University.

Phil Sampona currently works at FMC Corporation with his office located at its headquarters in Philadelphia, PA. 
Phil’s current title is the Global Category Senior Manager of Professional Services.  Within this role he is responsible for managing indirect spend categories on a global basis which includes (but is not limited to) advertising, marketing, travel, fleet, HR, real estate, facilities, communications, IT, translation services, market research, and consulting (across all corporate functions and business units).

Prior to FMC, Phil worked for Teva Pharmaceuticals, Dechert LLP, and Bristol-Myers Squibb in a variety of global procurement roles.

Phil is a graduate of Wilkes University where he received both his Bachelor’s in Business Management and his MBA in Operations Management. Phil completed the Global Leadership Executive Education Program at The Wharton School of Business and the Six Sigma Green Belt Program at Villanova University. Phil is also a Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) through the Institute of Supply Management and a Global Travel Professional (GTP) through the Global Business Travel Association.  Phil is also a prior Board Member and Chair of the New Jersey Business Travel Association (NJBTA) and currently sits as an Advisory Board Member for ProcureCon events.

As the Director, Indirect Procurement for Keurig Green Mountain, Amena Smith is a seasoned procurement professional who is passionate about her profession.  She joined Keurig Green Mountain, eleven years ago, as a buyer for resellable goods, and now manages a team of sixteen professionals in a best-practice indirect procurement environment.  With almost thirty years of procurement experience, Amena specializes in building procurement teams from scratch, as well as the processes, policies and practices to support them.

Prior to joining Keurig Green Mountain,  Amena’s procurement work was primarily in the hospitality industry where responsibilities ran the gamut from all major buying for large, upscale properties to teaching purchasing, inventory management and cost control at New England Culinary Institute. 

Outside of work, Amena is heavily involved in local theatre and has participated in more than 20 local productions, both on and offstage.  She has extended this passion to local schools where she volunteered as co-director and producer for several productions.  She is also a huge coffee lover and has served on the board of directors for the International Women’s Coffee Alliance and enjoyed a brief stint with the Specialty Coffee Association’s Sustainability Council.  “Some of the most extraordinary people I have met have been the people I’ve met in coffee.”

Amena was born in southern Wisconsin.  She has her undergraduate degree in Organizational and Interpersonal Communication, as well as a Master’s of Business Administration.  She is married to Philip Smith, Director of Culinary and Innovation for Papa Gino’s/D’Angelo’s and has two grown children, one a professional actress in Chicago, and one a college freshman.

Christian Widmann is currently the Director of Indirect Commodities at Manitowoc Cranes where he is responsible for all crane locations in North America along with some global responsibilities. Christian's experience expands over 20 plus years covering both direct and indirect procurement. Christian's career includes working in a variety of industries which include higher education, luxury food and beverage, heavy construction equipment, manufacturing, government, consumer goods, and business process outsourcing. In recent years, Christian's main focus has been on indirect procurement, implementation of SAP, and assisting with manufacturing operations.  Christian's indirect experience includes facilities, operations, marketing, CAPEX,  MRO, utilities, human resources, corporate services, professional services, travel, transportation, 3PL, outsourcing services, consultants, telecommunications, BPO, P2P and IT. Christian holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Management for the University of Phoenix.

Keith Woody is currently Senior Vice President / Chief Procurement Officer at Fulton Bank, part of Fulton Financial Corporation, a $26 billion financial services company. Fulton Bank offers a broad array of financial products and services in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. His previous experience has spanned across both public and private equity owned businesses with a charter to drive procurement transformation, process optimization and talent enrichment. Mr. Woody has held executive leadership roles within companies ranging between $4 billion and $64B billion in revenues. Keith holds an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee, and has a B.S. in management and human resource management from Liberty University.

Matt Holzapfel is a Product Marketer at Tamr where he focuses on procurement solutions. Prior to joining Tamr, Matt held positions in Strategy at Sears Holdings and Strategic Sourcing at Dell, where he led the implementation of new sourcing techniques to significantly lower procurement costs. Matt has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from Harvard Business School.