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Summit Thought Leaders and Presenters
The Lean and Green Summit
is gather some of the world's great lean and
sustainability experts.
Some will present, others will be instrumental in
interacting with attendees.
Presenters

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Jean Cunningham
Founder of Jean Cunningham
Consulting
Jean
Cunningham
is
co-author
of Real
Numbers:
Management
Accounting
in a
Lean
Organization,
2004
Shingo
Prize
for
Research
recipient
and
Easier,
Simpler,
Faster:
System
Strategy
for Lean
IT, 2008
Shingo
Prize
for
Research
recipient.
Jean is
the
founder
and
president
of Jean
Cunningham
Consulting
which
has
clients
throughout
the U.S.
and
provides
business
strategy
and
business
process
improvement
services
that
drive
lean
principles
throughout
the
enterprise.
She is
currently
the CFO
at
Stiles
Associates,
the
premier
executive
retain
search
firm
focused
on lean.
Jean is
also the
CFO and
a
Director-at-Large
for the
Association
for
Manufacturing
Excellence.
She is
the
former
Chief
Financial
Officer
and Vice
President
of
Company
Services,
at both
Lantech,
LLC and
Marshfield
DoorSystems,
Inc.
From
1991
through
2004,
Jean was
a leader
in
Lantech’s
evolution
of a
small,
family
owned
business
to a
lean
industry
leader.
Lantech’s
Lean
Journey
was
chronicled
in the
best
seller,
Lean
Thinking.
Jean
joined
the
continuous
improvement
effort
at
Lantech
from
their
first
kaizen,
and took
the
revolution
of lean
from the
manufacturing
floor to
the
business
office
of this
Louisville,
Kentucky
manufacturer
of
packaging
equipment.
She was
actively
involved
with
Lantech's
product
expansion
efforts
through
acquisition
and
product
development.
Prior to
joining
Lantech,
Jean was
a
finance
professional
with
Digital
Equipment
Corporation
and
Westinghouse
Electric.
She cut
her
teeth in
the
business
world in
her
mother’s
business
from age
12,
later
teaching
school
and
managing
a
restaurant,
which
provided
a base
of
practical
experience.
In
addition
to
co-authoring
her two
books,
she has
contributed
to
several
publications
related
to lean
accounting
and
lean. A
former
instructor
of
Operations
Management
in the
Boston
University
MBA
program,
Jean has
lectured
on Lean
Accounting
and
Operations
Management
on many
occasions.
Jean has
a BS in
Accounting
from
Indiana
University
and an
MBA from
Northeastern
University's
Executive
Program.
She
lives in
Chicago
area
with her
husband,
Alan
Riggs,
and has
two
sons.
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Gil Friend
Gil
Friend
is
founder,
president
& CEO of
Natural
Logic
Inc,
providing
advisory
services
in
strategy,
design,
operations
and
information
systems
that
help
clients
build
economic
advantage
through
exceptional
environmental
performance
–
Sustainable
performance
you can
take to
the
bank™
Clients
have
included
APS,
Auberge
Resorts,
Agilent
Technologies,
Dean
Foods,
Ex’pression
Center
for New
Media,
General
Mills,
Gilead
Sciences,
Granite
Construction,
Green
Mountain
Energy,
Hewlett
Packard,
Levi
Straus &
Co,
Nike,
Odwalla,
Pacific
Gas &
Electric,
Sun
Microsystems,
the US
General
Services
Administration
and many
others.
A
systems
ecologist
and
business
strategist
with 36
years
experience
in
business,
communications
and
environmental
innovation,
Friend
combines
broad
business
experience
with
unique
content
experience
spanning
strategy,
systems
ecology,
economic
development,
management
cybernetics,
and
public
policy.
Tomorrow
Magazine
called
him “One
of the
country’s
leading
environmental
management
consultants
— a real
expert
who
combines
theoretical
sophistication
with
hands-on,
in-the-trenches
know-how.”
He is a
founding
board
member
of the
Sustainable
Business
Alliance,
Sustainable
Berkeley,
and the
California
Sustainable
Business
Council,
and
serves
on the
executive
board of
OpenEco.org
and the
advisory
boards
of
CleanFish,
WattBot,
Green
World
Campaign
and
(past)
San
Francisco
Mayor
Gavin
Newsom's
Clean
Tech
Advisory
Council.
He was a
founding
board
member
of
internet
pioneer
Institute
for
Global
Communications,
and was
Co-founder
and
Co-Director
of the
Institute
for
Local
Self-Reliance,
one of
the
nation's
leading
urban
ecology
and
economic
development
“think-and-do
tanks,”
where he
pioneered
the
current
“green
roof”
trend
more
than 35
years
ago.
Friend
lectures
widely
on
business
strategy
and
environmental
policy,
and
currently
writes
"The New
Bottom
Line" (http://www.natlogic.com/new-bottom-line)
offering
strategic
perspectives
on
business
and
environment,
and an
irregular
weblog
on
strategic
sustainability
and
other
matters
of
interest
at (http://blogs.natlogic.com/friend).
He wrote
the "Ask
the
Experts"
feature
at
GreenBiz.com,
and a
"Sustainability
Sundays"
column
for
WorldChanging.com.
He has
contributed
chapters
to
several
books,
including
Worldchanging:
A Users
Guide to
the 21st
Century,
Sustainable
Enterprise
Report,
Sustainable
Enterprise
Fieldbook,
and is
the
author
of the
forthcoming
books:
The
Truth
About
Green
Business
(FT
Press)
and
Risk,
Fiduciary
Responsibility
and the
Laws of
Nature.
He holds
an MS in
Systems
Ecology
from
Antioch
University,
a black
belt in
Aikido,
and is a
seasoned
practitioner
of "The
Natural
Step"
environmental
management
system.
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Catherine Greener
Catherine Greener is CEO of Greener
Solutions, Inc. Catherine has more than
20 years of experience in the
implementation of sustainability,
lean manufacturing, and industrial
quality management systems. She has
led sustainability and resource
efficiency projects for clients
ranging from entrepreneurial
start-ups to the industrial
facilities of multinational
corporations and Fortune 500
companies. Additionally, Catherine
sits on several advisory boards
addressing sustainability in higher
education programs, for-profit
companies, and the city of Denver.
She has experience in the food and
beverage processing, automotive,
chemical, semi-conductor, facility
automation (robotics), and
construction industries. She
combines her sustainability, quality
management, and lean manufacturing
experience with acute problem
solving skills and an exceptional
ability to uncover process waste.
Catherine has given numerous talks,
facilitated visioning sessions and
conducted training classes in
sustainability, continuous quality
improvement and other disciplines,
developed waste reduction programs,
and led problem-solving groups for
manufacturing strategy.
Additionally, she has experience in
ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and Six-Sigma.
She holds a BS in Industrial
Engineering from Northwestern
University and a MBA from University
of Michigan. Catherine lives in
Boulder Colorado with her husband
Alan in a home featured on the
Boulder Solar Home tour. |

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Dave Gustashaw
Former
Vice President of Engineering for
Interface Americas
Mr. Gustashaw is a senior executive
with over 30 years experience in
research, design, and management.
Mr. Gustashaw’s area of expertise is
process improvement using applied
sustainable methodologies. Mr.
Gustashaw is an author and guest
lecturer at many universities,
businesses, and local, state, and
federal government functions. Mr.
Gustashaw is a member of the Green
Power Market Development Group at
the World Resources Institute, on
the Board of Directors at the
Southface Energy Institute, is past
Chairman of the City of Atlanta
Solid Waste Management Planning
Advisory Group, and is member of the
Water Conservation Technical
Advisory Committee for the State of
Georgia Environmental Protection
Division. Mr. Gustashaw has a degree
in Mechanical Engineering from the
University of Florida.
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Robert "Doc" Hall
Robert W. “Doc” Hall is Professor Emeritus of the
Kelley School of Business, Indiana
University. He is a founding member
of the Association for Manufacturing
Excellence, and is now
editor-in-chief of the association’s
publication, Target. His experience
with lean operations dates to the
late 1970s.
Doc has been an examiner for the U.
S. Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award. He is now a judge for the
Pace Award (innovative auto
suppliers). He has reviewed
applicants for Industry Week’s
annual 10 Best Plants competition
since it began in 1990.
Dr. Hall first book was Zero
Inventories in 1983. He is at work
on a seventh, Compression, on
business system change to meet 21st
century challenges.
Before academia, Dr. Hall worked for
Eli Lilly and Union Carbide. His
undergraduate degree is chemical
engineering; his graduate degree is
in operations management.
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Burt Klein
Burt Klein is President of
PortionPac Chemical Corporation.
Founded In 1964, PortionPac
pioneered high concentrate detergent
formulations, portion control
packaging and environmentally
sustainable programs. Dozens of
concepts from safer chemicals to
color coded products and formal
custodial education were introduced
to the janitorial and plant
maintenance industry through
PortionPac.
Burt was born in Chicago and after
graduation from the University of
Illinois he worked for the Chicago
Board of Trade ensuring that member
firms had sufficient capital and led
a team that enhanced the financial
surveillance systems. Before working
for PortionPac, he was Chief
Financial Officer of Sheridan
Investments, a money management firm
in Chicago, during their four-fold
growth in managed assets.
Burt is a frequent speaker about
sustainable business. He has been
invited to speak the at the Illinois
Governor’s Pollution Prevention
Award ceremony, America’s Small
Business Development Center Network
and the School Nutrition
Association. Burt currently teaches
Sustainable Business courses for the
Chicago Sustainable Business
Alliance.
He currently is on the Board of the
Industrial Council of Near West
Chicago, Foresight Design Initiative
and the University of Illinois’
Family Business Council.
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Roger Saillant
Roger Saillant, Ph.D., recently
retired as President and CEO of
Plug Power Inc., a position he
held since December 2000 where
he planned and directed all
aspects of the organization's
policies, objectives, and
initiatives, and was responsible
for the short and long-term
profitability and growth of the
company.
Previously, Dr. Saillant served
for more than 30 years with Ford
Motor Company and Visteon
Corporation, a spin-off of Ford,
where his most recent position
was Vice President and General
Manager of the Company's Energy
Transformation Systems Group.
While at Ford Motor Company and
Visteon Corporation, he held
numerous management positions in
the areas of component
engineering, catalysis, quality,
electronics and manufacturing. |
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Peter Senge
Peter is a
Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. He is also
Founding Chair of the Society for
Organizational Learning (SoL), a
global community of corporations,
researchers, and consultants
committed “to increase our capacity
to collectively realize our highest
aspirations and productively resolve
our differences” through the mutual
development of people and
institutions. The Journal of
Business Strategy named him a
“Strategist of the Century,” one of
twenty-four men and women who have
“had the greatest impact on the way
we conduct business today”
(September/October 1999). His
special interest is on
decentralizing the role of
leadership in organizations so as to
enhance the capacity of all people
to work productively toward common
goals. Senge's work places human
values at the cornerstone of the
workplace, proposing that vision,
purpose, reflectiveness, and systems
thinking are essential for
organizations to realize their
potentials. Senge is the author of
several books, including the widely
acclaimed,
The Fifth Discipline and
most recently published
Necessary Revolution.
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Susan Skjei
("shay")
Conference
Facilitator
Susan has been consulting with
leaders and executive teams of
businesses, non-profit organizations
and government agencies for over 20
years. She has a unique ability to
create energetic and high trust
learning environments that
accelerate practical business
results while building strong,
collaborative relationships. She
provides facilitation, training and
coaching in the areas of leadership,
strategic planning, organizational
culture, and change management.
She has designed and led large-scale
change initiatives for such diverse
client groups as Hewlett-Packard,
Phipps Construction, Rocky Mountain
HMO, The Colorado Air National
Guard, StorageTek and the Mental
Health Center of Boulder County.
These initiatives have included the
development of core values and
purpose, leadership competencies and
succession planning, strategic
planning, process reengineering and
improvement, goal alignment and
organization design. Susan is a
Certified Organization Development
Consultant (CODC) with Associated
Consultants International.
Susan has a Master of Science degree
from American University in Human
Resource Development and is
completing her Ph.D. at Fielding
Graduate University. In addition to
consulting and coaching, she has
designed and taught classes,
workshops and conferences at Naropa
University in leadership, strategic
planning and organization
development. She is the founder and
director of the Authentic Leadership
Certificate program at Naropa
University in Boulder, Colorado, (http://www.naropa.edu/leadership)
and is a founding member of the
Shambhala Institute for Authentic
Leadership in Halifax, Nova Scotia
http://www.shambhalainstitute.org).
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Rand Waddoups
Rand
Waddoups, Senior Director, Strategy
and Sustainability, Wal-Mart Stores.
Rand is looking after the most
exciting thing happening in business
today; sustainability. Several
months ago, he joined a small team
dedicated to building sustainable
practices into every part of
Wal-Mart's business strategy.
They are doing this by focusing on
three big goals: to create zero
waste, to use 100 percent renewable
energy and to bring more sustainable
products to its customers.
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Brett Wills
Brett
brings over 10 years of experience
in the environmental arena and over
7 years of direct manufacturing
experience. Brett has first hand
experience leading teams in the
implementation of LEAN initiatives
such as Kanban Systems, Finished
Goods Supermarket and 5S. He has
also been instrumental in
facilitating the development and
implementation of many health and
safety and environmental initiatives
within a manufacturing environment.
Brett has extensive experience in
the development and management of
ISO 9001 and 14001 systems.
Brett’s
career started as the environmental
programs coordinator for Powersmiths,
an energy efficient transformer
manufacturer. This position
progressed to become the purchasing
and logistics manager. In this role,
his hands on leadership approach
resulted in a standardized
purchasing process, significant
reductions in inventory levels,
material and transportation costs.
He also developed and implemented
from the ground up the company’s
highly successful environmental,
health and safety program. As
Operations Manager, Brett helped
lead the development, implementation
and successful certification of the
ISO 9001 and 14001 systems. As Plant
Manger, Brett took on the overall
management and continuous
improvement of these systems and has
led these systems through many
successful 3rd party audits. Also in
his role as Plant Manager, Brett
used his extensive environmental
knowledge and experience coupled
with his leadership and management
ability to lead the development and
implementation of many green
initiatives, all of which resulted
in significant environmental and
bottom line improvements.
Brett’s
blend of hands on, management and
leadership experience along with his
knowledge of lean, green and
continuous improvement concepts
provide him with a unique skill set.
His ability to develop a shared
vision and then empower teams and
individuals through training and
coaching to realize an end goal,
produce consistent results.
Brett
lives in Toronto and is the author
of “Green Intentions: Creating a
Green Value Stream to Compete and
Win” a book that presents a
systematic process for organizations
to go green profitably, a process
that is based on lean thinking.
Brett holds a BA in Economics from
Wilfrid Laurier University.
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