Jill Blanchard
President, Advantage Solutions

Jill Blanchard currently serves as the President of Client Solutions at Advantage Solutions, a sales and marketing agency providing business process outsourcing services. Prior to this, Jill serviced President of BrandLoyalty USA, a company that builds consumer engagement for the world’s leading retailers. Previously and beginning in 2013, Jill served as the Chief Executive Officer of SPAR Group, Inc., a publicly-held international merchandising and marketing services company. For seven years prior to that, Jill served as the Senior Vice President of Client Services and Business Development for HAVI, a global supply chain services company to the food service industry. 

Jill began her career as a statistician at Monsanto, utilizing her undergraduate degrees in mathematics and statistics. She later spent 14 years at Nielsen in various analytics, client services, marketing, and business development positions. 

Jill’s career has centered around two passions: building and service. She’s got a knack for understanding people’s goals, connecting dots and building strategies to help them accomplish their goals. She has been fortunate to work closely with some of the most admired brands in the world including Kraft, P&G, Apple, McDonald’s, Smucker’s, and Kroger, to name a few. 

Paul Callahan
President, Retail Sales, T. Marzetti Company 

Paul Callahan is a 30-year CPG veteran in the food industry. Paul is currently President of Retail Sales at T. Marzetti Company. He has been leading the sales organization since 2019. 

Prior to joining T. Marzetti, Paul held the role of Senior Vice-President of Sales for Mizkan America. During his tenure, Mizkan acquired the renowned billion-dollar Ragu and Bertolli pasta sauce brands from Unilever, significantly bolstering the company’s market presence. 

Paul’s career journey commenced at Kraft Foods, where he began as a Sales Representative and steadily progressed to the position of Area Vice President – Central Area over a span of 25 years.  

Throughout his professional endeavors, Paul has consistently demonstrated a dedication to fostering collaborative partnerships with customers and nurturing high-performing teams to achieve top-tier results. 

Jonathan Clinthorne, PhD
Director of Nutrition, Simply Good Foods USA, Inc 

Jon Clinthorne, PhD received his doctorate in Human Nutrition from Michigan State University for his work focusing on metabolism and immune function. He then completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical campus where he studied the role of the gut microbiota in immune cell development. His research has been published in several top-tier journals including the Journal of Nutrition and Journal of Immunology. As the Director of Nutrition at Simply Good Foods, Jon is involved in new product research and development, creating continuing education courses and establishing relationships with medical professionals. Over the course of his career, he has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences, a featured guest on podcasts and radio shows, and quoted in various magazines such as Men’s Health, Forbes, Elle, and Runner’s World. He serves on the steering committee for the American Society for Nutrition’s Friends of the Office of Nutrition Research, and is also a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Heart Association, and the Institute of Food Technologists.    

Craig Dubitsky 
Friendly co-founder, happy coffee 
Founder, hello products 
Former Chief Innovation Strategist, Colgate-Palmolive 

Craig is the friendly co-founder of happy coffee (along with Robert Downey Jr), founder of hello products, and former Chief Innovation Strategist of Colgate-Palmolive.  

happy coffee launched in early 2024 with a mission to elevate the everyday. Priding itself on using only the best, selectively sourced green beans produced by thoughtful growers and opting for a slow roasting process to protect the finest of flavor, happy not only delivers a seriously delicious™ cup of coffee but they care about the person drinking it. In an effort to de-stigmatize mental health, happy coffee has partnered with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, with a dedication to building better lives for millions of Americans. Think of it as coffee with a conscience.  

hello, the world’s first naturally friendly™ oral care brand, was acquired by Colgate in January of 2020. hello remains the fastest-growing oral care brand in the US, with products now available in over 55,000 food, drug, and mass retailers. hello was named by Inc Magazine as one of the Best Places to Work, as well as “One of the 25 Companies That Are Changing the World.” Dubitsky himself was named to Advertising Age’s Creativity 50, the publication’s annual list of the most influential and innovative creative thinkers, and one of the 100 Most Inspirational Marketers in the World by The Internationalist.  

Prior to hello, Craig was a co-founder and creative lead at eos products, a founding board member at Method Products, and a strategic advisor to Seventh Generation, Boots, and various private equity funds.  

Craig is an inductee in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) Hall of Fame, an Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson, and serves as an Advisory Council Member at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship at The Simon School of Business at The University of Rochester. Craig loves people, design, brand, packaging and people. Yes, he said people twice. 

Justin Honaman
Head, Worldwide Retail & Consumer Goods GTM, Amazon/AWS 

Justin Honaman leads the worldwide Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Go-to-Market team at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He is also the worldwide segment leader for Food & Beverage. His team’s focus within Retail and CPG is on delivering supply chain, ecommerce, data / analytics and digital engagement business solutions for customers globally. Justin has spent the majority of his career in Consumer Goods and Retail both on the customer side (Coca-Cola, Georgia Pacific) as well as the technology / consulting side (Accenture, EY). In the industry and community, Justin serves on the board for the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), Consumer Goods Technology (CGT), Western Michigan Food Marketing Association, and Leadership Atlanta. Justin lives in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Alexa James
Chief Executive Officer, NAMI Chicago 

Since stepping into her position as NAMI Chicago’s leader in 2014, Alexa James has dedicated herself to making NAMI Chicago a leading voice in the conversation around mental wellness, the challenges of the mental health system, and mental health education in Chicago and beyond.  

Prior to her work at NAMI Chicago, Alexa worked with children and adults living with mental health conditions as well as those impacted by poverty and trauma. Alexa earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Loyola University, as well as a Master’s Degree in Child Development from Erickson Institute. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Illinois.  

Under Alexa’s leadership, NAMI Chicago has built partnerships extending throughout Chicago and Illinois that strengthen our community’s response to mental health. She has represented NAMI Chicago on the Police Accountability Task Force under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force under Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and Mayor-elect Lightfoot’s Health & Human Services Transition Committee.  

Through personal outreach and numerous appearances on local media, Alexa has grown NAMI Chicago’s presence in the community which has built the foundation for unprecedented organizational growth, particularly expanding NAMI Chicago’s Helpline, peer support, and training and education services.  

NAMI Chicago’s message is at the heart of Alexa’s leadership: that with courage and hope, we can bring healing to those who are overlooked in our mental health system, and in our society. 

Melissa Mayfield
Head of Grocery and Retail Operations, Colgate-Palmolive

Melissa is the head of grocery and retail operations for Colgate-Palmolive. In this role, Melissa is responsible for the Grocery channel sales and operations strategy, P&L and a diverse team. Previously, she served as Head of Sales – Tom’s of Maine (a division of Colgate-Palmolive). In this role, Melissa led customer teams in all channels from Mass, Grocery, Naturals, Drug, eCommerce, Value Discount and specialty as well category management and digital commerce. 

Melissa has 20 years of experience in sales, digital commerce, supply chain, category management and operations. She has a passion for improving go-to-market strategies, delivering results leveraging data insights and motivating teams through coaching and upskilling. 

Melissa holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from University of Arkansas and a MBA from University of the Incarnate Word. 

Keith Mercier
General Manager, WW Retail and Consumer, Microsoft 

Keith joined Microsoft in January of 2019 as General Manager for WW Retail and Consumer. He started his retail career folding jeans at his local Gap store when he was 17 years old. This led to a 27-year career at Gap Inc., where he held executive positions as Head of Ecommerce Strategy, Vice President of Gap.com for North America, and General Manager of Gap 1969 Jeans, Gap’s largest product category. 

In 2012, recognizing the important and emerging role of technology in the industry, Keith made a career change to IBM as a digital transformation expert where he spent time meeting with the C-suite to strategize the role of technology in transforming the Enterprise for IBM’s largest retail and consumer goods clients. Then In 2014, when IBM commercialized its Watson Artificial Intelligence supercomputer, Keith led the WW Retail and Consumer Industry for Watson AI.  

Keith graduated from Clemson University and is a fierce and loyal Tiger fan. He earned his MBA from Pepperdine University and currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, Kate, and two kids, Max and Caroline. 

Allie K Miller
AI Entrepreneur, Advisor, Investor 

Allie K. Miller is a top artificial intelligence leader, advisor, and investor. Previously, Allie was the Global Head of Machine Learning for Startups and Venture Capital at Amazon (AWS), advising the top machine learning researchers and founders in the world. Prior to that, Allie worked at IBM, spearheading development across computer vision, conversation, data, and regulation. Outside of work, Allie is changing the game of AI. Allie has spoken about AI around the world, addressed the European Commission, drafted foreign AI strategies, and created eight guidebooks to educate businesses on how to build successful AI projects. Allie was named as AIconic’s 2019 “AI Innovator of the Year”, a LinkedIn Top Voice for Technology and AI for the last five years, Award Magazine’s Top 50 Women in Tech and Top 100 Global Thought Leaders, Chief in Tech’s Top 100 Women in Tech to Watch in 2022, ReadWrite’s Top 20 AI Speakers in the World, MKAI’s Top 20 AI Mavericks, Data Salon’s Top 25 Data Science influencers in the world, and Neptune’s Top 20 AI Influencers. Allie is also the Founder of The AI Pipeline to build stronger diversity in ML, co-founder of Girls of the Future, a national ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an ambassador for the 10,000-person organization Advancing Women in Product, an angel investor in machine learning startups, and has won the Grand Prize in three national innovation competitions. Allie is driven, ambitious, and quick-witted. Allie holds a double-major MBA from The Wharton School and a BA in Cognitive Science (coding a three-year ML study and studying Computer Science, Linguistics, Psychology) from Dartmouth College. 

Taydra Mitchell Jackson
Chief Marketing Officer, Sundial Brands  
Chief Marketing Officer, SheaMoisture
Brand Creator, Advocate for the Underserved Brand and Beauty Maven 

Taydra Mitchell Jackson is an award-winning c-suite marketer with career long passion for the world of beauty, business, and multicultural marketing. As a 25+ year veteran of the beauty industry, she has spent her career affecting change for underserved consumers and communities, both in her executive roles at some of the world’s largest and most recognized corporations, including Procter & Gamble (P& G), L’Oreal, and Revlon, as well as in her role as consultant and advisor to the start-up, indie and niche-targeted beauty companies that have transformed the multicultural beauty landscape over the last decade. During that time, she managed T M J Omni Enterprises, L L C, a self-owned boutique marketing consultancy that helps provide strategic direction to founder led brands in the beauty vertical with direct to consumer and omnichannel focus, including a stint as Head of Marketing for The Lip Bar, an inclusive vegan and cruelty free cosmetics start-up founded by Melissa Butler that is taking the beauty world by storm. At every step, she has been and will continue to be a voice and advocate for the underserved. Today, Mitchell Jackson serves as Chief Marketing Officer for SheaMoisture, the largest multicultural beauty care brand in the world. In her role, she is responsible for innovation and new product development, end-to-end communications, and overall marketing strategy for the brand’s multiple categories.  

Mitchell Jackson is a proud, second-generation college graduate and 2x graduate of Florida A& M University, receiving both her undergraduate (BS in Business Administration) and graduate (M B A in Marketing) degrees there, along with executive management training at Insead through the L ’Oreal Global Executive Management program. She sits on the advisory boards for Healing of the Heart Ministries (not for profit that supports survivors of sexual abuse) and NY C/ Atlanta based Harlem Zen (medi-spa targeting multicultural skin). She also loves to spend time mentoring women in the areas of business and personal growth. She and her husband Tony have three daughters, Gabrielle, and twin daughters Hallel and Hannah, who are matriculating as sophomores at Howard University and North Carolina Central University, respectively. 

Kevin O’Leary
Star of ABC’s Shark Tank, Venture Capitalist and Investor

Kevin O’Leary’s success story began in his native Canada, “with a big idea and zero cash.” In 1986, he founded SoftKey Software Products, later to be called The Learning Company, in his Toronto basement. Under O’Leary’s leadership, the company became a giant in its sector before it was acquired for $4.2 billion. In 2000, O’Leary founded O’Leary Ventures, a generalist venture capital investment platform that has since invested in start-ups and early-stage companies across virtually every sector. In 2003, he co-founded Storage Now, a leading developer of climate-controlled storage facilities, which was later acquired for $110 million. His next investment, Stream Global Services, was later acquired for $820 million. 

In 2006, O’Leary joined the Canadian cast of Dragon’s Den, the international business reality show and forerunner of the U.S. Shark Tank franchise. His tough critiques and brutal honesty made him a popular judge. In 2009, he was invited to join the founding cast of ABC’s Shark Tank, alongside Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Lori Greiner, Daymond John, and Barbara Corcoran. Shark Tank continues to be one of the most popular television programs of all time, garnering multiple awards and nominations, including four Emmy awards. Reflecting his commitment to “eco-preneurship,” O’Leary also co-hosted The Discovery Channel’s Project Earth series, which explored radical ideas to combat global warming. 

O’Leary currently serves as chairman for a portfolio of companies that reflect his guiding principles for business. They include venture capital investment platform O’Leary Ventures; Beanstox, an automated internet-based investment advisory service; and O’Shares Investments, which provides ETFs for long-term wealth management. He is the founder of O’Leary Financial Group, and Chief Sommelier of award-winning O’Leary Fine Wines. Since 2021, O’Leary has also been a strategic investor in WonderFi, now one of the largest regulated crypto asset trading platforms in the world. 

A strong believer in financial education and fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs, Kevin O’Leary is the author of a bestselling series of books: Cold Hard Truth; Men, Women and Money; and Family, Kids and Money. He has spoken to future entrepreneurs at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Notre Dame, Waterloo and McGill. Corporate speaking audiences have included Ernst & Young, MassMutual, First Third Bank, Constant Contact, Comcast, Zendesk, Cisco Systems, National Conference of State Legislatures, and ExxonMobil. 

O’Leary serves on the investment committee of Boston’s prestigious 200-year-old Hamilton Trust. He is an avid chef, wine lover, world traveler, photographer, electric guitarist, guitar collector, and die-hard New England Patriots fan. 

Mr. O’Leary received an honours bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and psychology from the University of Waterloo and an MBA in entrepreneurship from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.

Rachael Ryan
Head of Research & Insights, NA & Global Functions, TikTok

Rachael Ryan is an accomplished marketing professional. Prior to TikTok, her experience spanned helping Fortune 500s and startups in Tech, Ecommerce, Finance, Retail, and Government, specializing in thought leadership and advertising research.  

As the Head of Research and Insights for Global Functions and North America at TikTok, Rachael’s focus is on thought leadership research – digging into business questions with clients to evolve their understanding of TikTok phenomenon like culture, creative, creators, consumer journey, commerce; as well as digging into more technical topics like product and placement research.