My journey….
I started at the University of Illinois in the Aeronautical Engineering program and migrated to Industrial Engineering. I found out early on that my talents were best suited for the business side of engineering rather than the design, programming and coding aspects of engineering.
Along the way, I found a great mentor and advisor in Dr. Judith Lieberman who challenged me to be the best that I could be – guiding me to courses that matched my untapped abilities. As part of my journey, I worked at the intramural building (IMPE) and was the social director for our four (4) dorm complex PAR.
My first job
Industrial Engineering at Griffith Labs – now Griffith World in Alsip, Illinois working on standards, routings, plant layout and other traditional IE projects. After I few years, I started my MBA program at DePaul Driehaus College of Business – working during the day and attending classes at night.
From there I spent the next 23+ years with Pactiv/Reynolds in various roles from manufacturing department manager, business systems implementations (SAP/JDA), corporate projects, plant manager and then migrated to supply chain with the Hefty brand name. You can say I had a chance to apply all my IE and MBA experiences.
I’ve also managed multi-plant operations, lead the end to end supply chain efforts with logistics and transportation, built the supply chain and logistics functions as a Vice President at Greenleaf Foods and now I’m working for one of the most iconic brands – Coca Cola - building the strategic roadmap to Industry 4.0.
I’m also the ISE Alumni Board President and Adjunct Advisor for the Senior Capstone Program!
Volunteering and “paying it forward” are in my DNA – I also sit on two other non-profit boards – Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network and IMEC.