Bio coming soon
Chief Marketing Officer Susan Koehler leads all things Footprint marketing, including building a trusted brand, positive engagement with customers, partners and community leaders, and she chairs the Footprint Foundation. She brings over three decades of marketing leadership expertise creating trusted brands, strategic partnerships, and new revenue streams. She has a successful track record of building business alignment with governments, global and local communities, leading to awareness amplification, audience behavior change, and increased new customer acquisition.
Prior to Footprint, Susan served in C-suite roles at large companies and startups, including Microsoft, where she was Chief of Staff EMEA, based in Europe working for the president of Microsoft International, and as CMO for Rover.com. She also was a business leader at several consumer product companies and has served on non-profit boards such as The First Tee Greater Seattle and Taking IT Global.
Susan attended Rutgers University where she received her Master of Business Administration, and Syracuse University, where she graduated with both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Advertising and Marketing. Susan was a member of Harvard Kennedy School and Women’s Leadership Board for WAPPP (Women and Public Policy Program).
Bio coming soon.
Dr. Pearson received his B.S. in Chemistry from Montana State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. Dr. Pearson joined Aspen Research in 1997 from a post-doctoral position at the University of Minnesota. His prior professional experience includes positions as a Research Chemist and Production Superintendent for Celanese Chemical Corporation. Dr. Pearson has extensive experience in gas chromatographic analysis of volatile and semi-volatile compounds, has coordinated many studies of off gassing phenomena at elevated process temperatures, and is an expert at coupling analytical results back to their process chemistry. He is an industry recognized expert in Extractables and Leachables techniques whose studies have been instrumental in assisting risk professionals in providing guidance for companies navigating in various regulatory arenas.
Bio coming soon!
Carlos graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. He worked in industry before moving to the United Kingdom, to do his Ph.D at the University of Cambridge. During his doctoral research and subsequently as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate, he developed the basis of the Enval process to recycle plastic aluminium laminate pouches, sachets, tubes, etc.
As a result, Carlos founded Enval where he is CEO. The Company now has a commercial plant recycling laminates in the UK and is in the process of installing further units in other locations. Enval has also started to develop recycling processes for other materials, creating a link between the packaging world and the waste handling sector.
Nick is a systems integration professional with nearly ten years of experience in helping post-consumer material processors create more value from the waste stream. Since joining TOMRA in 2018, he has helped players across the post-consumer supply chain lay the foundation for closing the loop on paper and plastics packaging and biomass. Born and raised near the ocean, Nick is an avid competitive waterman and has spent the last 16 years working part-time as an Ocean Lifeguard with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Andrea began her career working in labs, first as a research assistant with the Institute for Genomic Research and then with Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC. Her undergraduate degree is in Biology from University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia. After attending law school at George Washington University, she was an attorney for many years with Emord & Associates PC in the Washington, D.C. area, representing clients regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (and related agencies). After leaving private practice, Andrea was Legal Counsel with Celltex Therapeutics, a ground-breaking stem cell company in Houston, TX. Next, Andrea was Regulatory Director, Associate General Counsel with Innophos, Inc, a manufacturing company supplying ingredients to the food, dietary supplement, pharmaceutical and technical industries around the globe. Currently Andrea is Food Law Counsel with Campbell Soup Company working primarily with its Quality, Regulatory, R&D, and Marketing teams on some of the most iconic brands in the United States.
As Vice President of Communications & Public Affairs for the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), Kara Pochiro is responsible for overseeing the implementation and promotion of technical, educational, market development, and legislative efforts and programs. She is responsible for the overall management of APR internal and external communications, media relations, conferences, and programs. A graduate of Ohio University, she holds a Master’s Degree from Columbia College in South Carolina. She resides in Anderson, SC.
Phil Berrier leads global compliance and food safety for Printpack, a leading manufacturer/converter of flexible and rigid packaging for food, consumer goods, medical devices, and personal care products. He has held leadership, research, and advocacy positions over the last 27 years with leading companies at all points of the plastics supply chain from chemical manufacture to brand ownership.
Areas of Focus: Product Safety, Private Brands, Quality and Compliance, Professional Development of Team, Servant Leadership, Strategic Planning, Negotiations, Global Sourcing
A results-driven and accomplished professional with progressive experience in maintaining product safety, process improvement, professional development, enforcing regulatory compliance, and strategic planning. Develops and implements tools to merge regulatory compliance with business needs securing long-term profitability.
Francis Olajide Jr. is global application technology leader of polyolefins modification for packaging at Eastman, where he oversees technical development with a strong focus on delivering innovative products and services that support customer success. With more than 18 years’ experience in polyolefin material and application development in the plastics and packaging industry, he has worked in a variety of technical, research, and marketing roles. Before coming to Eastman, Olajide held technical leadership roles at Dow, Illinois Tool Works (Zip-Pak division), and Ciba Specialty Chemicals (acquired by BASF). He is a member of the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), and the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), where he’s an active technical committee member. He holds a master of business administration degree in technology management from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor of science in chemical engineering from Clarkson University.
Leslie Patton has more than a decade of experience in regulatory toxicology. Leslie specializes in food additives and food contact, pesticides, consumer products, and cosmetics. She has extensive experience working with industries to successfully register pesticides with the US Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada and submit new food contact notifications (FCN) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Leslie routinely prepares the necessary submissions for food contact notifications (FCNs) and GRAS notifications. She develops data waiver rationales for human health and environmental toxicology requirements for registrations of conventional, antimicrobial and biochemical pesticides, and writes inert ingredient petitions for these products. She carries out hazard and exposure assessments to show compliance with Proposition 65, and develops product labels for a variety of consumer and personal care products. Leslie can also serve as an expert witness in legal matters involving toxicology.
Leslie has a BS in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Environmental Toxicology from Cornell University.
Biography coming soon.
Biography coming soon.
Paul Schutes is the Executive Director of the Recycled Paperboard Alliance (RPA) and the Recycled Paperboard Technical Association (RPTA), the 2 leading industry associations dedicated to expanding the use and improving the manufacture of recycled fiber products. Paul is a paperboard and packaging expert with 40 years of experience in the industry. During his career in paperboard packaging Paul has held senior positions in packaging design, engineering, sales and production. In his role as Executive Director of the RPA/RPTA Paul works with North America’s largest brand owners and retailers on a wide range of sustainability initiatives
T. Edwin Freeman is a Principal Scientist at Mars, Inc., responsible for sustainable packaging materials development and open innovation. He has an extensive background in materials research and development, having worked at The Coca-Cola Company, where he was responsible for breakthrough innovations in sustainable packaging. His prior R&D experience also includes Xerox Corporation where he worked on the research and development of materials for the fabrication of components that enabled innovations in xerographic and direct marking technologies as well as PPG Industries, where he worked on the development of materials for ophthalmic lens application. Edwin earned his PhD in Polymer Science from The University of Akron and he holds over 30 US Patents.
Biography coming soon.
Herbert (Herb) Estreicher represents leading manufacturers of chemicals, pesticides, and consumer products. His broad practice in international environmental regulatory law allows him to take an interdisciplinary approach with his clients and their needs. His extensive background in organic chemistry, risk assessment, and bioengineering is valued highly by his clients in the chemical, nanotechnology, and biotechnology industries. Herb is one of the few U.S.-based lawyers that is an expert on the European Union (EU) Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) regulation and has successfully argued a number of cases before the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Board of Appeal and has briefed cases before the EU General Court and the European Court of Justice.
Herb provides advice on product liability risk control and assists his clients with crisis management for embattled products, including wood preservatives and persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals. He helps clients secure and maintain chemical approvals and pesticide registrations in Canada and Europe, advises clients on matters involving the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and on European chemical directives such as the EU REACH regulation, the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) regulation, and the Biocidal Products Regulation.
Alistair manages the Food Packaging Safety Section within Smithers. This involves advising clients on the safety legislation which applies to food packaging in a wide range of different countries throughout the world and coordinating work programmes to ensure that clients' products meet these requirements. His expertise spans all the EU countries, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Russia and all the South American countries.
Alistair graduated with a degree and PhD in Chemistry from Birmingham University. After working for BP and the Department of Health, he joined Smithers in 1994, taking up his current position in 1995.
