Deep Market Visibility to Power Public Sector Innovation, Acquisition and Investment Decisions

Ben is a nationally-recognized expert, speaker, and author in Federal procurement and non-traditional acquisition methodologies, who spent more than a decade developing some of the most unique procurement solutions for the Department of Defense. He was instrumental in the development and implementation of defense policy and guidance for the use of Other Transaction Authorities and provided training and on-site consulting for more than 5,000 Acquisition personnel as the founder of the Acquisition Innovation Road Show (#AIRS / #FUTAIRS), an organic, Government-to-Government consultancy. Ben is a regular speaker on topics related to alternative acquisition methods, public procurement culture, organizational change management, and acquisition reform. Ben previously served as Chief of the Acquisition Management Office for the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command – Ground Vehicle Systems Center, and prior to that, as a Procuring Contracting and Agreements Officer for the US Army Contracting Command – Warren. Ben has been a member of the Michigan State Bar since 2008; is DAWIA Level III certified in Contracting; a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM); and Fellow of the National Contract Management Association.

Nancy has 25 years of professional editorial and writing experience, including 15 years within the IT analyst publishing industry. She previously served as EMEA Head of Publishing for Gartner Inc. with responsibility for all client-facing analysis and reports, and prior to that as Managing Editor within the Dun & Bradstreet group. Most recently, she was Editorial Director for a technology PR firm. She has extensive experience of producing and authoring customer reference programmes, thought-leadership papers and newsletters. Nancy holds a BA (Honours) in Linguistics and Modern Languages.

John works at the intersection of computer science and economics, with a focus on solving practical problems using stochastic optimization and machine learning.

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Jack joined PSF in 2019 following his graduation from Dartmouth College where he was a double major in Government and Environmental Studies. As a Business Analyst, Jacks works with clients on market research, supplier identification, and general supply chain management. Outside of work, Jack is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys skiing, backpacking, surfing, hiking, fishing, kayaking, and learning more about conservation. Additionally, Jack is a certified Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT), a Leave No Trace (LNT) instructor, and an avid hockey fan.

Peter Smith is Director for Public Spend Forum in Europe and leads our work in that region. He is also Managing Editor of Spend Matters UK/Europe and has been around procurement for 30 years as a manager, CPO and consultant. He was Procurement Director (CPO) for the UK's largest non-military government department in the 1990s, as well as holding that role in two major private sector firms, and was a non-executive director for two major public agencies. As a consultant he has advised government in the UK and more widely on procurement issues at the highest levels. He is a former President of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and is a regular speaker at conferences and workshops. His first book, "Buying Professional Services", co-authored with Fiona Czerniawska, was published in June 2010 by The Economist Books.

Jason Busch is the founder and Managing Director of Azul Partners (a media, publishing and advisory firm with ownership and management interest in a range of ventures). He started Azul Partners in 2004 after leaving FreeMarkets. The firm now controls the largest and most influential set of B2B, procurement and supply chain media and research resources online, reaching millions of readers and members each year through diverse properties including: Spend Matters, Spend Matters Plus/PRO, Spend Matters UK/Europe, Spend Matters Netherlands, MetalMiner, Public Spend Forum, Trade Financing Matters and Healthcare Matters.

Rob Handfield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, and Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative. Handfield is considered a thought leader in the field of supply chain management, and is an industry expert in the field of strategic sourcing, supply market intelligence, and supplier development. Handfield has published more than 120 peer reviewed journal articles and is regularly quoted in global news media such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NPR, the Financial Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and CNN.

Joseph High is an accomplished C-suite executive with strategic and operational experience in several global Fortune 500 companies across diverse industries. He delivered outstanding results at corporate, group, subsidiary and plant levels in both Union and Non-union environments. Joseph excels at building and sustaining strong cultures and selecting and developing leaders and teams that meet expectations of demanding customers with excellence to drive company success and shareholder value. His talents are broad and deep. His executive experience in working closely with several corporate boards accelerated his knowledge of the board's role in company strategy, financial performance, governance, culture and executive succession. He received recognition for his role in leading CEO succession and strategies to reposition assets and cost structure to better serve customers and increase growth at Grainger, led the multiple billion dollar people integration of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum, was instrumental in Owens Corning exiting an asbestos-related bankruptcy with an investment grade credit rating and implemented high-performing manufacturing environments at Cummins Engine and Rockwell Automation. Joseph's background also includes consulting with profit and non-profit organizations. Mr. High currently serves on the executive committee and is co-chair of the Nominations and Governance Committee for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School Board of Advisors and is a former Trustee and chairperson for the Nominations and Governance Committee for the University of Toledo. He is a member of The Executive Leadership Council and The Grand Boule Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He earned his master's degree from Central Michigan University and his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sam Kinney is an experienced entrepreneur, investor and innovator in business sector eCommerce. He was co-founder, EVP and director of late 90s business reverse auction innovator FreeMarkets, serving as acting CFO for its $214 million 1999 IPO. Over his FreeMarkets tenure, he was co-inventor on more than two dozen US patents for auction techniques to improve both the technical and economic performance of its auctions for Global 1000 procurement organizations. Also, during his tenure, Sam was a frequent presenter at industry and regulator conferences, at business schools, and as part of the US FTC’s hearings on B2B commerce. FreeMarkets became an important part of Ariba in 2004, and subsequently part of SAP. Sam was an early investor and advisor at Kiva Systems, developer of the warehouse automation platform that is now Amazon Robotics. He served as acting CFO and remains an advisor at Santa Monica based Happy Returns, and is an investor in Austin-based Pensa Systems. Sam holds BA and MBA degrees from Dartmouth College, served consulting stints with Booz-Allen and McKinsey, and was budget director for a tier-two defense contractor.

Shelly is a the Founder of the Shatter Fund and a Managing Partner at Sway Capital.

Wendy is currently an independent consultant having retired from the United States Air Force as a Three-Star General. Prior to her retirement in July 2017, she was Director of the Defense Contract Management Agency (2014-2017) where she oversaw a $1.4 billion budget and 12,000 people around the world in oversight of 20,000 contractors performing 340,000 Defense and Federal contracts valued at $6 trillion. Her oversight included business system approvals, quality compliance, production capacity, delivery timeliness, and payment authorizations of $500 million each day across the spectrum of Defense technologies. During her 36-year career, Wendy also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary (Contracting), Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (2011-2014), and Program Executive Officer for the Air Forces $30 billion Service Acquisition portfolio (2007-2011), and deployed to Iraq leading contracting support for military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan from July 2005-January 2016. Wendy’s medals and commendations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal and the Bronze Star. She is on the board of directors for KBR, Inc. and on the Board of Advisors for National Contract Management Association. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University, a Master of Science degree in logistics management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, a Master of Science degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Managers in Government. Wendy is a 2017 Distinguished Alum of Texas Tech University, an Executive Mosaic Wash 100 Award winner in 2015 and 2016, and the 2014 Greater Washington Government Contractor “Public Sector Partner of the Year.”

Pierre Mitchell, Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner of Azul Partners, Inc., has 25 years of procurement and supply chain industry and consulting experience, and is a recognized procurement expert specializing in supply processes, practices, metrics, and enabling tools and services. He is a regular contributor to business publications, a frequent presenter at industry events around the world and counts himself fortunate to have served and interacted with so many CPOs and future CPOs.

Dr. Tim Laseter teaches courses in operations strategy, innovation and emerging technology at Darden. He maintains his connections with practitioners by serving clients as a senior advisor, speaker, workshop facilitator, and expert witness. Prior to joining the Darden faculty in 2002, Laseter was a partner at Booz Allen & Hamilton, helping a wide variety of global businesses with operations strategy, supply chain management and strategic sourcing. Laseter is the author or co-author of four books, including Balanced Sourcing, Strategic Product Creation, The Portable MBA and Internet Retail Operations. He is also a contributing editor for strategy+business, which has featured nearly 50 of his articles over the past 25 years.

Alan B. Thomas, Jr. is the Chief Operating Officer at IntelliBridge and on the Advisory Board of Enlightenment Capital. Alan previously served as Commissioner of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service from June 2017 to October 2019. In this position he led 3,500 acquisition and technology professionals in the delivery of more than $60 billion of products, services, and solutions to save taxpayer dollars and enable federal agencies to accomplish their missions as efficiently as possible. He also served on two government-wide boards created in legislation, the Technology Modernization Fund and the Federal Acquisition Security Council. Prior to his role at GSA, Alan held positions in both industry and government, including as the Chief Operating Officer at Berico Technologies and as a Vice President at Data Networks Corporation. He also served in a number of roles within the federal government, including as a program manager for a portfolio of special access programs, service on the Department of Defense's Task Force to Improve Business and Stability Operations in Iraq, and as a Presidential Management Fellow on both the Army staff and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he earned the Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence and the Vice President’s Hammer Award for innovation in public service. Alan holds a Master in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master in Public Affairs from the University of Texas’ LBJ School, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Grinnell College.

Ulf Zetterberg is an entrepreneurial growth-oriented global leader with track record of building and scaling enterprise software businesses. Ulf Co-founded Seal Software 2010 together with Kevin Gidney (CTO). Seal created the contract analytics market. It was the first business to use an AI-powered platform to add intelligence, automation and visualization capabilities that augment and enhance the management and utilization of contract data. During his tenure as CEO Ulf oversaw the rapid growth of Seal from start-up to being the market leading provider. Seal Software was acquired by DocuSign May 2020. Today Ulf is an investor, advisor and board member to several business with a primary focus on software and data driven businesses. Prior to Seal, Ulf held senior executive roles with OpenText, Kazeon, EMC and ProAct. He has over 25 years of enterprise software and services experience in both corporate and entrepreneurial environments. He studied Economics at Stockholm University.