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GS1 US Leadership

Bob Carpenter - President and Chief Executive Officer

Bob Carpenter
President and Chief Executive Officer

As President and Chief Executive Officer of GS1 US®, Bob Carpenter is responsible for leading the Company’s strategic direction, including business solutions, education and training programs, industry initiatives, and community engagement focused on driving broader adoption and use of GS1 Standards. He oversees all corporate development efforts charged with uncovering new opportunities for unique identification to promote interoperability across developing technologies, ranging from blockchain and artificial intelligence to conversational commerce and machine learning. With more than two million customers across 150 countries globally, GS1 Standards for unique, persistent identity from product origin to disposition represent a critical foundation for today’s connected commerce and the technologies available to industry. Additionally, Mr. Carpenter guides the GS1 US and GS1 Germany joint venture, 1WorldSync, which helps global companies share and manage rich product data.

Prior to joining GS1 US, Mr. Carpenter was President of ARAMARK Healthcare, which generated $2 billion in revenue for ARAMARK Corporation and served more than 1,200 North American hospitals. He led more than 13,000 employees, providing food, facilities, and clinical equipment, to achieve record growth for the company under his leadership. He also served as Senior Vice President of Business and Strategic Development for ARAMARK International, a $4 billion division with locations in 22 countries.

Before his career at ARAMARK, Mr. Carpenter was Vice President of Marketing for McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, where he led a department responsible for 21 different product lines, including Tylenol, Motrin, Imodium, and St. Joseph portfolio brands.

Mr. Carpenter is a member of the GS1 Global Management Board and Executive Committee. He is frequent guest speaker at industry events and conferences, including the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (IFMA) President’s Conference, Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Midwinter Executive Conference, the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show, The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and the Healthcare Supply Chain Expo.

Mr. Carpenter earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in history from Middlebury College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude.

Yegneswaran Kumar (“Kumar”) - Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Yegneswaran Kumar (“Kumar”)
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Finance, Legal and Technology

Yegneswaran Kumar is the Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Finance, Legal and Technology for GS1 US. His responsibilities include the financial strategy and performance of the organization, financial controls, and investment fund performance oversight. He also has responsibility for oversight of the Legal Department, Technology Department, fiduciary responsibilities as Corporate Secretary and is involved in Board membership and governance matters.

Mr. Kumar has more than 20 years of finance experience in global companies. Prior to joining GS1 US in July 2005, he worked for Johnson Diversey, a global manufacturing company, serving as Finance Director–Supply Chain for its North American operations. Previously, he served in different capacities at Black & Decker in the Middle East and the U.S., lastly as Director–Financial Planning & Analysis for its flagship power tools business. Prior to that, he worked for Unilever in India.

Mr. Kumar holds an undergraduate degree from Madras University, India, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India, and professional accreditation as a Chartered Accountant in India. After migrating to the U.S., Kumar obtained his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) accreditations.

Melanie Nuce - Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

Melanie Nuce
Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

As Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Melanie Nuce leads a team that investigates new technologies, partnerships and business opportunities to increase the relevance and reach of GS1 Standards. Drawing on her extensive background in retail technology, Ms. Nuce oversees the exploration of collaboration opportunities to help businesses leverage emerging technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and machine learning.

Previously, Ms. Nuce was the Vice President, Corporate Development, managing a pipeline of opportunities where GS1 Standards help drive business process efficiencies and innovation. Prior to that, she was Vice President, Apparel and General Merchandise at GS1 US, leading the GS1 US Apparel & General Merchandise Initiative, a retail industry group focused on improving inventory accuracy, exchanging standardized product data and achieving source to store supply chain visibility.

Before joining GS1 US, Ms. Nuce was the director of retail industry marketing at GXS (now OpenText) and also served as a global product manager for both supply chain visibility and data synchronization applications at GXS. Ms. Nuce also spent several years in various supply chain and consulting roles, with an emphasis on business-to-business relationships, electronic data interchange (EDI) implementation and warehouse automation projects.

Ms. Nuce is active in the ongoing development of global standards and is a frequent speaker at educational seminars and industry tradeshows. She has presented at the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show, Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Edge, and the APICS Annual Conference. She is a frequent resource on retail and supply chain technology topics for media outlets such as Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.

Ms. Nuce earned her bachelor’s degree in professional studies from Bethany University

Siobhan O’Bara - Senior Vice President, Industry Engagement

Siobhan O’Bara
Senior Vice President, Community Engagement

Siobhan O’Bara, Senior Vice President of Community Engagement for GS1 US, is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of experience in supply chain, logistics, and operations management. She is responsible for building long-term industry relationships through strategic and meaningful collaboration and serves as lead ambassador to the Consumer Packaged Goods/Grocery, Healthcare, Foodservice, Fresh Foods, Apparel, and General Merchandise industry sectors. In addition to her industry role, Ms. O’Bara has responsibility for the GS1 US external services offering, which includes GS1 US University, Education & Training programs, the Solution Partner program and the Advisory Services program. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Industry Engagement where she was responsible for defining the strategy and ensuring achievement of operating results across all 25 industries working with GS1 US through the adoption and usage of GS1 Standards.

Prior to joining GS1 US, Ms. O’Bara held several executive leadership positions at Covidien (Medtronic), a leading global provider of healthcare products. A seasoned customer service and customer operations expert, during her tenure at Covidien, Ms. O’Bara led multiple customer initiatives. As Vice President of Customer Operations, she created a Global Shared Services customer operations team that supported more than 200,000 customers in three sectors and six global business units. She was also Vice President of Supply Chain Systems & Solutions, responsible for systems conversions and merger/acquisition integrations. She led the supply chain functions at multiple Covidien divisions, including medical supplies, retail, imaging, pharmaceutical, and respiratory technologies.

An accomplished author and public speaker, Ms. O’Bara is often invited to speak at industry events and teach classes at key supply chain management programs, including Penn State. She is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, the University of Connecticut, and Babson College.

Greg Rogers - Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Greg Rogers
Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Facilities

As Senior Vice President of Human Resources at GS1 US, Greg Rogers has more than 30 years of human resource and management experience in the consumer packaged goods and utilities industries. He is responsible for leading all facilities management and human resources activities across the organization in the areas of employee relations, training and development, talent management, organizational development, compensation, benefits, employee communications, and office services. Previously, he served as Vice President of Human Resources for GS1 US.

Before joining GS1 US in 2013, Mr. Rogers was Vice President of Human Resources for Revlon, a leading global cosmetics and beauty care products company. At Revlon, he provided human resources leadership to the corporate office and the U.S. market while leading the development and delivery of worldwide corporate human resource programs.

Mr. Rogers started his professional career at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in human resources and general management. During that time, he served on many advisory boards, including the San Francisco Mayor’s Human Resources Advisory Board, Goodwill Industries of the Bay Area Board of Advisors and the Commerce Clearing House National Human Resources Board of Advisors.

Mr. Rogers earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and business administration from Case Western Reserve University and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Society of Human Resources Management.

Carrie Wilkie - Senior Vice President, Standards Development

Carrie Wilkie
Senior Vice President, Enterprise Program Delivery

Carrie Wilkie, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Program Delivery, oversees standards development, product management, and education and training programs for GS1 US. She leads these specialized teams to ensure GS1 US programs and GS1 Standards align with industry’s current needs and support their future growth opportunities.

Previously, Ms. Wilkie was Senior Vice President of Standards Development where she led the team responsible for direct customer support, assisting members with their standards implementations across several industry sectors including apparel, general merchandise, foodservice, healthcare, and retail grocery, as well as industries with emerging standards usage (banking and government).

Before joining GS1 US in 2014, Ms. Wilkie held several management roles during her 10-year tenure at Dawn Foods where she worked to improve product data management and address regulatory affairs. She led cross-functional, digitally innovative teams that made significant improvements to data synchronization, data quality, and regulatory compliance in the foodservice industry.

Ms. Wilkie is a frequent speaker at industry events, including the Association for Financial Professionals, Secure Cash and Transport Association, and GS1 global standards events. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in politics and government from Ohio Wesleyan University, a Master of Arts in organizational management from Spring Arbor University and a Master in Library and Information Science from Wayne State University.

Bill Strawderman - Vice President of Marketing

Bill Strawderman
Vice President of Marketing

As the Vice President of Marketing at GS1 US, Bill Strawderman leads a diverse team of professionals responsible for data-driven marketing strategies designed to increase the adoption, use and advocacy of GS1 Standards, the most widely used supply chain standards in the world. A seasoned marketer, Mr. Strawderman also oversees media relations activities that bolster the organization’s thought leadership and reputation, and manages insights and analytics that advance the GS1 US mission and vision.

Mr. Strawderman built his career as a multi-disciplinary marketer, working at AT&T for more than 20 years. Most recently, he was Executive Director of Digital Marketing and Social Media, where he managed customer acquisition, product development, channel marketing and corporate communications. Within the last decade, he has developed significant expertise in digital marketing and social media, pioneering new technologies and developing mature organizational capabilities that generate demand and enhance reputation. During his final assignment with AT&T, he started their first B2B blog, deployed their first marketing automation platform and established user experience management as a foundational discipline. Just prior to joining GS1 US, Mr. Strawderman was the Senior Director, Digital Marketing and Social Media at Siemens, where led the digital and content center of excellence in the U.S. supporting corporate brand development and regional demand programs.

Mr. Strawderman is a member of the CMO Club, has published several blogs offering marketing tips and insights and was honored as one of 25 Social Business Leaders by IBM and the Economist Intelligence Unit. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University, and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in marketing from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.

GS1 US Board of Governors

The GS1 US Board of Governors brings together key industry leaders who are committed to the voluntary adoption and usage of GS1 Standards for the benefit of their stakeholders. The Board of Governors makes it possible to improve efficiency for industry in a collaborative manner.

GS1 US Board Chairman
Mr. Joseph Sheridan
President & Chief Operating Officer
Wakefern Food Corp.

GS1 US Co-Vice Chairman
Mr. John W. Inwright
President & Chief Executive Officer
Wendy's Quality Supply Chain Co-op, Inc.

GS1 US Co-Vice Chairman
Mr. Mel Landis
Senior Vice President – Business Transformation
Coca-Cola North America

Governors

Mr. Mark Alexander

Mr. Dave Bornmann
Senior Vice President Grocery, Customer Service and Fresh
Publix, Inc.

Ms. Dawn Block
Senior Vice President, Digital
Target

Mr. Bob Carpenter
President and Chief Executive Officer
GS1 US, Inc.

Mr. Alfredo Colas
Director, Delivery & Customer Solutions, GBS
The Procter & Gamble Company

Mr. Dave DeLaus
Senior Vice President and CIO
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.

Mr. Cameron Geiger
Senior Vice President, Technology Business Engagement
Walmart

Mr. RB Harrison
Chief Operations Officer
Macy’s

Mr. Robert Howell
Vice President – Merchandising
Sysco Corporation

Mr. Ron Knapp
Vice President, Structured Data
eBay Inc.

Mr. Miguel Lopera
President and Chief Executive Officer
GS1

Ms. Sunita Mani
General Manager
Google Store

Venkatesh Natarajan
Vice President, Information Technology Commerce Platforms
QVC, Inc.

Mr. Chris Resweber
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs
The J. M. Smucker Company

Dr. Sanjay Sarma
Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mr. Arthur Smith
Chief Executive Officer
GS1 Canada

Ms. Meredith Stevens
Vice President, Strategy and Deployment
Johnson & Johnson Supply Chain

Mr. Kevin Urban
Executive Vice President, Logistics Services
PVH Corp.