GS1 US Leadership

John Hoderny is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at GS1 US where he leads the Company’s human resources and facilities functions, overseeing GS1 US’ talent management, talent acquisition, training and development, total rewards, employee communications and diversity, inclusion and belonging efforts. Mr. Hoderny has also been a key contributor, thought leader, and advocate for the GS1 US culture journey.

Previously, Mr. Hoderny was Vice President, Human Resources at GS1 US. He was also Sr. Director, Compensation and Benefits, leading the total rewards efforts for both GS1 US and 1WorldSync, prior to its divesture in 2019.

Before joining GS1 US, Mr. Hoderny led the total rewards function at C&D Technologies, a global leader in energy storage solutions and services. Additionally, he performed various human resource and consulting functions at Mercer Human Resources Consulting, Exide Technologies, and Unisys.

Mr. Hoderny is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. During his service, he was awarded two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals for exemplary performance. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware Compensation and Benefits Association (PEBA) and is currently an active member of Philadelphia Society of People and Strategy. He has spoken on various Human Resources topics at PEBA events and at WorldatWork’s annual conference and exhibition.

Mr. Hoderny earned a bachelor’s degree in business economics and a master’s degree in human resources and employee relations from Penn State University.

Yegneswaran Kumar is the Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Finance, Legal and Enterprise Programs for GS1 US. His responsibilities include guiding the financial strategy and performance of the organization, financial controls, and investment fund performance. Additionally, he oversees the legal department, the enterprise programs team responsible for product management, has fiduciary responsibilities as Corporate Secretary and is involved in Board membership and governance matters.

Kumar has more than 20 years of finance experience in global companies. Prior to joining GS1 US in July 2005, he was Finance Director–Supply Chain for North American operations at Johnson Diversey, a global manufacturing company. Previously, he also 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 held several financial roles at Unilever in India where he led the financial and logistics operations for the largest sales region in the country.

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.

As Senior Vice President, Innovation and Partnerships, Melanie Nuce-Hilton 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-Hilton oversees the exploration of collaboration opportunities to help businesses leverage emerging technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision to address multiple business process challenges such as autonomous retail and circular economy.

Previously, Ms. Nuce-Hilton 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-Hilton 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-Hilton 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-Hilton 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-Hilton earned her bachelor’s degree in professional studies from Bethany University.

Siobhan O’Bara, Senior Vice President of Community Engagement at GS1 US, is an accomplished leader with more than 25 years of experience in supply chain, logistics, and operations management. She is responsible for developing a single vision and leading a team that supports all GS1 US member needs and programs. This includes guiding the community engagement strategy to drive broader adoption and use of GS1 Standards and solutions across 25 industries and for building long-term industry relationships through meaningful collaboration. Ms. O’Bara 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, she has responsibility for the GS1 US education and training as well as external services offering, which includes GS1 US member support and the advisory services program.

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 university supply chain management programs, including Penn State. She is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, the University of Connecticut, and Babson College.

As the Senior Vice President of Marketing at GS1 US, Bill Strawderman leads a diverse team of professionals responsible for increasing the adoption, use and advocacy of GS1 Standards, the most widely used supply chain standards in the world. Mr. Strawderman oversees brand development, public relations, digital media, web, and ecommerce programs that drive membership, enhance reputation, and support the organization’s mission, vision, and values.

Mr. Strawderman built his career as a multi-disciplinary marketer, working at AT&T for more than 20 years where he managed customer acquisition, product development, channel marketing and corporate communications. During his tenure, he pioneered new digital marketing capabilities, such as launching the Company’s first marketing automation platform, and first B2B blog. Just prior to joining GS1 US, Mr. Strawderman led the digital and content center of excellence at Siemens in the U.S. supporting corporate brand development and regional demand programs.

Mr. Strawderman is a founding member of CMO Huddles, 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.

Carrie Wilkie, Senior Vice President, Standards and Technology at GS1 US, leads the teams responsible for developing GS1 Standards and technology offerings that align with industry’s current and future business needs focused on supply chain visibility.

Previously, as Senior Vice President of Enterprise Program Delivery at GS1 US, Ms. Wilkie oversaw product management and education and training, where she guided customer support strategy, the development of tools and services, and educational offerings 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.