Omnichannel
LeadershipImmersion Program

Dan Hooker is a global retail and consumer packaged goods executive with broad experience across diverse business environments and formats, leading traditional food retail operations and merchandising, as well as product development, consumer and category analytics, sourcing and procurement, global trading, national sales, and ecommerce. An outstanding strategist and general manager, he has led the successful startup of multiple diverse businesses. Known for and recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on retailers’ proprietary brands, Mr. Hooker has shaped clients’ programs across four continents and eight classes of trade. His passion is in helping companies recognize their unique DNA and positioning then creating actionable marketing and sales strategies essential for their success.

Professor Vishal Gaur is Emerson Professor of Manufacturing Management, and professor of operations, technology and information management at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. His research interests lie in data-driven modeling, econometric analysis, and optimization of operations management problems with applications in supply chains, retailing, and e-Commerce. His current research projects deal with online marketplace operations, reduction of food waste, supply chain risk, and linking operations with financial performance of firms.

Prof. Gaur serves as the program director for Johnson’s MS in Business Analytics program and previously served as associate dean of MBA programs during 2014-2019. He also served as a department editor for the Operations Management department of Management Science during 2014-2021. He teaches graduate courses in operations management, digital business and retail operations, and data analysis in SQL and Tableau. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching: the Cornell-Tsinghua Dual Degree MBA Gravitas Award in 2021; the Stephen Russell Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020; the Johnson Core Faculty Award by the graduating classes of 2015, 2012, and 2008; the Johnson Cornell Tech Core Faculty Award by the graduating class of 2017; the Wickham Skinner Early Career Research Accomplishments Award by the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) in 2006; and honorable mention in the George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award Competition in 2001. Prof. Gaur received his PhD from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and his BTech in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. Before joining Johnson, he was an assistant professor at the NYU Stern School of Business during 2001-07 and a visiting associate professor at Harvard Business School during 2007-08.

Karan Girotra is a professor of operations, technology, and information management at Cornell Tech and Cornell University. He collaborates with companies building new business models in the areas of urban living, smart transportation, and e-commerce, helping them design rigorous, research-based solutions. Professor Girotra’s research team has been recognized by many awards, including the prestigious Wickham Skinner Early Career Research Award and multiple best paper awards. He has also won awards for his teaching on entrepreneurship and new business models, and was featured in the Poets & Quants Best 40 Under 40 business professors list. In addition to his academic work, Professor Girotra is one of the founders of TerraPass Inc., which the New York Times identified as one of the most noteworthy ideas of 2005. Since then, TerraPass has helped businesses and individuals reduce over 100 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Professor Girotra holds Ph.D. and A.M. degrees from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Tomissa Smittendorf has a passion for creating a culture of learning, emphasizing capability building and collaborating across the organization to drive impact. She has more than 30 years of diverse experience, having worked in L&D, retail sales, supply chain, HR, sales finance, customer service, and DSD. Ms. Smittendorf leads the development of comprehensive learning strategies, tying learning to business solutions and consulting with the business to overcome business challenges. She has created a high-performance team to build sales capabilities, instilling agility to meet evolving business needs with a transformation drive and make-it-happen spirit.

At Kellogg Company, Ms. Smittendorf has developed a sales learning and development value proposition, enabling the organization’s sales vision by activating an intentional learner mindset. She designed, developed, and implemented a customer engagement platform, a three-year strategic collaboration for mutual sustainable growth with priority initiatives and customer engagement roadmaps. Ms. Smittendorf’s strong change management background has enabled her to craft stakeholder engagement plans to communicate and drive a culture of change.

Louis Hyman is the Neufeld Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, where he teaches the history of retail.. An historian of work and business, Professor Hyman is currently working on a history of e-commerce entitled “Add To Cart.”

Dynamic Human Resources Executive at corporate and operational level with a strong expertise in Learning & Talent Management in matrix organizations. Consistent track record for leading organizational development and human resources initiatives across the Americas zone (North & South America). Licensed Executive Coach. Effectively collaborates on international projects. Fluent in English, French & Spanish. Dual citizen with working credentials in Europe & USA. Significant experience in designing and implementing innovative learning solutions and projects. Business leader partner to align talent strategies with business goals to optimize organizational effectiveness. Successfully communicate with business professionals of all levels, backgrounds, and nationalities to develop trusted partnerships. Expertise in multi-cultural relationships and project management crossing the boundaries of multiple cultures and countries.

Current function: Adviser of the Lisbon City Mayor (Ocean and Sustainability, Economy and Health), and vice president of the Portuguese Brands Community.
Till end of February 2022, President of Aeon Topvalu, a Japanese company belonging to Japan’s Aeon Group. Prior to this office he was Managing Director and Member of the Board of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation and Executive Board Member of Oceanário de Lisboa (considered the best Aquarium in the World for the last three consecutive years). Since January 2019, he has been visiting Japan on a monthly basis, as Senior Advisor for the Aeon retail group. He was a supervisory board member at Warta, a Jerónimo Martins Group holding, which manages the Biedronka and Hebe retail chains, and is a founding member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council. He is regularly invited to speak on consumer trends and a frequent participant in advisory boards for multinational industrial companies.

He has a business management and organization degree from ISCTE , bem como o Executive Management Program da Universidade de Kellogg’s e outros cursos na area da formacao empresarial em Cornell, Babson e IMD. . As chairman of Daymon’s international area until September 2014, he was responsible for offices in 23 countries, having followed the development of Exclusive Brand programmes by major world retailers (Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe). Before joining the Board at Daymon, he was CEO of Recheio Cash & Carry, a one-billion-euro sales company, which is the Portuguese wholesale market leader. He was director of Parque Expo, a company which built a 300-hectare city to host the 1998 World Exposition in Lisbon. He started his career in the retail area in 1990, as management trainee at the Jerónimo Martins Group, and has since held several leadership positions in the Group, including CCO and CMO of Biedronka, the leading retail chain in Poland. He has published two books (“Discount Philosophy – More Than Price” and “The Next World”) with two colleagues from Daymon and he has two main hobbies: reading and sailing – he has Yachtmaster Ocean certification and has already made several ocean crossing.

Alexander Ross is an experienced senior leader in business development and strategy, with a demonstrated history of building teams and driving account and revenue growth.

As Senior Director of Omnichannel Transformation for Walmart, Whitney is responsible for incubating next-gen revenue streams and building out new enterprise business planning models for Walmart Connect. Positioned at the intersection of Merchandising, Marketing, eCommerce and Walmart Connect- her team is focused on next gen enterprise business strategy, In-store and OOH (out of home) advertising commercialization, and operationalizing Walmart’s ‘One Walmart’ integrated planning model both internally and externally with Walmart’s suppliers and sellers.
Before joining Walmart, Whitney worked for The Kellogg Company in various roles across Sales, eCommerce and Shopper Marketing including her most recent as omnichannel eCommerce lead for North America where she led Kellogg’s eCommerce business across all Omnichannel retailers. Prior to making the jump to CPG, Whitney spent over a decade on the agency side building programming to support the entire offline + online path to purchase in various strategy and account leadership roles.

Mark Milstein is Clinical Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University. He conducts applied research in and oversees the Center’s work on market and enterprise creation, business development, clean technology commercialization, and sustainable finance.

Dr. Milstein specializes in framing the world’s social and environmental challenges as unmet market needs which can be addressed effectively by the private sector through innovation and entrepreneurship, thereby allowing companies to achieve financial success by creatively addressing problems such as climate change, ecosystem degradation, and poverty. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation the S.C. Johnson Foundation, SEvEN, the World Bank, the University of Queensland, and the Water Resources Institute. Over the past decade, Dr. Milstein has worked with more than 100 firms across a range of industries, including renewable energy and carbon markets, life sciences and sustainable agriculture, consumables, food and nutrition, healthcare, tourism and hospitality management, as well as finance and international development.

Dr. Milstein’s work and perspectives have been featured in The New York Times, MSNBC, CNBC, Forbes, The Guardian, and GreenBiz. He is a frequent speaker on the topics of strategy, organizational change, and innovation related to business and sustainability. He also consults with a number of multinational firms, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and NGOs. Dr. Milstein currently serves on the board of directors of Livelihood Basix International and as a board member for Johnson & Johnson’s Earthwards Program.