Rethinking Retail and Brands

Amy is currently the SVP of Strategy at Numerator, building partnerships to drive company growth. Previously, Amy worked at Catalina Marketing, where she built retail and media measurement solutions.  Amy has also worked in brand management, shopper marketing and strategy at PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, and she has experience in the tech startup world. 

Professor Manoj Thomas is a consumer psychologist who trains business executives to be customer-centric leaders. Thomas has received the Apple Award and the Stephen Russell Family Teaching Award for excellence in teaching. Professor Thomas studies the unconscious heuristics and biases that influence consumer decision making. His current research focuses on how heuristic thinking in numerical cognition and moral reasoning influence consumer behavior. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Marketing Research. He is the co-author of the book Why People (Don’t) Buy: GO and STOP signals.

Dr. Kalish is the Chief Global Economist of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. He is a specialist in global economic issues as well as the effects of economic, demographic, and social trends on the global business environment. He advises Deloitte clients as well as Deloitte’s leadership on economic issues and their impact on business strategy. In addition, he has given numerous presentations to corporations and trade organizations on topics related to the global economy. He is widely traveled and has given presentations in 47 countries on six continents. He has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Financial Times. Dr. Kalish holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College and a PhD in international economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Scott Bearse has 31 years of strategy and operations consulting experience as a director and partner or principal at Deloitte Consulting, Arthur Andersen, and Senn-Delaney Management Consultants. Most recently he served L Brands as the strategic advisor to the CEO in the capacity of chief stores officer. During his consulting career he held leadership positions in the retail and consumer business industries, MBA recruiting, and strategic client relationships. He served on the Global CB Editorial Board, the Eminence Board at Deloitte, and was a World Retail Awards Judge. He was a frequent speaker at industry events such as the National Retail Federation and the World Retail Congress. He is also the author of many articles on trends and insights into the industry. More important, he served more than 100 different clients, leading more than 300 consulting engagements and providing an extensive and diverse background from which to share experiences with our students.

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 the design and optimization of data-driven business models. His current research projects deal with econometric analysis and optimization in retailing, supply chains, and linking operations with financial performance of firms.

Gaur served as associate dean of MBA programs during 2014-2019. He teaches the MBA core course in operations management and MBA elective courses in retail operations and SQL. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching: the Johnson Faculty Research Award in 2012-13; the Clifford H. Whitcomb Faculty Fellowship in 2010-11; 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.

Professor Clarence Lee is an assistant professor at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, where he is a Breazzano Family Sesquicentennial Fellow. Professor Lee’s research examines the drivers behind consumer adoption, usage, and purchase dynamics of digital goods, where he models consumer behavior using Bayesian statistics, structural econometrics, and machine learning techniques. Digital products and platforms, such as the ones produced by many Silicon Valley and NYC tech start-ups, are increasingly present in almost all consumer interactions. In such settings, understanding consumer choice and the dynamics of engagement and usage become critically important in order to acquire, serve, and retain consumers. He currently teaches Digital Marketing and Data Analytics & Modeling at both the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses.

Professor Lee received his doctorate from Harvard Business School and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT. Prior to pursuing graduate studies, he has conducted nanotechnology research at IBM and space system design at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Lilly Jan is a lecturer of food and beverage at the School of Hotel Administration. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in hospitality and foodservice, having worked in restaurants, catering and events, retail, and television production. Prior to joining Cornell, she was the Director of Culinary Operations for Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts. Jan also served as a faculty member and academic advisor at Newbury College, creating and teaching a range of classes across culinary and hospitality management. She has also taught for Le Cordon Bleu and Boston University.

As a chef, product and recipe developer, and foodservice consultant, Jan has worked with a variety of food-based businesses, including a food truck, on-demand food delivery, food start-up, and retail food stores. She specializes in operations management, focusing on ushering food business concepts to market.

A frequent speaker and media contact on food culture, cooking and Chinese cuisine, Jan has been featured in print and radio outlets. She worked on TV production for America’s Test Kitchen and was a regular contributor for WGBH’s Boston Public Radio.

Jan is a two-time graduate of Boston University in Communications (B.Sc.) and Gastronomy (M.L.A.). She earned her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in hospitality management with a focus on food allergy knowledge and training in ethnic restaurants. Her research interests include workplace training and education in foodservice, career progression in foodservice, food safety and food allergy in restaurants, and culture and cuisine.

Brian Choi is an experienced financial executive in the Food & Agricultural industry. He was recently named Managing Partner / CEO of The Food Institute, a New Jersey-based food news and market research company founded in 1928. His vision is to build the company into the “go-to” source for news, research, advisory and analytics for the food industry.

Earlier in his career, Brian served as Vice President of Finance & Business Development at Woerner Holdings, LP, a single-family investment office focused on private equity investments in the food, beverage, and agricultural industries. In his role, Brian primarily focused on mining for acquisition opportunities and performing financial due diligence. He was also involved in developing business strategy for companies held within the family office’s investment portfolio.

Previous to joining Woerner Holdings, Brian worked at Ernst & Young as Manager in their Transaction Advisory Services group, performing valuation analyses on companies and complex securities. In addition, he worked at Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs as part of their Investment Banking and Fixed Income divisions. Brian currently resides in New York City. He is a member of Times Square Church located in Manhattan, NYC. He is a CFA Charterholder and holds a Finance degree from the University of British Columbia in Canada.

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. Dan is an outstanding strategist and general manager, and 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, he has shaped clients’ programs across four continents and eight classes of trade. His passion is in helping companies see their unique DNA and positioning and creating actionable marketing and sales strategies essential for their success.

Rob Kwortnik, Associate Professor of Services Marketing, joined Cornell’s faculty after earning his Ph.D. in Business Administration from Temple University in 2003. He also earned a B.A. in Journalism from Temple and an MBA from California State University, Northridge. Professor Kwortnik’s research focuses on consumer behavior in service contexts, with special attention to service experience management. He has published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Service Research, The International Journal of Research in Marketing, and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, among others. He has been honored eight times as a Teacher of the Year by students at The Hotel School. Prior to his career in academics, Professor Kwortnik held several professional positions in marketing and was a travel industry consultant. He is a recognized expert on the leisure cruise industry.

Amy is a results-oriented senior executive with over 27 years serving in senior strategy and thought leadership, business transformation, operations, sales, marketing (B2B and B2C), management consulting, and human resources roles with experience in food retail, consulting, energy and private equity industries. As a global leader with a unique background that combines strategic business and human resources leadership roles, she can observe enterprise-wide business and organizational dynamics to deliver success and get results. Amy excels at identifying and addressing core issues and delivering large-scale transformation results in turnaround, business integration, and growth situations.

Amy decided to leverage her background of both business and human resources strategy and execution work to launch SSP Transformative Solutions LLC in 2018 where she serves as the Founder and CEO. SSP – which is an acronym for Strategy, Structure and People – helps companies successfully develop and execute their strategy by ensuring strategic alignment between core constituents and by improving organizational health, operational alignment, productivity, and employee engagement. In addition to SSP, Amy has been a member of the Santa Energy Corporation Board of Directors since 2018 and serves as the Chair for the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee and works with the Board and CEO to set the strategic direction of the company.

Prior to SSP Transformative Solutions and her current board role, Amy served in senior leadership roles during her 15-year career at Daymon Worldwide Inc in both strategic business and human resources executive roles. Prior to Daymon, Amy’s career began in 1993 with Aldi Foods, Inc., a limited assortment chain, as a part of their Regional Supervisor team. She then worked as a marketing manager with Delray Farms, Inc. in 1995, a meat and produce retail chain, predominantly focused on ethnic marketing. Next, she pursued a career at Arthur Andersen from 1998 to 2000 in food retail operations and marketing consulting, specifically large, chain-wide store improvement rollout projects. Finally, from 2000 to 2001, she was a senior project manager with coolsavings.com inc., an Internet marketing company, where she worked with food retailers to develop their online couponing and marketing programs.

Amy is a graduate from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Marketing. Amy, her husband and three sons reside in Trumbull, CT.

Most recently, Clay Ellis served as the VP of Strategy and Business Development for Trilliant Food and Nutrition, working closely with the CEO to identify and evaluate acquisition and partnership opportunities to accelerate the company’s growth plans.

Prior to Trilliant, Clay spent over eight years in various corporate leadership roles with Daymon Worldwide, Inc., a retail branding, consumer experience marketing, sourcing, and advisory services company. Clay led multiple teams and a wide range of strategic initiatives that have had a positive impact on multiple business areas, increasing revenue, improving efficiencies, and driving overall performance.

Prior to joining Daymon, Clay worked in management consulting for both Andersen and KPMG, consulting within their retail and CPG practices. In these roles, he designed and implemented several strategic initiatives, including process reengineering, customer service improvement, customer value segmentation, brand positioning, and technology and revenue growth projects. Prior to that, Clay was a customer solutions executive for Symphony/Information Resources, Inc. (IRi), responsible for the development and delivery of analytic, modeled, and technological marketing solutions for Fortune 100 CPG manufacturers.

Clay holds a Master’s from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, an M.S. in Organizational Psychology from Springfield College, and a B.A. from Macalester College. He lives in Cos Cob, CT, with his wife, two kids, and goldendoodle.

Glenn Altschuler received his PhD in American history from Cornell in 1976 and has been an administrator and teacher at the university since 1981.

He served as dean of the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions from 1991-2020. From 2009-2013, Professor Altschuler also served as vice president for university relations, with responsibilities for articulating and overseeing strategies related to communications, government relations, and land grant affairs.  Professor Altschuler has been an animating force in the American Studies Program and has been a strong advocate on campus for high-quality teaching and advising. In 1998, he became the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies. For many years, his two-semester survey, Popular Culture in the United States 19900-Present, was one of the most popular courses at Cornell.

Glenn Altschuler is the author or co-author of 11 books and about fifteen hundred essays and reviews. He is a regular contributor to The Hill and Psychology Today. The National Book Critics Circle has cited his work as “exemplary.” Psychology Today has featured it as “essential reading.” For four years he wrote a column for the Education Life section of The New York Times. From 2002 to 2005 he was a regular panelist on national and international affairs for the WCNY television program The Ivory Tower Half Hour. His political commentary appears on websites and newspapers in the United States and abroad.

A world-renowned expert in retail insight, Bryan Gildenberg is the SVP of Commerce at Omnicom Commerce Group and a member of the company’s executive leadership team. As the SVP of Commerce, he is responsible for strengthening OCG’s retailer intelligence and partnerships and helping the OCG agencies (TracyLocke, Integer, TPN, Haygarth) be better, more strategic, and more vital partners to their clients.

Bryan joined OCG from Kantar’s retail consulting practice, where he was responsible for the company’s analysis and insight as Chief Knowledge Officer, Retail, as well as a member of the practice’s executive committee.

An established writer, speaker, and media commentator, Bryan provides a clear, dynamic, and always-topical focus on a variety of channels and retailers around the world. His perspective has been featured on broadcast media such as CNBC, Fox Business, and the BBC, and he is frequently cited in a range of U.S. and global business publications. An award-winning writer, Bryan has authored numerous articles for Kantar Retail publications and third-party periodicals such as The Hub and GMA Forum. An engaging speaker, Bryan has addressed numerous Kantar Retail forums and industry conferences.

Bryan earned an M.B.A. summa cum laude from Babson College and an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University in Cambridge, England.

Dr. 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 at 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, 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, health care, tourism and hospitality management, as well as finance and international development.

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. He currently serves on the board of directors of Livelihood Basix International and as a board member for Johnson & Johnson’s Earthwards Program.