Speakers

Sameer Anand is a partner the firm's Operations & Performance Transformation Practice. He is based in the Chicago office. His consulting expertise includes consumer products, manufacturing, supply chain planning, sourcing, bracket pricing, logistics, and advanced analytics. 

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Adheer Bahulkar is an advisor to global brands and retailers on operations strategy and design to generate profitable growth.  He is a Partner with management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, in their consumer goods and retail practice, and is based out of their Washington DC office.

He brings 17+ years of experience in consumer goods, fashion apparel, specialty retail, offline and online store operations, multi-channel merchandising, planning, as well as global sourcing and supply chain.  Of interest to him is the long horizon view of meeting consumer expectations: opportunities and implications for the role data can play in operations design and what Brands will need, to both influence consumer demand as well as enable most efficient ways to deliver on the brand promise.

As an author and a contributor, Adheer has appeared in Wall Street Journal, FORTUNE, Advertising Age, Women’s Wear Daily, NPR Marketplace, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Chain Store Age, Sourcing Journal and other publications, and has moderated sessions at industry events like NRF, SHOPTALK and GROCERYSHOP.  He has an Engineering degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business.

As co-founder of both Harry’s and Warby Parker, Jeff Raider aims to build companies and brands that positively impact people's everyday lives, and the world more broadly. Harry’s ambition is to create exceptional shaving and personal care products that better meet the needs of modern men. Prior to Harry's, Jeff co-founded Warby Parker, the transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses.

Today, Jeff serves as the CEO of Harry’s Labs — a newly founded organization within Harry’s that leverages the skills and capabilities of the Harry’s team to support exceptional entrepreneurs in building and scaling the next great CPG brands. He is also on the Board of Directors at Warby Parker.

Before starting his own companies, Jeff worked at Charlesbank Capital Partners and Bain & Company. Jeff graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a BA in International Studies, earned a Masters in International Affairs from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He also earned an MBA from Wharton Business School. Jeff currently lives in lower Manhattan with his wife and three children.

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José P. Chan is a senior retail executive, entrepreneur and professor at Parsons School of Design. He has worked in the retail and apparel sector over 20+ years with LVMH, Richemont and Roberto Cavalli. He is a Founding Team Member and Advisory Board Member of Celect, an award winning, retail technology firm that leverages machine learning in order to predict future outcomes. The firm was founded at the Massachusetts of Technology. José has held senior management positions reporting to CEOs and has extensive international management experience in buying, marketing, merchandising, planning, predictive analytics and has run retail store networks with P&L responsibility.

At Parsons he has taught Retailing, as well as Merchandising courses for 12+ years. Additionally, he has also taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has been invited to lecture on Retailing at various industry conferences, as well as Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, the University of Chicago and many other universities. In addition, he is the co-host of the Brick & Data Podcast, a mentor at XRC Labs, New York Fashion Tech Lab and the National Retail Federation Student Association Faculty Advisor for the New School. A native New Yorker, Chan is fluent in Spanish, Italian and French. He is an avid swimmer and plays classical guitar.

Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology – SM Management of Technology; University of Rochester – MBA Finance; Cornell University – BS Management; Fashion Institute of Technology – AAS Design

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Palash I. Pandya provides strategic advice to public and private companies in a variety of transactional, securities, and general corporate matters. Palash advises public and private companies, private equity funds, family offices and entrepreneurs in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, tender offers, spin-offs, venture capital investments, and recapitalizations.

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Alexander Chefetz is a Managing Director with Cowen’s investment banking group. Mr. Chefetz has over 20 years of experience providing M&A and capital raising advice for a wide range of Consumer and Retail growth companies.

Prior to Cowen, Mr. Chefetz was with Lazard Middle Market where he served as Co-Head of Consumer and Retail Banking. He started his investment banking career at Drexel Burnham Lambert, spent seven years with Citigroup in the Consumer & Retail group, and was one of the original partners of Thomas Weisel Partners, co-heading their Consumer and Retail efforts before the firm was sold to Stifel.

Mr. Chefetz received his BA from Haverford College and his MM from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern.

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Justine is a Managing Director in Stifel’s Consumer Investment Banking Group. Having joined in 2018, she is responsible for Stifel’s US coverage of the apparel, accessories & luxury sector.  Justine also has transaction experience across numerous consumer industry segments including beauty & personal care products, juvenile products, leisure, food, agriculture and home products.

Justine joined Stifel from Alantra where she was Co-Head of Personal Care globally and US Managing Director covering apparel, luxury and personal care. Prior to Alantra, she was Global Head of Consumer & Luxury at BDA Partners, a global boutique focused on cross-border deals, and a director at DC Advisory Group (previously Close Brothers Corporate Finance) in London.

Justine graduated with a B.Comm and Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from Rhodes University (South Africa) and is also a CFA Charterholder and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (South Africa)

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Mr. Neuner heads the Consumer Group at Harris Williams and leads the group’s efforts in the Consumer Products and Services sectors. Mr. Neuner has over 20 years of investment banking experience and has advised clients on a variety of merger and acquisition and strategic advisory assignments, as well as corporate financings.  Mr. Neuner and the Consumer team have built strong knowledge and relationships across the industry and have deep experience in the consumer products, consumer services, food and beverage, retail, and restaurant segments. Within the consumer products sector, he and the team have expertise across a broad range of branded and private label product in segments such as consumer durables; enthusiast, outdoor, and lifestyle brands; household goods; infant and juvenile; lawn, garden, and pet; personal care; and footwear, apparel and accessories. Additionally, the group has deep experience in services provided to the consumer through owned and franchised businesses, e-commerce, and direct marketing as well as retail services that enhance CPG and retailer merchandising.

Prior  to  leading the Consumer Group, Mr. Neuner developed experience in numerous industries including automotive aftermarkets, business services, distribution, industrials, and construction materials, mining, and natural resources. Before joining Harris Williams,  Mr. Neuner worked in the Leveraged Finance Group at Wachovia Bank. Mr. Neuner graduated from Hampden-Sydney College with a B.A. in Economics and lives in Richmond with his wife and two sons.

Combining her passion for skincare with and extensive background in marketing, brand & business development, sales and product development, Christine Chang maintains a wealth of knowledge when it comes to international beauty. Christine’s first foray into beauty was at L’Oreal Korea where she mastered the art of marketing, working with Lancôme, then Kiehl’s Since 1851 and helped grow it into a top 5 brand in the competitive local market. Leveraging this experience, Christine was tapped to join the global business development and marketing team at the brand's NY headquarters. During this time, she spearheaded a variety of functions including global business development, retail, marketing and digital strategy for 40+ countries. Her last position was as AVP and category head of skincare, where she was responsible for the brand's fast growing skincare business and Asia specific launch developments, including for the sheet mask and essence categories. Christine's expertise in skincare formulations paired with her strategic experience in launching and growing brands is invaluable to Glow Recipe's mission to become the US hub for the best of Korean beauty. Christine was a speaker at the Conde Nast Intl Luxury Conference hosted by Suzy Menkes, The Millennial 20/20 Forum and The Glossy Conference. Christine lives in New York with her husband and young daughter. 

Roy Danis is a 35+ year veteran of the wines & spirits industry.  He started his career with the Seagram Co., spending 17 years there with increasing responsibilities in sales & marketing.  After Seagram, he went on to assume Executive Management roles at Diageo, Pernod Ricard, W.J. Deutsch, Jose Cuervo and recently was President/Managing Director of Campari America.  He is currently the President & CEO of Conecuh Brands, LLC, a privately held, brand development company of Super Premium Spirit brands. 

Roy’s reputation is that of a brand builder and innovator.  He has a track record of success in reinvigorating underdeveloped businesses, building high performance teams, creating new products and developing innovative packaging.    His track record of new product successes is unrivaled, from Yellow Tail Wines to Jose Cuervo Silver to Clyde May’s Bourbon, he has led the teams that have produced numerous new product success stories.  He has worked on some of the most iconic brands in the industry from Chivas Regal, Crown Royal, Martell Cognac to Jameson and Wild Turkey, to name a few.    

Roy holds a B.S.in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and an M.B.A. in Marketing from Boston College.   He resides in Rockville Centre, N.Y.

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Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the food & beverages industry. Skilled in Sales, Market Analysis, Team Building, Manufacturing, and Management. Strong business development professional with a BS focused in Marketing and Management from University of Oregon - Charles H. Lundquist College of Business.

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Before co-founding LOLA, Jordana received her MBA from Columbia Business School, during which she worked at Rent the Runway and Quidsi. She graduated from Dartmouth College and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016. Jordana also serves on the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network Advisory Board.

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A seasoned expert on the global beauty consumer, Sarah Lee boasts a deep and unique cross-functional resume that spans product development, business strategy, and global marketing. Sarah started her career at L’Oréal, where she played a key role in launching the Giorgio Armani Cosmetics Korea brand
in-market. She was then selected as L’Oréal’s first-ever Korean expat to the NYC office, where she joined the Matrix Global team. Sarah later transitioned to Lancôme USA, where she led makeup product development, including cushion compacts and foundations, and where she managed partnerships with retailers such as Sephora, Ulta, and Macy's. Prior to departing L’Oréal, Sarah was most recently AVP and category head of haircare for L’Oréal Paris. Sarah blends her deep understanding of product formulation science with years of successfully bringing brands to market to drive strategy and execution of Glow Recipe’s vision. Sarah was a featured speaker at WWD’s Digital Beauty Forum in both 2016 and 2017, the Decoded Beauty NYC Summit, as well as the inaugural
K-Beauty panel at CEW. Sarah resides in Manhattan with her husband.

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