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Gary Vaynerchuk, Tyson Foods’ John Tyson among Global Supply Chain Week speakers

Johnson & Johnson’s chief global supply chain officer Kathy Wengel will also speak

Gary Vaynerchuk, chairman of VaynerX and VaynerMedia, has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at FreightWaves’ upcoming Global Supply Chain Week.

The event, scheduled for eight full days from Feb. 22 through March 3, 2021, will also feature John Tyson, chief sustainability officer of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN), and Kathy Wengel, executive vice president and chief global supply chain officer for drug maker Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), as speakers.

They are among dozens of speakers announced for the event. Additional keynotes and speakers are being added daily.

Global Supply Chain Week features content dedicated to all things supply chain. The virtual event will be streamed free on FreightWavesTV. Register for the event here: https://live.freightwaves.com/global-supply-chain-week.


Days will be dedicated to various verticals within the supply chain, including military/aerospace;  manufacturing and building/construction; food/perishables; CPG and retail; energy/oil and mining/chemicals; and automotive. March 1-3 will be dedicated to global maritime logistics.

Universal sponsor for the event is Lean Solutions Group. Mercado, RPA Labs, ShipHawk and Ryder are among the companies that will be presenting their latest supply chain technologies.

Vaynerchuk is the author of “Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Business and Influence — and How You Can, Too,” his fifth book, and serves as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies through VaynerMedia, a full-service digital agency.

Wengel leads Johnson & Johnson’s global supply chain. The company just announced results from its Stage 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial. It is expected to seek emergency use authorization shortly from the Food and Drug Administration. If approved, the company could start shipping up to 100 million doses of the vaccine to the U.S. within weeks.


Other speakers scheduled to appear during Global Supply Chain Week include:

  • Joshua Rubin, vice president of business development, Javid Group.
  • Jeff Christensen, vice president of product, Seegrid.
  • Kris Bjorson, executive brokerage director of industrial services, retail/e-commerce distribution, JLL.
  • Rani Puranik, Global CFO of Worldwide Oilfield Machine; Director of the Puranik Foundation; Author
  • Jeff McDermott, senior vice president of transportation management, Geodis.
  • Grant Langston, CEO, Warehouse Exchange.
  • Ernie Manansala Jr., CMO, Breinfuel.
  • Matt Waller, dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business and professor of supply chain management, University of Arkansas.
  • Jonathan Kingsman, author of “Out of the Shadows: The New Merchants of Grain.”
  • Peter Friedmann, executive director, Agriculture Transportation Coalition.
  • Brett Rose, CEO, United National Consumer Suppliers.
  • Lori Ann LaRocco, senior editor of guests, CNBC.
  • John Esparza, president and CEO, Texas Trucking Association.
  • Bob McDowell, owner and president, W.M. Dewey.
  • Lionel Selwood, CEO, Romeo Power Technology.
  • Craig Knight, CEO, Hyzon Motors.
  • Kate Curtin, marketing director, Deep Cognition.
  • Brian Whitley, president, Taimen Trucklines & Transport.
  • Walter Van der Meiren, director for customs brokerage, UPS Europe.
  • Richard Greening, global technical director, DDC FPO.
  • Amna Shah, senior consultant, AHS Consulting.
  • Randy Giveans, senior vice president of equity research, Jefferies.
  • Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst, BIMCO.
  • Korby Keeney, vice president of shipping and operations, Irby.
  • Marc Levinson, author of “The Box”.
  • Tom Schmitt, chairman, president and CEO, Forward Air Corp.
  • Andrew Stephens, executive director, Sustainable Shipping Initiative.
  • Sanne Manders, COO, Flexport.
  • Steve Ferreira, CEO, Ocean Audit Inc.
  • Duncan Wright, president, UWL.
  • Tim Sensenig, CEO, TMSfirst.
  • Kelvin Beachum, offensive tackle, Arizona Cardinals.
  • Konstantin Vekshin, chief commercial officer, Volga-Dnepr Group.
  • William George, analyst, Import Genius.
  • Philip Damas, managing director-head of supply chain advisors, Drewry Group.
  • Andy Gillespie, director of global logistics, Ansell.
  • Jonathan Rosenthal, portfolio manager, CEO, Saybrook Management.
  • Jack Dangermond, founder and president, ESRI.
  • Tom Craig, supply chain logistics consultant.
  • Dolly Wagner-Wilkins, CTO, Worldwide Express.
  • Christian Piller, vice president of value engineering, project44.
  • John Hoffman, University of Minnesota.

Global Supply Chain Week will be streamed free on FreightWaves TV. Register for the event here: https://live.freightwaves.com/global-supply-chain-week.

Brian Straight

Brian Straight leads FreightWaves' Modern Shipper brand as Managing Editor. A journalism graduate of the University of Rhode Island, he has covered everything from a presidential election, to professional sports and Little League baseball, and for more than 10 years has covered trucking and logistics. Before joining FreightWaves, he was previously responsible for the editorial quality and production of Fleet Owner magazine and fleetowner.com. Brian lives in Connecticut with his wife and two kids and spends his time coaching his son’s baseball team, golfing with his daughter, and pursuing his never-ending quest to become a professional bowler. You can reach him at [email protected].