Panelist & Keynote Speakers

Gaining Insights From the Experts

This year’s panelists and keynote speakers come from across industries and around the country, sharing their insights on a wide range of timely topics and providing invaluable thought leadership. Their deep dedication to people and the planet are truly inspirational and offer encouraging examples of the ways in which businesses have the opportunity to make a difference while making a profit.

Kevin Aman (GABELLI ’93)
Vice President of Community Engagement, Rich’s

Kevin Aman serves as the vice president of community engagement for Rich’s, an 80-year-old, private, family-owned global food company based in Buffalo, New York. Rich’s Generations of Good initiatives bridge corporate strategy and social impact, and Kevin holds a central role in the Rich Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Rich Products. He is a 1993 graduate of Fordham University.

Dianora Aria De Marco
Managing Director, National Professional Practice Group EY

Dianora Aria De Marco is a managing director in EY’s National Professional Practice Group, focusing on matters related to financial statement presentation and sustainability. Previously she worked in EY’s Financial Accounting Advisory Services group, where she supported clients on a range of accounting and reporting matters, including related to accounting change, transactions, and ESG reporting.

Aria DeMarco previously served as a technical fellow at the IFRS Foundation based in Frankfurt, Germany and began her career at the FASB. She is a certified public accountant in New York and a member of the AICPA

Tim Berendt
Director of Discovery & Insights, Corporate Strategy Group NRG Energy (Houston)

Tim Berendt currently acts as the director of discovery & insights within the Corporate Strategy Group at NRG Energy (Houston). He helps to oversee all corporate venture capital strategic investment activities along with enterprise consumer intelligence research with an emphasis on an outward-looking approach.

Prior to joining NRG in 2024, he led the innovation services function at Progressive Insurance. Before Progressive, Berendt served as a director and corporate venture capital lead at Jacobs Engineering, a global engineering firm. He was one of the founding members of the Beyond If team (the innovation arm), where he worked at leading the heart of innovation to assist with the incubation, acceleration, and continuation of driving innovation at Jacobs. In addition, Berendt was the founder and lead of the corporate venture capital investment arm at Jacobs, where he assessed, structured, and operationalized the function for a global strategic investment operation. 

Before joining Jacobs, Berendt was the head of business development for Aifred Health, which is focused on utilizing artificial intelligence to assist in clinical decision support in mental health care, starting with depression. He led the strategy, deployment and growth efforts, specifically in the United States. Aifred finished #1 in North America and #2 in the world in IBM’s Global AI X-Prize and was recently highlighted in CB Insights State of Healthcare Report.

Roughly 14 years of his career was spent at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Most notably, Berendt acted as a director of Innovation at Well-B (the innovation arm), where he assisted in launching the unit both physically and operationally while leading in incubating and accelerating core, adjacent, and transformational health solutions. One of his prized accolades was launching the first-of-its-kind Innovation Garage within health insurance. He has also been a professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), where he teaches entrepreneurship, human centered design, and other innovative sciences in the Master of Design in Design Innovation program. Previously, he taught innovation and entrepreneurship principles at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in their Industrial Design Program.

Berendt earned a Master of Business Administration at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a BA from College of the Holy Cross. He has been trained in design thinking at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Tania Briceno, PhD
Chief Economic, IEG

Tania Briceno is chief economist at IEG, where she oversees corporate standards for ecosystem service valuations and ensures they are market ready. Prior to IEG, she worked in government agencies, non-profit organizations, and the private sector, integrating environmental values into economic decisions.

Briceno holds a PhD in Environmental Economics from the University of Montreal, a Master’s in Ecological Economics from Leeds University, and a BA in Economics and International Development from McGill University.

Mardi Ditze
Country Sustainability Manager, IKEA

Mardi Ditze currently serves as the country sustainability manager for IKEA, a position she has held since 2022. She is a dynamic and innovative professional known for her expertise in sustainability. With over 15 years of experience, Ditze has made significant contributions through her work.

Passionate about community and sustainability, she is dedicated to creating impactful solutions that drive positive change. Ditze has worked on teams to secure power purchase agreements, create trauma-informed interior design solutions, craft educational materials for employees, further the circular economy, and many other initiatives.

Outside of her professional life, she enjoys hiking, biking, and reading, often finding inspiration in the world around her. As a lifelong learner, Ditze is always seeking new challenges and opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

Patsy Sciutto Doerr
Chief People and Culture Officer, LRN

Patsy Sciutto Doerr is an award-winning thought leader, speaker, coach, and facilitator. Focusing on social and community impact, she has expertise in talent development, diversity, equity & inclusion, corporate responsibility, and ESG/sustainability. Her greatest passion is helping organizations build and develop initiatives that best position them for long-term success in a diverse, global environment. Her commitment to change and cultural impact has allowed her work to be featured in several publications including Forbes, The Hill, and The Muse, and at conferences including, the Milken Institute Global Conference, and the Sustainable Brands Conference.

Doerr’s impact and success are rooted in more than 25 years of experience building and leading functions for organizations in the financial services, data, media, and non-profit arenas. Before starting Change for Social Good LLC as an independent consultant, she was the chief ESG and people officer at UDR, a leading multi-family real estate investment trust. Prior to her position at UDR, she served as CEO of The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc., and as global head of diversity and inclusion at Credit Suisse, respectively. Before assuming this position, she was responsible for building and leading Thomson Reuters’ diversity and inclusion, corporate responsibility, and ESG/sustainability functions. In this capacity, she successfully launched the ESG Institute, a cutting-edge resource and support center tasked with building awareness and understanding around social impact issues and metrics.

Doerr also is a brand ambassador, frequently speaking on talent management and social impact, as well as an adjunct professor of DEI at Fordham University. Additionally, she has served on several boards and committees that align with both her business and personal passions (inclusion and education), including Marymount School of New York, Women’s World Banking, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, All in Together, Multiplying Good, and the Queens Museum.

Craig Dubitsky
Founder and CEO, happy®

Craig Dubitsky is the founder and CEO of happy®. He and co-founder Robert Downey Jr., launched happy® in early 2024 with a mission to elevate the everyday with thoughtfully sourced coffee. happy® not only delivers a seriously delicious™ cup of coffee, they also care about the person drinking it. In an effort to de-stigmatize mental health, happy® partnered with NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization, with a dedication to building better lives for millions of Americans. Think of it as coffee with a conscience.

Prior to happy®, Dubitsky was the founder of hello® products and former chief innovation strategist at Colgate-Palmolive. hello®, the world's first naturally friendly™ oral care brand, was acquired by Colgate in January of 2020.

Prior to hello®, Dubitsky was a co-founder and creative lead at eos (makers of the ubiquitous lip sphere); a founding board member at transformational household cleaning brand, method; and a strategic advisor to Seventh Generation, Boots, and Popcorn, Indiana.

Dubitsky is an inductee in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) Hall of Fame and an Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson. He loves people, design, brand, packaging, and people. Yes, he said people twice.

Ana Garcia
Senior Director of Community Engagement and Health Equity, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Ana Garcia is the senior director of community engagement and health equity at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. An expert in community health improvement, her work has included policy research and advocacy on health reform and health disparities; coalition development to address obesity prevention, emergency preparedness, and healthy aging; and performance improvement and management for clinicians and public health practitioners. Garcia has worked for public and private sector organizations, including the New York Academy of Medicine, the Vermont Department of Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She holds a BA in Anthropology and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and a Master of Science in Marketing and Strategic Communications from Fordham University. She’s a proud Cuban American, New Yorker, and mom

Gregory Johnson, CPA
Director, Governance Insights Center, PwC

Gregory Johnson is a director in PwC’s Governance Insights Center, which strives to strengthen the connection between directors, executive teams, and investors by helping them navigate the evolving governance landscape.

Johnson supports audit committees in executing their oversight responsibilities, conducts governance research, engages with investors and analysts, authors thought leadership, and speaks to a variety of audiences on governance trends. He has extensive experience in technical accounting, financial and non-financial reporting, and governance matters.

Johnson is a graduate of Adelphi University, and holds a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Management. He is a licensed CPA in New York and New Jersey. He is a member of the AICPA and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Jun Jung
Consumer Insights Specialist, LG Electronics

Jun Jung is a consumer insights specialist at LG Electronics, translating customer behavior and market research into clear strategies that guide product innovation in the North American market.

Ji Woon Kim
Life Soft Research Lab, LG Electronics

Ji Woon Kim leads strategic innovation initiatives at LG Electronics’ Life Soft Research Lab, where she has spent over a decade guiding next-generation product concepts and UX strategies. Currently based at LG Electronics USA headquarters in New Jersey, she reflects on how deep customer insights and anthropological understanding have become essential tools for navigating competitive pressures and geopolitical complexity in global markets.

Peter Lupoff
Founder and Principal, Lupoff/Stevens Family Office (LSFO)

Peter Lupoff is the founder and principal of Lupoff/Stevens Family Office (LSFO), his family's vehicle for investments and grants. In 2025, LSFO largely merged its investing activities into Beatrice Advisors Multi-Family Office, and Lupoff joined them as a partner. He has over 35 years in professional investment management experience at firms such as Third Avenue Funds, Millennium Management, and his own asset manager, Tiburon Capital Management.

Lupoff was formerly the CEO of Net Impact (2019-22), and GOOD Institute (2021-2022). He is presently a senior lecturer at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business with a focus on impact investing. Lupoff taught impact investing at Fordham University (2018-24), where he remains a Gabelli Fellow. Lupoff is a member of the Impact Investing & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium. 

Clarissa Moses-Washington
Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

Clarissa Moses-Washington is the manager of corporate social responsibility and impact at JetBlue Airways Corporation and has supported JetBlue in the effort to reimagine its inclusion strategy. She has developed opportunities to increase representation, created space for difficult conversations, and worked to help close equity gaps for their crewmembers, their customers, and the communities they serve. Moses-Washington is dedicated to sparking positive change and has been instrumental in guiding several companies on their journey to embed DEI into all of the ways they do business. Prior to JetBlue, she led diversity training initiatives at New York Life Insurance and spearheaded diversity recruitment programs at National Urban League.

Jeremy Neil
Vehicle Product Training Specialist, Toyota Motor North America

Jeremy Neil is a vehicle product training specialist at Toyota Motor North America, bringing more than 28 years of automotive industry experience to his role. Throughout his career at Toyota, he has served in several key capacities, including district service manager and field technical specialist—roles that have strengthened his technical expertise and deepened his understanding of dealer operations and customer needs.

In his current position, Neil develops and delivers comprehensive training programs designed to enhance dealer sales team performance. He integrates his extensive technical knowledge with a strong understanding of the sales process to create engaging, effective learning experiences that empower teams to confidently represent Toyota’s products in a competitive marketplace.

Neil began his automotive career after earning a Bachelor of Science in Automotive Technology from Pittsburg State University. His professional journey reflects a longstanding passion for the industry and a continued commitment to excellence, innovation, and the success of the Toyota dealer network.

Barbara M. Porco, PhD
Associate Dean of Graduate Studies
Managing Director, Responsible Business Center
Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business

Barbara M. Porco, PhD, has been a member of the accounting faculty at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business for over 20 years. She currently holds the positions of associate dean of graduate studies and managing director of the Responsible Business Center. Throughout her career, she has received several prestigious awards, including the American Accounting Association’s Ethics in Accounting Excellence Award, the National Teaching Innovation Award from the American Accounting Association, and recognition as one of Poets & Quants’ 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors.

In addition to her doctoral degree, Porco holds a post-doctoral master’s degree in sustainability and environmental management, along with a corporate sustainability and innovation certification from Harvard University, and the Wharton ESG Executive Certificate for Senior Leaders. She actively serves on the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee, the Sustainability Assurance and Advisory Task Force, and the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Technical Working Group.

Prior to her academic positions, Porco was a tax director and audit supervisor in the financial service group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She also is the author of “KPMG Ethical Compass: Integrity in Business,” a multi-series package of interactive instructional material that enables college professors to present ethics-related topics in their classrooms, including sustainability issues. The “Ethical Compass” has won multiple awards and has been adopted by faculty members at over 150 universities nationwide. Additionally, her textbook, Sustainability Reporting and Disclosures, is set to be published by McGraw-Hill in January 2026. 

Tobias Puehse
Senior Vice President, Insights & Intelligence, Americas Mastercard

Toby Puehse currently leads the Mastercard Insights & Intelligence team across the Americas, elevating the voices, values, and experiences of people across the Americas into business discussions and decisions. He and his team pair insights derived from thousands of consumer interviews with unparalleled economic and financial product know-how. His consultative story telling shifts teams toward more customer-centric and future-oriented thinking—grounding execution in empathy and evidence. Puehse also is spearheading AI transformation for the marketing function in the Americas.

Prior to his current role, Puehse led acceptance innovation and the product development of next-generation point of interaction solutions. Over the years, he has been an active payments technology innovator with numerous patents under his name. Puehse started his career with Mastercard in Asia Pacific as head of innovation for the region before moving to the New York City area in early 2022.

His 20+ year-long career has always focused on innovation. He has lived and worked in the USA, India, Singapore, and Switzerland, covering projects globally and regionally. His experience is reflected in his various published articles concerning breakthrough innovation.

Kikke Riedel
Senior Vice President of Strategy & Insights, MilkPEP

Kikke Riedel is the senior vice president of strategy & insights at MilkPEP, the organization behind the national milk campaign. With a challenger mind set and a keen understanding of consumer behavior, Riedel leads MilkPEP’s consumer research and insight function, working closely with a diverse team of research and agency partners across all program elements. Her strategic direction, grounded in innovative market research and best-in-class analytics, drives impactful business results for U.S. milk brands, ultimately making milk matter more.

Originally from Denmark, Riedel came to the United States in 1989 for what was supposed to be a relatively short gap year.  Instead, she became a graduate of American University and joined MilkPEP in 1998 just as the iconic Milk Mustache campaign was launched. A recent empty nester, Riedel lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband and their dog, Nellie, who basks in their now undivided attention.

Jay Shutter
CTO, Radius

Jay Shutter is chief technology officer at Radius, a role which he took on after his company, Illuminas, became part of Radius. As CEO of Illuminas, Shutter spent the last 30 years doing research for many of the leading global technology companies. His work took him around the world, interviewing CIOs and other senior IT leaders about their organization’s technology investments across the major technology transitions – PCs, client-server, the Internet, datacenter consolidation and virtualization, cloud, digital transformation, and AI. Consumer use of technology also was a focus of Shutter’s, where, as a master moderator, he has conducted thousands of interviews, hundreds of focus groups, and hundreds of quantitative surveys to help his clients understand consumer behaviors, attitudes, and experiences with technology.

Marc Siegel
Partner, Metrix Advisory
Executive in Residence, Responsible Business Center
Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business

Marc Siegel is a seasoned expert in corporate reporting and sustainability disclosures with a distinguished career spanning leadership roles in standard-setting, equity research, and consulting. As a former member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), Siegel played a key role in shaping wide-ranging, generational accounting standards such as revenue recognition, accounting for lease contracts, and accounting for credit losses, among others. He also served as a member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), where he contributed to integrating sustainability into corporate disclosures, bridging the gap between financial performance and sustainability metrics. During this period, Siegel also was a partner in the Big 4 accounting firms, focusing on thought leadership in corporate reporting.

Currently, he is a partner at Metrix Advisory, a consulting firm he co-founded to help companies articulate and implement strategies for long-term value creation. Leveraging his deep expertise in accounting, sustainability reporting, and investor communications, Siegel guides organizations in aligning stakeholder interests, navigating regulatory requirements, and enhancing their market credibility. Metrix Advisory’s tailored solutions empower companies to communicate clearly and effectively with investors, regulators, and the broader marketplace. Additionally, he is an executive in residence at the Responsible Business Center at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and a senior advisor for Alvarez & Marsal.

Earlier in his career, Siegel served as director of research at a boutique equity research firm, where through deep forensic financial statement analysis, he advised institutional investors on evaluating corporate performance and credibility. His unique ability to blend technical accounting knowledge with an investor’s perspective has made him a sought-after advisor to companies across industries, including those facing complex regulatory or reporting challenges.

A CPA by training, Siegel is a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops, where he shares insights on financial reporting, sustainability disclosures, and the evolving expectations of investors and regulators.

Sharon P. Smith
Professor Emeritus and President Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg

Sharon P. Smith retired as professor emeritus and president emeritus from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, a regional state-assisted university, after 12 years of service. Prior to her time at University of Pittsburgh Smith was dean of the Schools of Business (now the Gabelli School) and professor of management systems at Fordham University for 15 years. Before joining Fordham, she held positions at two universities (Princeton and Cornell), in the corporate world (AT&T), and in government (the Federal Reserve Bank of New York). During 11 years of service on the board of Excela Health (a health care organization in Pennsylvania), Smith served first as treasurer, then as vice chair, and finally as chair of that board. She has served on many community and national boards – including St. Barnabas Hospital Bronx, New York; the Securities Traders Association; NASD (the predecessor organization to FINRA); chair of NASD Dispute Resolution; the FINRA Financial Education Foundation; and Westmoreland Cultural Trust. She presently serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Carefree, Arizona, and on the Retirement Oversight Committee of the University of Pittsburgh and the UPMC Medical & Health Sciences Foundation.

Leigh Anne Statuto
Executive Director, Responsible Business Center
Fordham University, Gabelli School of Business

Leigh Anne Statuto is the executive director of the Responsible Business Center at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business. After earning a BA in Urban Studies and Sustainable Business from Fordham University, she started her career in the nonprofit sector, aiding in homelessness prevention in New York City. Recognizing the severe urgency of the climate crisis and seeking to dedicate her career toward accelerating solutions, she earned an MBA in Sustainability from Bard College, where she focused on impact investing and regenerative food systems. She has supported and led numerous sustainability projects including executive director searches for philanthropic foundations; exploration into the role of financial institutions for electric vehicle supply chains; and most notably, collaboration in the launch of carbon-labeled menus for Just Salad. In her role at the Responsible Business Center, she engages with corporate partners, supports sustainability linked initiatives, and guides thought leadership and strategic development for the organization.

Rob Wengel
CEO and Board Director, Radius Insights

Rob Wengel serves as the CEO and board director for Radius Insights, a global strategic insights firm.  Wengel has been the CEO of GutCheck, an agile research firm.  He has held executive positions at leading research firms, including Nielsen, Kantar, and IRI. During Wengel's tenure at Nielsen, he led the BASES Innovation Practice for the Americas and was the co-author of the "Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation" report from 2012–2016. Wengel's background includes a range of marketing and sales leadership roles in CPG companies, such as Procter & Gamble, Tambrands, and Benckiser.  He lives in Kennebunkport, Maine, with his wife Gina and their two dogs, Gracie and Goose.

Gina Woodall
Vice President for Client Services, Radius

Gina Woodall is a vice president of client services at Radius Global Market Research providing insights to services and technology firms to guide their branding, loyalty, product development, and marketing strategy. In an era of constant disruption, she is passionate about developing research solutions that address the changing business landscapes her clients face. Her clients include Fortune 500 and mid-sized firms in the financial services, travel and technology sectors.