The 2020 Top Women in Grocery: Rising Stars

Progressive Grocer Staff

6/15/2020

READ ALL ABOUT THE 2020 HONOREES

Progressive Grocer recognizes 350 extraordinary women this year who join the ranks of the Top Women in Grocery. These women strengthen the retail food industry at many levels, within both the retailer and supplier communities.

Top Women in Grocery is a community that has continued to grow since 2007, with the best and brightest women in the industry.

Honorees are recognized in one of three categories: Executive-Level, Rising Stars and Store Managers. Below you find an incredible group of 202 Rising Stars.

Sebron Hurlburt

Senior Merchandise Planner, 99 Cents Only Stores LLC

Hurlburt improved process efficiencies and implemented best practices for ad hoc reporting, data analysis, store and distribution center inventory management, open-to-buy, forecast/allocation/replenishment systems, and merchandise financial-planning tools.
She was a key leader on the strategic business team that transformed how the company forecasts product demand and replenishment, creating a large cross-functioning platform to roll out a centralized inventory optimization strategy.
Hurlburt also led assortment planning and provided pivotal analyses to company leaders.

Dawn Badia

Director, Acosta

Badia led the internal sales team for the Barilla business at Kroger, an account with annual sales of more than $104 million.
As part of the Acosta growth team, she helped coordinate new business and white-space initiatives, and also served as a liaison between third-party marketers and the Acosta business team; on a broader level, she built bridges between teams, sharing best practices.
Badia also launched innovative product line extensions at Kroger, including Barilla’s Vero Gusto Sauce and Legume Pasta; these new items enabled Acosta to reach new and incremental households, bringing new sales into the category.

Kirsten Barnhorst

Senior Manager, Marketing Communication, Acosta

Working with Acosta’s internal communications and executive leadership teams, Barnhorst maximized brand exposure, built brand equity, drove corporate marketing strategies and ensured message and brand consistency, while managing all external communications and handling public relations and social media.
She boosted thought leadership media placements by 73%, led a team that introduced new organization-wide client newsletters, and restructured the company’s social media pages for greater engagement.
In her two years at Acosta, Barnhorst has received two Chairman’s Awards.

Carolyn Bryce

Manager, Organizational Effectiveness, Acosta

Bryce’s work impacted every business area at Acosta by way of talent development, organizational effectiveness, performance management and succession planning.
She created new enterprise core complexities to provide greater clarity on expectations and growth opportunities at Acosta, and developed training and toolkits to further improve business results. Participation in the performance management process jumped from 87% to 96% in the past year.
She volunteers her time with the Toronto chapters of the International Coaching Federation and the Human Resources Professionals Association.

Anh Gist

HR Business Partner, Acosta

As the strategic human resources partner for Acosta’s Walmart, Sam’s Club and national retail teams spanning 7,500 employees, Gist worked to attract and sustain a high-performing diverse workforce and administer HR programs, plans and procedures.
She expanded HR support to include national retail, with an additional 5,000 employees, and helped facilitate Acosta as a single-source provider of outside sales representatives for membership drives at Sam’s Club.
The recipient of a Bronze Chairman’s Award in 2019, Gist is an active volunteer with Junior Achievement of Arkansas, helping to provide young people with the tools for economic success.

Debbie Murphy

Director, Harris Teeter Team Lead, Acosta

Promoted to her current position in 2019, Murphy took on responsibility for all aspects of the Harris Teeter customer team, representing more than $300 million in sales.
Based on a recommendation from Harris Teeter senior management, her group was tasked with handling the business for the Campbell’s Soup division and Danone. She also set up a new portal to access expanded data, which played a role in retaining clients.
Murphy is instrumental in the company’s Santa’s Helpers program for local residents in need; the initiative helps 200-plus families annually.

Valerie Perry

Director, Business Process Solutions, Acosta

With 25-plus years of experience at Acosta, Perry led a high-performing team of 25 and managed more than 300 claims exports and/or integrations, in addition to directing new-client engagement for business process tasks.
She and her team created robotic process automation and client direct integrations for a claims-clearing initiative, with a 75% success rate and a 50% reduction in clearing cycle time.
Over the past three years, Perry has received Bronze, Silver and Gold Chairman’s Awards from Acosta. She’s also an active member of the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Laura Reynolds

Director, Client Development, Acosta

As the main liaison between Acosta and the client, Reynolds led new client integration, ensured the national execution of sales goals, implemented training and engaged in analytics.
Since July 2019, she has boosted fourth-quarter sales by 10%, with growth across three major segments; increased display pallets by more than 11%; and outpaced national levels on the top two new-item initiatives.
As well as being an active member of the Acosta Culture Committee, Reynolds serves as an operations officer for the New England board of the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Rebekah Stewart

Director of Business Intelligence, Acosta

Stewart headed a team of seven to provide actionable insights to more than 50 manufacturers dirving business at Kroger.
She was sought out for a new role on the growth team to drive $5 million in white-space business. Her impactful category review, used to sell in a new national product line, was expected to generate $3.45 million in sales for Kroger.
As a broker, she won a You Make a Difference Award, which is typically reserved for employees. Additionally, she’s a Certified Professional Strategic Advisor with the Category Management Association.

Kaci Crooks

Associate Account Director, Acosta/Mosaic

As the client service team lead for Acosta/Mosaic’s Walmart business, Crooks oversaw a five-person team to develop strategy and execution for Walmart’s core and growth initiatives.
Her team executed more than 9,000 events in 49 states on Walmart’s behalf, a 28% increase over the previous year.
Crooks’ Walmart team exceeded top- and bottom-line expectations, and she partnered with the company to educate shoppers on its pickup and delivery services, explore its In Home offering, and launch its first health clinic — all programs in line with mega-retailer’s stated goal of helping its customers save money so they can live better.

Brittany Ethridge

Director, Talent Acquisition, Acosta/Mosaic

Overseeing a talent acquisitions flex team that she helped pilot, Ethridge guided all functions as the group staffed thousands of shifts per month across the United States.
After successfully launching lower rates that drove down cross-charges, she led her team to increase the number of shifts managed by talent operations partners and recruits to save almost $1.2 million and win new business, and also began partnering with grocery reset teams to staff their gaps.
For her excellent staffing work, Ethridge received a Bronze Chairman’s Award in 2019 and the Mosaic Medal of Merit for Outstanding Client Service.

Marie-Pierre Huot

Director HR, Talent Acquisition, Acosta/Mosaic

Huot oversaw 15,000 transactions and developed effective and unconventional ways to manage the recruitment flow for roles throughout the grocery marketing, advertising, merchandising, sampling and sales programs.
She reduced recruiting operating costs by $900,000, implemented a cost per hire to enhance marketplace efficiency, and started cross-functional teams between Canada and the United States for greater retention and career growth.
Huot is also a professional mentor for women, a frequent speaker on women in the workforce, and a volunteer with a local holiday helper program.

Shatha Jato

Account Supervisor, Acosta/Mosaic

Jato managed the financial aspects of accounts, oversaw the execution and optimization of marketing plans, provided strategic insights to clients’ programs and managed department training teams.
She managed 73 projects, of which 40% exceeded objectives and 60% met objectives; her efforts resulted in organic growth of more than $194,000 and an upsell of nearly $130,000.
Recognized by Mosaic with its Everyday Greatness for Adaptability, Initiative, Teamwork & Collaboration, and Think “Customer First” honors, Jato somehow finds the time to lend her support to the Children Wish Foundation and a local Hockey to Conquer Cancer program.

Lisa Goff

Director, Operations, Acosta/The Pet Firm

Focused on new business development for The Pet Firm, Goff identified opportunities, created strategies for approaching clients and managed the new business budget.
Having developed a business plan for The Pet Firm’s consulting service that clearly identified the opportunity and potenital revenue it offered, she was subsequently given approval to launch the venture, and signed three contracts as a result.
In line with her professional position, Goff volunteers regularly at a foster organization where she cares for female dogs and their puppies, as well as helping screen potential new pet parents who wish to adopt.

Sarah Parker

Director of Sales, Acosta/The Pet Firm

Heading up the Petco team for The Pet Firm division of Acosta, Parker maximized client opportunities, established and implemented sales targets, managed expenses, and improved vendor relationships; as a result of her work, all of her major clients beat budget expectations between 101% and 164%.
She also successfully negotiated a major brand transition within the pet category, launched several new specialty pet brands, and signed a new vendor with high growth potential.
A huge animal supporter, Parker volunteers with the San Diego Zoo Global organization, and is mentoring two new brand managers on the team.

Jana Davis

Senior Director of Research, Acosta/Strategic Advisors

Davis fueled brand growth with insights-to-execution solutions based on data-driven insights, brand/category/aisle growth strategies, and comprehensive shopper and store-level activation.
Her efforts to manage teamwork flow and provide thought leadership led to multiple client engagements and the deployment of new tools and processes that drove efficiency and bolstered team capabilities; she was also instrumental in strengthening ties with Procter & Gamble.
Davis sits on the board of a local marathon and the steering committee for an animal therapy group, among her other community activities.

Katherine Cieplik-Larney

Director of Research, Acosta/Strategic Advisors/Shopper Community

Cieplik-Larney managed the company’s proprietary household shopper community comprising 22,000 primary grocery shoppers, surveying them and communicating with them to identify behaviors, attitudes and purchase influences, and then translating insights into go-to-market tactics.
She led an expansion that doubled the membership of the shopper community.
Cieplik-Larney’s team was often tapped to represent Acosta’s shopper capabilities to clients, and to the larger industry through conference materials and thought-leadership reports.

Leah Taylor

Client Services Manager, Advantage Solutions/Advantage Customer Experience

Taylor managed field event marketing strategy for brands within the Tyson Foods portfolio, handled client budgets and assisted in onboarding new clients.
She led a $1.5 million program for the new Raised & Rooted brand within Tyson Foods, and implemented a new Sara Lee Deli slicing initiative, which is on track for $1.5 million revenue in its first year.
Chosen to be part of the new Advantage Solutions Talent Exchange program, Taylor is also an active alumni member of her college sorority, where she works with several charities, and a volunteer in support of no-kill animal shelters.

Stephanie Benson

Director of Space and Assortment Analytics, Advantage Solutions/Advantage Sales

Benson oversaw a space-planning and assortment analytics team of 40 associates who worked with both manufacturers and retailers to achieve shelving objectives and grow sales with optimized planograms.
She based her leadership approach on training and developing her team and deploying project management techniques and high-quality assurance methods to consistently deliver on time and to expectations.
2019 proved to be a breakout year for Benson, who bolstered the revenue of her team by 25% and earned positive feedback from clients.

Stephanie Kryger

Business Development Manager, Advantage Solutions/Advantage Sales

Through efficient management of promotional spending and the implementation of marketing strategies and trend analyses, Kryger aimed to increase sales; exceed client goals for distribution, pricing, shelving and promotional volume; and facilitate category development.
She earned a Business Development Manager of the Year award in 2019 from one of her key clients, and also achieved above-sales goals for four other top clients.
Practicing an open-door policy, Kryger mentors others through her involvement with the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Victoria McQuarrie

Director, Business Development, Advantage Solutions/Advantage Sales

McQuarrie led Advantage Solutions’ sales partnership engagement for new clients, built customer service solutions for Fortune 500 companies and directed the entire request-for-proposal process.
Promoted to director in August 2019, she onboarded a record number of new national clients, and led or closely supported new business wins accounting for almost a third of Advantage’s total sales revenue growth.
An active member of Toastmasters International, McQuarrie won first place in the Northern California Area D1 International Speech contest and earned third place at the divisional level.

Mona Szumlas

Senior Director, Client Services, Advantage Solutions/Advantage Sales

Szumlas managed a team of more than 300 and directed two of Advantage Solutions’ largest clients, with combined sales revenues of more than $10 billion.
Promoted in May 2019, she led the flawless integration of a large, strategic new client, expertly staffing and training more than 115 sales associates, and delivered the best fourth-quarter results her client has had in the past three years.
Szumlas supports several local organizations committed to enriching the lives of children, as well as national organizations that serve the underprivileged.

Renee Watts

Manager, Client Development, Advantage Solutions/Advantage Sales

Before being promoted in 2019, Watts was a brand sales manager who handled major sales programs and strategic planning initiatives for several clients in the Southeast; her new role required her to manage strategic national clients across the Eastern region.
Her work as a brand sales manager helped Land O’Lakes grow gross sales by 104% and spurred a 33% sales increase for Mars Ice Cream.
Watts received a Simply the Best award from Land O’Lakes and served as events chair for her local chapter of the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Sheri Van der Voort

U.S. Director of Operations, West Coast, Advantage Solutions/Club Demonstration Services (CDS)

Van der Voort was instrumental in several strategic initiatives that impacted the bottom line, such as working with Costco’s corporate food safety team to develop standard operating procedures.
She designed and implemented CDS’ Warehouse Visit Recap phone app to capture and compile all visits performed by CDS U.S., and worked with warehouse divisions in Canada and Mexico to create a similar capability for them.
A member of the Costco Guild, van der Voort also supports Camp Korey for terminally ill kids.

Sharri Johnson

Retail Operations Manager, Advantage Solutions/R2 Solutions

Providing sales and merchandising services in 942 stores, Johnson organized multiple priorities with retail personnel, managed retail funds and labor expenses, and served as the strategic retail contact for all clients.
In a 10-month span, her team generated $14.6 million in sales revenue for the client, up 110% from last year; she and her team worked with the client to start a share-of-shelf incentive program, which led to a 74% higher share of shelf.
Johnson shares her time and talent with Metropolitan Ministries and Habit for Humanity.

Kelsey George

Client Service Manager, Advantage Solutions/Retailtainment

George strategically planned and budgeted for Walmart retailtainment special projects, experiential events within Walmart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets.
She pioneered the first national Walmart Baby Days event, which led to a significant category lift; rolled out the first National Walmart Back to School Project; and reinvented the Walmart National Play Day program.
The recipient of Working Better Together and Shining Star awards, George is a member of The Path to Purchase Institute and the Network of Executive Women (NEW), in addition to being an active supporter of several nonprofit organizations.

Lauren Lamaestra

Project Manager, Advantage Solutions/Retailtainment

Lamaestra tackled processes, development and training for Walmart’s online grocery sampling program and the mega-retailer’s retailtainment special projects, and is involved in the strategic process development of Walmart’s high-profile platforms.
She helped lead a team that launched the online grocery pickup sampling program, and designed a new work process enabling Advantage to exceed volume projections by more than 73%. She also created a comprehensive training program.
The recipient of two Advantage Solutions awards, Lamaestra is an active member of the Network of Executive Women (NEW) and The Path to Purchase Institute.

Sarah Moffett

Senior Business Development Manager, Advantage Solutions/Retailtainment

Moffett fostered nationwide relationships with clients in the adult-beverage category and worked on-site at Walmart corporate headquarters, managing the $13 million Walmart retaltainment category.
She helped boost the adultbeverage sampling business by double digits and brought in more than 45 new clients, as well as developing a platform to support Walmart’s redesign of the adult-beverage section in 350-plus locations.
Moffett is a frequent industry presenter, speaking at the Walmart Adult Beverage Supplier Summit, California Grocers Association events, TechfestNW, ShopTalk and others.

Kelly Silence

Zone Director, Advantage Solutions/Waypoint

Silence took on her current position as zone director last September, inheriting an underperforming team in a distressed market; in six months, she had achieved a 6.2% increase in case sales.
She created a Leadership Incubator team that pairs rising stars and up-and-comers with well-established leaders within the Waypoint and manufacturer communities to forge connections and spark conversations on how they can work together take the foodservice industry to the next level.
Silence is a founding member of Waypoint’s Culture Champion Team, which was created to develop and reinforce a strong culture of recognition, inspiration, performance and diversity.

Susan Lansley

Manager, Merchandising, Food Lion

Lansley’s key strategic initiatives led to double-digit sales percentage increases in the deli department; she continued to drive innovation by refining Food Lion’s latest prototype model and back room, setting the stage for future growth.
She helped launch more than 200 hot wing bars at stores across Food Lion’s 10-state network, and introduced an advanced catering program implemented at more than 280 stores.
Lansley was nominated as a Count on Me associate for fresh merchandising, a prestigious honor recognizing her work as a caring colleague who has a positive impact on others.

Kimberly Biertempfel

Brand Manager, Marketing, The Giant Co.

Biertempfel led the launch of the marketing campaign for Giant Choice Rewards, helping boost engagement for the new loyalty program by 238 basis points over its 2019 target; she also led efforts on the marketing campaign for the launch of Giant Direct as e-commerce transitioned from Peapod to the new branding.
She worked closely with the loyalty team to create new, insight-driven promotions for major holidays, and with merchandising to develop a program calling attention to unique and story-worthy items in fresh departments.
Biertempfel mentors women through the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Kimberly Mack

Brand Manager, Digital Strategy and Media, The Giant Co.

Mack led the launch of Giant e-commerce across digital channels and drove customer awareness and conversion for both the pickup and delivery businesses — efforts that contributed to 40,000 new e-commerce customers and significant increases in revenue.
She created the Giant Snowflake Search, the company’s first augmented-reality experience, bringing an interactive experience to shoppers during the winter holidays; it provided learnings on the technology and earned significant industry media.
Mack is director of marketing for the Camp Hill Soccer Club, promoting youth soccer in the central Pennsylvania region.

April Richardson

Center Store Sales Manager, The Giant Co.

Richardson teamed with asset protection for a proactive approach to nonperishable shrink and developed an initiative to support back-room conditions, among other initiatives, helping her district improve nonperishable financial shrink.
She drove center store sales with specialty displays in stores with a high ethnic index, launched a private label wine program in 10 stores, and supported a beer new-item launch in 15 stores.
Richardson led her team in supporting the Salvation Army Adopt a Family/Angel Tree program, providing holiday meals and gifts for two families.

Lisa Coleman

Director of Healthy Living, Giant Food

Coleman extended the reach and impact of Giant Food’s nutrition programming, providing a curriculum for in-store classes and developing digital resources that customers can access from anywhere, including weekly blog content, a biweekly podcast series, and online classes and webinars.
She forged partnerships with nonprofits to create nutritional programs for firefighters and for people with diabetes.
Coleman hired and trained a nutritionist for a store in an underserved community in Washington, D.C., and served on the advisory board to provide programming to aid the community; healthy food sales have grown more than 11% in the store.

Monica Murphy

Manager of Asset Protection, Giant Food

Murphy led Project Deter, an initiative that saved the company more than $1 million last year.
Taking the lead on a project that resulted in every lock in every store being changed, she identified needs, participated in the bid process and evaluated potential vendors. Her attention to detail has made her a multiyear winner of the Asset Protection Manager of the Year award, which is given to the highest-performing Giant Food asset protection managers.
Murphy serves on the Loss Prevention Research Council’s product protection committee, collaborating with retailers and vendors to solve asset protection retail issues.

Wendy Boynton

Director of Pharmacy Operations, Hannaford Supermarkets

Boynton motivated Hannaford pharmacies to take charge of inventory and improve results, introducing tools that enabled the grocer to maintain industry-leading inventory levels while controlling shrink and maintaining in-stock conditions.
She deployed a medication synchronization service that makes it easier for customers to stay on their prescription therapies without missing any dosages of critical medications, and grew Hannaford’s immunization business through relationships with new channels and vendors, as well as pharmacist training.
Boynton was named 2019 Pharmacist of the Year by the University of New England.

Emma Castañeda

Director, IT, Peapod Digital Labs

Castañeda expanded her scope of influence by serving as a mentor for employees outside of her own department; in 2019, she sat on a leadership panel for International Women’s Day and helped others in the organization by sharing her thoughts and insights as a leader and a woman.
She successfully guided, promoted and received acceptance for the user experience of Ahold Delhaize’s strategic omnichannel platform supporting its six U.S. brands, also taking the lead on the project’s budget control and delivery of timelines.
Castañeda has presented on many occasions to the most senior levels the company and is recognized as a self-starter.

Nancy Dawson-Brady

Manager, Infinity Fresh Kitchen, Retail Business Services

Dawson-Brady successfully managed multiple workstreams, including construction, merchandising, IT, research and development, and supply chain, while preparing for the launch of the first state-of-the-art commissary for Stop & Shop and Hannaford, supporting deli and produce.
Under her leadership, the facility has averaged a service level to the distribution centers of 97%.
Dawson-Brady and her team volunteer at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, sourcing food, raising funds and recruiting helpers, and she also coaches and mentors women in the industry the through the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Dawn Rogers

Director, Human Resources Business Partners, Retail Business Services

Rogers led a company-wide cross-functional team to develop and introduce My Leadership Journey (MLJ), an immersive career-development framework designed to foster career growth and leadership development at all levels.
She worked with private-brand leadership on organizational design modifications to align teams and encourage process improvements, which ultimately resulted in positive sales results for private-brand products across Ahold Delhaize USA.
Rogers serves on the board of the Partnership for Young Children, a nonprofit supporting the learning and healthy development of kids up to age 5.

Jennifer Smith

Manager, A-Brands Sourcing, Retail Business Services

Smith developed a robust internal training program for assortment associates; her team led quarterly training sessions across all five brand locations, educating more than 150 colleagues on tools, processes and business etiquette.
She also led a team that created collection and reporting processes to capture nearly $80 million to fund the single-source program across Ahold Delhaize USA’s brands.
Smith was appointed co-chair of Retail Business Services’ Women’s Business Resource Group (BRG), which hosts mentoring circles, community outreach initiatives and events focused on empowering women, among other activities.

Phuong Dinh

Finance Manager, Stop & Shop

Promoted to manager in 2019, Dinh was instrumental in establishing robust financial core processes like budgeting and reporting, as well as in building a trusted relationship between finance and the commercial teams.
To facilitate her weekly review with the SVP of nonperishables, she built a forecasting model dynamic enough to be updated for risks and opportunities and to help identify the levers needed to be pulled to achieve the desired financial target.
Beyond her professional duties, Dinh is an active member in the New England Network of Executive Women (NEW) and the Stop & Shop Women Associate Resource Group.

Melissa Everard

Asset Protection Manager, Stop & Shop

Everard assisted in the development of the current shrink plan of action, as well as the shrink metric template, which continues to be used across the banner.
She enthusiastically volunteered to cover an additional district during a period of reduced staffing of the asset protection management team, successfully managing three districts and supporting 30 direct reports for an extended period of time.
Everard helps run the annual Thanksgiving food drive and toy drive at Holy FamilyChurch, along with volunteering to raise funds and awareness for the Down Syndrome Association.

Laura Sweeney

Human Resources Business Partner, Stop & Shop

Sweeney worked with women leaders in the district by setting up mentoring circles, and speaking about some of the obstacles that they face in retail and how to overcome those challenges, including work/life balance, holding people accountable or dressing for success.
She put in place a detailed development program that has resulted in the promotion of more than 100 associates to full-time or leadership positions.
Sweeney’s ongoing partnership with Cradles to Crayons and The Salvation Army within her district supports various events throughout the year.

Karli Andrew

E-commerce Senior Merchant, Albertsons Cos.

Andrew focused on e-commerce merchandising for one of the organization’s largest sales categories, including dry grocery and alcohol/beverage. She headed up special merchandising seasonal event planning tied to online merchandising plans.
Among other accomplishments, she merchandised products more effectively by repositioning product photography for easier shopping, leading to a five-to-tenfold sales lift.
Andrew also improved search functionality and drove all-time-high sales weeks during the holidays through better storytelling for online merchandising.

Alicia Bell

E-commerce Director, Eastern Division, Albertsons Cos.

Spearheading customer service with home delivery and drive-up-and-go operations in her division, Bell drove $38 million in annual sales and oversaw labor management, training and EBITDA.
She transformed a bottom-performing division to first place for on-time delivery metrics, streamlined the recruitment process and implemented new business models to expand the number of stores offering home delivery.
Bell has been recognized for her outstanding work in leading the front end to significantly reduce cash shortages in Albertsons’ eastern division.

Pauline Berry

Senior Director, Consumer and Shopper Insights, Albertsons Cos.

Berry handled the development, execution and analysis of primary research and insights to understand shopping behaviors and support the company’s marketing, loyalty, merchandising, pharmacy and operations business units across nine divisions; she also managed a multimillion-dollar research budget.
Her contributions included the delivery of actionable recommendations for an effective optimizing mix, insights on growth opportunities, and the creation of an insights learning plan.
Featured in the 2019 edition of “Who’s Who in Insights and Analytics,” Berry is a member of both the Network of Executive Women (NEW) and the Path to Purchase Institute.

Lindsey Boudreaux

Manager, Pharmacy Business Development, Albertsons Cos.

With duties ranging from health care partner clinic development to the opening of new clinic locations, Boudreaux identified acquisition opportunities, and oversaw and directed financial analysis, bid strategy, legal documentation, and execution of all pharmacy acquisitions and partnerships with nontraditional opportunities.
She shepherded the launch of seven new clinics, created a pipeline of potential partners for new clinic locations, and executed the rollout of pharmacy delivery across 14 divisions.
Boudreaux connected with alternative pharmacy businesses and alliances to keep Albertsons at the forefront of pharmacy innovation and trends.

Karen Bowlby

Director, Customer Service Center, Albertsons Cos.

Managing more than 300 employees and overseeing the knowledge base to handle and report on customer interactions, which include up to 2.5 million comments a year, Bowlby also coordinated a feedback-based digital road map for customers.
Passionate about quickly solving customer issues, she embraced technology and communication, and worked closely with the IT team to reduce handle time and calls.
Bowlby recently improved customer experience within the home delivery platform at Albertsons by implementing a new program enabling customers to see the status of their orders and how far the delivery truck is from their homes.

Veronica Bykin

IT Director, Digital CX Engineering, Albertsons Cos.

With five reporting teams, Bykin headed up engineering groups responsible for digital customer experience, digital analytics, test and target, and other company-wide web initiatives.
In less than a year, she built a team supporting the company’s web platform that has reduced consulting costs and brought technical skills in house; she also created automation, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), and unit testing, and shifted from releases every other month to every two weeks.
In addition, Bykin is working on a system to reduce downtime and provide work-life balance for teams that would otherwise have to stay up all night for code deployments.

Minyoung Cha

Senior Quality Assurance Manager, Albertsons Cos.

Cha’s duties encompassed the Own Brands private label business, where she ensured supplier adherence to relevant regulatory standards, industry best practices and company policies for safe, high-quality products delivered to 2,300-plus stores in 35 states.
Under her direction, the number of complaints in million units sold dropped 25% in 10 months, and she built a supplier pathogen control assessment tool based on best industry practices and applicable regulations.
Cha dedicated time to regular one-on-ones with her employees to help each one develop strategic perspective and analytical skills to solve complex situations.

Jessica Covaci

Director, Pharmacy Compliance, Albertsons Cos.

Covaci was responsible for planning and implementing all pharmacy compliance initiatives across nearly 1,800 U.S. pharmacies, with 36 direct and indirect reports, 30 field evaluators, and six pharmacy controlled-substance analysts.
She also modified the field evaluation program process, introduced hands-on training and mentoring of field evaluators, and reduced the risk of controlled-substance diversion by improving controlled-substance management processes.
Covaci was recently chosen for Albertsons University leadership training, and serves on committees for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Mandee Day

Director of Marketing Creative Communications, Albertsons Cos.

Day guided national vendor meetings, executive board meetings, investor/analyst meetings and leadership meetings, ensuring that all communications were consistent and creative, from videos to messages from senior executives.
She also assisted other groups, including retail operations, employee resources groups, and digital and customer teams as needed, and oversaw budgets for event planning.
Day served on the board for Albertsons’ Women’s Inspiration and Inclusion Network, is active with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, and shares her talent and services with other charities and employee resource groups.

Pat Dearman

Own Brands Innovation and Product Management Manager, Albertsons Cos.

Dearman’s duties included growing the Debi Lilly private label brand by working with hard-goods suppliers, growers and designer/event planner Debi Lilly.
Under her leadership, the Debi Lilly brand grew at close to a double-digit rate to reach nearly $300 million in annual sales at more than 2,000 stores across all Albertsons banners.
Dearman recently helped launch the Extending Smiles bouquet, working with three charities that donate a portion of every bouquet to those in need; the response has been so overwhelming that she’s already working on new bouquet recipes with seasonal rotation.

Mirela Dobrescu

Director, Merchandising Systems, Albertsons Cos.

Dobrescu’s purview included merchandising systems that are used to manage base retails, promoted retails and trade funds collection, across all of Albertsons’ divisions.
She also managed the conversion of all promotion and allowance data for each Albertsons division to new technology platforms, for a 95% accuracy rate, and helped onboard divisions to the new systems.
Dobrescu helped to construct a new promotional pricing system for an industry-best solution that cut two days from the processing of allowance and promotion data; she’s known as something of a system and data oracle who always makes time for colleagues’ issues.

Charlene Earl

Plant Manager, Albertsons Cos.

As the plant manager for the Vons L.A. Milk and Culture Plant, Earl oversaw a 130-person facility that’s one of 18 in the company.
Running a plant that produces more than 40 million gallons of product, representing more than $125 million in sales, she adhered to budget, leading the pack in dairy manufacturing and yielding an operational savings greater than $500,000 against her team’s goal.
Earl is seen as a mentor, especially to newer plant managers, and welcomes peers to her facility to highlight and share its successful initiatives; she also conducted periodic budgetary reviews with junior plant managers to give them a clear understanding of their businesses.

Jacquie Farquhar

Marketing Operations Quality Assurance and Triage, Albertsons Cos.

Farquhar coordinated an off-shore team in Manila and partnered with the Customer Care Call Center, technical teams, internal and external partners, and division marketing areas to serve more than 2,200 stores.
Having found potentially fraudulent accounts, she led a task force to reduce fraud in Grocery Rewards digital offers, stemming losses between $50,000 and $100,000 per month, for a $1 million annual savings.
Farquhar serves as a board member for Albertsons’ Women’s Inspiration and Inclusion Network, where she was instrumental in a career development event with the First Place for Youth organization.

Darlene Freeman

Senior Manager, Own Brands Innovation and Product Management, Albertsons Cos.

In her role on the Main Meals and Ingredients team, Freeman was tasked with new item innovation, business maintenance and category expertise across 58 categories worth $271 million annually; her business increased $12.4 million last year.
She supervised an assistant product manager and led a team of six cross-functional partners.
One of Freeman’s biggest accomplishments over the past year was her crucial role in expanding Albertsons’ new super-premium Signature Reserve brand and introducing elevated offerings to deliver on rising consumer interest in differentiation and premiumization.

Vien-An Friedel

Director, Own Brands Product Development, Albertsons Cos.

Friedel led product development and the commercialization of new and reformulated products under the Own Brands umbrella, where she is accountable for several million-dollar categories.
She played a key role in the introduction of a line of soups in a newly acquired manufacturing facility, helped drive a new software specification system, and designed a successful Own Brands Product Development Day showcasing the skills and contributions of the brand’s integral product developers.
By problem-solving for cross categories and sparking several improvements, Friedel facilitated cost savings of nearly $5 million.

Elizabeth Guthrie

Director, Own Brands Innovation and Product Management, Albertsons Cos.

Responsible for a portion of the Own Brands portfolio worth more than $828 million, Guthrie fueled growth through innovation, brand and category expansion and marketing.
She led a significant expansion of the Open Nature brand into more nonfood categories and sustainable items, spurred innovation in new over-the-counter products, and identified growth for CBD sales for Own Brands, leading to a stand-alone brand now under development.
Guthrie is a member of Albertsons’ Women’s Inspiration and Inclusion Network and its Community Team.

Sharmin King

Loss Prevention Data Analyst, Albertsons Cos.

King focused on cost savings and protecting the assets of the division and company, including monitoring its money services programs, with an emphasis on Western Union transactions and scrutinizing systems for undetected anomalies of possible abuse or training issues causing shrink or loss.
She identified two credit card fraudsters who cost the Denver division $11,000; her research and efforts led to the eventual capture of two suspects who were allegedly responsible for credit card and gift card fraud across the company.
King was invaluable and instrumental in training the division’s asset protection team.

Shari Klein

Director of Property Management, Albertsons Cos.

Overseeing all property management functions for 2,200-plus stores and nonretail facilities, Klein recovered $400,000 from external-audit processes; replaced a third-party property management service, saving the company approximately $80,000 annually; identified 10 locations with percentage rent overpayments, resulting in estimated savings of $450,000; and got landlord approval for 300-plus Drive Up & Go locations.
She developed and trained high-potential associates to become the next leaders within her department.
Klein is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Lubna Lasne

Technical Project Manager, Albertsons Cos.

Responsible for ensuring that the product engineering team delivers business value-added features on time with quality, Lasne was a key influencer in revamping the Albertsons digital grocery e-commerce checkout experience.
She was instrumental in delivering a new e-commerce platform built on modern cloud-native patterns, start to finish, within 10 months, ensuring that it was ready for the holiday season.
An active member of the Albertsons cultural and employee engagement committee, Lasne played a major role in organizing the company’s annual holiday and Christmas event.

Tambrina (Tammy) Link

Bakery Operations Specialist, Albertsons Cos.

Link oversaw the bakery department operations and execution of marketing programs in 20 stores spread over a 200-mile region, and functioned as the bakery department subject-matter expert for store directors in her geographic area.
Her stores outperformed the rest of the division in identical- sales growth by nearly 450 basis points, on top of just about 4% growth the prior year, making it a more than 8% two-year stack.
Link and a team of bakery managers kept stores in the Napa/Sonoma, Calif., area stocked during the wildfires and power outages there.

Angela Moore

Director, Shopper Marketing, National Events, Albertsons Cos.

Moore’s efforts led to continued national-event success totaling more than $4 billion in sales and $100 million-plus in incremental sales; she optimized and improved these critical events, and overdelivered on expectations for all of them.
She also led the national-event division planning and budgeting process for the year.
Moore developed and implemented an innovative automated in-store customer-experience mapping tool allowing the company to better organize in-store messaging to reduce clutter and drive sales by enhancing the customer shopping experience.

Allison (Allie) Neiderhauser

Director of Food Safety and Safety, Albertsons Cos.

Neiderhauser created a new Go Green program that recognized store teams for exceptional performance in the areas of food safety and sanitation; being a global thinker, she also shared her concept with other divisions, where it’s currently being adopted and implemented.
Her safety recognition efforts inspired teams to create a culture of working safely, and as a result, the Portland division has seen four successive quarters of reductions in accidents.
Neiderhauser was a recipient of Albertsons’ Best Overall Quality Award in 2016 and Best Bread Quality Award in 2017.

Belynda Pedro

IT Senior Manager, Albertsons Cos.

Pedro played a critical role as the program manager for the company’s excellence and efficiency program, operated locally but with global IT impact.
Under her leadership, her team operationalized financial report distribution per period across all departments, allowing all leaders to review their financial health with budget versus actual expense data, as well as their standing against their respective efficiency targets.
A supporter of Family Life Ministers under Campus Crusade International and Elevate Ministries, Pedro has served as a mentor and coach to various women for the past seven years.

Darcie Renn

Director of Sustainability, Albertsons Cos.

Renn led the internal Plastics and Packaging Task Force, an interdisciplinary group that developed Albertsons’ Plastics Pledge with a bold vision for the company’s leadership stance on an issue of growing global importance.
She guided the development of a legislative tracking tool to enable the company to better track, communicate and strategically respond to a rising number of hyperlocal plastic and packaging regulations across the nation.
A member of the Food Marketing Institute sustainability executive committee, Renn also co-chairs Albertsons Cos.’ Green Team board.

Sally Robinson

Senior Manager, Data Governance, Fresh, Albertsons Cos.

An industry leader in perishable and store-created item management, Robinson was integral in the development of a new process and a new software, Optiva, to enable compliance with emerging federal menu-labeling laws.
She was an instrumental part of the company’s store-created item setup optimization initiative over the past year.
Robinson has assumed leadership roles on the following important projects: GS1, the menu-labeling laws/compliance committee, enterprise data clean-up, shrink (fresh-item data) and nutritional ingredients.

Amber Ross

Floral Operations Specialist, Albertsons Cos.

Responsible for supporting 51 Albertsons and Tom Thumb floral departments across two districts in the Southern division, Ross led her stores to the best results in the entire division for all of 2019, with a sales increase of more than $92,861.
The winner of multiple division contests, she was always willing to help other departments with holiday or grand-opening merchandising ideas.
Ross volunteers with the Nancy Lieberman Charities, an organization committed to promoting and developing healthy lifestyles and educational opportunities for young girls and boys.

Melissa Seita

Food Safety/QA Analytics Manager, Albertsons Cos.

Seita played a key role in the development and implementation of the retail-facing analytical dashboard Metrics that Matter to provide key focus and direction on food safety.
Her modern approach, along with her attention to detail and ownership of data, helped drive food safety results in a positive direction across multiple key performance indicators.
Seita participates in an array of local grass-roots organizations in the community surrounding her family’s restaurants, among them youth sports organizations, youth theater, local reading programs and public-school student incentive programs.

Primal Shah

Sourcing Director, Albertsons Cos.

Under Shah’s expert leadership, her team contributed nearly $10 million in cost savings, significantly exceeding her plan.
She was instrumental in leading several Own Brands strategic initiatives, including the source-of-supply transition of one of Albertsons’ major fresh categories.
Shah’s guidance helped spur double-digit sales growth in key top-selling fresh categories by partnering with strategic suppliers to execute the company’s Own Brands sales plan; she quickly identified several innovation platforms that drove incremental sales, and was chosen as a primary leader for a fresh innovation growth platform.

Erica Tabler

Manager, Front End Operations, Albertsons Cos.

Tabler reduced customer complaints by 83%, and created a new reporting, training and follow-up process for cash shortages that resulted in a 33% reduction in that area.
On her own initiative, she reached out to vendors to compare reusable bag/tote products and prices; Albertsons subsequently rolled out new bag items with Californian and Hawaiian themes that were projected to increase category sales by 50%, and boost gross margin to 60% to 70%.
During the Public Safety Power Shut Down (PSPS) and Kincaid Fire, with more than 50 of Albertsons’ California stores affected, Tabler took on the role of a crisis response point person.

Hannah Tovstein

Assistant Sales Manager, Spirits, Albertsons Cos.

Focusing on the allocated (limited-distribution) and rare spirits business to make Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores category destinations, Tovstein met with top suppliers and distributors and leveraged the size of the business to receive allocated items that the banners had not previously procured and sold.
These allocations delivered $250,000-plus in incremental sales and helped boost customer loyalty and repeat business.
Tovstein chairs and helps plan fundraising activities for the Network of Executive Women (NEW) scholarship program for the Christermon Foundation, a nonprofit beverage alcohol industry organization.

Cheryl Whinihan

Sales Manager, Deli/Foodservice/Starbucks, Albertsons Cos.

Whinihan’s division was the first to test and roll out online ordering platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub, and it was the pilot division for Albertsons’ endeavor with meal-kit company Plated, taking the idea from a concept to execution in stores.
She also served on many task forces to help shape the future of deli/foodservice, including those dedicated to meals, menu-labeling regulatory standards, and weights and measures.
Whinihan made sure that during the California fires and public safety power outages, the company’s stores, communities and first responders had ready-to-eat fresh food available.

Amber Armstrong

Assistant General Merchandise Sales Manager, Albertsons Cos./Acme

Armstrong led Acme to 11 No. 1 finishes in Albertsons’ national contests, thanks to her aggressive ordering and encouragement of the operations team to build massive displays and push for profitable sales.
Her efforts caused Acme to become the No. 1 fastest-growing U.S. grocer for Kind Bars; through the end of 2019, absolute dollar growth in Kind Bars was $387,000-plus.
Armstrong’s planning and communication led to a 5.2% total fourth-quarter sales increase in her respective categories; year to date, these sales held strong at 2.89%.

Patricia Cressman

Director, IT Services, Albertsons Cos./Acme

Cressman led her team and division through significant change in regard to the on-time integration of company-standard information technology solutions.
She additionally guided numerous teams through the conversion of 167 networks, point-of-sale solutions and all back-office solutions.
Cressman was instrumental in Acme’s transition to in-house infrastructure and software systems, a move that affected essentially every piece of technology in all of the banner’s stores and the division office, at the same time building a team to provide hardware services.

Tina Browen

Director of Marketing, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Browen worked with the VP of marketing and merchandising to oversee ad creation, social media expansion and relevance, as well as the in-store marketing and signage aspect of the business.
She developed a comprehensive inside and outside marketing campaign to rethink the current ad strategy, creating a functional four-tab ad and simultaneously launching the new Just 4 U loyalty application.
Browen managed to build vendor relationships and blanket the Chicagol metropolitan area with partnering billboards, a strategy that increased social media impressions by more than 3 million weekly.

Amy Jankauskis

Service Deli Assistant Sales Manager, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Jankauskis led a refresh of Jewel-Osco’s entertaining program, including its brochure and procedures; she researched potential items that could be added to the program through an analysis of the menus of both competing retailers and other Albertsons divisions.
She also created a defined deli tray program for the division’s e-commerce program, which features delivery truck-friendly trays and packaging.
Jankauskis identified and corrected discrepancies that inflated shrink by $50,000 per period, her efforts contributing greatly to a 2.85% department sales increase and a 1.4% market share lift.

Sarah Kelley

Assistant Sales Manager, Bakery and Starbucks, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Excelling at job training and mentoring, Kelley adapted quickly in her handling of the Starbucks brand, and was recognized by the corporate Starbucks team for all of her efforts in driving sales and supporting the Starbucks brand in stores.
She helped drive sales over the prior year through her communication and training ,and as a result achieved four straight quarters of positive identical-store sales of 13% to 16%.
Kelley was involved in coordinating a golf charity event with District 9, raising money for local food banks and other local charitable organizations that help the less fortunate.

Jaime Patel

Assistant Sales Manager, GMHBC, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Patel’s meticulous attention to the vendor-funding portion of Jewel-Osco’s profit and loss resulted in the recovery of more than $300,000 in funding.
She collaborated with Albertsons’ director of analytics to redevelop the category pricing tools that support its companies, working as part of the testing team tasked with debugging the tools and providing feedback.
Patel served as the lead on the development of a report on the sell-through by SKU effectiveness on components of monthly planner displays; this report has increased sales and margins on monthly promotional programs, as well as improving stores’ efficiency in writing orders.

Nikole Powell

North Area Recruiter, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Responsible for executing on all hiring initiatives regarding store management and department manager hiring, Powell successfully implemented the Jewel-Osco scholarship program, fielding more than 100 applications to select 30 top-talent future store director candidates.
Her execution of the summer intern program yielded 25 candidates to resolve key business issues while gaining on-the-job store management experience.
Powell works with such local groups as the Cook County Workforce, the Chicago Jesuit Academy, Kennedy-King and Washburne Culinary to supplement hiring and diversity initiatives in key locations.

Tina Schmitz

District Pharmacy, Manager, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

In close collaboration with her pharmacy managers and teams, Schmitz was able to achieve outstanding metrics from April 2019 to March 2020, including improvements in prescription identical sales of 4.8% and in identical sales of 1.9%.
Her combined districts administered 36,000 flu shots, a 19.6% increase over the prior year.
Schmitz worked with the manager of specialty medications/field services to develop a program dedicated to HIV patient care, creating 16 center-of-excellence stores in the Chicagoland market; prescriptions just from HIV medications increased 20% and sales grew 32%, or $1.419 million, over the prior year.

Alura Stewart

Center Store Operations Specialist-D4, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Stewart beat banner identical sales across dry grocery, dairy, frozen, liquor and GMHBC by 50 basis points for three consecutive quarters in 2019.
She lowered district center store shrink levels by 55 basis points compared with the prior year – well ahead of banner improvements in 2019 – and promoted seven key associates within the district to top store leadership positions.
Having created the best pipeline for development in the supermarket chain, including female leadership development, Stewart is a member of Albertson’s Women’s Inspiration and Inclusion Network.

Sarah Stolz

Manager of Pharmacy Field Services, HIV and Specialty Medications, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Stolz took on the role of manager of field services/HIV and specialty medications, managing and expanding the retailer’s approach to clinical services specifically focused on the condition.
She became an expert in the field, earning credentials as an HIV pharmacist (AAHIVP) from the American Academy of HIV Medicine, and developed 16 HIV center-of-excellence stores.
Stolz developed relationships with the following HIV organizations: TPAN (Test Positive Awareness Network) Chicago, Center on Halsted, the Will County Health Department, Open Door Health and Agape Missions.

Mary Frances Trucco

Director, Public Affairs and Government Relations, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Managing the Jewel-Osco Foundation and overseeing seven register campaigns, Trucco increased charitable partnerships by 40% via social media awareness to more than 600 applications annually.
She lobbied local lawmakers to ensure that collective-bargaining agreement carve-outs were added to legislation affecting Jewel-Osco in regard to such issues as restrictive scheduling and sick leave.
Trucco is an active participant in the division Women’s Inspiration and Inclusion Network, and regularly volunteers at many local food banks.

Rebecca Young

Districts 6 and 8 AR and HR Manager, Albertsons Cos./Jewel-Osco

Young recruited more than 15 top-talent managers (store directors, assistant store directors and department managers) away from key competitors, and guided 3,000-plus unique employee discipline cases to resolution.
She partnered with her three district managers to coach, train and develop more than 70 internal candidates for promotion to key store management roles.
Young volunteers at the Northwest Indiana Food Bank and a thrift store benefiting Christian education, as well as teaching Sunday school; she’s also an active participant in the division Women’s Inspiration and Inclusion Network.

Mariko Lee

NOSHE Sales Manager, Albertsons Cos./NoCal Division

Lee was chosen as the quarterback for the division’s key initiative in 2019-20: the conversion of Andronico’s/Safeway premium and ultra-premium stores.
When she and a vendor were tasked with closing a $1.1 million gap on Pringles in the salty snacks category, her stellar efforts resulted in double-digit category growth.
A former chair of the Safeway Asian Network at Albertsons, Lee found time to partner with the Hispanic Network to develop a leadership learning workshop, and to participate in CAAEN (California Asian American Employee Network) as a mentor and coach for young leaders.

Hala Corral

Service Deli Sales Manager, Albertsons Cos./Portland Division

Heading all service deli categories and Starbucks for the Portland division, Corral was tasked with increasing sales, units, total gross dollars and market share, as well as with developing marketing and merchandising plans.
She boosted total deli market share by 4.6%; renovated the entire meal solution category for a 5% lift, which led to her selection to the company’s national task force for prepared meals; and piloted a new rotisserie chicken package that uses three times less plastic.
Corral played a key role in the launch of the Portland division’s Women’s Network Group, and was chosen for the USC Food Industry Executive Program.

Jodi Gongora

Director of Alaska Distribution, Albertsons Cos./Seattle Division

Confronted with such daunting logistical challenges as weather, delayed arrival of cargo and shipping freight via plane to rural Alaska, Gongora met all obstacles head-on.
When the J.B. Gottstein team began servicing the Stuaqpak store in remote Barrow, Alaska, she played a vital role in the location’s success, getting freight flown in from Anchorage and delivered to the its shelves, assisting with cleaning and improvements at the store, and ensuring that the soft grand opening hit $85,000 in sales.
She also managed a large capital project to repair earthquake damage at her facility.

Nancy Kubilus

Sales and Merchandising Manager, Nonperishable, Albertsons Cos./Shaw’s

A nationally recognized expert in the natural, organic, specialty, healthy and ethnic categories, Kubilus outpaced total company growth in all of her categories.
Although a fiercely competitive negotiator, she is known as a fair partner who delivers on her promises and works with niche suppliers to get their products into stores.
Kubilus participates annually in the Pan Mass Challenge to raise money for pediatric cancer, coordinates the store’s participation in Boston’s First Responders race to support the police and fire departments, and is involved with the Nantucket Island Food Pantry.

Teresa Benson

Director of E-Commerce, Albertsons Cos./SoCal/Southwest Division

A 35-year employee who joined the e-commerce team in 2018, Benson headed up e-commerce home delivery and drive-up-and-go operations in a division with significant physical geography.
She deployed a five-shift model in all delivery stores and introduced more than 20 new drive up-and-go store locations, sharing best practices with an action plan to manage out-of-stocks to a goal of below 3%.
Before joining the e-commerce group, Benson won SoCal division leadership recognition for leading labor metric improvements. Away from work, she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and Special Olympics.

Susan Covarrubias

Assistant Grocery Sales Manager, Albertsons Cos./SoCal/Southwest Division

Covarrubias managed the cookies, crackers, soup, pasta, pasta sauce, canned fruit and vegetable categories for 338 Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in her market.
She grew sales 3.98% and improved market share in categories representing more than three-fourths of her total volume, and she helped Albertsons become the first U.S. retailer to integrate Tate’s Bake Shoppe Cookies on Mondelez trucks, growing sales by more than 70%.
Covarrubias volunteers with American Red Cross and the Southern California Refrigerated & Frozen Council.

Jenny Crandall

Director, Front End Operations, Albertsons Cos./SoCal/Southwest Division

Driving customer experiences and supporting employee initiatives and training, Crandall grew income at 339 retail locations in Southern California, the largest division of Albertsons Cos.
She helped reduce cash losses, introduced new self-checkouts in 95 stores, created a customer excellence video, launched a new uniform program and prioritized in-store fundraising.
Crandall serves on the board of Fighting for Families and gives her time to Habitat for Humanity and Special Olympics; she’s also a member of Women in Leadership and is working to complete Western Association of Food Chains certification.

Julie Field

District Manager, Albertsons Cos./SoCal/Southwest Division

Heading a team of store directors and operations specialists, Field was charged with maximizing sales and profits, ensuring that all division goals are met and conducting performance management and leader development.
Having completed the Food Industry Management Program at USC Marshall School of Business, she was promoted to her current role in October 2019 and since that time has achieved all division metrics.
Field is a member of Network of Executive Women (NEW) and the Southern California division’s Women in Leadership Network, and has served on a local PTA board for five years.

Kora Rush

Director of Supply Chain, Albertsons Cos./United

Known as an innovative and highly capable leader, Rush helped launch merchandising initiatives to add more natural and organic products to the stores under her purview to boost that growing part of the retail business.
She co-led the development of a vendor portal, a collaboration that was vitally important to the strategic vision of the company and is expected to result in improved item management, efficiency and labor savings.
Rush’s focus on creative ways to collaborate with the retail merchandising team resulted in a 40% reduction in slow-moving items at the distribution center, and a shrink reduction of more than 20% last year.

Dylana Silver

Director of Marketing, Alpha 1 Marketing, an affiliate of Krasdale Foods Inc.

Silver partnered with the Brooklyn Nets in conjunction with Noches Latinas for a six-week on-court promotion honoring Krasdale Foods store owners as standout Hispanic entrepreneurs.
Her focus on digital efforts helped engage and grow the stores’ target audiences, increasing CTown and Bravo web traffic by 20%.
She launched and continued to grow Krasdale Foods’ community outreach program, which focuses on food rescue initiatives in the metro New York area; every year, Krasdale partners with the New York Yankees on the team’s annual holiday food drive and food voucher giveaway.

Barb Spears

Senior Director, Sales, American Greetings

Spears transformed American Greetings’ marketing strategy at Albertsons into a highly focused “Always on 360” direct-to-consumer approach. With the new tools Spears gave her client, Albertsons was now able to mine customer greeting-card purchasing behavior and provide highly customized direct-to-consumer offers, including demand-creation triggers, pre-shop offers and in-store prompts.
This strategic shift has significantly transformed Albertsons’ American Greetings business, resulting in an increase of about 2% in units.
Spears has a leadership role in American Greetings’ events for leading trade associations.

Megan Moriarty

Floral Category Manager, Big Y Foods Inc.

By introducing new trends, seasonal offerings, and improving sourcing and pricing, Moriarty increased floral sales by 7.6% and lowered the overall cost of product by 3.7% without sacrificing high quality standards and freshness appeal.
Partnering with her supply vendor, she introduced a new corsage and boutonniere program using pre-assembled backings, which led to increased sales and a decrease of in-store labor; she also worked with a local family-owned supplier to create a Garden Center Shrub and Nursery program.
Moriarty created and launched Big Y Cares Bloom, a program that supports local charities with each bouquet purchased.

Ashleigh Endicott

Banner Supervisor, Brookshire Grocery Co. (BCG)

Endicott worked with vendor partners and BCG’s category management team on store-wide programs and events that delivered strong results and double-digit increases.
Her week-long Taste of Italy event, featuring an Italian chef and master sommelier and exclusive, invitation-only dining extravaganzas for top shoppers, received a National Grocers Association Creative Choice Award. She teamed with breweries and vendor partners on an educational in-store tasting that led to double-digit sales increases.
As strategic director for BGC Racing, Endicott coordinates two annual races, which have raised more than $1 million for charities.

Andrea Wing

Associate Project Manager, Customer Strategic Solutions, C&S Wholesale Grocers

The Work Force Management control system that Wing developed allowed C&S’ customer service network to meet high-demand service-level goals during significant disruption events.
She optimized contact center schedules to reduce overtime and temp labor, saving more than $100,000 annually.
Wing’s incentive-based attendance program, created to reduce absenteeism, raise the company’s Organizational Health Index score and bolster customer service group morale, is on track to reduce absenteeism by 20% by the end of this year.

Michaela Downes

Director, E-commerce Customer Management, Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc.

To design a strategy for e-commerce click-and-collect/home delivery options, Downes collaborated across the company on a digital store survey whose results helped her company take an omnichannel approach.
When she identified a gap between in-store and online assortment for one customer, she worked with the retailer’s third-party content provider to refresh and rationalize assortment.
Downes led company-sponsored projects for graduate and undergraduate college classes.

Alyssa Spain

Shopper Marketing Manager II, Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc.

With the help of her strategic programs, Spain’s four retailer accounts delivered more than 33 million cases of Coca-Cola products.
She connected Coca-Cola Consolidated with the Charlotte Hornets, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Food Lion Feeds organization to provide 4,000-plus people with a take-home Thanksgiving meal that included a Sprite 2-liter bottle, driving brand excitement and incremental growth.
Spain facilitated a goods drive for the Dove’s Nest organization at Coca-Cola Consolidated’s corporate headquarters.

Colby Stinnette

Customer Development Manager, Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc.

Stinnette grew positive share growth in 11 of 19 beverage categories while maintaining margin requirements for her customers and Coca-Cola bottlers.
Her total portfolio of customers delivered $12.5 million in revenue in 2019, following two consecutive years of positive volume and dead net, gross profit growth.
Stinnette takes part in Selfless Saturdays, a monthly day on which volunteers supply the homeless with food, clothing and shower facilities, and supports Generosity Global to provide people around the world greater access to clean water.

Erienne Keefe

Account Executive III, Coca-Cola North America

Keefe received the Coca-Cola North America Best of the Best Award, presented to the top-performing account executives in the company, and also won the Coca-Cola Large Store West Iterative award for her customer-focused contributions.
She has earned a reputation for strong leadership and persistence in managing dynamic and challenging accounts, and successfully partnering with the bottling system.
Keefe has been instrumental in helping raise more than $100,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society through her husband’s Joshua Seed charity pub-crawl fundraiser, named in honor of her late brother.

Maricela Reyes

Director, Analytics and Insights, Crossmark

Reyes worked closely with the sales team to identify and resolve category management opportunities for Kimberly-Clark that helped Crossmark overdeliver on net sales targets for its client and grow dollar share for 10 brands.
She led the onboarding of Clorox and exceeded expectations by developing a full reporting suite for the Crossmark Clorox sales organization in less than four weeks.
Reyes conducted the first Crossmark Now fundraising events in support of members’ personal development programs, and led the company’s partnership with Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support.

Natalie Runyan

Director, Headquarter Sales and Marketing, Crossmark

Runyan created a biweekly newsletter for her clients and her internal team that has since become a vital tool for more effective alignment.
In her role of president of the Crossmark Network of Women group, she increased membership and participation, and developed a robust steering committee with subcommittees for networking, fundraising and leadership development.
Runyan was instrumental in developing opportunities for Network of Women, including monthly mentoring sessions and webinars, and fundraising for various educational and empowerment events.

Lucy Nicholls

Director of Marketing, Eversight

Nicholls researched industry needs and built and executed an industry event on that topic for more than 35 senior leaders in the CPG/retail revenue management space, working with an external web developer to create and launch a microsite for the event.
She redesigned Eversight’s corporate website and launched an updated company website; the process included everything from actual website design and functionality to product messaging and resources.
Nicholls revitalized corporate messaging, which included redefining Eversight’s voice and story, and supporting cross-functional use of updated messaging.

Ashley Eisenbeiser

Senior Director, Food and Product Safety Programs, FMI-The Food Industry Association

Eisenbeiser was instrumental in providing status updates to members during outbreaks of foodborne illnesses related to romaine lettuce. She formulated FMI’s response to the issue and issued communications for members to comply with the government’s request to pull all romaine from commerce.
She serves on the labeling subcommittee of the Romaine/Food Safety Taskforce, which promotes consistent voluntary labeling for greater transparency.
Eisenbeiser’s work helps ensure the integrity of the Food Handler Certificate Program.

Laura Miller

Senior Manager, Retail Inventory Systems, Giant Eagle

Miller created the fresh item manager role, which serves as the lead on key fresh departments across all retail locations. Transforming store-level fresh inventory management practices helped drive sales by 3.95 % and increased gross margin dollars.
She led her team to develop a new tool for leaders to efficiently manage key performance indicators and coaching sessions.
Through the Women’s Business Resource Group at Giant Eagle, Miller created a new company event that brought together executives and team members to raise donations for the United Way campaign.

Lauren Furr

Manager of Service, Training, Front End Operations and Recruiting, Harris Teeter

Along with her team of seven, Furr introduced daily huddle training, a move that increased service measurements to an all-time high score.
She led her team’s stores to raise more than $800,000 for the USO, part of $1.7 million raised, and sits on the Fred J. Morganthall board, which dispenses funds to Harris Teeter associates to relieve financial hardships that result from sudden and unforeseen circumstances.
Furr piloted the Snag Work platform with Snagajob to fill shift gaps with hardworking associates, a program that’s now expanding to five more stores.

Danna Robinson

Communications Manager, Harris Teeter

Robinson transitioned the company’s point-of-sale charitable program to round-up functionality, which increased its donations at the register by 61% to organizations such as JDRF, the USO, United Way and Feeding America.
Taking the lead on the company’s presenting sponsorship of the Cooper River Bridge Run, she coordinated vendor partners, managed the company presence at the event expo and delivered remarks on race day.
Robinson received approval for I.S. Project, which will streamline donation tracking at the store level and roll out a perishable donation program company-wide.

Tracy Bliss

Director-Beauty Procurement and Merchandising, H-E-B

Bliss developed a new beauty format for H-E-B unlike any seen in the grocery industry before, with more than 600 trained in-store beauty advisors and in-store product demonstrations.
She exceeded industry results by developing a deep understanding of the customer, the industry and the manufacturers, while also understanding the current landscape and forecasting future trends.
Drug Store News named Bliss one of its Top Women in Health, Wellness and Beauty in 2019, and she was selected to participate in the H-E-B Accelerating Leadership Capabilities program for rising stars.

Amber Cenci

Senior Manager-Category Management-Midwest/West Region, The Hershey Co.

Previously a member of the strategic revenue growth management (SRGM) team, Cenci was promoted in June 2019.
With SRGM, she implemented a tool enabling Hershey teams to analyze the success/ROI for promotional activity more efficiently, and she created onboarding and training plans for her role and her direct reports’ roles.
One of Cenci’s first strategic projects in her new position was expanding the confection aisle to increase category and total store sales; three retailers implemented full rollouts or tests before year end, with much more interest since then.

Angelica Glass

Customer Sales Executive-Kroger Divisions, The Hershey Co.

Glass manages 33% of Hershey’s Kroger volume, laying a foundation for how each division can succeed with period programming and incremental merchandising; she also redefined annual joint-business planning, which will deliver approximately $5 million in 2020 for two divisions.
Building a story for continuous confection space expansion with each of her divisions, she netted an additional eight SKUs and 650 secondary fixtures that will deliver more than $3 million in 2020.
Hershey honored her as top district sales manager and as a lead for the company’s twice-yearly conference for its top performers.

Sandita McDermott

Customer Sales Executive-Kroger Divisions, The Hershey Co.

Handling 30% of Hershey’s Kroger volume, McDermott placed more than 697 permanent secondary fixtures, resulting in an incremental $8 million for her West Coast divisions.
Kroger reduced Fred Meyer’s Hershey summer season and s’mores business by 52%, but McDermott’s winning recommendations resulted in new programing that drove its POS sales by more than $2.5 million.
This year, McDermott became the co-chair of the Portland, Ore., Network of Executive Women (NEW) and facilitated a Dress for Success event for a local women’s shelter; she also supported a children’s hospital in Utah.

Amanda Rutter

Category Consultant, The Hershey Co.

Providing actionable shopper insights and category-centric recommendations across confection, baking and milk modifiers, Rutter worked closely with internal teams at Hershey, as well as category and grocery sales managers.
As soon as she assumed a category management role, she turned around a relationship with a retail customer that wasn’t going well due to turnover, and quickly won back “seasonal advisorship” with the customer.
Rutter completed an analysis and rebuild in the candy aisle with a new shelving configuration she proactively provided, leading to 15% to 18% productivity lifts.

Casey Roberts

Director, Floral, Hy-Vee Inc.

Roberts played an integral role in the remodeling and rebranding of Hy-Vee’s floral departments, in place at nine stores so far and featuring a modern farmhouse theme; she also changed the assortment to a wider selection of fresh arrangements and included an expanded cooler for more grab-and-go options.
Mentoring is a key focus as she shows employees new floral design techniques while also teaching the operational side of the business.
Since the rebrand, overall floral department sales at the remodeled stores have grown by more than 233% from the previous year.

Caroline Zack

Director of Execution Excellence, Insignia Systems

None of the company’s 1 million activities for brands and retailers each year goes to market without being subject to Zack’s creative eye and organizational prowess.
When promoted to her new role in early 2019, Zack quickly got to work implementing standard operating procedures across the supply chain, and weekly meetings with critical-stage partners.
Zack used her retail experience to evolve the company’s merchandise display platform and develop a new Insignia display process, leading to compliance rates of up 90% and earning the Top Display Company of 2019 award from Creative magazine.

Sara Baldwin

Finance Senior Manager, K-VA-T Food Stores d/b/a Food City

Baldwin’s responsibilites included preparing the annual budget in consultation with the executive, merchandising and operations teams; tracking and reporting incentive-plan metrics; and being an integral part of the monthly forecast.
She implemented a new Oracle forecasting system, led the charge on training and began detailed labor reporting. As project manager for the retail Opportunity Stores project, she helped selected stores improve their bottom lines by $1.5 million
An FMI Food Retail Leader, Baldwin is also the administrator of the FMI Finance & Administration Share Group.

Rachelle Radcliffe

Director, Brand Development, KeHE

Radcliffe launched trend lounges for keto, sustainability, health and wellness, and pet at the KeHE Summer Show, and showcased leadership through her involvement in Chicagoland Food & Beverage, the KeHE Elevate Learning Session, and the New Supplier Summit.
After graduating from KeHE’s Rising Star Program, which readies talent for leadership positions, she was promoted in May 2019 to director of category management and accepted into KeHE’s Aspiring Program.
She secured more than $500,000 in advertising and promotional support to help brands in the marketplace, which was 7% over budget.

Nina Lerner

Director, Data Science-Statistical Learning, The Kroger Co./84.51

Lerner is highly involved in education in the community, volunteering at a library with STEM-based activities for children, developing the curriculum for a “night of learning,” acting as a member of the schools committee of her religious organization and petitioning the local district to reduce class sizes.
At work, she overhauled the Customer Dimension Segmentations program and established the vision and methodology of the Household Segmentation Factory, while creating efficiencies through automation of code.
Lerner won the Kroger Extraordinary Contribution Award for developing the Agatha platform and the Kroger Equity Grant.

Michelle Morrisey

Division CFO, The Kroger Co./Atlanta Division

Morrisey administered the division’s financial plan for a $6.6 billion sales goal in 2019 and a net profit goal of $163 million, and she implemented a new audit process, leading to travel expenses and administrative expenses better than budget.
A member of the Network of Executive Women (NEW) Atlanta Chapter and the Georgia Food Industry Association, she was also directly involved with her division’s Our Promise team.
Ensuring the development and training of the financial services staff, Morrisey facilitated her analyst’s promotion to a more senior role, and worked to help her administrative assistant understand accounting procedures.

Stacey Robinson

Center Store Coordinator, The Kroger Co./Atlanta Division

Robinson served on the Division Customer Experience Fundamental Team as the merchandising expert, having a direct impact on 90 stores that went through the process.
Assumed her new role in October 2019, she led the grand reopening of two Kroger stores through merchandising and associate training. Participating on a committee to help Fred Meyer and Kroger buying teams merge, she helped reduce redundancy and increase efficiency.
In Atlanta, where the commercial exploitation of children is high, Robinson and members of her family volunteer for Street Grace as part of the effort to help eradicate sex trafficking.

Marie Pettijohn

District Center Store Coordinator, The Kroger Co./Cincinnati-Dayton Division

Pettijohn’s oversight of 16 stores includes proper use of display space; training managers in proper ordering and execution of the sales plan; ensuring compliance with federal, state and local laws; and supporting food safety and sanitation best practices.
She began 2019 as district operations manager, and in August was selected for a special eight-week assignment as district manager to engage with stores regarding merchandising plans; her district won.
Kroger selected Pettijohn for the District Leadership Academy, and she serves as the division chair for the African American Associate Resource Group.

Tracy Wilczynski

District Associate and Customer Experience Coordinator, The Kroger Co./Columbus Division

Overseeing the human resources functions for 21 stores, Wilczynski championed increased engagement with new hires and reduced the district’s annual turnover by more than 8% for the second year in a row.
She held contract language training classes and helped improve employee relations through the discipline/grievance process to help decrease grievance payouts by more than $10,000.
Helping build associate knowledge and leadership skills, Wilczynski aided the promotions of 10 assistant store leaders to store leaders, and nine store leaders to higher-volume stores.

Shannon Winrow

Division E-commerce Manager, The Kroger Co./Columbus Division

Tasked with growing the division’s e-commerce business, Winrow improved fill rate without substitutions, decreased late orders and opened more time slots to fill more orders, resulting in 31% sales growth.
She improved retention in the e-commerce department by 24% versus the prior year and implemented successor planning for all potential supervisor and lead candidates; as part of the division’s Bench Program, she helped develop aspiring store leaders.
During Kroger’s “no fee” promotion over the winter holidays, Winrow’s team achieved record-breaking sales.

Andrea Martinez

Division Talent and Development Manager, The Kroger Co./Dallas Division

Martinez streamlined hiring best practices across the division and partnered with operations and merchandising teams on a robust developmental training plan.
She graduated from the Retail Management Certificate Program through El Centro College and was an advocate for the program, leading to a 90% increase in enrollment, and was also selected for the Enterprise Talent Acquisition Advisory board.
Martinez is a member of the Marriott Foundation’s Bridges from School to Work Program, an advisory board member of the Western Association of Food Chains and a member of the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Amanda Martin

Grocery Merchandising/Sales Manager, The Kroger Co./Delta Division

Since her promotion at the beginning of 2019, Martin has helped turn around four consecutive quarters of negative identical sales to positive grocery sales for the remaining three quarters of the year.
She developed a weekly sales plan allocation tool that has simplified communication among department leaders, and she completed the Dale Carnegie Immersion Course to improve her communication skills.
With a heart for helping children and families, Martin volunteers with Ronald McDonald House and Hope House Memphis, a local organization that aims to improve the quality of life of those affected by HIV and poverty.

Misty Cavanaugh

Division Fuel Manager, The Kroger Co./Dillons Division

The expert for 54 fuel centers, Cavanaugh exceeded goals by reviewing competition checks twice daily and adjusting based on what the market was doing, in addition to making any costing changes.
Her fuel center visits strengthened customer service and sanitation expectations, and weekly reporting and communication with fuel centers led to out-of-stock reduction and proper rotation and dating.
Cavanaugh holds an elected position in the Daughters of the Nile Organization, serves on one of the United Way Grant Review Panels and is vice chair of the Reno County Food Policy Advisory Council.

Chelsea Cubero

District Associate and Customer Experience Coordinator, The Kroger Co./Fred Meyer Division

Recognizing a gap in meeting the needs of a principal Indian shopper, Cubero found a vendor that could provide expertise in such items for the Redmond, Wash., store, which subsequently experienced 420% growth in the category; QFC has reached out to the same vendor to do business as well.
In her current role, she led the district merchandising team through five major store remodels and grand openings.
Dedicated to her own professional development, Cubero was accepted into USC Marshall School of Business’ first-ever Food Industry Leadership Master’s Program.

Brenda Roeter

Associate and Customer Engagement (ACE) Coordinator, The Kroger Co./Fred Meyer Division

Roeter has been identified as a high-potential leader, with plans to be district manager within the next three to five years, and was selected for the inaugural Kroger Leadership Excellence Acceleration Program.
As a member of the New Hire Experience Pilot, she worked with cross-functional teams throughout Kroger and the Disney Institute, and through her influence, new hires led the Fred Meyer division in training assessment completions.
In the community, Roeter can be found doing volunteer work with children at Junior Achievement, and also at the Oregon Food Bank.

Angela Cavazos

Adult Beverage Sales Planner, The Kroger Co./Fry’s Division

Cavazos developed a program for 50-milliliter spirits that generated $1.7 million in incremental revenue and gained 7% of Arizona’s total-market adult-beverage share.
She created three social media raffle campaigns to generate excitement and drive bonus revenue, and revamped the rewards program with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Phoenix Suns.
Outside of her day job, Cavazos is an active member of the Arizona Food Marketing Association; serves on the board of directors for Florence Crittendon, which is focused on changing girls’ lives; and volunteers with her sons at local food banks.

J.J. Mattison

Deli/Bakery Merchandiser, The Kroger Co./Fry’s Division

Mattison launched an inspiring meal solution destination for customers to easily shop for and prepare meals at home, a commodity increasing by more than 24%, and worked to open a downtown Phoenix store with an optimized deli assortment driving nearly a quarter of total store sales.
She implemented a strategic plan to drive sales with SKU optimization and focused on reducing waste in stores by advocating for the company’s perishable donation program.
Shortly after graduating from the Kroger Leadership Academy, she was promoted from store manager to merchandiser.

Diana Victoriano

Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, The Kroger Co./General Office-Corporate HR

Victoriano created a talent acquisition community, the Careers with Promise marketing campaign, a partnership with Recruit Military, and The Big College Event at Duke Energy Center.
Partnering with the Professional Diversity Network, she was able to increase candidate applications from 1,790 to 77,357 in only two quarters.
A founding member of the Kroger Asian Associate Professional Group, Victoriano is a team leader for the American Heart Association fundraising event, a participant in Adopt-A-Class, and a board member of Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank.

Marilyn Lema

Assistant Controller, The Kroger Co./ Houston Division

Promoted from financial analyst, Lema spearheaded several financial reporting classes to teach future leadership teams, in addition to being an inaugural member of the division’s Young Professionals Associate Resource Group.
She spends much of her time volunteering with such organizations as the Houston SPCA, The Beagle Freedom Project, Souper Bowl of Caring, Komen Race for the Cure, Texas Children’s Hospital and Latinas in Leadership.
Kroger has often called on Lema to promote the company to its multicultural/Hispanic demographic in the news media, particularly in regard to the Nuro self-driving delivery car rollout.

Holly Adrien

E-commerce Business Manager-HBC, The Kroger Co./Merchandising

Adrien aligned with brick-and-mortar leadership on a new path forward for digital merchandising, ensuring a sound foundation for pickup, delivery and shipping, with the team refocusing on imagery, product detail pages and site content.
For 2020, she created Kroger’s digital HBC strategy, co-created the Vitacost merchandising strategy and assisted in the fresh digital strategy.
Adrien volunteered as a panel member representing Network of Executive Women (NEW) and Kroger for a mentorship with Miami University students to speak about women in businessand ways to manage their careers.

Becky Diaz

Coordinator of Beauty Care, The Kroger Co./Merchandising

Diaz partnered with asset protection to introduce new shrink policies for beauty, and created cosmetic standards that rolled out to Kroger’s divisions as part of the company’s customer experience campaign.
She led the creation of the grocer’s Fresh Beauty concept stores, which were built in three months and launched in select stores.
Diaz is involved with Cinderella’s Closet, a ministry organization that provides formal wear to girls who couldn’t otherwise attend their proms; in 2019, through Kroger’s Wellness Your Way event, she raised $20,000 for the organization.

Katy Greiner

National Coordinator of Wine and Spirits, The Kroger Co./Merchandising

Leveraging her planning, communication and leadership skills, Greiner undertook the massive task of coordinating the launch of full-strength beer at King Soopers and Kroger stores in the states of Colorado and Kansas, respectively.
She developed and implemented a customer-first beer-pricing program in the Ralphs divisio, which was able to move its sales, units and market share results from negative trends to growth for the first time in more than three years.
Greiner is a certified Level 2 Cicerone in beer, one of only about 1,000 in the United States.

Ban George

Division Health and Wellness Merchandiser, The Kroger Co./Michigan Division

George worked diligently alongside the United Food Commercial Workers union to provide more than 6,500 biometric health screenings to improve the health and wellness of Michigan Kroger associates.
She surpassed the goal of 1,800 free cholesterol screenings by providing 1,813 such screenings to the public during February to support American Heart Month.
An immigrant from Iraq fluent in English, Arabic and Chaldean, George helps Kroger connect with the United States’ largest Chaldean/Arab American community, in southeast Michigan.

Stephanie Spangler-Opdyke

Division Human Resources Leader, The Kroger Co./Michigan Division

Spangler-Opdyke pioneered several now standard concepts within the division, such as the Back Stock Card process enabling associates to efficiently manage back stock product, both slow- and fast-selling items.
She led her team through a major shift in negotiating benefits for more than 1,8000 associates; all wages were increased, including starting wage, health and welfare benefits, and pensions.
Spangler-Opdyke led seven Washtenaw County, Mich., Kroger stores in raising more than 1 million meals for the Rockin’ for Hungry Families in Need campaign over just five days.

Sabrina Powell

Division Expense, Sanitation and Sustainability Manager, The Kroger Co./Nashville Division

On top of her daily duties, Powell devoted time to lead the Nashville division’s food waste recycling program, helping it improve food rescue by 86% and food waste recycling by 170.8% in 2019 versus 2018.
She developed the Division Office Green Team, which introduced recycling and composting for the administrative office.
Powell is is a member of the Urban Green Lab Corporate Sustainability Roundtable, which meets periodically to review opportunities as well as share ideas to promote sustainability at other companies operating in Nashville, Tenn.

Stacy Doyle

Pharmacy VP, The Kroger Co./Roundy’s Division

Doyle led the highly complex Shopko acquisition, assuring the ongoing care of thousands of households in central Wisconsin, and directed the rollout of the Rx Savings Club.
She introduced a successful prescription growth plan to Illinois pharmacies to attract new patients, working with various partners to perform in-store sampling with the aim of gaining greater customer attention; as a result, Illinois pharmacy sales increased by 11.4% in 2019 versus 2018, and prescription count grew by 30%.
The recipient of several industry honors, Doyle is a current active member of the Kenosha County Opioid Task Force.

Ann Fedder

Accounting SVP/Chief Accounting Officer, The Kroger Co./Roundy’s Division

Fedder’s financial management expertise and keen oversight led to a division identical-store sales increase of 4.87% versus the prior year, leading all Kroger divisions, while EBITDA without fuel showed the second-best improvement in the enterprise from the prior year.
Her teams’ weekly shrink reports allowed stores in the division to monitor their results on a more frequent basis, which resulted in significant shrink reductions across all categories.
Fedder was instrumental in the development of an aggressive store-remodeling plan in fiscal 2019 for a total of 12 Wisconsin and Illinois stores.

Jo Anne Dibble

Continuous Improvement Engineer 3, The Kroger Co./Technology and Digital

On short notice, Dibble successfully planned and executed a workshop for 60-plus associates on the Cloud First program, involving the migration of applications to Microsoft Azure Cloud.
Engaged by the corporate marketing team to facilitate best-in-class future-state process work, she led the team to complete the work on a shorter timeline and with significant cost savings.
Dibble led annual ArtsWave and United Way fundraising campaigns and worked with a local Adopt a Class program, among other Kroger-sponsored volunteer opportunities.

Theresa Lindholm

Brand Manager, Litehouse Inc.

While managing two new-to-the-company product lines, Lindholm spearheaded the launch of Litehouse Cosmic Crisp apple cider, the first such beverage during the varietal’s inaugural year of harvest.
She laid the groundwork for nationwide retailer distribution of a new product line in 2020, including packaging design and a brand website, along with running several cross-promotions throughout the year.
Inspired by Lindholm’s grass-roots food bank donation collections, a company-wide campaign resulted in the donation of tens of thousands of dollars and 16,000-plus pounds of food.

Carol Henry

Director of Human Resources, Longo Brothers Fruit Markets Inc. (Longo’s)

Henry launched an employer brand strategy, aligned to the customer brand strategy, to tell the unique story of Longo’s culture to retain current employees and attract external candidates.
She identified gaps in existing training tools and processes in Longo’s stores and implemented an online-learning platform to modernize the company’s approach to training.
A member of the Employment Leadership Council of York, Henry was involved in the creation of a Food Retail Innovation Lab to help researchers better understand consumer decision-making and consumption habits.

Jackie Adams

Director of HR Analytics, Meijer

Adams led a $7 million technology implementation across Meijer’s finance, human resources and information technology departments, delivering it on time and on budget, with a focus on driving simplicity through scalability and flexibility.
She consolidated 26 separate HR IT applications into a single solution for all 70,000 associates on the same day, incredibly without any major disruptions to the business.
Always eager to encourage her team to take part in Meijer’s volunteer and community-related events, Adams became involved in such programs as Simply Give, United Way, Kids’ Food Basket and Angel Tree.

Lisa Barrett

Manager, Branding and Packaging, Meijer

Barrett led the kickoff of a comprehensive five-year company sustainable-packaging strategy with goals to ensure that all Meijer own-brand packaging is recyclable, reusable, compostable or composed of 20% recycled material.
She oversaw the design and redesign of 2,000 SKUs, including brand and packaging refreshes across several categories.
Barrett is active in the Revive & Thrive Project, which supports individuals and their families dealing with serious illness by delivering free nutritious meals, and as a marketing support volunteer, as well as serving on the RunGR board as secretary.

Cathy Cooper

Senior Director, Community Partnerships and Corporate Giving, Meijer

To help boost the power of Meijer Sports Marketing, Cooper negotiated several new contracts, executed stadium branding, and worked with such events as the Meijer LPGA Classic, and collegiate sports for Big Ten schools in Meijer markets.
She created sponsored admission (ticket sales and family days) for museums and zoos in several Midwestern cities, and produced back-to-college sponsored events for 22 universities and colleges in Meijer’s six-state region.
Cooper managed appearances of The Grand Taste Food Truck, a Meijer-sponsored food truck, at 100 local community events.

Lana DenHarder

Manager, College Relations, Meijer

Thanks to DenHarder’s leadership, Meijer achieved a successful 2019 Internship Program and 2019-20 Campus Recruiting Campaign.
She formed new relationships with colleges and universities, along with functional business-area partnerships, an effort that included documentation of roles and responsibilities, and the creation of intern marketing materials and videos.
DenHarder and her son represented Meijer’s collaboration with Facebook in a successful back-to-school media campaign highlighting the work of special educators and their need for different school supplies.

Lisa Evans

Buyer, Grocery/DSD (Beer), Meijer

As Meijer’s first-ever female alcohol buyer, Evans exhibited skill in leadership, strategy and merchandising that resulted in 6% growth in the grocery store chain’s beer business in fiscal 2019, outpacing the broader market.
She developed a strategic approach to assortment, pricing and promotion, including a 360-degree execution for marketing, ad and display.
Evans also created specific timelines for assortment and promotional planning to include supplier proposals and forecasts; the fruits of that work became the foundation for executing the best options in the market.

Jackie Morse

Director, Specialty Pharmacy Services and Trade Relations, Meijer

Morse’s work and leadership resulted in Meijer Specialty Pharmacy achieving 30% year-over-year regional specialty pharmacy sales growth, thanks in large part to key payer partnerships and a best-in-class patient care model.
Teams that she supervised helped secure more than $12 million in patient assistance funding, directly reducing customers’ out-of-pocket medication costs.
An active member of the Michigan Pharmacists Association and an elected member of Ferris State University’s College of Pharmacy alumni advisory board, Morse has established a scholarship for student pharmacists.

YaSonda Rodgers

HR Market Manager (South Chicago-Western), Meijer

Rodgers revitalized struggling units by empowering leaders to own their business and offering open-door communication; her leadership resulted in reduced employee relations issues and improved team member satisfaction, achieving the highest levels in her region.
She also refreshed the internship program and provided vital assistance in the recruitment of young workers while creating robust and engaging projects that align with business objectives.
Thanks to her work developing young leaders, half of those interns come back for subsequent internships or end up earning job offers from Meijer.

Alison Pierce

Brand Manager, Milo’s Tea Co.

Pierce oversaw and led a complete label redesign for all of the company’s products, managing a cross-functional team that included production, sales and marketing employees, all of them coming together to create new labeling and strategic positioning for the brand.
She also played a vital role in performing the needed consumer research to gain fresh insights about families that tend to be loyal to the Milo’s brand.
Under Pierce’s dogged leadership, Milo’s overtook the leading national brand of refrigerated tea by moving from the No. 2 position to become the best-selling tea in the United States, as determined by unit sales.

Jennifer Glasco

Customer Marketing Manager, Molson Coors Beverage Co.

Glasco crafted and then led the omnichannel execution of several incremental solutions across divisions, work that helped the Albertsons team hit its volume plan.
She promoted fresh ways of thinking about shopper media, and partnered with brand and media teams to execute Albertsons-specific media tests, in the process gaining insights that have informed the overall 2020 shopper media strategy.
Glasco led the push to take a fresh look at how Molson Coors develops solutions for Albertsons, gaining internal alignment and helping to sell in this new approach to the customer.

Rachel Smith

National Sales Executive, Molson Coors Beverage Co.

Smith played an important role in planning the first Charlotte division distributor summits, with participation from all 17 distributors in the region.
She delivered on her volume and share goals as Publix ended the year with a 2.4% increase in volume — 1.3 points ahead of the target — and her market share results improved 0.14 points year over year.
Smith is a member of the committee that plans the Annual Special Olympics Florida Golf Classic, one of Publix’s biggest charity partnerships; Molson Coors is also a presenting sponsor of the event.

Adriana Alvarado

Sales Administration Leader, MPF Sales and Marketing LLC

Alvarado consolidated the MPF Group’s essential sales administrative services at its Texas headquarters, implementing new systems and processes, and hiring and training associates.
She tightened the coordination of MPF banners by leading monthly management calls on revenue and support matters, and led an effort to provide more actionable sales and trend information to manufacturer clients.
Alvarado developed retailer targets with proactive communication and specific initiatives while working to reduce the average days outstanding of receivables.

Victoria Cooper

Corporate Digital Marketing Strategist, Nature Nate’s Honey Co.

The creator of a grass-roots brand ambassador program, Cooper worked to expand the initiative from 350 ambassadors to more than 2,000, an increase of more than 475%; meanwhile, the program was recognized for its consumer feedback solution.
She helped grow Nature Nate’s fan following through the revamp of both social media initiatives and corporate giving programs.
Cooper implemented a test to determine the best ad content for Nature Nate’s core audience, reducing the average cost per result by 68.75% year over year and decreasing the average cost per thousand by 26.3%.

Jenny McLeod

Director of Account Managers, Next Phase Enterprises

McLeod implemented an online training tool that significantly improved Next Phase Enterprise’s efficiency and knowledge base, and considerably boosted scalability and consistency.
Thanks to her keen oversight, the company successfully launched retail items via two new retail partnerships, which resulted in new streams of revenue for the organization.
According to her peers, McLeod’s genuine attitude, patience, energy and approachability has led to more team collaboration as well as the integration of such areas as internal systems and supply chain management.

Megan Palmer Rivera

Managing Director, Palmer’s Supermarket #2 Inc.

Rivera hosted an Employee Annual Grocery Cart Relay, during which teams were given a list of groceries and had to shop for them, relay-race style, and the first team to ring up and bag their groceries won; this exercise helped employees learn the locations of products.
At an off-site event she hosted and had all managers and team leaders attend, participants discussed business challenges and brainstormed innovations.
Rivera organizes a monthly Meeting of the Minds lunch that’s open to all employees; she posts a topic and invites eight employees to attend.

Ilicia Caba

Customer Manager, Quaker, PepsiCo

Caba’s expertise led to a 7.1% total sales increase for her customers, a mark that exceeded her annual sales target and resulted in more incremental revenue for those customers and Quaker/PepsiCo.
Her focus on a balanced portfolio of growth led to huge increases for ready-to-eat cereal, hot cereal and pancake syrup, and she earned recognition as a Quaker Ring of Honor Winner, the organization’s top annual sales honor.
Caba is regularly active with the internal Valor Employee Resource Group during Fleet Week in New York, coordinating the feeding of service members.

Betsy Harkleroad

Director Field Operations (Family Dollar), Pepsi Beverages North America (PBNA), PepsiCo

Serving as the conduit between the Dollar General sales team, the PBNA division and 70 franchised bottlers, Harkleroad played a critical role in PBNA achieving its plan for both volume and net revenue.
Dollar General consistently led the dollar chain key accounts in score and overall planograms and displays.
She helped move the agenda forward to test advanced shipping notification (ASN) technology in the Southeast; Dollar General is on the cusp of going live nationwide on ASN.

Kim Lueck

Marketing Manager, PepsiCo

Lueck led the overall shopper portfolio on potato chips, and her work delivered 99.3% to plan, $737.2 million and unit growth of 6.6%, as well as the total department’s 82 businesses running 97.6% to plan.
She serves as the national president of the internal Valor Employee Resource Group supporting America’s service members and veterans.
Lueck won a Harvey C. Russell chairman’s award for her strategic community partnership with Fritos and Valor nonprofit partner Carry the Load on the Fritos Salutes program, which delivered a total packaging takeover across two SKUs and 22 million bags.

Julie Smanda

Director-Large Format Sales Strategy, Frito-Lay North America, PepsiCo

Smanda worked with the PepsiCo insights team to craft an assortment tool that supports recommended planograms for accounts undergoing front end resets.
She led conversations with 14 regional accounts and democratized the lessons learned in national sales presentations for all regional teams to use; her efforts in this space led to 20% of Frito-Lay’s space gains coming from the front end checkout area.
Partnering with the National Confectioners Association, Smanda crafted the checkout segment of the Retail Destination Showcase, enabling Frito-Lay to earn significant exposure.

Monica Abarca

Senior Account Manager, Post Consumer Brands

Abarca’s efforts led enough growth for Post cereal sales at Smart & Final that it became the No. 2 cereal manufacturer at this retail account in 2019.
Her skills at category management and effective presentation resulted in a SKU count increase of 16 items for Smart & Final, along with 19% growth in a declining category.
Abarca’s talents for forecasting, promotional planning, relationship building and program execution combined to produce winning sales figures for California; as the company’s industry lead in the West, she represents the organization at various industry events in the region.

Tanya Champion

Account Executive, Procter & Gamble

Champion led a turnaround on the Albertsons hair care business via the creation of a business plan featuring hair care as a catalyst to drive the grocer’s beauty department growth.
Her leadership also resulted in total Albertsons Seattle division health and beauty care sales growth by more than 300 basis points, with the retailer’s department share increasing by more than 200 basis points.
Champion co-created and led a scale event platform in Portland, Ore., that grew HBC sales by seven points through an innovative incremental stock-up event, an effort that’s been replicated across Albertsons.

Tina Fanning

Team Leader-Associated Wholesale Grocers, Procter & Gamble

Fanning went well beyond her core job responsibilities to support organizational development efforts as a trainer for new hires, an intern manager and a teacher on “Selling with a Story” to all P&G sales interns.
Thanks to her leadership of the Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) team, that unit exceeded all targets and saw a 70% reduction in deductions because of improved cash results.
Fanning’s leadership with key AWG retailers delivered growth across all AWG top retailers above the AWG corporate average, fueled by her category growth strategies in bath tissue, paper towels and facial tissues.

Nadja Hendrix

Shopper Analytics and Insights Leader, Procter & Gamble

Hendrix led shopping insights efforts for emerging customers Whole Foods Market, Fresh Thyme, Sprouts and DeCA, resulting in $40 million of incremental sales.
She validated a distribution strategy for the naturals channel to convert occasional shoppers, resulting in a more than 90% favorability ranking, which improved retailers’ equity scores.
Hendrix spearheded P&G’s efforts to increase its presence in the urban grocery retail space, developing a strategy using granular street-level analytics to identify a major opportunity for the CPG powerhouse.

Kelli Montgomery

Northeast Product Supply Manager, Procter & Gamble

Montgomery grew her customer base’s category sales by capitalizing on top-line sales opportunities while delivering-bottom savings. She exceeded customers’ supply chain metrics objectives, and delivered incremental sales for the P&G portfolio.
She managed the hair care business at the top retailer in her region, helping it grow P&G sales by more than 4% and increasing corporate share for a fifth consecutive year.
Montgomery is active in organizations that provide underserved young women with books and personal health care products.

Amy Moreno

Account Executive/Regional Broker Manager, Procter & Gamble

Moreno led the transition of four of her customers to a new paired-coverage model while maintaining business momentum, and in several cases even increasing it.
She did significant work to bring customers in the New York urban market into the digital age, collaborating with various retailers on e-commerce tests, and delivering team training on setting up digital coupons for independent grocers.
Moreno is a member in the P&G Latina Affinity Network, sitting on the retention committee, as well as an Ally in the company’s GABLE organization.

Haley Sammis

Head of Account Management, Rosie

Sammis grew expansion in stores by 520% year over year, leading the largest account expansion in Rosie’s history, and she also increased delivery adoption by retailers by 21% in eight weeks by teaming with DoorDash and Postmates.
She helped 100-plus stores launch a clickable weekly ad for their e-commerce program, resulting in increased online shopper acquisition, activation, retention and basket size.
Sammis volunteers at a food kitchen aiding thousands in the Ithaca, N.Y., area, and serves on the Transportation & Parking committee for the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (DIA).

Christen Heinsohn

Director of Retail Operations, Save A Lot

Between Q2 and Q4, Heinsohn was able to reduce productive labor spend from $34,295 to $31,156, and helped lower total shrink and waste dollars from $7,794 to $5,631 over the same period.
She rolled out an Inventory Exception Tool, the company’s first resource to help view daily inventory levels and trends.
As project lead on Save A Lot’s Bags for a Brighter Holiday program, Heinsohn oversaw the donation of 52,000-plus bags to local food banks and pantries, triggering a $100,000 contribution to Feeding America.

Chelsea Martin

Regional Director, Save A Lot

Martin was responsible for one of the top-grossing districts in the entire company for sales and EBITDA, improving sales overall by 2.31% compared with last year.
Nominated unanimously by her peers as the regional district manager captain for Save A Lot’s new district manager leadership training program, she has exceeded all expectations of senior leadership in her short time in the role.
A participant in the company’s annual Bags for a Brighter Holiday initiative and a partner with a local fire department, Martin received an award for her other selfless work in the community.

Katy Reyering

Talent Development Partner, Save A Lot

Reyering co-developed a micro-learning strategy that mirrors Save A Lot’s core initiatives to improve operations, achieve cross-functional alignment and drive modernization, resulting in improvements across sales, shrink, margin, labor and expense.
She set up an automated phone stipend for store managers, a move that freed them from having to submit monthly expense reimbursements.
Among other activities, Reyering has volunteered for Save A Lot’s 12 Days of Giving program and Save A Lot Pride, in which the grocer participates in St. Louis’ PrideFest.

Gina Olivieri

Director of Payroll and Benefits, ShopRite Supermarkets Inc. (SRS)

With a key team member on leave, Olivieri stepped into the benefits role, not only gaining additional experience, but also training other team members on succession-planning initiatives.
Her open, collaborative style resulted in a more strategic approah toward several key hiring and onboarding practices.
Olivieri received the ShopRite Supermarkets Outstanding Store Support award last December and was selected to serve on the company’s new compliance committee as a subject-matter expert in such areas as payroll and benefits.

Alina Svizzero

HR District Field Specialist, ShopRite Supermarkets Inc. (SRS)

Through Svizzero’s leadership, the district has produced several new programs, as well as identifying talent from which the entire company has benefited, thanks to her willingness to test, perfect, modify and share with the business.
Facing significant competitive disruption and potential loss of talent, she outlined a guided discussion for in-store associate relations managers and store managers to conduct one-on-ones with employees to identify opportunities for improvement.
Svizzero is an active supporter of ShopRite’s Partners in Caring and Feeding the Hungry.

Rebecca Weber

Quality Assurance Manager, ShopRite Supermarkets Inc. (SRS)

Weber used her analytical skills and previous experience on the training and merchandising teams to drive positive changes, improving store performance on third-party audits and achieving a 100% passage rate for state inspections in her district.
She worked with the asset protection team to cross-train staff on environmental compliance standards to raise awareness and drive compliance in stores.
Weber was selected to represent SRS on the New Jersey Food Council’s Chapter 24 Committee, which provides feedback on state laws affecting the foodservice industry.

Jasmine Newman

Manager, Learning and Engagement, Smart & Final

Newman took responsibility for the system setup, announcement and follow-ups for the 1,000-plus Smart & Final associates involved in the performance review process.
As a result of her leadership of the company’s engagement activities, it saw a 2% increase in overall engagement while experiencing a 4% increase in the “teamwork” area of focus.
While completing her associate’s degree and gearing up to earn her bachelor’s, Newman participated in Smart & Final’s Women Celebrating Women program and the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Collette Parker

Product Manager-Private Label, Smart & Final

Parker’s careful auditing led her to discover certain funds that weren’t paid to Smart & Final, or instances in which the company was overcharged; her diligence resulted in the recovery of all of those dollars.
She contributed to Smart & Final’s bottom line by negotiating large contracts on such high-volume categories as cultured dairy, fresh and frozen chicken, and frozen shrimp.
Whenever the company sponsors a charitable effort, including the Dodgers’ Holiday Food Drive, the Olive Crest fishing event and Read Across America, Parker makes sure to participate.

Sarah Groves

Category Manager II, Southeastern Grocers

Groves grew Southeastern Grocers’ natural and organic business 14.7% year over year in 2019, on top of 19.2% year-over-year growth in 2018, and helped transition roughly $22 million in annual sales from natural to center store conventional grocery.
She successfully launched CBD products with an all-encompassing action plan including full training for store associates and pharmacy teams, making Southeastern Grocers first to market with CBD in its region.
Among other activities, Groves volunteers in her community and is a board member of the Florida Hemp Council.

Christina Drew

Director, Merchandising and Marketing Insights and Analytics, SpartanNash

Drew led the search and integration of SpartanNash’s analytics partner, dunnhumby, resulting in savings of $1.2 million, with incremental annual savings forecasted once the transition is fully executed.
Her introduction of automated reporting tools eliminated manual processes, minimized human error, and created more in-depth insights for the merchandising team, with estimated annual savings of $159,000.
A David D. Hunting YMCA board member, Drew is also involved in the Y’s Strong Kids annual campaign to raise money for member scholarships for low-income families.

Carol Eckstein

Regional Director, HR, SpartanNash

Eckstein developed processes to support an effective seasonal and temp-to-hire conversion program, improving overall contingent worker fulfillment and reducing contingent worker turnover.
Employing an internally developed resource-planning process, she drove reductions in turnover by 40 points, escalated improved open-position time-to-fill metrics to second best in the company and improved overall associate engagement survey scores in the locations she led.
Eckstein’s many community activities include serving as HR consultant to Special Olympics of Indiana and mentoring high school girls.

Kimberly Jackson

Manager, National Accounts, SpartanNash

Jackson played a critical role in SpartanNash’s 30% sales growth last year and in onboarding hundreds of new stores; the company’s on target to double its volume in 2020.
She additionally collaborated with an independent customer to develop a seamless and repeatable process for transitioning stores from a SpartanNash distribution center to a customer’s fresh facility.
Active in her church and a regular volunteer for various causes, Jackson still manages to attend college in the evenings to further her education; she has also completed several SpartanNash training programs.

Amanda James

HR Business Partner, Retail HR, SpartanNash

To support the smooth transition of a new HR director of the retail team, James stepped in to lead teams and organizational initiatives during this time.
She guided 11 locations through rebranding and remodeling with change management and customer-focused training and delivery, and facilitated additional hiring.
As a final project, James and her fellow MBA students created a plan to implement a flexible work policy at SpartanNash; afterwards, she provided the company with policy recommendations, many of which were used when the SpartanNash Flex Time Policy launched.

Alisha Tarrance

Merchandise Planning Manager, SpartanNash

Tarrance revamped and trained the category management team on an improved retail margin forecasting process, resulting in a level of consistent performance and accuracy not previously achieved.
She incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) software into the company’s promotional planning processes, and led the team to integrate the AI system into all of SpartanNash’s processes.
A respected seafood industry consultant, Tarrance has been active in refining the process to move to pollock from cod for sustainable fishery.

Ronette Malone

Director of Business Management, SpartanNash/MDV Military Division

As part of a plan to analyze drayage rates and improve MDV’s business profitability, Malone prioritized vendors based on reverse order of profitability and developed an action plan to negotiate with vendors, without a profitability tool.
She identified an opportunity to improve performance on forward-buy opportunities, although forward buying wasn’t within her span of control,and led the effort to update the process.
Malone is a mentor through Big Brothers/Big Sisters, having had the same mentee for the past 12 years, from the age of 6.

Jacquelyn Farrell

Category Director, Topco Associates LLC

Farrell delivered cost improvements of $16 million through sourcing and category management activities, which experienced an increase over the prior year of $4 million, or 33%.
She was influential in the development of the Topco Sourcing Commitment for Indirect Spend, selecting the category segments for her areas of responsibility and helping to establish the guidelines and financial model for member commitments.
Farrell launched a women’s network group supporting female empowerment to achieve business and professional goals.

Kerry Beitz

Fresh Item Management Specialist, Tops Markets LLC

Beitz embarked on an aggressive-continuing education initiative for Tops’ store teams to ensure that, despite a high industry turnover rate, the company had well-trained associates and a subject-matter expert network.
She deployed an automated version of Tops’ production-planning tool, allowing operators to transition from a paper-based system, and leading to improved results in sales, margins, labor control and, most notably, shrink.
Beitz has volunteered for such organizations as JDRF, Brew at the Zoo, the Taste of Syracuse and Ride for Roswell.

Laura Galligan

Print Media Specialist, Tops Markets LLC

Beyond her primary responsibilities, Galligan led Tops’ September/October Booing program, increasing its reach from a small single-market promotion to cover the company’s entire trade area, and boosting awareness and store sales by encouraging customers to surprise and delight loved ones with small Halloween treats and gifts.
Again going beyond her usual duties, she helped take Tops’ radio media buying to new heights.
Outside of Tops, Galligan runs Social Butterfly Marketing, a business that helps other small businesses navigate social media, as well as promoting them through advertising and events.

Courtney Jones

Regional Manager, Pharmacy, Tops Markets

Jones selected five underperforming stores and completed a full analysis of their business and pharmacy programs; over three months, she instituted many changes or increased compliance in previously developed programs, leading to great success for the five stores chosen.
She increased immunization rates at every store, thus bringing in additional prescriptions and gross margin.
At one store, Jones instituted an innovative coloring program for children taking antibiotics, which not only kept kids adherent to their medications, but also improved customer satisfaction among caretakers.

Andrea Knab

Manager-Cash Sales Audit and Front End Reporting, Tops Markets

Knab led an initiative to optimize the number of armored-car deliveries and pickups to Tops stores that resulted in an approximately 20% reduction in services and expense to the company.
At the same time, she was busy heading an effort to optimize the levels of cash maintained by stores daily; this initiative ultimately led to an approximately 15% reduction in store-level cash that was made available for other strategic purposes.
Knab participates in Tops’ annual United Way campaign and is actively involved in various other philanthropic events held by the supermarket chain.

Denise Rachow

Manager of Human Resources and Compliance, Tops Markets

Rachow coordinated the first company job fair seeking to reduce a deficit in part-time associates resulting from the increase to the New York state minimum wage and competition in the area; her efforts increased staffing and allowed stores to operate more efficiently.
She created retail department-specific training materials to enhance the knowledge and abilities of store associates when dealing with equipment and shoppers, with a focus on customer service.
Among her many industry and community activities, Rachow volunteers for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Beth Stair

Director, Financial Reporting and Corporate Accounting, Tops Markets

When the company emerged from a financial restructuring, Stair led the financial reporting efforts related to fresh-start accounting, including research for, and development of, required external financial statement disclosures, completing this process within an aggressive timeline.
She developed a financial dashboard report that’s provided to the board each fiscal period (monthly) to function as the primary communication tool between quarterly meetings.
Stair’s slate of philanthropic activities includes the Ride for Roswell and the Junior Achievement Bowl-a-Thon.

Emily Trostle

Controller, Financial Accounting and Director of Treasury, Tops Markets

Trostle headed the initiative to adopt new technical accounting guidance related to revenue recognition impacting Tops’ total revenues, including reviewing and modifying the company’s revenue recognition policies and procedures to ensure compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
She began leading the effort to adopt new technical accounting guidance related to lease accounting — perhaps Tops’ most extensive and complex accounting change in recent years.
Trostle’s presentations to the board of directors’ audit committee drew praise for her grasp of technical accounting matters.

Deanna Wasikowski

Manager, Transportation Department, Tops Markets

Noticing an increase in store delay time, Wasikowski reviewed the process and collected data to highlight areas to improve on; with team support, she reduced delay time by 20%, which ultimately improved arrival time across the chain and maximized sales.
When Tops acquired stores in the Hudson Valley region of New York, she helped coordinate a delivery and return tonnage program that satisfactorily met warehouse departure times and in-store arrival times.
Wasikowski sits on a fleet safety committee that sources new equipment, taking advantage of innovative technology.

Susan Brosnan

Senior Software Engineer, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions

Brosnan led a successful initiative to increase software patent activity in the Toshiba software technical community, working with peers to design and implement a program to capture existing intellectual property activities and starburst invention ideas.
She was the principal engineer designing a suite of technologies and solutions that aimed to bridge the gap between existing retail technology implementations and new microservices and cloud-based technologies.
With 19 retail patents filed with the U.S. Patent Office and 74 published invention disclosures, Brosnan has been recognized as a Toshiba Master Inventor.

Letta Jenkins

Senior Manager, Food Safety and Quality Assurance, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI)

Jenkins led the integration of all distribution centers under one food safety program; as a result of this move, all of the DCs under her purview earned superior food safety outside-audit scores.
She centralized third-party management programs and vendor expectations through a cost-neutral process that led to better leverage with vendors and improved visibility to her national food safety team.
Jenkins is a member of the National Environmental Health Association, a National Registry for Food Safety Professionals proctor and a Certified ServSafe Food Protection Manager.

Angela Lauder

Litigation and E-discovery Manager, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI)

Lauder took a lead role in monitoring and tracking existing and potential class actions, filing proof of claims when appropriate; her work handling significant antitrust matters, both independently and with outside counsel, resulted in multimillion-dollar recoveries for the company.
The pivotal role that she played in e-discovery matters, including her help in researching and selecting a new data review tool, saved UNFI significant outside legal spend.
A member of various paralegal organizations, Lauder also volunteers for Wills for Heroes and an adult shelter.

Sarah Meyer

Director, Loss Prevention and Security, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI)

Meyer led a successful effort to customize and deploy in-depth workplace violence detection training to every people supervisor across UNFI’s network – more than 700 individuals at 60-plus sites – to rave reviews.
She also headed a RFP process across the entire network to consolidate the company’s security guard services from nine companies to three, resulting not only in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings, but also better security guards.
Meyer is a member of American Society for Industrial Security and the Missouri Organized Retail Crime Association.

Rachel Sorenson

Category Manager, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI)/Cub Foods

Sorenson delivered a rebranded floral department, Sweet Petals, with the aim of driving customer loyalty and brand recognition at Cub Foods stores.
As well as creating winning strategies for key holidays with new assortment, merchandising plans and operational best practices to lift sales, she took back responsibility for the juice and popcorn categories, setting out to revamp both categories with strategic selling plans.
Sorenson formed a partnership with One Tree Planted to donate a portion of the proceeds for every rose or bouquet sold at Cub Foods locations.

Tonya Woytowich

Category Manager, Weis Markets

Handling the needs of 200 stores across seven states, Woytowich took a leading role in reformulating Weis’ general merchandise strategy for both in-line and seasonal products, dramatically improving profitability on seasonal programs with curated assortments tailored to store needs, and through plans to achieve product sell-through.
She established best practices with suppliers to enhance business processes and ensure that expectations regarding quality and timing of both data and product are met.
Woytowich also serves as a regional leader for the Network of Executive Women (NEW).

Breanna Humphries

Operations Manager, The Ziegenfelder Co.

Humphries progressed from food process specialist to food safety and quality assurance manager to her current role of operations manager within a mere nine months.
During the rebuilding process after a destructive fire at the company’s main plant, she co-led several training sessions for employees, emerging as a major part of the team that managed to get production back up and running within 18 days.
Along with her own philanthropic activities, Humphries helped found the employee-led donation and community outreach organization known as the Zieggy Impact Group.