GenNext Future Leaders Forum
To inspire the next generation of retail industry leaders with fresh perspectives and insights to improve personal performance and organizational success.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
The New Age of Elevated Expectations
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM
11:00 AM
11:30 AM
<p>Shopper expectations continue to increase and grow more expansive thanks to technology, changing demographics, unprecedented access to information and shifting views of the role of business. Exclusive research from Progressive Grocer helps GenNext retail leaders prepare for a future filled with unprecedented uncertainty and bifurcated expectations.</p>

Beth Brickel
Vice President, Research
EnsembleIQ
Beth Brickel is Vice-president, research at EnsembleIQ. Beth brings 20 years of market and customer research experience to EnsembleIQ and holds a Masters of Marketing Research (MMR) degree from Southern Illinois University. Her industry experience encompasses CPG, Retail, Restaurant, Healthcare, Education, Media and Nonprofits/Foundations. A RIVA-trained moderator, Beth has conducted interviews, focus groups, online discussion groups, ethnographies, and shop-alongs with hundreds of individuals across both B2B and B2C studies.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
Brands as Agents of Change
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM
11:30 AM
12:00 PM
<p>Diversity and inclusion has become a business imperative for retailers and suppliers large and small. Hear how the world’s largest CPG company has made D&I part of its organizational ethos and is leveraging its portfolio of billion-dollar brands to achieve measurable outcomes.</p>

John Brownlee
Senior Vice President & General Manager, North America Hair Care
Procter & Gamble
John leads P&G’s North America Hair Care business, which includes iconic and new brands such as Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Aussie, and Hair Food. A passionate team and brand-builder, John has spent his entire career in the beauty industry, growing businesses across skin care, personal care and oral care. He joined P&G in 1999 as an assistant brand manager on the global Olay brand. For the next 10 years, he held a variety of roles in skin care before moving to the salon professional division in hair care. Following a stint in oral care, he spent four years as the brand director of North America Hair Care. In this portfolio role, he has worked across all of the brands in P&G’s Hair Care portfolio, growing sales and share after nearly a decade of decline. In March 2020, he was named General Manager and Sr. Vice President of North America Hair Care. Under his leadership, the portfolio has delivered its strongest results in recorded history. In addition to strong business leadership and brand-building, he is a leader of people, fostering an inclusive culture where everyone can bring their full selves to work. A native of Florida, John currently resides in Cincinnati, OH with his wife, Karen, and their 3 children, Sarah, Jack and David.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
The Store Experience of Tomorrow
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
12:00 PM
12:30 PM
<p>A radical rethinking of physical retail spaces is accelerating. Retailers of food and consumables are engaging and inspiring shoppers in new ways, and stores and employees are serving different roles. At the forefront of this movement is architectural and engineering firm Cuhaci & Peterson. Its groundbreaking work with some of the most innovative retailers and hospitality providers gives it a unique perspective on why retail will never look or operate the same.</p>

Greg Simpson
Chief Executive Officer
Cuhaci Peterson
Greg is a licensed architect with more than 30 years of leadership experience in the grocery, food service, retail, and hospitality sectors. As CEO of Cuhaci Peterson based near Orlando, Florida, he leads a team of more than 200 employees at the national architecture, engineering and planning firm. Cuhaci Peterson specializing in end-to-end commercial design solutions and has created future-proof store experiences for all types of retailers.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
BREAK
12:30 PM - 12:45 PM
12:30 PM
12:45 PM
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
The Trust Imperative
12:45 PM - 1:15 PM
12:45 PM
1:15 PM
<p>In a world clouded by misinformation and alternative facts, trust is in short supply. Global communications firm Edelman calls the situation an “infodemic,” in its annual Trust Barometer. The landmark research reveals that businesses are now the most trusted institution. Discover the key drivers of this shift and gain new insights into how to gain and grow trust with customers and colleagues.</p>

Megan Van Someren
Global Brand and Food & Beverage Chair
Edelman
In her global brand chair role, Megan is committed to elevating Edelman’s POV, vision and offering by re-imagining earned as a force for unlocking trust, cultural relevance and growth for brands. Over the course of 2020, she led important work in the field of trust, launching a series of pulses on the state of Brand Trust and the changing needs and expectations of consumers as well as the introduction of Edelman’s proprietary Trust Management platform for Brands, in partnership with Edelman’s DxI team. She joined Edelman in 2019 after 22 years in strategic planning roles at global agency networks such as Leo Burnett, Wunderman and JWT, and working across a variety of categories with some of the world's leading brands in categories such as food and beverage, health and well-being and technology.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
Privacy and the Future of Personalization
1:15 PM - 1:45 PM
1:15 PM
1:45 PM
<p>The age of personalization is at hand and retail will never be the same. An abundance of data has created more opportunities for retailers and brands, but GenNext leaders also face unprecedented challenges when it comes to data collection, usage, storage, handling and sharing. With concerns growing around privacy compliance, hear from an industry leader that is helping to reinvent the future of personalization.</p>

Scott Swanson
CEO
Aki Technologies, part of the Inmar Intelligence family of companies
Scott is a pioneer in marketing technology with more than 20 years in the industry. He is focused on the crossroads between technology innovation and the art of digital marketing. Prior to Aki, Scott founded Mobile Theory, the industry’s first brand-focused mobile advertising technology company. Following Mobile Theory’s acquisition by Opera Software, he served as its president of global advertising, leading a 250-person team. Scott was also on the founding team of Tribal Fusion and Vitrue, which was acquired by Oracle, and founded ad tech consulting firm 47 Media.
Thursday, December 9, 2021
2021-12-09
Connecting with Tomorrow’s Shoppers
1:45 PM - 2:15 PM
1:45 PM
2:15 PM
<p>Retailers and brands are accelerating Omnicommerce by influencing shoppers at every touchpoint from prompt to purchase and beyond. Join a digital visionary for a look ahead to the future that awaits GenNext leaders.</p>

John Willkom
SVP, Head of Ecommerce
The Mars Agency
John is the Head of E-commerce at The Mars Agency, a Detroit-based global commerce marketing practice. He helps brands win in the ever-changing world of connected commerce and has a passion for brand building and discovering "what's next." John is an avid sports fan and accomplished author, having penned the Amazon best-selling book, Walk-On Warrior, in 2018.
* Agenda is subject to change.
Congratulations to all of our 2021 GenNext winners! The above agenda is brought to us in honor of your achievements.
Meet the 2021 Winners!