Andrew Hackman is a registered federal lobbyist who has testified before the U.S. Senate and has lobbied in more than 25 state capitols. He previously served as vice president of government affairs for the Toy Industry Association (now simply the Toy Association), where he oversaw its advocacy programs at both the state and federal levels.  Andrew also has directed the national government affairs program of the Consumer Specialty Products Association (now the Household Consumer Products Association).

Andy holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs from Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University.

Andy is the Quality and Compliance Manager at Gemline. In this role, he has implemented and improved the global product quality system starting from design review of new products, setting standards for products and materials, and implementing checks using inspections and testing tools. He is also responsible for sustainability efforts at Gemline. Andy travels to overseas factories frequently to review processes and products and work closely with local teams. Prior to his role at Gemline, Andy was stationed in China working for a provider of inspection, audits, and testing and before that for a company providing sourcing solutions. Andy has experience on the ground working with factories both on the quality of the product and compliance of their facilities, as well as understanding the supply chain to reduce products environmental impact. Andy is a member of the PRAG committee.

Ben Mead serves as the Managing Director of Hohenstein Institute America. In this role, he serves as the company’s liaison with government agencies, industry collaborations and trade associations. He also oversees OEKO-TEX® responsibilities for the U.S.

Prior to joining Hohenstein in 2014, Ben consulted with various brands and industry associations, including Textile Exchange and AFIRM. In those roles, Ben established partnerships with industry leaders and experts to increase industry engagement in green chemistry and sustainable textile processing.

While working for Nike, Ben helped develop a restricted substances program and was involved in the implementation of sustainable materials and water programs.

Ben holds degrees in Chemistry and Textile Chemistry from North Carolina State University and a certificate in Green Chemistry from the University of Washington.

Ben Pawsey is the VP of Marketing at HPG, one of the largest promotional products suppliers in North America; comprising of 11 specialist brands including Hub, Origaudio, and Evans. Ben has been taking a key role in steering HPG's new sustainability strategy to be revealed later this year.  

Prior to joining HPG, Ben spent 6 years working for Sustainable Brands which provided an invaluable exposure to how leading businesses are excelling at sustainable innovation and communication to drive a more resilient bottom line. Ben has a background in Industrial Design and over a decade of experience leading ambitions design, brand, and marketing campaigns. This experience has ranged across multiple industries including media publishing, e-commerce, event production, fashion, electric bikes and has included time at series-A startups and $300M+ enterprises.

Ben is passionate about sustainability and how business can exploit its best practices to drive innovation and a stronger, more resilient bottom line. Successes include leading a global marketing campaign partnership with Timberland that generated 1B+ media impressions, and winning 4 Pyramid Awards for Branding, Marketing Campaigns, and Technology development.

Ben was born in Bristol, UK before becoming a permanent US resident in 2010, and is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two young sons.

Brian Campbell is the Vice President of Supply Chain Compliance at 4imprint and is responsible for product safety, regulatory compliance, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability initiatives. He leads 4imprint’s compliance team which collaborates with supplier partners to verify compliance, continuously improve processes and make a positive impact in the supply chain. Brian is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, currently the chair of the PPAI Product Responsibility Action Group, a member of ICPHSO (International Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization) and ISSP (International Society of Sustainability Professionals).

Denise Taschereau launched Fairware after realizing how difficult it was to source promotional merchandise that reflected the social and environmental priorities of the many of brands and organizations she admired. Previously, Taschereau oversaw the Mountain Equipment Co-op’s national environmental programs, community grant-making and ethical sourcing programs, and wrote their award-winning first Sustainability Report. She is currently a board member of PromoCares, an industry group driving awareness and education around sustainability issues in the promotional product industry.

Elizabeth Wimbush is PPAI’s first-ever Director of Sustainability & Responsibility.  Prior to joining PPAI, Elizabeth was the Vice President of Supply Chain and Sustainability for distributor Genumark.  She had started with the company in 2020 as the Director of Supply Chain.

Elizabeth is a value-oriented professional with a diverse range of experience that prioritizes ethical and sustainable business growth, spanning 20 years. Organically influencing positive change from the ground up in organizations is the name of her game.

Most of her free time is spent with her two dogs, riding her motorcycle, hiking or swimming. On the road or in the woods, alone or with friends, “I’m never bored when I’m out in nature,” she says.

Emily is a Seattle-based corporate sustainability leader. In her role at SanMar, she partners with teams across the organization to make a positive impact in the communities where we do business and minimize environmental impacts in the apparel supply chain.

Erich Nolan is the founder and consultant for Stewarding Design LLC. He has over 40 years of experience in environmental remediation, environmental/safety management, corporate sustainability programing, and hazardous materials and natural disaster emergency response. Erich began his career as a hydrogeologist conducting groundwater contamination investigations and designing remediation systems. He later moved into environmental and safety management for various industries, including metals casting, semiconductor manufacturing, and automobile repair. His work in sustainability started in 1993 as an Environmental Director for a investment casting foundry, leading the company in significantly reducing hazardous chemical use, environmental releases and employee exposures, all while the company increased production by 80%. Erich spent the last 18 years of his career with Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California, serving in various environmental, safety and emergency response roles. He retired from PG&E in 2022.
Erich has a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Texas Tech University, and a Master of Science degree in Geology from Texas A&M University. Later in life, Erich continued his education and received a Master of Liberal Arts in Management from Harvard University, with a Graduate Certificate in Corporate Sustainability. Subsequently, he completed the Public Policy Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School. He also holds a professional credential as a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager.
In 2019, as a graduate student from Harvard, Erich was awarded a Fellowship with the Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps program. For his fellowship, Erich’s host organization was HALO Branded Solutions, where he worked for three months to assist in developing a sustainability strategy. Erich led HALO in performing their first materiality assessment and conducted a screening assessment of their Scope 1 and 2 emissions baseline. He completed the project by formulating a 5 year strategic plan for the company. Erich has happily continued his relationship with HALO and has been pleased to serve as a consultant for the company.
Finally, Erich spends much of his free time volunteering with various environmental and Christian ministry organizations. He’s currently actively supporting two citizen scientist programs with Eldorado National Forest and one with the American River Conservancy. Erich also enjoys travelling and spending time with his with of 42 years and his adult son.

As the CarbonNeutral Certification Program Manager at Climate Impact Partners, Gabrielle protects the integrity of CarbonNeutral® certification by ensuring that the greenhouse gas assessment underpinning each organization’s certification is robust, transparent, and meets the requirements laid out in The CarbonNeutral Protocol. Drawing upon her background in conservation fieldwork and state government compliance programs, she provides strategic sustainability insights to organizations around the world, supporting them in taking climate action now while also preparing them for the low-carbon future.

Hope Spector is based in ELEVATE’s Washington DC office, leading client engagements on human rights due diligence, stakeholder engagement, responsible sourcing program design, and remediation. Her background is in human rights and international development. Previously, she was a Program Manager at the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, where she oversaw the design and implementation of an $8M portfolio of anti-trafficking projects. Her work encompassed supply chain management tools, anti-trafficking technology, and ethical recruitment interventions in South and Southeast Asia and East Africa. In addition, she managed the Fund's reporting, risk mitigation, budgeting, and compliance activities for both its corporate and government donors. She joined the Global Fund as one of its first employees, supporting operational set up, strategy development, and fundraising in the Fund’s early years of operations. 

Previously, she worked for Atikus Investments, a financial technology start up in Rwanda, and as a political appointee in the Obama Administration, working on public health issues for the Secretary of Health and Human Services. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from Skidmore College. 

Jill Rogoz is a 17-year industry veteran and the Senior Director of Compliance at the Hard Goods Division of alphabroder.  As Senior Director of Compliance, Jill oversees the Safety, Testing and Compliance programs at multiple manufacturing facilities for the Hard Goods Division of alphabroder.  This encompasses products that fall under the jurisdiction of the CPSC, FDA, EPA and other regulatory bodies.  Additionally, Jill administers the social compliance program as well as manages other general compliance related activities.

As the Global Director of Compliance & Sustainability at BAMKO, Jodi is responsible for developing and implementing compliance requirements for a wide range of consumer products. Her current focus involves integrating sustainability seamlessly into her compliance portfolio. Jodi brings a wealth of experience spanning 30+ years in the consumer products industry, and her expertise shines through in auditing domestic and international factories, managing sustainability initiatives, ESG reporting, and coordinating essential data for bodies like CDP. Her collaborative approach extends to partnering with Sales and major clients to ensure product safety, factory compliance, and sustainability alignment.

Jodi's commitment to compliance, quality, safety, and sustainability forms the foundation for her diverse and ambitious goals. With a proven track record in navigating the evolving landscape of compliance and supply chain dynamics, she continues to drive innovation while prioritizing ethical practices in the consumer products sector.

As Chief Sustainability Officer for the Green Business Bureau, Julia is responsible for the company’s sustainability program and services. Her strategic guidance draws from her experience as a consultant helping dozens of companies, from large multinational corporations to a two-person yoga studio, reduce their environmental impact and demonstrate corporate responsibility.

A frequent speaker and prolific author on sustainability and resiliency issues, Julia is known for her solid, pragmatic guidance that helps organizations make the leap from good intentions to long-term, profitable performance. And now, she is sharing that knowledge in training courses at Green Office Academy. 

Karolyn Helda is the Global Services and Technical Services Director for QIMA’s Consumer Goods division in North America.  She has worked in the consumer products safety, compliance and quality assurance industry for over 30 years. Her knowledge and direct experience span the categories of promotional products, toys and children’s products, softlines, general merchandise as well as consumable consumer goods such as food, over-the-counter drugs, health and beauty care items.  Prior to assuming her current role, Karolyn was responsible for the QIMA Buffalo lab operations and held various roles at independent consumer products testing laboratories including laboratory and client services management, business development, global compliance program development and management, as well as technical consulting, training and protocol development. 

Kelli Hoggle is the Network Representative, USA & Canada for the European business association, amfori – Trade with Purpose. amfori represents over 2,500 member companies from various sectors and their 50k+ factories and farms. Through amfori, member companies improve social and environmental performance throughout their value chains by participating in amfori BSCI and BEPI. Kelli has been with amfori for 7 years and has grown the North American network from under 10 members to now over 150, including the world’s largest retailers. 

Previously Kelli worked at WRAP as the Sr. Compliance Manager. She has 10 years’ experience of working with companies to improve social working conditions in their supply chains. Operating in various sectors, Kelli has partnered closely with consumer goods companies, factories, farms, governmental organizations, and service providers with a mission to promote worker wellbeing and environmental sustainability. Kelli resides in Seattle, WA.

Kyle Hach is an accomplished operations executive with a proven track record in leading and optimizing manufacturing processes and support teams. As the Chief Operations Officer at Raining Rose, a prominent personal care manufacturer, Kyle is at the forefront of driving operational excellence and efficiency.

With a strategic mindset and extensive experience, Kyle oversees various critical functions, including packaging, production, supply chain, quality control/assurance, safety, and logistics. His adept leadership ensures seamless coordination between these essential departments, resulting in streamlined processes and exceptional product quality.

Kyle's dedication to optimizing processes and fostering a culture of improvement make him an indispensable asset in driving the company's growth and maintaining its position at the forefront of the personal care manufacturing landscape.

Lenny Polakoff is a Partner at Zagwear, a global product-based marketing agency that develops and manufactures promotional merchandise and custom premium products for category-leading corporations including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, META, Google, Disney, BMW and The Hershey Company. With offices throughout the United States, UK, Europe, and Asia Pacific, Zagwear services multinational clients in more than 40 countries world-wide.

As a leading industry expert, Lenny consults clients in the areas of Product Safety, Regulatory Compliance and Corporate Social Responsibility. This includes the evaluation, development, and implementation of premium compliance programs & manuals, as well as internal stakeholder training.

Lenny holds a BA in Psychology from Quinnipiac University and is a member of PPAI’s Product Responsibility Action Group.

Lindsey Davis is the director of business development for PPAI and also oversees the association's professional development initiatives. A promotional products lifer, she previously served as president of Solar Advertising, a promo supplier founded by her parents, and lead the company’s successful purchase by Raining Rose, where she focused on their promo efforts as director of sales. As an active volunteer in the industry, she also has served on the Promotional Products Education Foundation’s board of trustees and the PPAI Board, before joining the association's staff in 2022.

Lisa El-Shall has a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a M.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles in Biochemistry. She has extensive experience in a Consumer Healthcare organization in both Research and Development and Quality and has held leadership positions in the analytical laboratory and quality. For the past 11 years she led the Research and Development Quality group at Pfizer and GSK with global responsibility for areas including development, clinical supply production/release, clinical study oversight, and business development quality. She has proven ability in establishment, implementation, and maintenance of fit for purpose standards, systems, and Regulatory Inspection compliance. She is currently the Senior Director for Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Consulting Services at EAS Consulting Group.

Maurice MPA, MAS, is the Public Affairs Manager for PPAI.  In this role, Maurice executes the Association’s government relations initiatives, and helps members find solutions to compliance challenges.  Maurice is also a policy analyst and a registered lobbyist who has advocated for industry interests on the Hill and in state capitols, as well as federal and state agencies.

Michael Facer is the Director of Procurement for SnugZ USA LLC. Michael has spent 20 years working with international supply chains in various product categories including automotive accessories, outdoor sports, clothing, children’s products, jewelry, gifts, and promotional goods. These supply chains have covered sources throughout Asia and North America, with particular emphasis in China which is bolstered by his fluency in Mandarin Chinese. Michael’s 10 years at SnugZ have involved overseeing purchasing and sourcing for SnugZ, and have required working closely with sales, operations, inventory, product development, and regulatory departments to successfully navigate the challenges of the last several years.

Nat is Compliance Manager for Geiger as part of the Risk Management team along with Geiger’s General Counsel.  Nat is a 2001 graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration on Operations Management and was the winner of the 2001 Southern Maine Entrepreneurship Business Plan competition.

Prior to joining Geiger, he was Logistics and Purchasing Manager for a Fortune 500 manufacturer of Technical Fabrics where he oversaw production planning for multiple manufacturing locations in the U.S. as well as the purchasing of raw materials from sources in Canada, Asia, Europe, and South America.

Nat joined Geiger in 2011 as Planning and Logistics Manager for their manufacturing division and has also held the position of Project Manager in their IT Department before taking on the Compliance roll in 2015.  Nat oversees the areas of product compliance, logistical compliance for international shipping and Hazardous Goods shipping, steering corporate ESG goals and endeavors, overseeing Data and Informational Security compliance, and develops related education programs for their Sales Partners and internal staff.

Neal Cohen is a product safety attorney who serves as a trusted advisor and steady hand for companies developing and launching new products or dealing with crises and product recalls. Neal specializes in regulatory compliance, hazard analysis, warnings, instructions, import investigations, consumer reports and claims, government investigations, mandatory government reporting, product recalls, crisis communications, and more.  Neal is well-known in the product safety community as an active volunteer in product standards development with ASTM International, a frequent speaker and collaborator in the International Consumer Product Safety and Health Organization (ICPHSO), and as a thought leader concerning the present and the future direction of product safety.

A recipient of the CPSC Chairman’s Award, Neal has previously served in multiple senior roles within the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The agency’s first Small Business Ombudsman, Neal knows the agency inside and out and was the creator and lead author of CPSC’s Regulatory Robot at business.cpsc.gov, now available in seven languages. In addition to serving as the Senior Legal Advisor in the CPSC Office of Compliance and as an enforcement attorney in the Office of General Counsel, Neal has also been called upon to represent the CPSC in testimony before Congress.

Prior to joining CPSC, Neal was a courtroom attorney trying complex felony cases before juries in New York City.  Neal now gets his fix of courtroom drama by performing in community theater and doing exciting presentations on regulations and product safety!  Neal is a graduate with honors from the Emory University School of Law and with distinction from Swarthmore College.

Based in Washington, D.C., Neal can be reached via email at neal@nealcohenlaw.com and can also be found providing updates on LinkedIn.

Rick Brenner is president of Product Safety Advisors, a consulting and outsourced compliance firm advising clients in all facets of consumer product safety including best practices for product development, sourcing and factory vetting, consumer product safety risk assessment, FMEA, use and abuse testing, voluntary and mandatory standards, product warning labels, regulatory review and test protocols, supply chain oversight, corrective actions, supplier score card, recall readiness, post-sale monitoring, crisis management, pre and post recall advising and recall management.

Prior to founding Product Safety Advisors, Brenner was CEO and Chief Compliance Officer of Prime Resources, a $100 million consumer products importer in Bridgeport, CT.

Brenner is considered a foremost expert on best practices for design and manufacture of safe and compliant consumer products. He has served as a resource to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on these matters and was a featured speaker for the Commission at the Fourth North American Consumer Product Safety Summit held at CPSC headquarters in May, 2018.

In 2008, Mr. Brenner co-founded the non-profit product safety certification organization QCA – Quality Certification Alliance (qcalliance.org). He served as chair of QCA’s Compliance Committee for seven years and as a member of its Governance Committee. QCA certification focuses on comprehensive supply chain practices for consumer product quality, product safety, regulatory compliance, in addition to social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and supply chain security.

Key to QCA certification is Recall Readiness and Recall Management. Brenner has extensive experience designing and approving recall readiness programs, conducting mock recalls and developing supporting systems for batch and lot testing tracking to minimize recall exposure. He has written and spoken extensively on this topic for industry and safety events and publications, including his brenneronsafety.com blog.

In other product safety roles, Mr. Brenner is past president and executive board member of ICPHSO – the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO.org) – and has served on its Board of Directors for six years. Mr. Brenner moderated a panel of experts on product safety issues for Internet of Things (IoT) devices at ICPHSO’S 2017 International Workshop in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2015, after service three years on its board, Brenner was elected chair of the 15,000-member Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) and has been recognized for his pioneering role in establishing product safety awareness as a primary objective and major accomplishment for this $26 billion industry. He is a founder of PPAI’s Product Responsibility Action Group (PRAG) and has co-chaired PPAI’s widely-attended annual Product Safety Summit each year since its inception in 2011.

Ron Hawk is the Director of Collaborative Sales with Looptworks, a certified B-Corp and Best in the World award winner for community involvement.  He is a 30+ year promotional industry distributor, concentrating in the sports industry, and with financial and high-tech clients.  Ron has more than 20 years’ experience sourcing sustainable green apparel and hard goods and has an expertise in Restricted Substance List testing and circular solutions for textile, leathers, footwear, accessories and promotional hard goods.

Shawn Harwood is an advisor for LRQA/ELEVATE and came directly from his previous role as the Country Attaché in mainland China for the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Mr. Harwood served in China for more than six years, fostering productive relationships with China’s Ministry of Public Security and General Administration of China Customs. The professional highlights of his time there include directing the implementation and intra-agency coordination of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, as well as ground-breaking fentanyl and counterfeit pharmaceutical trafficking investigations.  

Prior to his arrival in China, Mr. Harwood served in HSI Headquarters where he managed HSI overseas offices in Europe, developing policies on international engagement and asset forfeiture. From 2008 to 2013, Mr. Harwood was posted in the HSI Regional Attaché office at U.S. Embassy London, England, where he directed significant investigations and liaison activities with British and Irish police and customs partners.

Before his law enforcement career, Mr. Harwood worked as an Economist in the Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service. In 1994, Mr. Harwood obtained undergraduate degrees in Economics and English Literature at the University of Virginia. He graduated in March 2017 from the Naval Postgraduate School, earning a master’s degree in security studies with a focus on adaptive crisis response in complex environments.