Brandon Fried

Executive Director, Airforwarders Association

Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association is one of the country’s leading experts on air freight and cargo security.  With more than 38 years of experience, Brandon represents the industry and the association by serving on several Federal Advisory Committees including: The TSA Aviation Security Advisory Committee, The U.S. Department of Commerce Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, and the CBP Commercial Operations Advisory Committee.     

While still a forwarder, Brandon joined the Airforwarders Association and was soon elected Chairperson in 2001.  He served two consecutive terms as Chair and remained an active member of the Board of Directors. In 2005, he sold his forwarding company and was appointed Executive Director of the Association.

Brian Laung Aoaeh, CFA

Co-Founder and General Partner of REFASHIOND Ventures

Brian is a co-founder and general partner of REFASHIOND Ventures – an NYC-based, early-stage supply chain technology venture firm that is being built to invest in startups refashioning global supply chains.

Prior to co-founding REFASHIOND, Brian gained 10 years of experience in investment research and management. He spent 8 of those years building an early-stage venture firm, KEC Ventures, from scratch. The firm grew to $98M of assets under management distributed across, 2 funds, and 51 investments, with a team of 9 people.

Brian is also the co-founder of The New York Supply Chain Meetup, and The Worldwide Supply Chain Federation. The Worldwide Supply Chain Federation is a network of grassroots driven communities of people who are obsessively enthusiastic about supply chain, innovation, and technology. The community has nearly 2,000 members in its New York City chapter, and more than 2,600 members globally.He studied mathematics and physics for his first degree from Connecticut College, holds an MBA with a specialization in financial instruments and markets from the Stern School of Business at New York University, and is a CFA Institute charterholder. He blogs at Innovation Footprints and is on Twitter @brianlaungaoaeh.

Brittain Ladd

Founder and CEO, Six Page Consulting

Brittain is considered a leading expert on the topics of strategy, supply chain management, transportation and last mile delivery. He has 15 years of experience in both industry and consulting across retail, high-tech, oil & gas, chemicals, mining and agriculture. Brittain has lived and worked globally and has extensive experience designing and implementing business strategies in China, India, SE Asia, Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Latin America. Most recently, Brittain has been serving clients in Russia. 

Brittain has worked for such companies as Dell, Capgemini, Deloitte and Amazon. In 2013, he wrote a research paper recommending that Amazon acquire Whole Foods making Brittain the first person to publicly make such a recommendation. He was the Worldwide Expansion Leader for AmazonFresh and Pantry before leaving to start his own consulting practice.

Bruce A. Campbell

Former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Forward Air Corporation

Mr. Campbell retired from Forward Air in May 2019. Prior to that, he served as a director since April 1993, as President since August 1998, as Chief Executive Officer since October 2003, and as Chairman of the Board since May 2007. Mr. Campbell was Chief Operating Officer from April 1990 until October 2003 and Executive Vice President from April 1990 until August 1998. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Campbell served as vice president of Ryder-Temperature Controlled Carriage in Nashville, Tennessee from September 1985 until December 1989.

Craig Fuller

CEO & Managing Director, FreightWaves

Craig Fuller is the CEO and Managing Director of FreightWaves, the largest provider of news, content, data and analytics for the freight and logistics markets. FreightWaves is the #1 trafficked news site in the freight industry globally, and the creator of the SONAR Freight Market Dashboard. The company is also the founder of Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), a forum of technology companies, manufacturers, carriers, 3PLs and shippers committed to implementing blockchain technology standards and education for the freight industry. Prior to founding FreightWaves, Fuller was the founder and CEO of TransCard, a fleet payment processor that was sold to US Bank. He also has been deep in the freight industry, having founded and managed the largest provider of on-demand trucking services in North America, the Xpress Direct division of U.S. Xpress Enterprises.

Graham Parker

Chief Executive Officer, Kontainers

Graham is a born entrepreneur founding his first freight company aged 22, achieving $1m in revenue year one and doubling every year to $20m. An MBA and Maserati 100 Entrepreneur he is CEO and Co founder at award winning Enterprise SAAS company Kontainers who will power more than one million bookings this year for 5 top 20 global shipping brands.

Joel Clum

Chief Operating Officer, Worldwide Express

Prior to joining Worldwide in 2015, Joel was a founding executive at the logistics consultancy CarrierDirect, which was recognized with an Inc 500 fastest growing companies award for their growth in 2014.  Joel began his career at Accenture Strategy, where he worked with multi-national companies on growth strategies in the US, Europe and China.  Joel graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Finance and is a member of the Eli Broad College of Business Advisory Board.

Lori Ann LaRocco

Senior Editor of Guests, CNBC Business News

Lori Ann LaRocco is senior editor of guests for CNBC business news. She coordinates high profile interviews and special multi-million dollar on-location productions for all shows on the network. Her specialty is in politics, working with titans of industry. LaRocco is the author of “Trade War and Navigating the Bluster: Containers Don’t Lie” (Marine Money, Inc. 2019), “Dynasties of the Sea: The Untold Stories of the Postwar Shipping Pioneers” (Marine Money, Inc. 2018), “Opportunity Knocking” (Agate Publishing 2014), “Dynasties of the Sea: The Ships and Entrepreneurs Who Ushered in the Era of Free Trade” (Marine Money 2012), and “Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today’s Top Business Minds” (Wiley 2010).

Michelle Halkerston

CEO, President & Owner, Hassett Express & Logistics

Hassett Express is a full-service transportation and logistics provider specializing in time-definite services. Hassett Logistics was founded in 2017 to bring the same level of quality and reliability to the third-party ground services market. Michelle is involved in all facets of the business and enjoys building partnerships that provide value to all parties.

Michelle has more than 25 years of logistics and technology experience including Vice President of Product Strategy for a transportation software firm. She was also Director of eCommerce Strategy for Caliber Logistics, now FedEx SupplyChain, and Director of Logistics Systems for Penske Logistics. Michelle began her career as a computer specialist at NASA Lewis (Glenn) Research Center. 

Michelle has a BS in Computer Science from Mount Union and an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace. She is Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Airforwarders Association (AfA), a member of the AWESOME Advisory Board, and also a member of CSCMP.

Sarah Barnes-Humphrey, CITP

Host for Lets Talk Supply Chain Podcast (LTSC), blog and The Trade Squad

Sarah is a logistician turned supply chain marketer, passionate about bringing stories to life in an industry that has traditionally been about stats and numbers. As the host of the popular Lets Talk Supply Chain Podcast (LTSC), blog and The Trade Squad on YouTube, Sarah helps tell the stories and bring awareness to brands and hot topics in the industry which includes her infamous Women in Supply Chain series.

Stephen Dedola

Co-owner and CIO of Dedola Global Logistics (DGL)

Stephen Dedola is the co-owner and CIO of Dedola Global Logistics (DGL), a Southern California-based international freight management company founded in 1976.  He is the architect of DGL’s global shipment tracking and management system, TrakIt.   

Wally Devereaux

Managing Director Cargo and Charters, Southwest Airlines

Wally Devereaux is the Managing Director of Cargo and Charters for Southwest Airlines.  He started his career with Southwest in February, 1992 as a Customer Service Agent at Dallas Love Field.  Since that time, he has served in various roles at Southwest Airlines in the Ground Operations, Corporate Communications, and Marketing Departments.  

Wally joined the Cargo and Charters Management team in 1999 as the Cargo National Account Manager where he spent seven years working with Southwest’s largest Cargo Customers.  He held a variety of positions in the department before being promoted to his current role 2018.

Wally serves on the board of directors for the Center for Logistics Education and Research at the University of North Texas, and is the proud recipient of the Airforwarders Association’s 2007 James Foster Memorial Award.

He’s a 1991 graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, and currently resides in Colleyville, Texas with his wife and two daughters.

Ruthie Amaru

President, Freightos Marketplace

Ruthie has held product leadership positions at multiple global B2B start-ups, including Tradeum and Unicorn Solutions, resulting in successful exits. Prior to Freightos, she was responsible for architecture and strategy for a global IBM software division. Ruthie has led the Freightos Marketplace since launch, guiding strategy and execution of the world’s largest global freight marketplace.

Sune Stilling

Head of Growth, Maersk Group

Sune Stilling was appointed head of Growth in January 2017 reporting to Group CEO, Søren Skou. Following an early career in the IT industry, Sune joined the Maersk Group in 1999 as a trainee and has gained 20 years of experience within a broad spectrum of corporate disciplines in the group’s transportation, logistics and energy divisions. Sune has held MD/CEO and senior leadership roles focused on radical turnaround, transformation, divestment and profitable growth in emerging-and developed markets across a number of regions and countries. Prior to assuming the position as Head of Growth, Sune was the CEO of Egyptian Drilling Company (EDC), a leading joint stock oil field services company in the MENA region. Sune holds a Graduate Diploma in Economics (HD/U) from Copenhagen Business School, an MA in Information and Communications Technology from AAU, an MSc in Applied Finance from Singapore Management University (SMU) and an MBA (honors) from IMD. Married to Elsa, Programme Manager at World Diabetes Foundation with two children, Noam born in Senegal, and Maya born in Singapore. 

Shawn Cole

Vice President, Cargo at Delta Air Lines

Shawn Cole is Vice President – Cargo at Delta Air Lines, driving the division’s growth and continuous improvement. Before Cargo, he served as Vice President – Finance and Corporate Planning. Prior to joining Delta in 2008, he was Director of Supply Chain Value Management and Strategy for Coca-Cola Enterprises. He is an alumna of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. Shawn is well known for his dedication to servant leadership, diversity, inclusion and support for community partners such as the Atlanta Children’s Shelter and Atlanta Public Schools. He and his wife have two sons and reside in Buckhead.