Jennifer Convery | Group President North America | Griffith Foods International

Jennifer Convery joined Griffith Laboratories in 1992. After a tenure as Vice-President of Sales and General Manager, Jennifer became Group President North America of Griffith Foods, Inc. in 2013. In addition Jennifer has recently been appointed President of Griffith Mexico. In her position of leading two large Griffith business units, Jennifer has responsibilities for the effective and efficient management of all commercial and manufacturing operations. Jennifer brings to her position a strong and passionate commitment to understanding external and internal business drivers, assessing their impact, setting priorities and providing direction for the organization and employees. This has allowed Griffith to drive continuous improvements throughout all aspects of the business, implement critical processes to streamline execution of differentiating business activities and create value required to compete in the evolving marketplace. In addition to these impressive accomplishments, Jennifer has been an avid coach and mentor to many employees and business colleagues. Her innate ability to manage and develop talent has been a critical component to the success of the US business unit. In 2010 Jennifer became the driving force behind the development of a “High Performance Culture” at Griffith Laboratories. This initiative has allowed Griffith’s leaders and managers the opportunity to assess and improve their leadership styles to ultimately promote a corporate culture that is constructive, accountable, achieving and encouraging.

Prior to her career at Griffith, Jennifer has held sales management positions at Johnson & Johnson and General Mills. She has been a leading contributor to the food industry for over 20 years. Jennifer is a member of the WFF serving on many committees and most recently served as a WFF Board Member from 2005 – 2007. She was honored as the Emerging Leader in 2003.

Jennifer graduated from Brown University with bachelor degree in history. She was a nationally ranked squash player recognized as an “All American” athlete. She is also certified in Miller Heiman Strategic Selling and Conceptual Selling.

Jennifer is married to Kevin Convery and has three sons.

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Jack Hollis  | Group Vice President and General Manager |Toyota Division, Toyota Motor North America.

Jack Hollis is Group Vice President and General Manager of Toyota Division, Toyota Motor North America.  He is responsible for all Toyota Division market planning, advertising, merchandising, sales promotion, incentives, NASCAR and motor sports, Internet, and service, parts, and accessory marketing activities.

In his previous position, Hollis represented the Scion division as vice president responsible for all Scion activities.  Just prior, he was corporate manager of Scion, and led overall Scion operations, including sales, distribution, marketing, product development and customer service.

Hollis has served as corporate sales manager of private distributors and sales strategies where he was responsible for all aspects of business relating to Toyota’s private distributors, Gulf States Toyota and Southeast Toyota.

Beginning his career with Toyota in 1992, Hollis served as a management trainee. Since then he has had several national and regional management positions, including vehicle operations manager, sales administration manager, Lexus dealer advertising manager, customer services marketing manager, retail development manager and district manager (sales and parts).

Hollis also worked as a special assistant to the TMS president, acting as the primary liaison for internal and external groups interfacing with the office of the president and coordinating with executive committee offices while overseeing coordination of the president’s daily activities.

A graduate of Stanford University, Hollis earned his bachelor’s degree in economics. He was also a member of Stanford’s NCAA Division 1 National Championship Baseball team and the Cincinnati Reds for two seasons playing under Coach Pete Rose.

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Holland America Line President shares secrets on how to positively effect the beliefs, behaviors and assumptions of over 16,000 employees to maximize both great culture and great business results in this global business.

Orlando Ashford | President | Holland America Line

As Holland America Line president, Orlando Ashford oversees sales, marketing, revenue management, deployment, itinerary planning, public relations, hotel operations and strategy. Before joining Holland America, Ashford was president of the Talent Business Segment of global consulting firm Mercer. Previously, he was senior vice president, chief human resources and communications officer of Mercer’s parent, Marsh & McLennan Companies. He held executive positions at the Coca-Cola Company and Motorola Inc. Ashford’s book, “Talentism,” examines how technology and human networks can bridge skills gaps, enhance business performance and improve society. Ashford is on the board of ITT Corp., Executive Leadership Council and Streetwise Partners. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Organizational Leadership and Industrial Technology from Purdue University.

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Original Shark Tank Star, Inventor of the Infomercial, Serial Entrepreneur, and Excellent Cultures Corporate Innovation Partner Kevin Harrington shares his wisdom on building cultures of Innovation in Corporate America. A must listen episode for any business who’s future depends on innovation and rapid change as a steady diet of excellence. “You only stay in front by coming up with ideas that your competitors haven’t thought of yet.” – Kevin Harrington

Kevin Harrington | Corporate Innovation Partner | Shark Tank

While watching television one night in 1984, Kevin noticed that sometimes the only thing on the screen were the color test bars that stations ran when they had nothing else to air, thus giving him the idea to produce the industry’s first 30-minute infomercial to fill that dead air space, which is what coined him the Inventor of the Infomercial. During his career Kevin launched over 500 products that resulted in sales of over $4 billion dollars worldwide and 20 products that reached sales of over $100 million. In 2009, Kevin was selected as one of the original ‘Shark Tank’ Sharks on the ABC hit show. As an innovator and pioneer in the industry, Kevin has been featured on over 150 Shark Tank segments on ABC and CNBC. In 1990, he was named one of the 100 best entrepreneurs in the world (by Entrepreneur Magazine). Kevin also founded As Seen on TV, Inc. and acquired AsSeenOnTV.com, the world’s largest web site featuring as seen on TV products.

In 2015, Kevin launched his Culture of Corporate Innovation venture, as a “Disruption Leader” he introduces corporations to comprehensive strategies that will help them leverage their #1 asset – their employees. Disruptive Leadership is about fostering a culture of game changing innovation that provides the framework and motivation to generate those ideas and execute those solutions. Kevin’s belief is that the accelerating speed of innovation demands a new approach to innovation leadership – a new way of fostering counterintuitive ideas, forcing improbable insights and opening minds. This is an essential skill for any business leader and their employees, from a small start-up to a global corporation, with the desire to transform organizational processes and behaviors. AT&T, Pfizer and Microsoft are just a few of the corporations who have benefited from Kevin’s game changing approach and “disruptive” strategies.

Original Shark on TV’s Shark Tank, Inventor of the Infomercial, As seen on TV Pioneer and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all times. Corporations and their employees who see Corporate Innovation Culture as a market differentiator are surging ahead of their competitors.

AT&T, Pfizer and Microsoft are just a few of the corporations who have directly benefited from Kevin’s game changing approach to collaborative innovation. Kevin is also co-founder of the ERA (Electronic Retailers Association), now in 45 countries; and is a co-founding board member of Entrepreneur’s Organization. Combined member sales exceed $500 billion. Harrington is also on the board of University of South Florida (USF) entrepreneur programs, and teaches regularly.

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