Tyler Atkinson is a business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

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Atkinson, who joined the Bank in 2010, analyzes U.S. economic growth, inflation, labor market trends and the role of monetary policy. His research interests include economic forecasting and the macroeconomic effects of the zero lower bound on interest rates.

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He earned an MS in economics from Boston College and a BS in economics from Texas A&M University.

Meredith Connor is the Senior Sustainability Analyst for Ferrero North America where she focuses on initiatives and policies that impact packaging, plastic waste reduction, raw material sourcing, and emissions reduction. Meredith has helped implement Ferrero’s Sustainability to Trade framework to engage with retailers on sustainability issues and facilitate collaboration and partnership.

Prior to her work with Ferrero, Meredith was the Sustainability Advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives where she developed programs that improved the sustainability of House operations.

Dave Davis is the President and Chief Legal Officer of the Utah Food Industry Association. Dave joined the Association in 2007 as their Vice President and General Counsel and was elected by the Board of Directors to serve as President in March of 2010. As the President of the association, Dave serves as the spokesman and chief lobbyist for the grocery and convenience store industries in Utah. Immediately before joining the associations Dave spent a decade as the Director of Human Resources and Legal Counsel for Associated Food Stores based in Salt Lake City.

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Dave graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a law degree from Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark School of Law.

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Dave and his wife Kerri reside in Draper, Utah and have three daughters, three sons-in-laws and a granddaughter.

Linda M. Doherty serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC), a Trenton-based business trade association representing supermarkets, convenience stores and the food distribution industry in the Garden State.  NJFC represents some of the largest and finest employers in NJ, with a $136 billion economy feeding almost 10 million New Jerseyans a day.  Ms. Doherty is the fifth and longest serving NJFC President in its 55-year history.

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Prior to her promotion by the NJFC Board of Directors, Ms. Doherty served as executive vice president, vice president, and has also held the position of director of communications and public affairs for the association.  She recently celebrated her 30th anniversary with the Food Council and has served as president & CEO for more than two decades.

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Additionally, Ms. Doherty is Chair of the NJ Clean Communities Council, past Chair of the State WIC Advisory Council, is a strategic partner on the Board of the NJ Food Processors Association and serves as an External Advisory Board member for the NJ Institute for Food, Nutrition & Health at Rutgers University.  She was nominated by NJ Governor Murphy to sit on the NJ Restart and Recovery Advisory Council to help formulate the State’s COVID-19 response. She is the longest serving member of the NJ Child Labor Law Enforcement Advisory Board in the NJ Department of Labor.  She is former Chair of the Food Industry Association of Executives Board of Directors, a national organization of state executives in the grocery and retail industry representing 95 percent of the grocery and food industry in the United States. Ms. Doherty served on the Board of Directors of the National Grocers Association.

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She is also a Sector representative on the NJ Infrastructure Advisory Committee. Under her leadership, Ms. Doherty has been instrumental in creating and developing Emergency Management, and Food Safety & Defense programs for NJFC members in conjunction with government partners. 

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She is consistently ranked as an influential food policy expert and business leader. She was named to NJBIZ Power 100 list in 2024 and to NJ Influencers Power List, was ranked 10th on the NJ Food & Beverage 100 Power List, and was recognized by ROI-NJ as a Manufacturing Influencer. She has also been named a Top 100 Policymaker by InsiderNJ and was recognized by NJBIZ as one of the Best 50 Women in Business in NJ.  She was named a NJ Top 25 Leading Women Brand Builder. In 2023, the Clean Communities Council honored her with the Business Partnership Award for her work on the rollout of the NJ single use plastic and paper Bag Ban Law. Ms. Doherty was named 2016 Female Executive of the Year by The Griffin Report and she received the Excellence in Leadership Award from the NJFC Board of Directors. She is a recipient of the Friends of the Food Industry Award.  She was recognized as the Person of the Year by the NJ Weights and Measures Association. Also, Ms. Doherty was honored with the Food Marketing Institute's Donald H. MacManus Association Executive Award for her extraordinary leadership in public affairs.  Ms. Doherty was also honored three times by the national Consumer Brands Association, formerly the Grocery Manufacturers Association with the prestigious “Excellence in Government Affairs” Award for her work on food retailer and supplier issues. 

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Prior to joining NJFC, Ms. Doherty was communications specialist with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).  While at DEP, she was awarded EPA’s Environmental Quality Award for managing a communications campaign on marina recycling.

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Ms. Doherty received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.  She is married to former Mayor William Tilton, Jr. of North Hanover, NJ, has three children and two grandchildren.

Michael was named President and Chief Executive Officer for the Food Industry Alliance in April 2018. While leading the organization to maintain and grow as the premier voice for the grocery industry, Michael coordinates our public policy, communications and trade relations efforts. Prior to joining FIA, Michael was an advocate for New York’s small businesses as State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business for nearly 8 years. He also served in a variety of roles on former New York Governor George E. Pataki’s staff and has worked in the state legislature. These past positions have given Michael a deep understanding of the complex political and public policy issues impacting New York’s economy. Active in the community, Durant has previously served on several boards in both the village of Ballston Spa and Town of Milton. Durant received his bachelor’s degree from Siena College in 2000 and resides in Malta with his wife and two children.

Sarah Gallo is senior vice president, product policy and federal affairs, at the Consumer Brands Association. In her role, Gallo executes a coordinated approach of advocacy, communications and ally development for the consumer packaged goods industry. Gallo leads all federal lobbying functions of the organization that impact food, beverage, personal care and household products. She has critical responsibilities in the areas of nutrition, consumer transparency, chemicals management and agency modernization.

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Prior to joining Consumer Brands, Gallo served as Vice President, Agriculture and Environment for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. There, she led the organization’s strategy across agriculture, food systems, energy, and biobased manufacturing.

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Before that, Sarah held roles at CHS Inc., the National Corn Growers Association and as Agriculture Counsel with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business.

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​Gallo graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Arts in marine biology. She resides in Arlington, Virginia with her husband and two children.

Jennifer Gardner is the Director of State Government Affairs for the National Confectioners Association (NCA) where she focuses on state legislative and regulatory policies that impact food ingredients, packaging, and sustainability. Prior to joining NCA, Jennifer was the lead government affairs business partner for Ahold Delhaize USA’s Food Lion brand, helping brand leadership navigate legislative and regulatory matters affecting operations, business performance, competitive position and business strategy for more than fifteen years.

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Jennifer graduated from Furman University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.

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Jennifer resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, with her husband Tom, their daughter Alina, and their overly pampered cat Hunter.

Shannon Horner is a senior vice president and executive director of Digital Strategy at Golin and leads the agency’s social practice in Dallas. Shannon specializes in brand storytelling using multi-platform approaches that begin and end with disruptive audience insights, lending her expertise in social, and integrated marketing communications, to position brands at the epicenter of culture and fandom.

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Shannon started her career as a community manager, working her way up in the industry, using social and the unique way you can leverage a brand’s voice and acts therein to bridge the gap between consumer expectations and experiences – joining two-way conversations and generating brand love along the way.  Shannon has led social-first integrated marketing campaigns and reputational branding for clients, including EA SPORTS, Amazon, Lowe’s, Gatorade, Wingstop, Burger King, General Motors, AT&T, USAA, and green industry association RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), among others. 

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Shannon earned her Bachelor of Arts in Advertising and Mass Communication from Kansas State University and lives in Dallas with her husband Chris, daughter Jayne and yellow labrador retriever Scout.

With a passion for politics and a keen understanding of how business and government intersect, Kelly Knowles is a recognized expert on state and federal advocacy, political engagement programs and political action committees.

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Kelly has over twenty years of experience working in national trade associations, industry foundations and campaigns. She is known for her work revitalizing the American Bakers PAC, the Political Action Committee of grain‐based foods. Under her leadership, the PAC grew from $50,000 per election cycle to over $380,000 and secured its place as one of the top food processing PACs in the nation. She also implemented a strategic plan to guide disbursements which helped recruit and retain key contributors.

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Knowles is also known for her legislative leadership marshaling pro‐business initiatives to respond to critical issues such as Prop 65, independent contractor reclassification, state snack tax proposals and recycling reform measures. Kelly also led and secured passage of state‐level legislation in Texas to combat food industry tray theft.

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Kelly provides expert PAC fundraising, disbursement and communications advice to clients and serves as Senior Political Advisor for a leading business organization that works to advance economic prosperity by empowering private sector employees to become pro‐jobs voters and advocates through education, grassroots, and PAC participation.

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In addition to advocacy, Kelly has worked closely with corporate executives to create custom programming designed to develop and cultivate emerging leaders within organizations.

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Kelly has also spent nearly a decade working on development for a national food industry foundation and consults for various industry trade associations and Fortune 500 corporations.

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Kelly holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a Graduate Certificate in PACs and Political Management, and a Masters in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University.

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A Goldsboro, North Carolina native, Kelly was raised in small business. Kelly resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband Andy DeVilling, and their daughter, Savannah.

Jennifer Lawson is President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, a national nonprofit that works to inspire and educate people to improve and beautify their community environment. Previously, Jenny served as Chief Civic Innovation Officer at Points of Light where she led programs to help companies achieve their social change goals through the actions of their employees.  She was also the executive sponsor of Listen. Learn. Act to End Racism, Points of Light’s partnership with Morehouse College and served as an advisor to the National Trust for Civic Infrastructure. Jenny came to Points of Light from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change (now C2ES), where she led Make an Impact, a global campaign focused on energy efficiency and environmental awareness with some of the nation’s largest companies.

Her career began with community development and affordable housing advocacy in Northern Virginia, where she served as the founding Executive Director of the Alliance for Housing Solutions.

She is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she studied Philosophy and Mathematics.

Olivia serves as policy manager for Torrey Advisory Group, where she provides advocacy support for the firm’s clients in the nutrition, regulatory, organic, and specialty crop space.

Prior to joining the firm, Olivia served as a Senior Associate at Prism Group, where she worked alongside a variety of clients, from global food and health corporations to micro-businesses and entrepreneurs. Her focus was primarily on food and agriculture policy spanning all 50 states. On the federal team, Olivia worked to form healthcare and workforce coalitions from the ground up, as well as advocating to get priorities for her clients in must-pass legislative vehicles.

Olivia interned for Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and graduated from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Science degree in public health and a minor in economics.

Julie is the Executive Director of the Delaware Food Industry Council and the Delaware Chain Drug Store Association, a statewide trade association for the grocery, convenience, and pharmacies in the state. The association represents nearly 400 stores and 15,000 employees as well as 100 percent of the chain drug stores in the state. Julie is also the Executive Director and CEO of Keep DE Beautiful, a Keep America Beautiful affiliate, that works on beautification programs, litter abatement and recycling statewide.

Julie also is a partner in an event management company producing public events such as; the Wilmington Grand Prix, City Restaurant Week, River Towns Ride, Separation Day and a host of other events.  She also currently serves on many boards and commissions such as; NGA, FIAE, State Leader Council for KAB, Bail Enforcement Agent Board, Recycling Public Advisory Board, Saint Mark's High School, Delaware Alcohol Tobacco Enforcement Board.

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She has been married for 24 years to Brad Wenger, and is the mother to 2 children; Andrew, 20 and Sophia, 19.

Chris Perkins is an expert in quantitative and qualitative analysis. He’s considered one of the most accurate pollsters and top public opinion experts in the United States. Since 2010, Chris has polled for nearly one hundred winning Republican candidates for Governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, and a variety of other offices. Chris has also been a key resource for numerous organizations tackling public policy issues, including Fortune 500s, trade associations, and non-profit organizations.

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When he's not wading through petabytes of data, Chris can usually be found at one of his kids’ baseball games, hosting friends to some of the best block parties in Austin, or explaining the virtues of Austin barbecue to the uninitiated. And rest assured, while Chris’s barbecue is never over seasoned, his highly detailed memory of every campaign he's ever touched intimidates even his most seasoned employees.

Dan Shaul is a seasoned professional and strong advocate of the grocery industry, currently serving as the Executive State Director of the Missouri Grocers Association. With a distinguished career spanning over 25 years, Dan has been a stalwart advocate for the state's grocery sector at both state and federal levels.  His extensive experience and leadership qualities were further evident during his tenure as a Missouri legislator from 2015 to 2022.

Throughout his career, Dan has played a pivotal role in shaping and advancing the interests of Missouri's grocery industry, demonstrating a deep commitment to its growth and success. His multifaceted expertise encompasses legislative affairs, industry advocacy, and strategic leadership.

Founder of Linked Executive Search, Kurt is an accomplished leader and hiring executive with over 35 years of experience. Filling over 400 executive-level positions, Kurt has demonstrated the ability to not only identify and attract extraordinary talent quickly but match exceptional people to great teams – ensuring a win-win relationship for both the client and the individual. Kurt brings significance to the conversation, as demonstrated by Linked Executive Search's recognition in Forbes as the #1 Executive Search Firm HQ in Texas from 2019-2020 and 9th overall in the US.

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Kurt speaks frequently to Executives about Succession Planning for the Executive Suite, Re-Inventing Yourself and Coaching teams through difficult personnel transitions.

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Additionally, he brings proven expertise from Fortune 500 and start-up companies in the software, cable, wireless, and beverage industries. Kurt has also been an executive leader with extensive sales, marketing, operations, management, and product development experience gained from Pepsi-Co, Dr. Pepper/7UP, AT&T Wireless, Jobster, and Intervoice. Committed to building highly effective teams, Kurt delivers energy, focus, and extraordinary networking to enhance your organization’s human capital needs.

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Kurt is a graduate of Central Michigan University, where he was president of the American Society of Personal Administrators. Today, Kurt stays actively involved in the professional community and continues to make significant contributions to numerous boards and other special interest groups in the Dallas area.

​Since her first Motorola RAZR flip phone, Beth has made a verb out of the word "nerd." She's here to help you filter through thousands of apps, gadgets, widgets and doodads to find the perfect free and bargain technology tools for work and home. Although the only real trophy she ever won was for making perfect French fries at McDonald's in high school, Beth Z has been featured on Best Speaker lists by several organizations that write best speaker lists. She has written a whole shelf of books on apps and has spoken to more than 100 thousand audience members just like you. And if you're puzzling over why she goes by "Beth Z"... it's because she only finds about three people a year who can pronounce her last name.