Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Ret.) was the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole when it came under a suicide terrorist attack by al Qaeda in the port of Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000. During his command, he and his crew distinguished themselves by saving the American war ship from sinking. This event is widely recognized as one of the most brazen acts of terrorism by al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001.

Today, Commander Lippold is a popular inspirational figure and leadership speaker who is in high demand with Fortune 500 companies, leading financial institutions, and top industry associations. At a time when everything we’ve come to know is being reshaped by domestic and world events, Commander Lippold reveals how to lead teams and manage challenges successfully in the face of financial, national security, and global uncertainties.

Engaging his audience as a compelling storyteller, Commander Lippold draws upon his Pillars of Leadership to offer strategies he learned and applied to instill integrity into his team members and mitigate crises throughout his naval career. With takeaways for every organization to evaluate their own achievements and shortfalls as they prepare for what the future may hold, his lessons learned can make the difference between success and failure when it matters most.

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Jada M. Thompson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Arkansas, where she specializes in animal health economics, poultry and livestock markets, and supply-chain resilience. Her research focuses on understanding how animal disease outbreaks—such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)—and related policy responses affect producers, consumers, and regional market dynamics.

Dr. Thompson leads and collaborates on multidisciplinary projects funded by USDA, NSF, and other partners, examining topics including disease mitigation strategies, vaccination economics, trade disruptions, and the transmission of supply shocks through agricultural markets. Her work integrates economic modeling, spatial analysis, and stakeholder engagement to translate complex risks into actionable insights for industry and policymakers.

In addition to publishing extensively in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Thompson is highly engaged in applied outreach and regularly communicates research findings to producers, industry groups, and national media. She also serves in editorial and professional leadership roles and is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of agricultural economists.

Kyle is currently the Director of Sales for EJ Poultry.  His career began in 2001 in operations for Gold Kist Poultry, throughout his career he has spent his time in leadership, and individual contributor sales positions at several of the top 10 vertically integrated poultry companies.  He resides in South Carolina with his wife Kristen and 3 kids, and can be found fishing all over the Country, including a fishing trip here in Nevada this past weekend.

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Greg Tyler was appointed to the position of President & Chief Executive Officer for the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) on July 1, 2022. USAPEEC is an industry‑sponsored trade organization dedicated to increasing exports of U.S. poultry and egg products in global markets through marketing, trade policy, and technical programs.

Tyler received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics with concentrations in marketing from the University of Georgia. He served for over 25 years with the Council, overseeing USAPEEC’s global marketing programs and international offices. He also previously worked for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service in Washington, D.C.

Tyler is the immediate past chair of the U.S. Agricultural Export Development Council (USAEDC) and was recently elected as Treasurer for the International Poultry Council (IPC). In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors for the World Poultry Foundation.

Francisco J. Grande, CEO of Quirch Foods, is a seasoned operating executive with more than 40 years of leadership experience across food distribution, CPG, marketing, and global supply chain operations. He has a proven track record of scaling founder-led businesses into institutional-quality platforms and partnering effectively with private equity sponsors, boards, and strategic stakeholders to drive sustainable value creation.

As President & CEO of Quirch Foods, Frank led the transformation of a $300 million regional distributor into a $5 billion national and international protein distribution platform, operating 24 distribution centers across the United States and Latin America. His leadership emphasized operational scalability, disciplined capital allocation, and rigorous execution across commercial, supply chain, and enterprise functions.

Frank played a central role in the 2018 sale of Quirch Foods to Palladium Equity Partners and subsequently led the company through a multi-year private equity value-creation plan. This plan included six acquisitions between 2020 and 2025, enterprise-wide integration, systems modernization, and senior-talent development. Under his leadership, EBITDA increased more than fivefold over the past seven years to over $160 million in 2025, driven by strategic acquisitions, organic growth, margin expansion, disciplined cost management, and improved working capital performance. Leveraging technology has been a key contributor to the company’s development over the past five years.

Most recently, Frank helped lead a $1.1 billion refinancing, strengthening the company’s capital structure and positioning the business for continued growth, M&A execution, and long-term strategic flexibility. He is widely recognized for building high-performing management teams, implementing KPI-driven operating cadences, and aligning organizations around clear strategic and financial priorities.

Frank serves on the Board of Directors of Quirch Foods and advises Palladium Equity Partners on portfolio strategy. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and is actively engaged in community and educational initiatives.

Greg West is an accomplished leader in the poultry and food supply chain sector, with over thirty years of experience in operations management, commercial leadership, and strategic direction. As Vice President of Sales & Supply Chain at AlaTrade Foods, he oversees both national and international sales initiatives and fosters innovation across production and logistics functions. Greg is highly respected for his expertise in transforming complex supply chains into streamlined customer-focused operations.

His professional background encompasses senior leadership positions at Koch Foods, Wayne Farms, and Sylvest Farms. Throughout these roles, Greg has consistently enhanced plant operations, strengthened client relationships, and adapted organizational processes to meet dynamic market requirements. His combined expertise in plant operations and executive-level strategy enables him to serve as a reliable partner to prominent food service, retail, and export clients.

Greg is also a veteran of the Alabama Army National Guard, where he participated in Operation Desert Storm and completed two tours in Panama back in the 90’s. These experiences have contributed to his disciplined, mission-oriented approach to leadership.

Recognized as an influential figure in the industry, Greg advocates for robust supply chains, collaborative customer engagement, and innovative product development. He frequently represents AlaTrade Foods at conferences, emphasizing partnership, operational excellence, and advancements within the poultry industry.

In addition to his professional achievements, Greg is married to Lisa. They have eight children and eight grandchildren, and both proudly uphold strong family values and practice their Christian faith. Outside of work, Greg enjoys boating on the lake with Lisa and their family, traveling to new destinations, playing golf, and working on their Jeeps with hopes of finding an opportunity to visit the beach.

Jessica knows the banking needs of farmers from both sides of the fence. In addition to her nearly 15 years as a food and agribusinesses banker, she is an experienced farmer and part owner of a family-owned and -operated grain elevator and feed mill. Jessica earned her agriculture degree from Purdue University, is a graduate of the Indiana AgrIInstitute’s Agriculture Leadership Program and is a member of the Agribusiness Council of Indiana. In the time she has left, Jessica volunteers with youth agriculture and leadership organizations.

Was raised on a small family farm in Southern Missouri. 

Attended College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri 

Wife of nearly 30 years, 2 children and 1 grand daughter 

Have been in the Poultry Industry since 1997, in all aspects of the feed manufacturing, grains and ingredient logistics, procurement and risk management 

With Wayne Sanderson since 2022 as the Sr Director of Feed Ingredients and Risk Management 

Daniel A. Sumner is the Frank H. Buck Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis. Sumner teaches “Economics of Agricultural Sustainability” to a diverse group of undergraduates and “Agricultural Economics” to graduate students. Sumner’s academic research, teaching, and outreach concentrate on challenges facing farms, agribusinesses, and agricultural industries, including global markets, costs, and government programs and policies. Earlier, he was Professor of Economics at N.C. State, a senior economist at President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, and the Assistant Secretary for Economics at USDA. Sumner earned his Ph.D. in economics, with specialty fields in agricultural and labor economics, from the University of Chicago. He holds a BS in agricultural management from Cal Poly and is a native of Suisun Valley, California, where he was active in 4-H and FFA.

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Brian Earnest is lead economist for animal protein in CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange division. He provides market and industry research for the poultry, pork and beef sectors. 

Mr. Earnest has more than 15 years of industry and consulting experience. Prior to joining CoBank, he was senior commodity analyst, poultry, with IHS Markit’s Food and Agricultural Commodities Economics group. Mr. Earnest provided forecasting and price risk strategies, client service, as well as project consulting in the poultry and egg space. He previously held various procurement and advisory roles with Topco Associates, LLC, a retail food industry cooperative.  

Mr. Earnest holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in economics from Eastern Illinois University. 

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Brian Coelho is the President/CEO for Central Valley Meat Co. located in Hanford, CA. He has grown up in the beef livestock and slaughter industry where he began learning the skills of the industry at a young age. He received a Bachelor Degree in Business and Economics from St. Mary’s College of California. Upon completion of his education in 1996 he returned to the family business where he has held several roles throughout the company. In addition to CVM Brian is the President of affiliated companies that include Harris Ranch Beef Company, Harris Feeding Company, Western Valley Meat Company, Coelho Meat Company, Triple C Trucking, and CLW Foods. CVM and its affiliates collectively form an integrated beef company that includes cattle feeding, slaughter, processing, ground beef production and transportation. Brian is a past President for the North American Meat Association and past Chairman for the North American Meat Institute. Currently serves on boards for North American Meat Institute, CattelFax, TERRA, California Beef Council, California Cattle Council and Feeders Advantage. Brian is supported by his wife Stacy and daughters Emma and Avery

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Brittany Buff has spent 18 years with Wegmans Food Markets, building experience across store operations and corporate roles. Based at Wegmans’ headquarters in Rochester, New York, she currently supports the Procurement organization as Commodity Insights Manager, where she leads a team of analysts. Brittany and her team partner with key stakeholders across both direct and indirect business areas to support data‑driven decision‑making and cost negotiations grounded in market intelligence. Her team is responsible for enterprise‑wide commodity reporting, contract booking recommendations, and both proactive and reactive support for cost change negotiations.

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Background

With over 15 years of experience in sourcing animal protein derivative products across the full range of channels, Dan serves as the protein and center-of-the-plate specialist for Accenture’s Food and Beverage Center of Excellence. Throughout his career, Dan has sourced everything from commodities and by-products to high-end specialty meats, across all the major protein sub-categories.

Dan is a native New Yorker, currently residing in Dallas, Texas with his wife (Damla), son (Stellan) and two rescue chihuahuas (Sherbet and Speedy).

Education

MBA, Fordham University; BS, Georgetown University

Selected Experience

– Drove procurement strategy within Protein & COP for global foodservice company ($2B)

– Developed and managed North American supply chain for Michelin-star hospitality group

– Led purchasing and merchandising for meat and poultry categories for grocery chain ($1B)

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Brian ettehad is a certified public accountant with 20 years of experience providing assurance and advisory services in a wide variety of industries throughout agribusiness. Brian works with some of the largest agribusiness entities in the united states and helps manage the frost pllc office in northwest arkansas.

Ryan has spent the past 25 years with StoneX and currently leads the Agricultural Commodity group out of Kansas City.  In that capacity, he is responsible for the structuring and execution of commodity price risk management programs for producers, processors, and end users across the Food, Ag, and Beverage space.      

Christine McCracken is the Executive Director of Animal Protein at Rabobank, where she leads the North American pork and poultry team within RaboResearch. In this role, she provides timely analysis on issues of strategic importance to the global protein industry. Christine is an internationally recognized speaker and an active member of several key industry organizations, including the International Meat Secretariat, the National Chicken Council, and the International Poultry Council. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the US Poultry and Egg Export Council.

Before joining Rabobank, Christine spent 18 years as a Food & Agribusiness equity analyst and was a founding partner of Cleveland Research. During her tenure, she was named the “Best on the Street” Food Analyst by the Wall Street Journal and the top Food Analyst by Forbes.

Christine holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis.

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Tom Healey has served as an Executive in the protein and food ingredient sectors. He has held pivotal roles including Global Supply Chain Management; International Business Development; Global R&D – Quality Assurance; International Sales and Commodity Insights in a variety of Fortune 100 Companies (ConAgra, Heinz, Sonic, Jack Links, Dairy Queen). Tom earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science, then Master of Science Degrees’ in Genetics and Food Science providing him with a unique background that complements his work experience spanning 33 years in the food industry. During his career, Tom served on MICA (Meat Import Council of America) and the Cattleman’s Beef Board.  

Tom has been an organizer for 17 years for Mississippi State University’s Marination 101 short course helping industry professionals learn more about current information and technical applications regarding marinated meats. 

Tom recently retired and continues assisting the industry through consulting, and project management. In his spare time, Tom enjoys golfing, bar-b-queuing, developing meat items, hunting, and fishing. 

Russ Whitman is Director Market Reporting for Urner Barry by Expana and oversees all of the company’s protein market reporting initiatives in the Americas. Russ joined Urner Barry in 1986 and was initially involved with COMTELL sales and support. He also served as Manager of the Instant Market News Department and coordinated the company’s marketing efforts. By providing oversight to the PRA team, Russ helps ensure that all market researchers, reporters and managing editors are fully in-line with Expana’s methodology while observing IOSCO compliant reporting guidelines. As one of our most tenured team members, Russ holds prestigious, industry-wide recognition and often presents at events and conferences.  

Whitman graduated from Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with special attainments in Commerce. 

Amanda Rastovic is a Senior Forecasting Analyst with Expana. Prior to Expana, she spent 10 years as a Risk Management Consultant at StoneX. She has worked closely with a wide variety of companies to open markets, educate, and support their growth. She has been involved in the National Grain and Feed Association, most recently as a Finance & Administration Committee member for several years. She holds an undergraduate degree from Purdue University in Agricultural Business Management and an MBA in Finance. 

Elsi Rodewald joined Urner Barry by Expana in June 2024 as a market researcher covering the chicken and turkey markets. In this role, Elsi is actively engaged in providing in-depth coverage of the poultry markets while helping to analyze and communicate the complexities that surround current market situations. Elsi graduated from Mississippi State University’s Department of Poultry Science with a bachelor’s and master’s degree and enjoys having conversations about both the market and live-side aspects of the industry

Dylan Hughes joined Expana, formerly Urner Barry, in December 2017 as a market reporter covering the chicken and turkey markets. In this role, Hughes provides in-depth coverage of the poultry industry while helping to analyze and effectively communicate the complexities that surround current market situations to the benefit subscribers. Hughes graduated from Stockton University with a B.A. in Business Studies and is a board member of the National Protein and Food Distributors Association. 

With over 24 years of experience as a market reporter, Bill covers the domestic boneless beef, lamb, veal, and by-products markets. Now serving as the Managing Editor of Red Meat, he oversees the red meat division. Bill graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management.

Jamie Chadwick is Managing Editor, directing the company’s news division in the Americas. She leads an elite team of writers, analysts, and global correspondents responsible for delivering the latest in breaking agricultural and food industry news to our network of subscribers. Serving previously as a livestock analyst for Urner Barry, she developed the framework for reporting impactful and objective intelligence for those operating throughout the entire agri-food space. Jamie has authored numerous educational resources on behalf of the protein industry and her experience has made her a sought-after speaker at industry events in the U.S., Canada and in Europe. She is a champion of the Women in Food and Agriculture initiative, serving as the Summit Chairman and campaign spokesperson.  

Vinay joined Expana in 2023 as CPO and is, currently, also the interim CTO. As a leader of Expana’s Product and Technology team, he leads product strategy and execution, including development of Expana’s user friendly SaaS platform. Vinay has 25+ years of experience in product development and leadership, including Motorola (Symbol), Qlik and Interos. He is skilled in developing successful products that delight customers, having helped scale startups as well as transform product organizations at large enterprises. In particular, he has focused on helping companies find product market fit and deliver against key business goals and metrics. Vinay holds a Masters degree from Harvard University as well as a BE in Computer Science and Engineering.

Vinay is a supporter/volunteer for WeSeeHope, helping create sustainable change for vulnerable children in East Africa through education, child rights and economic empowerment initiatives. Vinay is an avid runner and scuba diver in his free time.

Matt Busardo is the team lead for Expana’s poultry division where he provides detailed coverage of both the chicken and turkey markets. Busardo specializes in providing data-driven commentary and analysis to those operating in the sector. His diagnostic approach to uncovering the influences behind fundamental market changes provides unparalleled insight into an increasingly complex business environment. He has been a featured panelist at events speaking on poultry market dynamics. Prior to joining the Urner Barry team, Busardo worked in financial services for Wells Fargo Advisors. 

Marcel joined Expana in 2019, bringing a wealth of experience in price reporting, analytics, and risk management. At Expana, Marcel leads the proprietary agri-food and industrial coverage, empowering stakeholders across the value chain to make informed business decisions and mitigate risks through best-in-class price benchmarks, news, and analytics. Since joining, Marcel has been instrumental in transforming Expana into the largest IOSCO-assured Price Reporting Agency (PRA) in the agri-food sector, leveraging advanced in-house capabilities and strategic M&A.

Marcel’s expertise in enhancing transparency within physical commodity markets stems from his outstanding achievements at global firms such as S&P Global. Marcel holds an MSc in Energy, Trade & Finance from Cass Business School and outside of work, Marcel enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf.

Joe joined Expana as part of Mintec’s acquisition of Urner Barry. After starting his career at Urner Barry in sales, Joe held several reporting, management, and leadership positions within the organization, before becoming CEO. He has a strong track record in utilizing his deep experience in price reporting to initiate benchmark coverage in high-value, opaque markets. He also possesses rich expertise in working with organizations to align their reporting practices in order to become IOSCO-assured (the gold standard for Price Reporting Agencies). Joe holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Siena College. In his spare time, he enjoys surfing, fishing, skiing, off-road motorcycling, and spending time with family and friends.

Karyn Rispoli is an accomplished market analyst and price reporter, currently serving as Managing Editor of Expana’s U.S. Egg Division. She brings extensive experience in commodity and financial markets, with previous reporting roles at Argus, Bloomberg, and OPIS, a Dow Jones company. Since joining Urner Barry (now part of Expana) in 2019, Karyn has been a leading voice in U.S. egg market reporting, delivering critical analysis of pricing trends, supply dynamics, and industry shifts. Outside of work, she is an avid reader, passionate photographer, and fitness enthusiast.