SPEAKERS

Mark Strand served as President of the Congressional Institute from 2007 until his retirement in 2023. Founded in 1987, the Congressional Institute is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to helping Members of Congress better serve their constituents and helping their constituents better understand the operations of the national legislature.

Strand is currently an adjunct professor of legislative affairs at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management and the co-author of the book Surviving Inside Congress. He is a 2017 Harvard Kennedy School Institute of a Politics Fellow. He also writes a blog, The Sausage Factory, that provides an inside look at legislative strategies and procedures (http://conginst.org/news-feed/).

Strand spent nearly 24 years on Capitol Hill in both the House and the Senate, most recently serving as Chief of Staff to James Talent (R-MO). He served as the Staff Director of the House Committee on Small Business when Talent was Chairman. He was also chief of staff for Reps. Bill Lowery (R-CA) and Stan Parris (R-VA). He has also served as a Legislative Director and a Press Secretary.

During a brief interlude from the Hill from 2001-2002, Strand was Vice-President of Government Affairs for the American Water Works Company – the largest publicly held water utility in the United States.

Strand obtained a master’s in Legislative Affairs from GWU's Graduate School of Political Management, an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Phoenix, and an undergraduate double major in Political Science and History at Excelsior College of the University of New York.

Strand regularly speaks to organizations about how Congress works (or doesn't). Besides speaking and lecturing on legislative politics, Strand teaches courses on "Surviving Inside Congress." In addition, he regularly works with Congressional offices on management issues.

Ben Heller is an AI Transformation Manager for Google Cloud AI Services. He helps design, scope, and implement AI solutions for Google Cloud customers. Ben received his Masters in Applied Analytics from Columbia University in New York and is triple-certified in Google Cloud and double-certified in Microsoft Azure. Previously, Ben served as a Senior Advisor for Google Cloud Startups and worked at SAS Institute managing the relationships for Citibank and the United Nations.

Dr. Madden is a 25+-year veteran of the biotechnology industry, with expertise in the development, production and commercialization of renewable fuels, specialty and fine chemicals, nutritional ingredients and pharmaceutical products. His role at Ginkgo is to align commercial and technical opportunities to build a scalable licensing business based on Ginkgo’s platform. Prior to Ginkgo, Kevin managed Joule Unlimited’s efforts to develop photosynthetic organisms and processes for manufacturing fuels from the inputs of sunlight, waste CO2 and non-potable water. Previously he was Chief Scientific Officer at Microbia, Inc. (now a subsidiary of Royal DSM). Prior to Microbia, Dr. Madden was a postdoctoral fellow at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Kevin holds a BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and PhD in Biology from Yale University.

Sarah Gallo is vice president, product policy, at the Consumer Brands Association. In her role, Sarah holistically oversees Consumer Brands’ policy leadership on smart regulation issues from advocacy through education to marketplace solutions.

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

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.

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

Dr. Andrea Love is an immunologist and microbiologist with over a decade of experience in basic sciences, translational medicine, and clinical research. Dr. Love is the founder and co-host of Unbiased Science, a science communication brand. She is a subject-matter expert in infectious disease immunology, cancer immunology, and autoimmunity and is adept at translating complex scientific data and topics for the public and healthcare providers. Dr. Love currently serves as Director of Cell Assay and Analysis Technologies at Revvity, a biotechnology company that develops tools to advance biomedical research in vaccinology, virology, immunology, immunotherapy, cell and gene therapy, therapeutic protein production, and more. She worked previously in academic research, focused on differential host-pathogen interactions of infectious diseases, and earned her Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Microbiology and Immunology from New York Medical College.

Dr. Jessica Steier is a public health scientist and health services researcher with expertise in health policy evaluation. She is the CEO of Vital Statistics Consulting, a data science consultancy, and founder and co-host of Unbiased Science, a science communication brand. She previously served as a Senior Health Policy Consultant at The Lewin Group, working primarily on large state and federal health policy evaluations. Prior to that, she was the inaugural Research Coordinator of Hofstra University’s Department of Physician Assistant Studies, where she designed the Master’s degree curriculum, conducted research with clinicians and healthcare delivery organizations to inform evidence-based change and quality improvement, and performed program evaluations and needs assessments for hospitals and departments of health. She has consulted for the NYC and Nassau County Departments of Health.

Shonzia Thompson is the managing vice president of association partnerships, functioning as the Executive Director of the Council of Manufacturing Associations (CMA) at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). With over 15 years of association management experience, she oversees the leadership, direction, and management of over 200 trade association members. She represents the NAM to industry and association leaders and is responsible for engaging the Council of Manufacturing Association’s members to broaden and advance the NAM’s advocacy efforts.

Dr. Eric Frérot is a graduate of École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier (ENSCM) in Montpellier, France, and received a Ph.D. in organic/peptide chemistry at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Montpellier. Dr. Frérot started his career at Firmenich in 1994, and he focuses on understanding the aroma and taste of food.

Joanna Drake serves as General Counsel to FEMA. With more than a decade of flavor industry experience, her work with the association has covered a variety of regulatory and legal issues, including flavor and finished product labeling. Ms. Drake has given presentations to FEMA and other organizations on the current labeling implications of flavor, anticipated federal administrative action regarding “natural” labeling and the litigation landscape involving ingredient and food labeling. Prior to joining FEMA, she served as Assistant Counsel to WILD Flavors, Inc., where she worked on a variety of transactional issues and provided strategic legal counsel on product labeling and compliance matters.

Henry Todd is an expert par excellence in the vanilla trade. With 30 years of field experience, he brings deep expertise in both business development and supply chain management. He specializes in improving profitability for forward thinking commodities buyers through insightful crop analysis, trust-based client relationships and a proven global perspective. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and spent time in institutional investment at State Street Bank prior to his involvement in the flavor industry. He has worked as the V.P. of International Operations at Virginia Dare for over a decade where he manages the vanilla procurement program and related sustainability initiatives. Commenting on Virginia Dare’s presence in Madagascar he has said, "One of the important things about our presence in Madagascar is that it allows us to truly be a part of the social fabric in-country... part of our own sustainability effort is managing a large number of 'farmer direct' relationships." For reasons of better proximity to source, Henry has resided in Paris, France for more than 25 years.

Craig Nielsen is a third-generation owner and manager of Nielsen-Massey Vanillas, serving as Vice President of Sustainability. Craig began his career with Nielsen-Massey as a part-time employee while he was still in high school and has been with the company on a full-time basis since 1986. Under his leadership, the company has experienced solid growth, introduced new vanilla products and added a line of Pure Flavors.

A strategic member of Aust & Hachmann (Canada) for 17 years with experience in the dynamic realities of the vanilla market. Having occupied roles in Logistics, Food Safety, and as Sales Executive, Chris has broad-ranging knowledge of the vanilla value chain.

Stephane Leveque, CEO of De Monchy Natural Products, brings decades of expertise in the raw materials and aromatics industry. Committed to a sustainable future, he aims to empower local communities while sourcing high-quality materials for major actors of the industry worldwide.