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February 2023 WAA Quarterly Event
Wednesday, February 22, 2023, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CDT
Category: Women's Affinity Alliance

Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Time: 4-5:00 p.m.
Location: Virtual via Zoom

Event Description: 

The S or “social” in ESG can stand for many things - fair pay, social justice, education, but one of the important elements it stands for is Diversity and Inclusion. There are increasing pressures today coming from customers, investors and society for organizations to continue to demonstrate real progress in both setting and delivering upon their ESG goals. Our panel will discuss how and where they see connections and synergies in ERG’s supporting ESG goals and objectives. 

About Our Speakers:

Ayrton Bryan: As the Sustainability Project Manager, Ayrton Bryan supports the Sustainable Company Team in driving greater sustainability throughout the practices of Rockwell Automation. Ayrton is leading the workstreams in the company’s determination of its enterprise-wide carbon footprint, Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) of products, and greater tracking of sustainability related data (energy, waste, and water use).  In 2023, he was named to the Milwaukee Business Journal 40 under 40  

Sustainability is collaborative work at its core. Bryan works with stakeholders across Responsible Supply Chain; Human Resources; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI); Product Development, and Logistics to drive greater visibility and tracking of information to help meet growing demands for greater transparency of environmental impacts. Bryan also is passionate around community impact and empowerment. He helped create a new Role at Rockwell Automation, the Talent Navigator to help professional navigate towards a fulfilling career. Outside of work, he serves as Interim Executive Director for a small nonprofit- MKE Black since June 2022. He led the organization to increase their grants & revenue by 5x year -over-year since he entered the role 

Prior to joining Rockwell Automation, he was an Environmental Health and Safety Manager at WM- Mercury Waste Inc. and with Anheuser-Busch InBev. His work focused on employee safety and well-being, environmental reporting, and employee engagement. In 2018, he led the reduction of recordable personal injuries at work by 87.5% YoY across the more than 300 employees 

Overall- His professional work focuses on keeping people physically and mentally safe & reducing negative impacts on the environment. His approach to business is to focus on the Triple Bottom Line: People. Planet. Profit. His skills in communications, process workflows, and ability to reduce ambiguity allow him to take on leadership roles professionally and within the community. He serves on the boards for MKE Black, the Milwaukee Parks Foundation, and the Forward 48 Alumni Advisory Council. A practitioner of the “7 attitudes of mindfulness”, he is a new student daily, and believes you can learn from any and everyone. 

He holds a Masters of Business Administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology, a Masters of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology from Texas A& M University (A- WHOOP!)   

Heather Dunn: Heather is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for West Bend Mutual Insurance Company, an almost 130-year old company and $2B provider of Property & Casualty insurance in the greater Midwest area.  In this role since 2017, she leads the accounting and billing functions of the company, oversees internal audit, and she has championed the formalization of West Bend’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy.  

Heather holds a bachelor’s degree in math and business from St. Norbert College and a Masters of Science in Accountancy from the University of Notre Dame.  She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).

Heather proudly serves on the board of directors for the Museum of Wisconsin Art, United Performing Arts Fund, the Concordia Foundation Board, and the West Bend Country Club. 

Adam Muellerweiss: As Chief Sustainability Officer at Clarios, Adam Muellerweiss is responsible for the development and implementation of The Clarios Sustainability Blueprint and its five pillars: Value, Operational Excellence, Life-Cycle Stewardship, Transparency and Advocacy. The Sustainability Blueprint sets the vision for the world’s largest manufacturer and recycler of low-voltage automotive batteries - enabling Clarios to build on its pioneering circular economy of batteries and identify opportunities for increasingly sustainable growth.  In 2022, he was named to Sustainability Magazine Top 100 Leaders and was recognized as one of Environmental Leader’s Top 75 private sector leaders in 2018.

Muellerweiss led the formation and is the president of the Responsible Battery Coalition -- a coalition of retailers, automakers, academics and NGOs committed to the responsible management of the batteries of today and tomorrow. His efforts were critical in the creation of the WEF’s Global Battery Alliance. In 2020, he championed Protecting Every Child's Potential with Pure Earth, Clarios Foundation and UNICEF to mobilize international action and prevent children’s exposure to lead from informal, illegal, substandard lead-acid battery manufacturing and recycling.

Prior to joining Clarios, he was a commercial director for climate change at Dow Chemical charged with creating low-carbon business opportunities leading the development of the Olympic Climate Framework used to offset the footprint the games since the Winter Olympics in Sochi. As head of corporate water strategy, Muellerweiss fostered entrepreneurial base of the pyramid investments to improve clean water access and helped launch the UN Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate. Working with universities across the world, Muellerweiss was instrumental in the launch and growth of the Dow Sustainability Student Challenge and Dow Sustainability Fellows Program.

Following 9/11, Muellerweiss helped lead industry efforts to pass new US chemical security regulations, launch the Next Generational Rail Tank Car Project, and negotiated the first partnership between the UN Environment Programme, the Chinese Ministry of Environment, and a private sector company to share security practices across China. His prior experience at Accenture includes launching new start-up ventures, clean technology development and improved supply chain visibility and tracking.

He also served as a staff assistant for the US Senate and the Michigan House of Representatives. He holds a Masters in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Political Science from Kalamazoo College.  

Maura Packham (Moderator): Maura is Vice President of Corporate Communications for Quad (NYSE: QUAD), a marketing experience company that helps brands reimagine their marketing to be more streamlined, impactful, flexible and frictionless. In her role, she oversees Quad’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, leads the company’s efforts in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive communications strategy.

Maura holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Massachusetts Boston, an MBA from Suffolk University, also in Boston, and an advanced education and professional certificate in diversity, equity, and inclusion from the Wisconsin School of Business Center for Professional and Executive Development.

Maura proudly serves on the board of directors for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO), the MSO’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force, and the Milwaukee chapter of The BrandLab, which is an organization dedicated to changing the face and voice of the marketing industry by exposing young people from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to viable creative careers.

 

Sustainability Reports:

Clarios

Quad

Rockwell Automation

West Bend Mutual Insurance

 

Register Here.

WAA members | no charge
TEMPO & EWL members (not current WAA members) | $10
Guests | $10