Programs

Chuck White

Vice President of Procurement, Nationwide
Chair, CPO Forum & CPO Council

Charles White leads the Procurement group at Nationwide covering all source to pay functions, corporate travel, supplier diversity and risk management. Charles has over two decades of experience in diverse sectors including, financial services, high tech, and consumer electronics manufacturing. He has covered a wide range of direct and indirect categories while working for some of the largest companies in the Technology and Financial Services. He recently joined Nationwide in December 2018 from Charles Schwab and prior to that was with Fidelity, Deutsche Bank and Microsoft. He is a US Navy Veteran and former aircraft carrier based jet pilot. He graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Ellen Valencia

Assistant Vice President Logistics
AT&T

Alan Gartrell

Vice President of Procurement
Caesars Entertainment, Inc.

Alan has over 20+ years of experience in Purchasing & Warehousing Management in the Entertainment & Hospitality Industry. Alan joined Caesars Entertainment in June 2011 and is currently the Vice President of Procurement responsible for overseeing Regional Procurement, Warehousing, Supplier Diversity and Sustainability for all Caesars’ properties. Prior to this role, Alan has held multiple Regional Director positions throughout the country most recently the Senior Director of the Western Region. Before coming to Caesars, Alan spent 4 years as the Purchasing Manager at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC and 10 years as the Purchasing and Warehouse Manager at Six Flags America in Maryland.

Bruce Mizokami

VP, Indirect Sourcing
Edwards Lifesciences

James Czarnecki

SVP & Chief Procurement Officer
MGM Resorts International

Karla S. Jackson

Senior Procurement Executive, Deputy Chief Acquisition Officer & Assistant Administrator for the Office of Procurement
NASA

Purvee Kondal

Vice President, Strategic Sourcing, Indirect Procurement, & Supplier Diversity
Sephora 

Dan Edwards

Vice President, Direct Procurement
Trane Technologies

Dan Edwads has been the Vice President of Direct Procurement since August 2022. He joined Trane Technologies (Formerly Ingersoll Rand) in 2002 and has over 15 years experience in strategic sourcing and category management.

Prior to joining Trane Technologies, Dan worked with FreeMarkets and Authur Andersen LLP, both located in Pittsburgh, PA. Dan holds an NMBA from Indiana University, as well as a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon. University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Tom Lutz

Senior Vice President Enterprise Procurement Partners
U.S. Bank

Tom Lutz joined U.S. Bancorp as Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer in April 2008. He has been responsible for strategic sourcing, acquisitions, and supplier diversity. Since joining U.S. Bancorp 15 years ago, Tom has focused on delivering significantly greater value across the enterprise through more effective internal alignment, risk management, improved vendor relationships, strategic talent management, and a shareholder-centric view of operating costs and business practices.

Tom has thirty eight years of experience in the areas of procurement, supply chain management, and information systems. Tom serves as board member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council effective. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Tom spent twenty years with General Mills in a variety of roles, and three years with Pulte Homes as national vice president of procurement. Tom currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Bethlehem College & Seminary.

Tom is a native of Minnesota, and received a bachelor’s degree in business and systems analysis from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Tom and his wife Heather have six children and three grandchildren.

Barbara Kubicki-Hicks

Chief Procurement Officer
Wells Fargo

Barbara Kubicki-Hicks is a seasoned executive with over 25 years’ experience in supply chain management and global procurement operations in the financial services industry. She is the chief procurement officer at Well Fargo, responsible for leading Supply Chain Management, which is comprised of strategic sourcing, procure-to-pay, supplier diversity, and

third-party risk management functions. Her team executes end-to-end supply chain activities and third-party initiatives that align with business priorities and leads strategic, enterprise-wide programs with focus on third- party expense optimization.

Previously, Barb was a senior procurement executive at Bank of America responsible for end-to-end procurement, associated risk management and third party program adherence for all eight lines of business, and led a procurement transformation initiative to simplify the end-to-end third- party process, reduce connections, restructure roles to gain economies of scale, and replace current technology solutions.

Barb serves on the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee as board chairperson. During her 10- year tenure on the WBENC Board of Directors, she was also Corporate Membership and Revenue Generation Committee chairperson, co- chairperson of the Strategic Planning Resources Committee, and active member of the Marketing Committee.

Over the course of her career, Barb has held a variety of supply chain management, procurement, and technology roles with a proven track record for developing procurement professionals, delivering consistent results by balancing business needs, risk and value, as well as leading business transformation enabled by technology.