Speakers

Nathan Marafioti

Dirk Beeckman

Audrey Yoo

Christie Horvath

Neda Daneshzadeh

Aaron Easterly

Sandra Campos

Lashonda Geffrard

Lashonda Geffrard's name is synonymous with passion, dedication, and innovation. As the driving force behind Black Pet Business Network, The Paw Shop, and Paws of Hope Florida. Lashonda is a force to be reckoned with, a true trailblazer in the world of entrepreneurship, and animal welfare. Her boundless love for animals and her drive to create a more inclusive and thriving pet industry has catapulted her into the realm of expert pet industry speaking and influence.

With an unwavering commitment to positively impacting the pet industry as a whole, Beyond her speaking engagements, Lashonda's impact on the pet industry extends to her role as a popular columnist for various industry publications. Her thought-provoking articles delve into the depths of the industry and shed light on emerging trends.

Miles Thorson

Valerie Bertle

George Song

Cecelia Carrera

Susan Groeneveld

Owen Ensor

Owen is the CEO of Meatly, a leading cultivated meat company. From a single sample of cells, they can create an infinite amount of meat forever without growing an animal. Their process uses ~80% less water, 90% less land, and 60% fewer GHGs than traditional agriculture. Start two years ago Meatly has dramatically reduced costs and aims to sell product this year. Owen is a serial entrepreneur who previously scaled an insect protein company.

Toriano Sanzone

Toriano Sanzone is the founder of DOT DOG Consulting a firm that manages Business Development, Sales and Marketing for varios Pet Companies (Everything Pet, Calmr Dog and Wolfkeeper University) Toriano is also a Director for Black Pet Business Network a Non Profit who’s mission is to make the Pet Industry more inclusive of African American Pet Companies. Mr. Sanzone also owns a Dog Training Facility in Chicago and New Orleans and is Third Generation Dog Trainer. DOT DOG is also working on the Future of Dog Training and Ai Tecnology. Mr. Sanzone is also Co-Owner of a Global Pet Transportation Company called Pawsitively Precious Cargo.

Toriano Sanzone is a Graduate of

Gustavus Adolphus is based in St. Peter, originally from Minnesota, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Speech Communicstion-Marketing and is currently based in New Orleans, where he dedicates his free time to music production.

Ruben Alcaraz

Chad Bellin

Chad Bellin is President of Insurance Services at Independence Pet Group (IPG), one of North America’s largest pet insurance and services companies. At IPG, Chad is responsible for all facets of insurance operations, including implementation and management of partnerships, broker and employee benefits sales, as well as direct-to-consumer inbound sales, claims, and customer service.

Before joining IPG, Chad was the Vice President of Operations at LTCG, the industry-leading long-term care insurance TPA. Early in his career, he spent eight years at Target Corporation in various management and leadership roles in-store operations. 

Chad is driven by his desire to support and develop others. He believes that to create a world-class enterprise, every employee must be invested in the company’s mission, and the company must be invested in the employee’s career. He understands the importance of empowering others.

Chad is a University Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate with a B.S. in Management and a Minor in Human Resource Management.

He lives in the Indianapolis area with his wife, Jamie, and has three children.

Georgette Wilson, DVM

Born and raised in New York City, Dr. Georgette Wilson received her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and DVM from Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, NY. Shortly after graduating from vet school, Dr. Wilson completed a one-year small animal internship at the University of Tennessee. She practiced in the greater New York City area for 11 years prior to entering the veterinary industry. Dr. Wilson currently serves as the Chief Veterinary Officer for MyPetGo, a company that offers smart monitors that track pet health and wellness, in addition to practicing veterinary medicine part-time. In her spare time. Dr. Wilson enjoys international travel with her family."

Nancy Hassel

Nancy Hassel is the founder and President of American Pet Professionals, an award winning business networking, educational and multimedia organization for the pet industry since 2009.  Leading over 125 in-person educational networking events, seminars, fundraisers and online events for pet industry professionals. A Public Relations specialist for the pet industry, Nancy works with pet companies in many aspects of PR, event planning, media relations and training for pet professionals.  Nancy also co-hosts the boutique B2B trade-show, NYC Re-Tails & Sales Pet Expo, with Dana Humphrey every spring.  Also, Nancy is a speaker at various pet industry conferences, a writer for pet trade and consumer magazines, blogger, avid photographer, and was a TV producer and production coordinator for 10+ years.  Nancy created a Responsible Dog Ownership program and taught over 2,500 pet parents in a 5-year period. Recently awarded the 2018 Women of Influence by Pet Age Magazine and her American Pet Professionals was voted Best Networking organization three years in a row by LI Press newspaper.  Nancy resides on Long Island, NY and is the proud pet parent of Cody, a rescued American Pit Bull Terrier. 

Connect socially: @AmericanPetPros on Twitter and Instagram

Garth Jordan

Mike Hutton

Brooke DeLuise

Andrew Petz

Andrew is currently serving as the head of Gold Medal Ventures, the growth equity investment arm of General Mills. In 12 years at the company, Andrew has led portfolio shaping efforts across the globe with execution responsibility that spans from emerging brands up to large scale transformational transactions. Prior to General Mills, Andrew spent time in private equity and investment banking.

Julia Sosa

Julia Sosa is an Experience & Design leader whose lifelong love of animals led to her passion and focus in the pet care and veterinary industries. As a founding member and Chief Experience Officer of Pumpkin, one of the fastest-growing pet insurance companies in the United States, Julia leads user research, experience strategy, and product and brand design for their pet owner and veterinary partnerships. Julia is an active member of the rescue and shelter community, a devoted foster and adoption counselor for the NYC Animal Care Center, and works as an advisor and volunteer for multiple pet welfare organizations. She is the proud pet mom to 2 small dogs, 2 very large cats, and over 92+ foster kittens (and counting).

Boo Larsen

Andrew Ganjavian

Architecturally trained and creatively entrepreneurial by nature, Ali Ganjavian has co-founded a design-driven business that collaborates with Fortune 500 companies globally, as well as a consumer lifestyle brand that creates innovative products designed to enhance rest and well-being in everyday life. A passion for pushing boundaries and a lifelong love for animals, has led Ali to build his latest venture, Moggie, a data company dedicated to improving the lives of cats and making a positive impact in animal health.

Joe Watson

Jordan Van Walsen

Mariel Devesa

Mariel Devesa has over 15 years of transformative experience across legacy and startup companies both domestically and internationally.  She has developed and lead multiple industry first initiatives and is renowned for her knack for innovation and forging strategic partnerships.  She currently leads Strategic Partnerships for Independence Pet Holdings and calls Los Angeles home.

Rachel Sheppard

Matthew Bubear

Matthew Bubear is CEO and Chief Vision Officer of CASCO Pet, a leading manufacturer of world class animal habitats and veterinary kennelling. A disruptive innovator and entrepreneur, he has over 30 years of experience – with his passion for animal wellness at the heart of everything he does. Outside of expanding the company’s operations and seeing its products and services winning awards, Matthew enjoys competitive cycling, rewilding and advocating for environmental causes.

Katy Briggs

Dr Susan Bohrer

Dr. Azza Kennedy

Richard Kestenbaum

Richard is a co-founder and Partner of Triangle Capital and has been an investment banker for over 35 years. Richard has a great deal of experience advising clients in merchandising businesses, particularly in the Retail & Consumer sector. Richard is an often-quoted expert on the retail and merchandising industries. He is a Contributor to Forbes.com where he writes a regular blog about trends in retail and consumer product businesses. He also appears regularly in print and other media as well as industry panels and speaking programs.

Before co-founding Triangle, Richard was a Managing Director at a boutique investment banking firm called Financo, Inc. While at Financo, Richard was responsible for a majority of the firm’s apparel industry transactions. Prior to joining Financo, Richard was a Partner and First Vice President at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. At Drexel, Richard was responsible for a group of 14 professionals doing middle-market mergers and acquisitions around the world.

Richard is the co-author of three books on finance and computer programming. He is formerly an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Business at the graduate program of the Stern School of Business at York University.

Richard received a BS in Accounting from New York University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Harvard University. Richard is married and lives in New York.

Click here to read Richard’s blog and follow him on Forbes.com.