Abhay Nayak
Abhay Nayak is President of Global Diagnostics for Zoetis, the world leader in Animal Health and a Fortune 500 company. In this role, he leads a global organization focused on bringing diagnostic tools, insights and innovations to veterinary customers, pet owners and producers who care for animals. His areas of responsibility in this high-growth area for Zoetis include product management, commercial development, customer service, reference labs and U.S. sales and marketing teams.
Mr. Nayak joined Zoetis in 2018 and previously served as Executive Vice President, Head of Strategy, Accelerated Growth Businesses and Commercial Development. During his career at Zoetis, he has shaped the company’s global strategy and commercial development organizations; led, aligned and integrated various businesses focused on diagnostics, genetics, precision animal health, nutritional products and scientific wellness; and overseen the company’s customer experience, sustainability and chief medical officer programs.
Prior to joining Zoetis, Mr. Nayak was a consultant at McKinsey & Company where he advised leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies on crafting and executing global growth strategies. He started his career as an investment banker at Barclays in London, where he advised private equity clients on M&A, restructuring, and financing transactions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Mr. Nayak earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School. He is also a CFA Charter holder.
Dr Molly McAllister
Heidi Sirota
Heidi Sirota serves as Nationwide’s Chief Pet Officer, leading the nation’s first and largest provider of pet insurance protecting more than 1 million pets. She joined Nationwide in 2018 as vice president of marketing for the Retirement Solutions business and led an expansion of its capabilities and markets.
Before joining Nationwide, Heidi transformed consumer experiences in human health care. As UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Bank vice president of marketing, she pioneered the retailization of health savings accounts, and as a marketing executive at Aetna and ConnectiCare she introduced new, engaging ways for consumers to shop for health insurance and get care.
Heidi started her career in commercial bank operations, then moved into investment and insurance marketing leadership at The Phoenix Companies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Loyola Marymount University and completed executive education from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Heidi sits on the Board of Trustees of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) and the Board of Directors of Second Harvest Food Bank in Orange County, California. Also she is an Advisory Board member for the University of California Santa Barbara-Extension, Customer Experience Certificate Program and the executive sponsor of Nationwide’s Pet Advocacy and Wellness Support (PAWS) Associate Resource Group.
Anna Bell
Lane Kent
Daniel Cheng
Daniel has over a decade of experience in the tech industry and is passionate about changing the way we live through technology and innovation. Daniel is currently the Director of Product at Nestle Purina, leading the new Petivity division. Petivity is laser focused on building connected experiences that improves the pets’ lives through smarter care. Previously, Daniel led product management and marketing teams at a wide array of disruptive companies such as View, Sengled and Semtech. Daniel graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and received his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Mony Iyer
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.
Nick Nohling
Jennifer Nocco
Caitlyn Dudas
Caitlyn Dudas is the Senior Advisor and Co-Founder of the Pet Sustainability Coalition – a nonprofit that advances business through environmental and social business practices. Caitlyn is a 2022 Power50 winner, a 2019 Woman of Influence recipient, winner of the 2019 Vanguard award, and a 2017 40 Under 40 award recipient in honor of her innovative approach to bring together industry leaders to strengthen their businesses while also leading the industry toward a future where pets, people, and planet prosper. Between 2013 and 2023, Caitlyn served as Executive Director and Co-Founder, where she grew the Coalition from 8 Founding corporate members to a thriving community of 200+ pet companies that actively measure and improve their impact through PSC’s sustainable business services.
Mike Greenberg
Mike Greenberg is a practicing veterinarian. He splits his professional time between clinical practice, software design, and research and writing in access to veterinary care. He is a co-founder of the Veterinary Care Accessibility Project, a non-profit focused on creating tools to help stakeholders make data-driven decisions to improve access to veterinary care. He completed his veterinary training at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and went on to complete an internship and fellowship at Cornell’s Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Program. He has authored and co-authored several articles and books, including: Putting Access to Veterinary Care on The Map, Veterinary care deserts: what is the capacity and where is it?, and Every Nose Counts: Using Metrics in Animal Shelters.
Jonathan Wainberg
Sarah Philips
Sarah is a Vice President at Emil Capital Partners (ECP), where she invests in early- and growth-stage consumer businesses across CPG, pet, retail, food tech, manufacturing, and supply chain. She currently serves on the boards of Base Culture, Dane Creek Capital, Farmside Kitchen, Kidfresh, Kin Community, and Zeel. Prior to joining ECP in 2020, Sarah started her career at Morgan Stanley, spending several years across investment banking and equity capital markets advising consumer, retail and media businesses. She holds a BA in Public Policy and Political Science with honors from Duke University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of work, she enjoys supporting other women and people of color in their capacities as founders, operators and investors, as well as road biking and yoga.
Jared Jacobs
Richard Dyer
William Schwing
Will Schwing, now based in Dallas, has served as KVP International’s head of marketing for the past 7 years, driving exponential growth and guiding the company to be one of the leading manufacturers in animal health. As an award-winning marketer with over 10 years of experience in strategic research and creative agencies in Los Angeles before joining KVP, Will bridges right and left-brain thinking to bring balance to brand and performance marketing. Innovation is a cornerstone of KVP’s marketing department, which Will has structured like a creative agency for KVP’s customers, producing industry-level quality without industry-level fees.
Notably, Will is the Editor of the Bowman Report, a quarterly perspective on the animal health industry that serves as a platform for thought leaders to discuss the most pressing topics facing the veterinary industry. After winning a Vetty Award in 2021, the Bowman Report is back with a special edition on Sustainability.
Will and his wife recently became parents to a beautiful baby girl, much to the dismay of their other firstborn, a Bichon Frise named Charlie.
Roy Chin
Katie Harkins
Craig Fraser
Ed Yuhas
Jose Bermudez
Chris Aydam
Joey Villani
James Bello
Alison Rutty
Mildred Munjanganja
Bruce Truman
Ava Henrikson
Micah Adler
Deb Leon
Andy Katz
Andrew Howard
Miles Thorson
Candise Goodwin
Amy Nichols
Mike Hutton
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
James Lynn
James Lynn is the president and founder of KALU. James received his MBA in 2019 and launched KALU in 2020 with the objective of multiplying positive impacts on the lives of pets, their owners and the planet by providing a sustainable alternative to existing products. James lives and works in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Rich Kelleman
Rich is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods, a Boulder, Colorado-based start-up that’s working with biotechnology to make pet food from pure microbial and recombinant animal proteins like chicken, turkey and fish, without the animal. Before diving into the world of pets and food tech, Rich was a strategic planner at a number of advertising agencies for more than 20 years including CP+B, Upshot, FCB and Fallon, where he lead brand strategy for brands like Burger King, P&G, Kellogg’s, and Coca-Cola
Vasyl Dub
Matt Russell
Scott Brown
Johnny Tran
Alex Wolf
Alex Wolf is AF Ventures’ COO, where he manages the firm’s daily operations, including accounting and tax planning, IR, business development, marketing, and recruiting. Additionally, he assist with new investment sourcing and heads up post-investment portfolio initiatives. AF Ventures is a consumer fund investing in emerging growth stage businesses across food & beverage, health & wellness, personal & household care, beauty, and pet. AF Ventures has deep connectivity throughout the consumer-packaged goods ecosystem having been an early pioneer in the space and growing the franchise over multiple funds.
Prior to joining AF Ventures, Alex worked in non-profit development. Alex holds a Masters in Food Studies with a concentration in sustainable food systems from New York University and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from the Parsons School of Design at The New School.
Christine Colamonico
Dr Michael Blackwell
Sammi-Jo Nevin
Taneeka Bautista
Sam Watson
Jessica Berger
John Honchariw
Terry James
Amy Paris
Neda Daneshzadeh
Dr Hyun Jung Kim
Ameetess Dira
Graysen Gilbraith Biensch
Dr Christopher Brooks
Nilpa Srivastava
