Lean Leadership Forum

Charles F. Murphy

Senior Vice President, New York Business Unit, Turner Construction Company

With 30-plus years in the industry and his whole career spent at Turner, Charles is a construction veteran. As SVP of the New York business unit, Turner led several early pilots exploring lean thinking and practice, which yielded impressive safety and quality improvements. Due to that success, in 2022, Turner gave him the responsibility of guiding the company-wide adoption and implementation of lean practices.

Joanne Chang

Pastry Chef/Co-Owner, Flour Bakery, and Co-Owner, Myers + Chang

An honors graduate of Harvard College with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics, Joanne left a career as a management consultant to enter the world of professional cooking. Following several high-profile positions as a pastry chef, she directed her energetic commitment to excellence toward entrepreneurial ventures. She opened Flour Bakery in 2000, growing it to nine locations in Boston/Cambridge and receiving several “Best of Boston” awards. In 2007, Joanne and her partner opened a sister restaurant Myers+Chang, which earned four stars in the Boston Globe. In 2016, Joanne was awarded the James Beard Award for Outstanding Baker.

Michael Tamasi

President and CEO, AccuRounds

A second-generation owner, Michael has worked in the family business since 1985. He is responsible for overall strategy and organizational alignment guided by “The Path to Perfection” — providing opportunities for every member of the AccuRounds team. Michael is intensely focused on enterprise excellence driven by continuous improvement principles, initiating the focus on world-class manufacturing in 1995.

Andrew Lingel

President, United Plastic Fabricating, Inc.

As president for the last six years, Andrew has led United Plastic Fabricating Inc.’s (UPF) lean transformation across the entire enterprise, transforming the 30-year-old craft manufacturer with impressive results. UPF is the industry leader in manufacturing custom water tanks, the Poly-Tank®, for fire apparatus.

Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

Jac Price

Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Logistics, and Quality, Abcam plc

Jac leads end-to-end strategy and improvements in Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Logistics, and Quality at Abcam. He is passionate about unlocking the capabilities of the corporate infrastructure, operational excellence, science, and engineering to deliver optimal value to scientists and researchers worldwide. He believes using lean thinking and practice in all parts of the organization is the best way to deliver value.

Before joining Abcam, he held numerous leadership positions at Beckman Coulter, a Danaher operating company.

John Shook

Chairman, Lean Global Network; Senior Advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute

John Shook learned about lean management while working for Toyota for 11 years in Japan and the U.S., helping it transfer production, engineering, and management systems from Japan to NUMMI and other operations around the world. While at Toyota’s headquarters, he became the company’s first American kacho (manager) in Japan. In the U.S., Shook joined […]

Tammy M. Wilkins

Former Chief of Staff/VP of Ops, National Minority Supplier Development

With more than 30 years of experience enabling technology and improving complex upstream and downstream processes, Tammy has brought operational efficiencies and/or business transformation that yielded positive results for Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations. Her career advanced from being a software engineer to functioning in an executive capacity with responsibilities involving planning and execution; oversight of several complex and cross-functional strategic initiatives involving core business functions such as HR, IT, Marketing and Communications, Legal, Accounting and Finance, and Procurement; and large-scale conference planning and execution, with a keen focus on people, process, technology, and data. Her employers included Ashland Oil, Toyota Motor Manufacturing, American Express, The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), and contractual assignments in the Health Care industry.

As the former Chief of Staff and VP of Operations at NMSDC, she focused on several areas of operational improvements and strategic alliances to advance the organization’s mission and brand. Her employment with Toyota Motor Manufacturing, NA, is where she developed the skillset, experience, and value of lean thinking and applying the Toyota Production System principles to bring about operational efficiencies. She has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Winston-Salem State University (HBCU) and an MBA in Global Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Tim Rossetti

Production Manager, United Plastic Fabricating Inc.

As manager of United Plastic Fabricating Inc.’s Wisconsin facility, the company’s largest manufacturing location, Tim has led lean initiatives that dramatically improved performance at two locations. Under Tim’s leadership, the Wisconsin facility increased productivity by 20% during the second half of 2021. Simultaneously, he led the Florida facility in improving productivity by 30%, traveling there every two weeks. Previously, as print production manager, he brought flow and lean principles to a craft design process, increasing the output and quality of manufacturing prints & designs.

Son Vu

Continuous Improvement Coordinator, Abcam plc

Son coordinates continuous improvement in logistics for Abcam’s Waltham, Massachusetts, facility, working alongside the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) to implement lean methodologies. Additionally, he is currently responsible for educating other employees about lean tools and applications, including problem-solving, Gemba Walks, standardized work, etc.
Previously, Son was Abcam’s logistics stock specialist, responsible for the organization and accuracy of all saleable stock.

Geoff Miller

President and CEO, Grand Rapids Chair Company

As president and CEO of this high-mix/low-volume contract furniture manufacturer, Geoff developed a strategy deployment system modeled after Toyota’s Hoshin Planning Model with the company’s leadership team, helping catalyze a cultural shift toward pro-active management. He also led a multi-disciplinary team to reduce the company’s manufacturing footprint by over 25% while increasing capacity by over 75% using a “Systematic Layout Planning” (SLP) procedure that incorporated value-stream mapping. During his tenure, Geoff and the senior management team, which he restructured, recruited, mentored, and developed, significantly improved returns year-over-year while growing sales by over 10% from 2011 to 2021. Before being named president and CEO, he held various engineering and manufacturing leadership positions with the company. 

Geoff earned a Master of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (U-M), a Master of Science in Engineering from Grand Valley State University, and a Bachelor of Science in Resources Ecology and Management from U-M. 

Cheri Nourse

Vice President of Sales, Grand Rapids Chair Company

Cheri is responsible for leading Grand Rapids Chair sales teams in the United States, Canada, & Mexico. Her success has been driven by building genuine connections with people at all levels. She motivates her sales teams to achieve consistently higher levels of success while creating relationships of trust and confidence with clients.  

A seasoned professional with over 30 years of successful sales leadership experience in new business development and competitive market expansion, Cheri is recognized for leading sales teams to achieve multimillion-dollar revenue gains.  

In her previous role as vice president of sales for the Northern U.S. for the hospitality division of Tarkett North America, an industrial manufacturer of commercial flooring products, Cheri was responsible for growing sales in 29 states through Architecture and Design Firms, Distribution Groups, and B2B sales. Before that, she was vice president of sales for the North Central Region for the commercial division of Mohawk Industries, a fortune 500 flooring manufacturer. 

Cheri holds a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from the University of Wisconsin Stout. She is based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Sarah Day Kalloch

Executive Director, Good Jobs Institute

Sarah has dedicated her career to connecting public and private sector leaders with frontline workers to build better businesses, create good jobs, and define stronger social policy. She serves as the executive director of the Good Jobs Institute, which inspires industry leaders to redefine what it means to run a successful business and help their companies thrive by creating good jobs. In this role, she builds partnerships with companies that are dedicated to transforming their organizations by embracing the Good Jobs Strategy and co-creates tools and resources that guide the transformation process.

Sarah previously spent over a decade in international development, improving the health, human rights, and financial independence of communities across Africa. At Oxfam, she spearheaded global partnerships that encouraged leading food and beverage companies to adopt more sustainable sourcing policies. As an executive at Physicians for Human Rights, she co-founded two health and human rights organizations in Uganda and Kenya and secured billions in HIV/AIDS and global health funding. Sarah graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and earned a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Valeriia Zabolotna

Rector, Academy DTEK

A leader with 15 years of experience in management and more than 10 years in academia, Valeriia is an expert in organizational psychology with significant experience developing and implementing human resource management systems. During her career, she’s developed innovative educational approaches for K12 levels and corporate development in large corporations. She initiated and led four educational institutions before becoming the rector of the Sberbank Corporate University and then Academy DTEK. 

Before focusing on founding and leading schools, Valeriia served as vice president of HR at Ukrainian Development Partners (UDP), as an instructor at Edinburgh Business School, and as a lecturer and vice dean of Psychology at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.    

Valeriia holds a PhD in ethics, a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick (Canada), and a master’s degree in psychology from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. 

Josh Howell

President, Executive Team Leader, Lean Enterprise Institute

Joshua Howell is president and executive team leader at the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI). For over a decade, he has supported individuals and organizations with lean transformations for improved business performance. As a coach, he helps people become lean thinkers and practitioners through experiential learning, believing such an approach can lead to enterprise-wide improvement. Regular e-letters […]

Bruce Hamilton

President, GBMP

Before joining GBMP, a Boston-based non-profit founded in 1994 that provides lean and six sigma assistance to manufacturing, healthcare, and service organizations, Bruce spent thirty years in manufacturing, leading his factory to a Shingo Prize in 1990. From 1996 to 1998, his factory was also a project site for the Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC.)

Bruce is the author of and actor in the 2004 Shingo Prize-winning video Toast Kaizen and coauthor of the comprehensive multimedia training package, e² Continuous Improvement System. The package combines GBMP’s acclaimed educational videos with self-study workbooks, classroom learning, and workplace practice. He also coauthored the Shingo Institute’s authoritative analysis of the Shingo Model’s Dimension 2, Continuous Improvement. In 2000, he was inducted into the Shingo Prize Academy, and in 2015 was inducted into the AME Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

GBMP is an affiliate of the Shingo Institute and provides an annual Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference, http://www.northeastleanconference.org.

Mark Reich

Senior Coach, Lean Enterprise Institute

Mark supports new product development and the Co-Learning Partnerships program, assisting companies engaged in lean transformation. Since joining LEI in 2011, Mark spent five years as its chief operating officer, followed by the last three years as a senior coach. He has led lean transformations in nearly every industry with many organizations such as: Manufacturing […]

John Drogosz

Lean Coach

John Drogosz is a Product and Process Development Coach at the Lean Enterprise Institute. John has over 20 years of Lean manufacturing, product development and above shop floor experience. As a Vice President at Liker Lean Advisors, he has led lean transformations in numerous companies and industries including Northrop Grumman, Johnson Controls, Areva, Peugeot-Citroen, Tenneco, […]

Bryant Sanders

Lean Coach, Lean Enterprise Institute

Bryant Sanders, a recent retiree from Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), has 25 years of experience in accessory development, supplier development, quality, logistics, production operations, and Toyota Production System (TPS) deployment. While at TMNA and working with the Toyota Production System Support Center and Operations Management Development Division, he learned firsthand the importance of focusing […]

Ashley Smith

Chairman, President, and CEO, Smith-Midland Corporation, President and COO, Smith-Midland (VA)

As president and CEO, Ashley provides the company’s strategic vision rooted in its goals: “to develop our associates to their fullest potential, so they can contribute to their families, to society, and specifically in our company, to produce innovative, high quality, safe and cost-effective products for our customers. For our shareholders, the better we are at these initiatives, the better the results for their investment in Smith-Midland.” 

Previously he served as vice president of Sales for Smith-Midland (VA) and managing director of Easi-Set Industries. He has also served as Smith-Midland Corporation (DE) vice president since 1990 and as its director since 1994.  

Ashley, a past chairman of the National Precast Concrete Association, is a current member of the Board of Trustees of Bridgewater College. In addition, he serves as a volunteer leader with many civic, educational, and charity organizations.