- Brittany Onslow | Conference Producer, Smithers
- Brian Sansoni | Senior Vice President, Communications, Outreach & Membership, ACI
Melissa Hockstad joined the American Cleaning Institute as the President & CEO in January 2017. She is responsible for the overall leadership of ACI including advocacy, science and research, communications, consumer education, sustainability, financial oversight and member engagement.
Prior to joining ACI she served as Vice President, Petrochemicals at the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM). In this capacity, she was responsible for managing AFPM’s petrochemical activities including oversight of various petrochemical committees, organization of the International Petrochemical Conference, and providing support for addressing legislative, regulatory and communications issues impacting the petrochemicals membership.
She previously held positions at the Plastics Industry Association where she was the Vice President – Science, Technology and Regulatory Affairs, the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) where she served as Performance Improvement Director as well as at Basell Polyolefins (now LyondellBasell) where she was a Senior Engineer.
Melissa received a M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in Engineering Science from the University of Virginia.
Renee Henze is the Vice President, Global Sustainability & Community Impact at IFF (International Flavors & Fragrances). In her role, Renee leads IFF’s Environmental, Social and Governance strategy, execution, and reporting functions. She also leads the teams that drive sustainable innovation as it relates to customer engagement, sustainability communication and marketing, responsible sourcing, human rights due diligence and community impact.
Prior to her current role, Renee led Global Marketing & Sustainability for IFF’s Home & Personal Care Business and spent 16 years at DuPont where her roles included Global Marketing, Sustainability & Commercial Development Director for DuPont Biomaterials and Global Business Manager for the DuPont’s Omega-3 and Sustainable Aquaculture business.
Renee has broad experience globally in traditional and sustainability marketing, new product launch, business development, promotion, channel development, sales and sales management.
Renee is an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at NYU’s School of Professional Studies where she teaches graduate classes in new product development, brand strategy and sustainable marketing.
She also is a current member of the Board of Directors for the the ACI (American Cleaning Institute), has served as an Advisory Board Member for the Utah State University program in Outdoor Product Design and Development and served as a Board Member of the Montgomery School in Chester Springs, PA.
Darci Ferrer provides support to clients on a wide range of regulatory and scientific topics related to chemical management with a focus on Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) regulated products. This includes helping clients determine a pathway to registration of new active ingredients and end products. She has broad experience in regulatory and scientific affairs regarding a variety of industrial and consumer products, including pesticides, cleaning products, and fragrance materials. Furthermore, Darci's experience in chemicals regulation is comprehensive, including advisory and scientific work with industry leaders.
Prior to joining Steptoe, Darci served as Chief Scientist for a leading trade association where she was accountable for regulatory analysis and advocacy for the fragrance industry in the US and Canada, providing direct support and assistance to association members. She regularly developed comments on regulatory proposals and met directly with regulators to discuss potential opportunities and concerns of new and proposed regulations. Of note, Darci led early industry efforts to support the EPA risk evaluation of one of the first twenty substances selected for review by EPA under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Her past experience also includes developing and submitting state and federal pesticide registrations and point source environmental exposure assessments.
Scott Jaynes is an Research and Technology Manager at Croda, Inc. in Edison, New Jersey, where he is responsible for new product development and technical service for household and I&I cleaning markets in North America. Prior to joining Croda, Scott held R&D positions at BASF, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, and Unilever. He received a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Dartmouth College.
Vanessa is a Product Development Chemist in the Household, Industrial, and Institutional Cleaning group at Stepan. Her background includes working with business management and manufacturing at Videojet, Danaher to formulate new inks to meet industry requirements and expand the company’s portfolio. She developed methods to evaluate experimental formulations and is a co-inventor of a thermal inkjet ink for cold applications – the first of its kind in the industry. At Stepan, she collaborates with customers to develop creative methods and formulations to meet their product performance and testing needs and leads customer communications. She utilizes Design of Experiments to build libraries of data models for surfactant systems, evaluate new molecules in hard surface cleaners, and to generate IP. She has contributed significantly to the HI&I formulation portfolio by developing highly concentrated formulations for hard surface cleaning.
Bio coming soon!
Laura graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a BS in Chemical Engineering. She has strong background in research and development. Prior to joining Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps in 2015, she worked as an R&D scientist at a CPG brand in the Bay Area where she gained experience in product innovation by supporting projects from the pilot phase to manufacturing. At Dr. Bronner’s she started her role conducting sustainability data analysis, root cause investigations for quality issues, product testing, claims substantiation, and technical services. As the R&D Manager at Dr. Bronner's, Laura collaborates closely with cross-functional teams such as sales, marketing, quality, production, and operations to develop and bring innovative products to market, while ensuring the highest level of product quality and safety. Her technical expertise, strategic approach, and grit have enabled her to drive innovation for Dr. Bronner's.
Rachel Hoertz is a Business Development Manager at Cosun Biobased Experts, a leader and supplier of functional biobased ingredients.
Rachel has a Master’s Degree in Business and has spent nearly two decades in the Chemicals Industry in North America. Her experience has crossed many markets and she has built winning strategies with some of the world’s largest manufacturers. She is passionate about providing sustainability solutions to customers in the Home & Personal care segment.
Stuart has been working at Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) for over 15 years, and currently leads the global technical marketing efforts for the cleaning segment, which includes specialty surfactants and water soluble polymer products. Stuart has a Chemistry background from Imperial College, London, and has developed a varied career in technical, innovation, sales and marketing roles across different industries over the years, with a keen focus throughout on the development of mild and sustainable chemistry for industry and consumer use.
Bio coming soon!
Butch has been working at Nouryon for over 30 years, and is currently the Technical Manager for the Home and Personal Care Business. Butch has a PhD in Organic Synthesis from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and has developed a varied career in Research and Development, Process Development, Applications, Technical Service and Sales. Butch’s current focus is to provide high performing, sustainable formulation solutions to the I&I and Home Care markets.
Brennan Georgianni is the Director of State Government Affairs at the American Cleaning Institute. He works with government affairs professionals at member companies to develop policies that he promotes in state capitals. His work encompasses managing state lobbyists, evaluating legislation, and testifying in front of legislators in all fifty states. Priority areas of emphasis range from specific chemical management issues to broader packaging policy.
He has over 10 years of D.C. professional experience working with the Plastics Industry Association and in other Congressional and fundraising capacities.
Mr. Georgianni earned his B.A. in Political Science from Auburn University (Auburn, AL) and his Master of Public Policy degree from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA). He resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife and their adopted dog. If he is not finding new spots to run or bike through in D.C., he is camping in Shenandoah National Park or thinking of a beach vacation.