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Special Edition: Georgia CIO Leadership Association

June 4, 2015 by angishields

Atlanta Tech Leaders

Special Edition: Georgia CIO Leadership Association

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Karen Renner / Novelis

Karen Renner is Vice President and Chief Information Officer with Novelis, Inc. in Atlanta, GA.

Karen was born in Camp Zama, Japan. She attended Auburn University in Auburn, AL and graduated with a B.S. Degree and M.S Degree – both in Industrial Engineering. She began her career with Lockheed Martin in engineering. While at Lockheed, Karen attended Georgia State University where she received a MBA in Finance. After three years in Atlanta, she moved to Nashville, TN as an Industrial Engineer with Northern Telecom. In Nashville, she transferred to Emerson Electric for three years as Operations Manager in the temperature controls division. In Nashville, Karen also worked as a part-time instructor in Financial Accounting at Cumberland University. She joined General Electric in 1992 in the GE Capital division. She held a variety of positions in engineering, call center management, technology, operations, e-business, IT and Six Sigma. In 1999, she was appointed quality leader TMS and in 2000, CIO for IT Solutions Products division. Karen joined GE Energy in October 2001 in Atlanta, GA to lead Acquisition Integration. In September 2005, she became the CIO GE Security in Bradenton, Florida. In 2010 she was named CIO, GE Digital Energy. Karen was appointed Vice President and CIO, Novelis in October 2010. As head of Novelis’ IT group and member of the company’s Executive Committee, Ms. Renner is responsible for the development and execution of the company’s global information technology and business information strategy. Additionally, she is the executive sponsor or the company’s business process transformation, which is currently under way across its worldwide operations.

Active in her profession, Ms. Renner is a member of the advisory board of Georgia CIO Leadership Association (GCLA.)Ms. Renner was the 2013 Global CIO of Year Award winner. She also serves on the Board of Directors for TechBridge, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization that provides IT consulting, hosting and outsourcing services to other nonprofit organizations and has served as a volunteer judge for the 2012 and 2013 TechBridge Technology Innovative Awards. She served as the co-host for the 2014 TechBridge Digital Ball.

Throughout her career, Ms. Renner has been active with various IT-related and women in technology groups and has served in IT advisory roles for nonprofit organizations, including the United Way of Greater Atlanta.

Karen is married to Jim and they have a son and daughter. She enjoys golf, tennis, running and football.

Spotlight on Sustainability

May 26, 2015 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

Spotlight on Sustainability

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Howard Connell / Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business

Howard Connell is a professor at Georgia Tech where he’s also the Managing Director of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business (part of the Scheller College of Business). The Center, which was launched in 2013, strives to “use the power of business, technology, and innovation to build a sustainable future.” He also develops and teaches courses at the intersection of business and sustainability at the undergraduate, MBA, and executive levels.

A native of Atlanta and committed to making a difference locally, Howard is founding board chair of Atlanta’s Center for Civic Innovation and also serves on the advisory board of the Lifecycle Building Center. He earned his bachelors degree from Belmont University and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

John Gardner / Novelis

John is Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Novelis Inc – the world’s leading aluminium rolled products and aluminum recycling company. He is responsible for driving sustainability across Novelis’ operations. Novelis supplies premium aluminum sheet products throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia and has operations in 10 countries and has 11,000 employees.

Robert Fairey / Cox Enterprises

Robert is Senior Director of Energy Procurement & Waste Diversion at Cox Enterprises. In this role, Robert develops and implements strategies to manage Cox’s overall energy portfolio, which includes identifying opportunities for operational and financial efficiency. He also oversees one of the company’s major sustainability goals of sending zero waste to landfill by 2024.

It is a part of Cox Conserves, the company’s national sustainability program. The program engages each of the company’s major subsidiaries (Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Media Group) and encourages Cox Enterprises’ 50,000 employees and their families to engage in eco-friendly practices in their lives and to make a difference through community service.

Stephanie Stuckey Benfield / City of Atlanta

Former Georgia Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield has been appointed director of Atlanta’s Office of Sustainability. Benfield served in the General Assembly for 14 years, representing Decatur in the House of Representatives, before leaving state government in 2012 to become executive director of Atlanta-based GreenLaw.

She also serves on the boards of the Green Chamber of the South, the Olmsted Linear Parks Alliance and Earthshare of Georgia.

The Mayor’s Office of Sustainability was established in 2010, Reed’s first year in office. Through its leadership, Atlanta climbed to third in the nation last year on the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of the top 25 U.S. metro areas for Energy Star-certified buildings.

Rohit Malhotra / Center for Civic Innovation

Rohit Malhotra is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Civic Innovation in Atlanta, his hometown city. His background is in social entrepreneurship, digital communications, open data and community organizing. Most recently, he served as an Ash Innovation Fellow in the White House Office of Management and Budget, focused on the administration’s efforts around social impact bonds and pay for performance. In 2015, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, where he is the youngest serving member in recent history. Rohit earned his B.A. from Emory University and Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Rohit is a self-appointed expert on pizza and hip hop.

TechBridge 2014 Digital Ball Recap with McKenzy Bailey, James Franklin, Dennis Gardin, Jessica Higgins, Karen Renner & Bill VanCuren 5/21/2014

May 22, 2014 by angishields

Booth 61 TechBridge 2014 Digital Ball Recap 5 21 2014 1

Booth 61 with Ricky Steele

TechBridge 2014 Digital Ball Recap with McKenzy Bailey, James Franklin, Dennis Gardin, Jessica Higgins, Karen Renner & Bill VanCuren 5/21/2014

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Booth 61 on May 21st, 2014 was MAGIC. I will not forget this broadcast for the rest of my career. I want to thank my guests who are all very busy people but were gracious in sharing their time with me in Booth 61. My guests included two of Atlanta’s most respected CIO’s, the first is with Novelis, Karen Renner & the second with NCR, Bill VanCuren, from the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation, Dennis Gardin & McKenzy Bailey, and our two TechBridge Superstars, CEO James Franklin & Program Manager for the new “Adopt-A-Nonprofit” initiative, Jennifer Higgins.

I could write 25 paragraphs about this show and it would not do it justice. We laughed, we shed a few tears of gladness and joy, and we shared from our united hearts about all of the great things TechBridge is doing to change lives in our community and in 20 other cities. Over 6.5 MILLION people have been touched by TechBridge through the over 100 not for profit agencies who partner with TechBridge. As I said, I cannot do this broadcast justice by my words. You will have to listen and enjoy the passion we all experienced for one another, for our city, and for all of the lives who have been touched and will be touched through TechBridge including those served by the Georgia Firefighters Burn Foundation which is a miracle story on it’s own.

Special thanks to my sidekick and Hunter Technical Resources “LinchPin”, Jess Jones for her social media skills in helping share the story before, during, and after our broadcast. Thank you Clint Bailey and all my colleagues at Hunter for sponsoring Booth 61. I am honored to be part of the HUNTER TEAM.

TechBridge’s 2014 Digital Ball with Karen Renner, CIO of Novelis and Bill VanCuren, CIO of NCR, Co-Chairs of the 2014 Digital Ball 5/03/2014

May 8, 2014 by angishields

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Booth 61 with Ricky Steele

TechBridge's 2014 Digital Ball with Karen Renner, CIO of Novelis and Bill VanCuren, CIO of NCR, Co-Chairs of the 2014 Digital Ball 5/03/2014

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Co-Chairs of TechBridge’s 2014 Digital Ball visited Booth 61 to share their excitement for the evenings event. Karen Renner, CIO of Novelis and Bill VanCuren, CIO of NCR worked extremely hard this year to make this event the most successful in Digital Ball history. Our technology and our not for profit community both owe Karen and Bill a great debt of gratitude for their tireless effort. Thousands of people in the greater Atlanta area will be served by our not for profit agencies with the proceeds of the 2014 Digital Ball. On behalf of all the people who will be served but will never have the opportunity to thank Karen and Bill in person, I Thank You on their behalf!

Roger Davis with Red Hare Brewing Company and Eric Anderson with Novelis

April 27, 2014 by angishields

Growth Matters

Roger Davis with Red Hare Brewing Company and Eric Anderson with Novelis

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Roger Davis – Red Hare Brewing Company, Managing Partner

Roger Davis had semi-retired from the Corporate world in 2009 when he decided to explore brewing. He contacted his buddy Bobby Thomas who jumped right in. Soon they started brewing their own beer right in Roger’s basement. They created a homemade brewing system from a 15 gallon brew pot, water coolers, various tools and hoses and started creating recipes.

After about a year and many positive reactions from their friends, they realized their little basement brewing outfit had larger potential. The Red Hare Brewing Company was born and a larger space was found to match their goals. Over the next few months Red Hare secured proper equipment and licensing. In August 2011, Red Hare started selling its craft beer throughout the state of Georgia, and is now also available in Tennessee and South Carolina. Red Hare is the first craft brewery in Georgia to can their craft beer.

Red Hare Brewing Company is an independent microbrewery located in the heart of Marietta, GA. Red Hare is the first craft brewery to offer beer in cans in Georgia and currently cans all three of their year round beers. Now they have another first; they have partnered with Novelis as the first brewer globally to launch their craft beer in evercan™, the world’s first certified high recycled content aluminum for the beverage industry.

Now situated in an 11,000 sq. ft. warehouse, Red Hare Brewing Company has a 20 barrel brewhouse with a 3,800 barrel fermenting capacity. Making every day beer for beer fans everywhere, Red Hare’s flagship beer is Long Day Lager. Other year round Red Hare beers are Gangway IPA and Watership Brown.

Eric Anderson – Novelis, Director of Business Development and Marketing

As the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Novelis, Eric Anderson’s responsibilities include the global commercialization, execution strategy and advocacy for evercan, the World’s first certified high recycled content aluminium sheet used to make cans in the beverage industry.

Eric Anderson’s background includes over 20 years of operations, business development, marketing and team management experience with Coca-Cola, Red Bull and J. Walter Thompson. His diverse experience in product and package commercialization, brand and channel strategy, sales team management and portfolio optimization leadership provides a unique perspective on the challenges and business opportunities in the beverage industry today.

Novelis is the world’s premier producer of rolled aluminum and the global leader in aluminum recycling. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Novelis has 25 operating facilities on four continents. The company is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a $40 billion multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India.

Drawing on their expertise, Novelis’ commitment to innovation and world-leading technology, they deliver sustainable solutions for the most technologically demanding applications, including automobiles,beverage cans, architecture and consumer electronics. Much of their aluminum is made from recycled material, saving natural resources and allowing for the creation of consumer products that have a lower environmental footprint. Through their recycling leadership, what would have otherwise been discarded becomes the material for new creation.

Novelis, has partnered with Red Hare Brewing Company as the first brewer globally to launch their craft beer in evercan™, the world’s first certified high recycled content aluminum for the beverage industry.

The evercan™ aluminum can body sheet is made of a guaranteed minimum of 90% recycled content. Recycling aluminum requires 95 percent less energy, and produces 95 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) than primary aluminum.

Special Edition: PRSA Georgia Chapter

October 17, 2013 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

Special Edition: PRSA Georgia Chapter

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PRSA’s Georgia Chapter , the second-largest local chapter in the national society, consists of some 850 professionals throughout Georgia. Its mission is to enhance the profession, provide continuing education and offer networking opportunities for its members.

The Chapter has monthly meetings as well as eight Special Interest Groups (Corporate & Employee Communications, Healthcare, Independent Counselors, Leader Board, Nonprofit, Technology, Travel & Tourism, and Young Professionals) that meet at various times.

The Chapter supports nine PRSSA (student society) groups at the following colleges: Berry College, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia College & State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University, Kennesaw State University, Savannah State University, University of Georgia (largest PRSSA chapter in the world), and University of West Georgia.

Neil Hirsch, APR/Novelis

Neil Hirsch, APR is manager of global external communications for Atlanta-based Novelis, the leading producer of rolled aluminum and the largest aluminum recycler in the world. In his role, he is responsible for media relations, corporate visibility, crisis communications, social media and government affairs for the corporation.

Prior to joining Novelis, Hirsch led U.S. communications for Solvay Pharmaceuticals; served on the communications team at Ford Motor Company and began his career working at Cookerly Public Relations.

He is currently president-elect of the Georgia Chapter of PRSA and will serve as Georgia Chapter president in 2014. Hirsch is a graduate of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication where he received his ABJ in public relations in 2000.

Elyse Hammett, APR/EOS Marketing & Communications

Elyse Hammett, APR, is vice president, public relations of EOS Marketing & Communications. A frequent guest lecturer at her alma mater, Emory University, Hammett also serves on the board of the Georgia Chapter, Public Relations Society of America as chair of the membership committee.

She is also active in the association’s APR training program, where she has coached more than 80 candidates since 2007 through the universal accreditation process to earn his or her APR designation.

Stephen Brown, APR/Cohn & Wolfe Atlanta

Stephen Brown, APR, is managing director of Cohn & Wolfe-Atlanta. His 16-year agency career includes work within advertising, public relations, marketing and interactive disciplines and he consults on topics ranging from media relations strategy to creative brainstorming to leveraging social media.

He recently spoke at the PRSA Annual Conference about “changing the beat” and harvesting new story opportunities. He currently is treasurer of the Georgia Chapter of PRSA, was secretary of the board last year and has served on numerous committees in the past.

Mary Elizabeth Sadd with Pinnacle Search Partners, Larry Nemeth and Kevin Kinzler with Unishippers Global Logistics, Kevin Johnson with Johnson Media and Steven Pohl with Novelis

April 29, 2013 by angishields

Atlanta Business Radio

Mary Elizabeth Sadd with Pinnacle Search Partners, Larry Nemeth and Kevin Kinzler with Unishippers Global Logistics, Kevin Johnson with Johnson Media and Steven Pohl with Novelis

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Mary Elizabeth Sadd/Pinnacle Search Partners

Pinnacle Search Partners is a Global Executive Recruiting firm based in Alpharetta, GA. Since forming in 2010, Pinnacle Search Partners has grown into a leading niche Executive recruiting firm in the U.S. and abroad. The company focuses on partnering with market leaders who are motivated to hire only top talent and who are dedicated to continuous improvement.

The Pinnacle team is comprised of award-winning leaders, possessing years of top level industry experience. Professional, results-driven, and dedicated, Pinnacle takes pride in thoroughly understanding it’s clients needs in order to deliver high quality results. Unique in its ability to focus on it’s client’s culture, goals, and market drivers, PInnacle has established an excellent industry reputation.

Pinnacle was recently certified as a “Women’s Business Enterprise” (WBE) by National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC). To be certified, a company must have an active primary female owner and executive that controls both the daily and long-term effects of the organization.

Larry Nemeth and Kevin Kinzler/Unishippers Global Logistics

Local business owners and franchisees Larry Nemeth and Kevin Kinzler started their Unishippers business three years ago to complement their existing transportation business that launched in 2000. With over 20 years of experience in the transportation logistics industry, the two decided to invest in a Unishippers franchise for two reasons: 1) Unishippers is one of two resellers for UPS, which is the world’s largest package delivery company and global leader in transportation and logistics, and 2) Unishippers has gone to great lengths to establish partnerships with 40 plus freight suppliers, establishing itself as the largest reseller of shipping services in the nation with the ability to offer the best deals and discounted rates for small to mid-sized businesses.

Kevin Johnson/Johnson Media, Inc.

Kevin D. Johnson is president of Johnson Media Inc. As a serial entrepreneur, he has over 13 years of experience leading his multimillion-dollar marketing and communications company that serves many of the most notable Fortune 100 businesses. As an innovative leader, he has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS, Oprah Radio, and in Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Moreover, he has appeared on CNN frequently. He also the best-selling author of The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and son.

Steven Pohl/Novelis, Inc.

Steven Pohl, VP, Financial Planning and Analysis, Novelis, Inc., named inaugural member of the La Roche College Distinguished Alumni Circle, 2013.

Steven is an international executive with a successful track record of contributing to business performance through strategic direction with a hands-on approach, delivering excellent financial performance and business development results. He has a multi-cultural and cross-functional career spanning a progression of operational and corporate roles including general management, strategy development, mergers & acquisitions, and organizational restructuring. Steven has strong communication and negotiation skills, is a recognized leader in coaching and personnel development and a trusted business partner with a high level of integrity, commitment, and team spirit.