Going Beyond Compliance – Best-in-Class Environmental Performance

Karen Williams

Environmental Data & Information Management, The Dow Chemical Company

Karen Williams serves as the Environmental Data and Information Management Leader for Dow Chemical. In this role Karen is responsible for the Product Management of Dow’s current suite of Environmental Reporting databases which include the Essential Suite Software. The team also provides support for the data systems that support Dow’s Global waste and emission data. She is responsible to ensure these databases continue to support Dow’s Environmental reporting needs and stay up to date with the changing regulations. She has been with Dow for over 26 years with 12 years in Manufacturing and Engineering and the last 14 years in Environmental Health and Safety.

She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech University.

Kevin Prouty

VP and Group Director Manufacturing Industry and Enterprise Applications, Aberdeen Group

At Aberdeen, Kevin's research coverage is Manufacturing and Enterprise Applications, as well as supporting Product Innovation and Supply Chain research. Before joining Aberdeen he was Director for Manufacturing Solutions at Infor. He also spent over five years as Sr. Director of Manufacturing Solutions at Motorola and was the resident expert on technology’s role in Lean. Prior to Motorola, he was Research Director for Manufacturing and Automotive at AMR Research and Gartner G2, where he spent a cumulative six years.

Leading up to his research role, Kevin spent over 15 years as both a user and system integrator of production operations software. Twelve of those years were as a plant manager and project manager at a global manufacturer, managing a large workforce and business that produced tooling for automotive and industrial companies. He was responsible for all automation of the facility, including integration of automated process and information systems into all aspects of the business.

In addition, Kevin helped lead the re-engineering team that implemented ERP and shop floor systems throughout the company. Kevin also managed the building, start up, and initial operation of a plant in China from 1992 to 1993.

Jeff Ladner

Senior Director – EHS & Sustainability Solutions, IHS

Jeff is responsible for managing the product roadmap for IHS enterprise software solutions that support efficient and accurate environmental, health, safety (EHS), product stewardship, risk management and sustainability reporting. Mr. Ladner has nearly two decades of experience directing the development of enterprise information management systems that efficiently manage environmental, carbon and energy management, risk management, product stewardship and corporate responsibility solutions. He has established a strong reputation for enabling corporations to develop and execute sustainability strategies through a holistic, integrated view of operational performance. Among his many professional achievements, he led a team effort to develop one of the industry’s first enterprise-wide systems for EHS accounting and reporting.