Mike Ushijima

IT Procurement Administrator
Pactiv Corporation

Mike is IT Procurement Manager for Pactiv Corporation, a three billion dollar packaging manufacturing company, whose best-known consumer brand is Hefty Storage and Trash Bags.  Mike is responsible for the global procurement of all IT related software, hardware, services, telecom, maintenance, leases and disposal.  Mike has drafted and maintains all Pactiv standard IT contracts, including software, professional services and leases.  He was previously MIS at a publishing company and disaster restoration company.  Mike was in the general practice of law for over thirty years.  He has a B.A. from Wabash College and J.D. from Northwestern University.

Russ Boyd

Senior Contract Specialist
Perot Systems

Russ Boyd has been involved with supply chain, purchasing and contracting in the electronics and high technology industries for over 20 years, and has held various staff and management positions with companies such as Abbott Laboratories and DSC Communications. Currently, Russ is a Sr. Supply Chain and Contracts Specialist for Perot Systems Corporation in Dallas. Perot Systems is involved with IT outsourcing, development of IT business solutions and applications, and IT consulting. Consulting with Perot Systems’ Clients and Client Account teams on cost reduction, supply chain process, negotiation and management of procurement and IT related contracts is his current area of responsibility. Russ is an active member of ISM, IACCM, and the CAUCUS Association for high technology procurement professionals, and is a Certified Purchasing Manager.

Stephen Guth

Executive Director, VMO
NRECA

Stephen R. Guth, Esq. has negotiated contracts on behalf of companies such as Ryder System, Dell Computer and Aflac.  He is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law and George Washington University’s Commercial Contract Management Masters Program.  Stephen is a Certified Technology Procurement Executive and a Certified Purchasing Manager.  He has been featured in CIO Magazine for his concept of supplier relationship management and he has authored articles on contract negotiations and patent law.  Stephen is currently the Executive Director of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Vendor Management Office in the Washington, DC area.

Ozias A Moore, PMP

Dir., US Pharmaceuticals, Technology & Service Delivery Vendor Management
Pfizer Inc

Ozias is an executive at Pfizer Inc’s New York headquarters and has 15 years of diverse, multi-functional experience, including his experience in key positions at  American Express, IBM Corporation, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.  As the Director of Technology & Service Delivery Vendor Management within Worldwide Pharmaceutical Operations, Ozias manages Pfizer’s domestic CIO  organization’s vendor pool rationalization; develops policies and processes around the selection, engagement, and evaluation; and ensures dollar savings through vendor management practices, including rate reductions, contract negotiations, and vendor consolidation.  Prior to joining Pfizer Ozias held senior level positions at IBM Corporation in accounting, supply chain management, IT and global business transformation. His demonstrated leadership in re-engineering IBM’s vendor processing and related accounts payable functions was featured in CFO magazine. At American Express, Ozias formed and managed the Global Corporate Services Consulting Group’s successful Travel and Expense Management Consulting Practice developing strategies and launching major transformational initiatives for top corporate accounts. During his tenure at Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Ozias held positions in procurement and contract negotiation and financial planning, leading Oracle implementations. Ozias holds an MSE/MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh. He earned certifications in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, e-commerce from MIT and New York University, Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and Certified Six Sigma Green Belt from IBM. Ozias resides in New Jersey with his wife, Heather.

Chris Erwin

Strategic Sourcing Manager
Textron, Inc

Chris Erwin joined Textron’s HR-IT Indirect Supplier Management CoE as a Strategic Sourcing Manager in July 2006. In her current role, Chris is responsible for supplier selection, contract negotiations and performance reviews of suppliers utilized across the Textron Enterprise. Chris’s efforts within her Supplier Management role has yielded substantial savings, as well as provided stronger, more secure and employee friendly agreements with our key suppliers.

Chris has been with the Textron family since 1996, when she joined Bell Helicopter as an intern for the Latin America sales team, and has worked her way to increasingly more substantive leadership roles within the organization.  She has held positions within the Commercial Contracts Organization, the V22 Support Equipment Integrated Product Team and in 2005  was selected to join Textron Six Sigma organization.  While in that role, she completed seven projects with savings of over $3M and participated in Bell’s first Lean Accelerator. Prior to joining Bell, Chris served our country in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman.

Chris holds both an MBA and BBA from Textron Christian University, and completed a Master Certificate program in Government Contracts at George Washington University. She resides in Keller, Texas with her husband Jeff, her daughter Alex and her dog Pumpkin.  Her hobbies include golf, diving and Alex’s cheerleading.

Jill Button

Director IT Procurement
Rogers Communications, Inc.

Jill joined Rogers in January 2006 as Director, Strategic Sourcing, IT Procurement. In this role, she is responsible for the Strategic Sourcing and Contract Management of enterprise wide, Information Technology for Rogers Communications Inc.

Prior to joining Rogers, Jill held various positions in the Technology and Financial Services sector in Canada including; Director, Strategic Sourcing, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Procurement Advisor, Strategic Outsourcing, IBM Canada, Procurement Manager, Manulife Financial and National Manager, IT Procurement, General Electric Capital, IT Solutions (GECITS). 

Jill has 19 plus years Supply Chain experience and has a certificate in Business Administration, Business Logistics and is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.

Robert Moran

Thunderbird School of Global Management

Robert T. Moran is an Organizational and Management Consultant with specialties in Cross-Cultural Training, Organizational Development, and International Human Resource Management.

He is a Professor of International Management, Emeritus at Thunderbird School of Global Management. This institution is recognized as the foremost business school in the United States for the training of international managers. During the academic year 1987-88, he was Visiting Professor at Ecole Superieure Des Sciences Economique Et Commerciales in France. As an international consultant, his experience extends to a variety of organizations and institutions. He has designed and conducted seminars for Saudi Aramco, AT&T, General Motors, Delphi, Honeywell, Intel, Bayer, Motorola, ExxonMobil, Volvo, Toyota, and Singapore Airlines, among many others.

He has written numerous textbooks and other publications during his career, including most recently: Leading Global Projects, Developing the Global Organization: Strategies for Human Resource Professionals, and Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for the 21st Century. 

Dr. Moran received his graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota. He was also a coach and advisor of the Japanese National Hockey Team and, as an advisor, attended the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, and the 1972 Games in Sapporo, Japan. He has also participated in the executive education program at Thunderbird, Emory University, Penn State, Stanford University, and Wharton.

Phil Rolfs, CTPE

Caucus Chairperson
Senior Procurement Specialist
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

As Senior Procurement Specialist, Phil has 22 years of IT experience, which includes 10 years in data processing and 12 years in procurement. His areas of responsibility have included providing support for midrange hardware and mainframe hardware, software and network/dial-up. More recently, Phil has been involved in negotiating contracts for hardware, software, maintenance, services and staff augmentation. His responsibilities include those of contracts specialist and senior negotiator. His experience in negotiating with Fortune 500 companies as well as newer, small start-up companies gives him a unique perspective. This is Phil’s fourth year participating on CEAC.

Brenda Whipple

Caucus Vice Chairperson
Director, IT Strategic Sourcing
Textron Inc.

Brenda has 17 years of procurement experience including 10 years devoted specifically to IT contracting. With Textron, she leads a team that is responsible for negotiating global software and professional service agreements and administering a worldwide IT Infrastructure Outsourcing Agreement. Prior to Textron, Brenda was involved with contracting and outsourcing at Qwest Communications and MCI. Brenda has her MBA and BS degrees from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Mark Bramfitt

Pacific Gas and Electric

Mark Bramfitt is a Principal Program Manager in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Customer Energy Efficiency group, responsible for designing and delivering programs and services to help customers manage their energy use and costs in the high tech industry.

His team supports customers in the Silicon Valley and throughout northern California, providing a utility industry-leading program portfolio for data centers and information technology infrastructure, including training and education, technical support, and financial incentives and rebates.  Over three years, these programs are expected to deliver over 12 megawatts of peak energy demand reduction, with a program budget of over $21 million.

He is a founding member of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a non-profit organization established by environmentally aware consumers, corporations, and environmental protection organizations. The aim of the Initiative is to improve the energy efficiency of computers and to encourage the development, introduction and use of advanced technologies for reducing IT energy consumption. 

Mark also leads the Utility IT Energy Efficiency Coalition, promoting the adoption of high tech program and service models by utilities throughout North America, and is PG&E's representative to The Green Grid.

A professionally-licensed mechanical engineer, Mark has worked in a variety of technical and management positions at PG&E in his twenty-year-plus career, primarily in the energy-efficiency, account services, and corporate communications areas. 

Mark is politically active in the Sonoma Valley, serving as an elected Director of the Valley of the Moon Water District, the chair of the Sonoma Valley Groundwater Basin Advisory Panel, and on several other community boards.

Sarepta Ridgeway

Purchasing & Logistics Supervisor
CenterPoint Energy

Sarepta Ridgeway is a supervisor in the Purchasing & Logistics organization at CenterPoint Energy in Houston TX. She has over 25 years experience in purchasing and contract management. Her areas of expertise include writing a purchasing policy and associated procedures, which include the “what, when, where, how and why”. In addition, she directs the purchase of corporate procurement needs, including IT products and services. In the past five years, Sarepta has contributed towards in excess of $100 million in cost avoidance related to computer hardware, software, and telecommunications purchases. She was instrumental in developing and writing an international contract tariff that became an industry standard in the U.S. and Canada. She renegotiated over 900 software license agreements, successfully incorporating provisions to allow for a business divestiture at little or no cost to the company.

Sarepta’s current role has allowed her to influence and successfully implement best practices at CenterPoint Energy. She serves on various industry panels, works as an adjunct college professor and conducts in-house training programs related to software compliance. Sarepta has an MBA and two undergraduate degrees and has been named Employee of the Year, Minority Sponsor of the Year and Minority Buyer of the Year.