World Trade Day

Introducing Opening Keynote

Iftikhar Ahmad serves as the President and CEO of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC). RIAC has an annual economic impact of $2.7B with 19,102 direct and indirect jobs. RIAC’s total revenue exceeds $100M a year.

Mr. Ahmad developed important skills and handled critical job functions during the last 27 years in the aviation field. He has managed day-to-day operations of major aviation facilities in the U.S. and developed successful business strategies for airports. In his current role, he oversees all six airports in Rhode Island, including Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport.

Prior to Rhode Island, Mr. Ahmad served as the Chief Executive of the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans which serves around 12 million passengers a year. Over the years, he has lead activities at several other major airports in the nation. Mr. Ahmad has coordinated more than $5B worth of capital work in his career. This work includes the new terminal in New Orleans.

Mr. Ahmad serves as a United States’ civil aviation expert to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in an advisory capacity. He also serves on the international board of AAAE (American Association of Airport Executives) and on the organization’s policy board.

Ross Gittell, Ph.D., is the ninth president of Bryant University. Under his leadership, Bryant is ascending in rankings and national recognition that affirm the superior value of a Bryant education. Drawing on his expertise in strategic management and as an economist and economic development scholar, President Gittell is leading Bryant through the development and implementation of the Vision 2030 Strategic Plan.

Vision 2030: Innovation and Agility with Purpose charts a bold path for the university, building on Bryant’s foundational strength in business education and integrated liberal arts and its new strengths in health and behavioral sciences. With a focus on academic excellence; a vibrant student experience; community and belonging; and economic mobility, Vision 2030 will take Bryant University to the next level of recognition and accomplishment.

President Gittell previously served as Chancellor of the Community College System of New Hampshire. Highly regarded for his economic analysis and forecasting, he has frequently served as an expert resource for government, non-profit, and business leaders. With an extensive background in university teaching, strategic planning, and management, President Gittell’s focus has been on applying economic, organizational, and management theory to regional, state, and community economic development issues.

President Gittell’s teaching career in management and economics spans more than 20 years. He is extensively published, including books, numerous articles, and professional studies. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard University, a MBA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Chicago.

James Golsen is the Deputy Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the International Trade Administration (ITA), the U.S. government’s primary commercial diplomacy, export, and investment promotion agency. He manages a staff of more than 1,450 trade professionals across more than 225 domestic and overseas trade offices.

With a career marked by over twenty years of service, Golsen has cultivated extensive expertise in facilitating collaborations between American and global businesses. He is a member of the Senior Foreign Service and has held roles across the U.S., globe, and at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Prior to his current role, Golsen served as the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His career trajectory also encompassed significant positions such as: Commercial Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia; Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, Burma; and Principal Commercial Officer for South India in Chennai. His work has taken him to various locations, including Bangkok, Thailand, and Shanghai, China.

Golsen’s influence also extended to his role as ITA’s Executive Director of Asia for Global Markets, where he managed 14 Commercial Service posts across Asia, in conjunction with three policy offices in Washington.

Eva-Marie Mancuso is the director of the John H. Chafee Center for International Business at Bryant University, Rhode Island’s designated agency for world trade and export activities. Mancuso’s deep-rooted understanding of Rhode Island’s diverse business landscape and her involvement across governmental, nonprofit, and legal sectors make her the perfect champion for the state’s economic advancement.

Through partnerships with RI Commerce, the Small Business Association, state government, and trade organizations, the Chafee Center encourages global business expansion, retention, and attraction by providing customized business consulting services to Rhode Island-based enterprises. The Center also administers the SBA’s State Trade and Expansion Program (STEP), providing access to funding for small businesses to grow their global reach.

Mancuso arrived at the Chafee Center after serving as special advisor to Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, where she worked on the International Ambassador program and Foreign Direct Investment initiatives in coordination with government and private partners. Prior to working with the Governor, Mancuso was Board Certified civil trial attorney and managing partner of a law firm for 32 years.

A lifelong Rhode Islander, Mancuso received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Rhode Island and a law degree at Suffolk University Law School.

Luncheon Keynote: “Lessons from the Trenches – What I have learned over Three…OK, Make that Four Decades”

Cheryl has 40 years of leadership and management experience in manufacturing. She has held leadership positions with industry giants like GM, Mazda, Ford, and Lear Corporation and led teams in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and throughout Europe and Asia. Cheryl spent 19 years as the President and CEO of Hope Global, a manufacturing company with over 2,000 employees and operations in the U.S., Mexico, Czech Republic, China, and Brazil. During that period, Hope Global grew five times in revenue and became a Tier II leader in the Automotive Industry. In 2019, Cheryl joined Taco as President of Taco Family of Companies, North America. In March of 2020, Cheryl was promoted to CEO of Taco Family of Companies Global operations. Since taking the helm, Taco has doubled in revenue, expanded the workforce by 350 team members, acquired a new business unit in England, and has planned global operational facility expansions of over 243,000 sq, ft. in the next 3 years.

Cheryl has received several prestigious awards over her career including the Empowering Women Leadership in Manufacturing Award (2023),  Scouts of America, Distinguished Citizen Award (2023), Providence Business News Rhode Island Business Women’s Career Achievement Award (2022), and Leadership Award (2001, 2014), Rhode Island Manufacturers Association, Al Lubrano Leadership Award (2022) New England Business Woman of the Year (2014), Mentor of the Year PBN RI (2016), Crain’s Women in Manufacturing of the Year (2018), Trailblazer in Business / Cheryl Watkins Snead Award (2018). She holds two Honorary Doctorates from the New England Institute of Technology for Humane Letters and Bryant University for Business.

Her community work includes being a member of the Board of Governors for the Rhode Island Commodores, an Advisory Board Member for the University of Rhode Island, a member of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association Advisory Board, and a Board member of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. Cheryl has also served as a Trustee (Secretary and Chair of Student Affairs) for Bryant University, Board of Governors, and a Trustee of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council. She has also served on the boards of Rhode Island Economic Development, the Governor’s Workforce Board, the Rhode Island Hospital Foundation, and the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce.

Panelist: AI’s Impact on Supply Chains; from New Tech to Cyber Threats

Special Representative Sarah Morgenthau was appointed by President Biden in October 2023 to lead the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs at the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. The Office of Commercial and Business Affairs advances trade, commercial, and economic policies for America’s workers and the middle-class to help create jobs and strengthen U.S. communities. Special Representative Morgenthau leads efforts to expand U.S. exports through commercial advocacy and to create and advance a level playing field for U.S. workers and companies overseas.

Special Representative Morgenthau has extensive experience in senior federal government and private sector roles and brings strong leadership expertise in building relationships and advancing organizational, program, and policy objectives.

Special Representative Morgenthau recently ran as a candidate for U.S. Congress in Rhode Island. Prior to that, she was a Deputy Assistant Secretary for travel and tourism in the Department of Commerce where she worked across the federal government and in close coordination with industry leaders to reopen international travel during the pandemic. She also served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, where she was the liaison between the business community and government, facilitating engagement and strategic communication on key national security issues while expanding public-private partnerships. She was also a senior official at the Peace Corps, where she helped lead the exploratory for and launch of a global health public private partnership in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Special Representative Morgenthau’s deep private sector background includes serving as a lawyer and as co-head of business development for a global investigations firm. As a lawyer, she practiced at an international firm in New York City, as a staff attorney in the Enforcement Division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and was a law clerk to a U.S. District Court Judge. She has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including the international non-governmental organization Pact, the Anti-Defamation League, the DC Volunteer Lawyers Project, and the Homeland Security Advisory Board in Rhode Island. She is also a member of the $40 million capital campaign for the new labor and delivery unit at Women & Infants Hospital in Rhode Island.

Special Representative Morgenthau graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College with a degree in Political Science and earned a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law.

Opening Keynote: “Flying Direct: Initiative to Support Global Business”

David Neeleman is that rarest of entrepreneurs, a man who has created and launched a multitude of successful, independent airlines, including the USA’s Breeze Airways, JetBlue and Morris Air (later sold to Southwest), Canada’s WestJet and Brazil’s Azul.

David was born in Brazil while his father was Reuter’s São Paulo Bureau Chief. His family moved to Utah while he was still a child. His career began in 1984 when he co-founded a low-fare carrier called Morris Air with June Morris, the owner of Salt Lake City-based travel agency Morris Travel. As President of Morris Air, David implemented the industry’s first electronic ticketing system and pioneered a home reservation system where calls are handled by reservationists working from their homes.

Following the sale of Morris Air and a short period with Southwest Airlines, David took the electronic ticketing system that he had initiated at Morris Air and developed it to become Open Skies, the world’s simplest airline reservation system. David sold Open Skies to Hewlett Packard in 1999. Also during this period, David acted as a consultant to WestJet Airlines, the successful Canadian low-fare start-up airline.

David then founded JetBlue Airways in New York and spent a decade as Chief Executive Officer (1998 to 2007) and Chairman (2002 to 2008). An amazing success by any measure, JetBlue was an instant hit with travelers and was the first airline to earn $100 million annually within five years, thus becoming a “major” airline fastest. JetBlue has won countless awards and accolades including Top Low Cost Airline for Customer Satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates and Best Airline by Consumer Reports. It won Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers Choice Awards for Best U.S. Airline for seven consecutive years.

After JetBlue, it was Brazil’s turn to experience David’s magic in bringing new planes and low fares to many markets that had never seen nonstop service.

Azul, launched in 2008, now serves more than 100 destinations with an operating fleet of more than 140 aircraft, including Brazilian-built Embraer E-190 and E-195 jets, and ATR-72s. Just as JetBlue in the U.S. before it, Azul is the first airline in Latin America to offer LiveTV inflight TV programming via satellite.

David now turns his attention back to the U.S. domestic airline industry with his new airline Breeze Airways.   Breeze began commercial service in May 2021 and now operates more than 150 routes in some three dozen cities. David plans to re-invent low cost travel with nonstop service between secondary and tertiary markets across the U.S. Breeze currently operates a fleet of more than 30 Airbus A220-300 and Embraer 190/195 aircraft, with confirmed orders for a  total of 80 A220s.

Just two years old, Breeze already has been ranked as one of the U.S.’ best domestic airlines in the last two World’s Best Awards by Travel + Leisure magazine (#2 in 2022 and #4 in 2023).

Panelist: AI’s Impact on Supply Chains; from New Tech to Cyber Threats

Kevin Ricci is a partner in CitrinCooperman’s Providence office and a leader within the Technology, Risk Advisory, and Cybersecurity (TRAC) Practice. He has over 25 years of extensive experience in technology services including consulting, security assessments, cybersecurity awareness training, social engineering simulations, IT auditing, fractional CISO, project management, database development, data analysis, and compliance services including PCI DSS, for which he is a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).

Kevin has helped his clients achieve their cybersecurity and privacy goals, helping assess, build, and transform their cybersecurity and privacy programs, and has provided strategic oversight in enhancing his client’s IT risk and security capabilities. Kevin has experience managing cybersecurity engagements across the industry spectrum, with a focus on cybersecurity and privacy, regulatory compliance including PCI DSS, and IT general computing and operational controls including those related to Sarbanes Oxley (SOX). He has also worked with a broad variety of large and small companies to develop data analysis tools, including the design and development of database solutions that streamline data collection and reporting.

Prior to joining CitrinCooperman, Kevin spent a decade leading the information technology team at a local telecommunication company, using his innovative leadership style to help the company achieve exponential growth.

Elizabeth (“Liz”) Tanner was appointed Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce in June 2022, under Governor Daniel McKee. In that role, she administers the Executive Office of Commerce, the state agency charged with promoting commerce and fostering an economic environment in which Rhode Island’s businesses can grow and prosper.

Secretary Tanner oversees multiple state departments and quasi-governmental agencies. Among those, the Department of Business Regulation, of which she was Director prior to her appointment as Secretary, and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, a quasi-state agency which collaborates with public, private and nonprofit partners to offer consulting and funding assistance to businesses.

Known as a problem-solver with a passion for making it easier to do business in Rhode Island, Liz is a fierce advocate for governmental efficiency.

A graduate of the University of Rhode Island and Western New England University Law School, Liz has also received training from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Closing Keynote: “RI Gateway to Global Expansion”

Billy is an experienced aerospace business leader and market strategist with a background in flight physics. After his MIT graduate work on advanced aircraft design, and stints at Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, Billy joined Aurora Flight Sciences, the Boeing subsidiary focused on rapid prototyping. There, Billy led the flight physics team for the Boeing PAV electric air taxi before transitioning to program management and business development. Billy brings his experience leading strategy and execution across future mobility verticals including test flight, future product design, and component development to REGENT as its CEO.