Free EVENT but registration needed

World Trade Day 2024

With trade there are always "buzzwords", and SUSTAINABILITY is definitely one we are hearing more often. But what does it mean, and how does it impact Global Trade and Supply Chains? The International Steering Committee wants to help answer these questions and more!

This is a great opportunity to meet international trade resource providers in the region and receive help and resources. 

Join us:

Wednesday May 15th

3:00-5:00 PM

Light refreshments and beverages included

Black and Veatch 

Auditorium and Co-Lab

11404 Lamar Ave

Overland Park, KS 66221

With Panelists:

Christina Chai (Replacing Deepa Poduval) is Vice President for Black Veatch’s Global Supply Chain for BV Operations. She currently resides and operates from Singapore.  Christina is responsible for BV’s global Supply Chain organization and its processes including sourcing, purchasing, expediting, transportation/ logistics, business diversity, invoice management, and warranty administration. She actively supports BV’s DE&I and Sustainability teams and engages in community activities through BV’s ERG programs. She has participated in Christmas in October (Kansas City) for the past two years.   Prior to joining Black & Veatch in 2020, Christina held international assignments as VP of Procurement for Pacific Oil & Gas in Singapore, Manager of Procurement for Bechtel in Shanghai, as well as a number of US and international project assignments, including a Six Sigma Black Belt.  Her 31-year career has encompassed roles across all EPC supply chain functions, both within the US and Asia.

Nathan Berg is Co-Owner of Berg Reinvigorations, a regional sawmill that sells responsibly harvested hardwood and softwood timber from private, public, state and federal forest lands across the Southern Midwest. He started the company in 2017 with his wife, Jamie Berg. After working within the energy industry for approximately 10 years, he left and began Berg Reinvigorations. Over the past 7 years, the company has grown to offer a wide array of highly specialized products within the lumber industry while still remaining true to its personal and relationship-driven focus. 

Richard Rocha is a Principal Environmental Engineer at Bayer CropScience’s chemical plant located in Kansas City, Missouri.  He has over 30 years of experience managing environmental regulatory compliance activities at chemical plants and in the investigation and remediation of contaminated properties.  His main areas of responsibility include assuring chemical plants’ compliance with various regulatory authorities. He also serves as an internal company resource providing subject matter expert technical assistance on environmental topics to other Bayer facilities located throughout North America.

Additional Speaker:

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.

Jason Haney is a senior member of the Corporate Innovation Group at Black & Veatch, an employee-owned Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC), and consulting company with a 100-year legacy of innovations in sustainable infrastructure.  He has been with Black & Veatch for over 12 years and is based in the Kansas City area.

Jason is the Director of the Black & Veatch IgniteX Accelerator Program.  IgniteX is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) Prize-recognized program where Black & Veatch partners with start-up companies to help them scale solutions for critical human infrastructure.

As part of the Innovation Group, Jason helps drive smart, rapid, profitable growth; discover opportunities; and challenge convention.  He co-founded and co-lead an internal corporate innovation team to develop, test, and de-risk new solutions and business models to solve the housing crisis in an affordable, sustainable, and resilient manner.

Prior to joining the Innovation Group, Jason was a senior performance consultant where he assessed business challenges and risks and developed and implemented performance improvement initiatives to improve business objectives.

Before Black & Veatch, Jason was in public service at a State Government agency in Kansas as the Director of Performance Improvement, responsible for operations and performance improvement initiatives.

Jason started his professional career as an officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander. 

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