Kitty Dowgert is a Senior Manager, Specification Program at Taylor Farms, a fresh salads and prepared foods company.  Her diverse career path from Technical Sales in Agriculture to restaurant ownership, to Staff Management in an international law firm, has provided her with a unique perspective for streamlining business operations.  With extensive experience in Regulatory Best Practices at Taylor Farms, she is currently deploying a unified specification system and workflow across multiple user groups and manufacturing plants in the US and internationally.   Kitty recognizes the critical importance of accessible specifications across multiple levels of this vertically integrated company. Kitty received her Bachelor’s degree at Villanova University, holds a Master’s Degree in Plant Physiology from Rutgers University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Patrick Van Hull, widely recognized as the Supply Chain Storyteller, helps organizations transform complexity into clarity. Named a multi-time “Top 25 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Supply Chain” and Supply Chain Pro-to-Know, he focuses on the intersection of supply chain digitalization and capability development, showing how the smallest details can unlock resilience and performance across the entire value chain.

Patrick’s career spans more than two decades, beginning with hands-on roles at global leaders including Apple, Dell, Rio Tinto, and CVS Health. As a former advisor with Gartner, Deloitte, and SCM World, he became known for bridging practitioner expertise with executive-level insights to turn data and technology into impactful strategies and programs. Most recently, as a technology strategist with Tungsten Automation, Interos.ai, o9 Solutions, and Kinaxis, he has guided enterprises in harnessing AI-powered intelligence to strengthen resilience and enhance the power of supply chain to shape the human experience.

He holds a BS in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Patrick also lectures on supply chain strategy at the University of Arkansas’ Walton School of Business, continuing his mission to shape the next generation of leaders.

Mike Crowe recently retired after 34 years with Colgate-Palmolive Company, serving as Chief Information Officer for the last 9 years.   In his most recent role, Mike strengthened Colgate’s financial discipline and efficiency model while also forging successful technology partnerships and elevating the Global Information Technology (GIT) software development capabilities to support the Company’s broader strategic growth priorities. 

Prior to joining Colgate, Mike was in the healthcare software industry working for Shared Medical Systems followed by Seton Hall University in support of the Health Corporation, Archdiocese of Newark.  Mike received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Delaware, where he and his wife, Ellen also created the Crowe Family Scholarship..

Mike is also currently Co-Chair of the Digital Supply Chain Institute within the Center for Global Enterprise, is on the Board of Advisors for Cyberstarts and has co-founded Team Steve: The Steven Crowe Legacy Fund at Curesearch for Children’s Cancer along with Ellen and their children, Matt, Patch and Becky.

Mike Boese is the CEO of Specright. He is a seasoned software executive with over two decades of executive leadership working with SMB and Enterprise customers at industry-leading companies like Taleo, SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle as well as scaling B2B SaaS startups. Most recently, Boese was CEO of Hearsay, a company specializing in digital client engagement for financial services firms. As CEO of Hearsay Corporation, he drove substantial new growth, significantly improved customer and employee satisfaction, and expanded the company’s headcount by 50%. He also oversaw the implementation of operational best practices and robust product innovations—including AI/ML capabilities—which culminated in a successful merger with Yext (NYSE: YEXT).

Prior to Hearsay, Boese served as CEO of Certent Corporation, transforming it from a niche SaaS equity management provider into a multi-pillar, international fintech solutions leader. 

He holds an MBA from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington.

Matthew Wright is the founder & executive chairman of Specright, the first cloud-based platform for Specification Management. Specright has been recognized by Fast Company’s prestigious Most Innovative Companies list, named a Gartner Cool Vendor, and as one of the Top Places to Work by the OC Register and Built in LA. Wright is also a published author and his book, “The Evolution of Products and Packaging,”was named to the Amazon Hot New Release List for Industrial Relations Business and has a five star rating. 

Prior to founding Specright, Wright spent more than 25 years in the packaging industry, holding leadership positions at International Paper, Temple Inland, and rightPAQ — a packaging company he co-founded. He has also been involved in leading multiple M&A deals in the packaging industry, currently sits on the MSU School of Packaging and Industry Advisory Board and previously served on the Packaging Advisory Board at Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo.

Ayman is Chief Technology Officer at Specright, where he leads the product and engineering teams. Before Specright, Shoukry was part of the eCommerce platform team at Amazon. Before Amazon, he was CTO at HireRight, a world leader in background screening, where he was part of the executive team that drove the company’s successful exit. He began his career in the Microsoft Developer Division, where he spent over 15 years in various leadership positions. He holds a master’s degree in software engineering from the University of Newcastle in Australia and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the American University in Cairo.

Laura is the Chief Customer Officer at Specright, where she leads teams across professional services, customer success, and support to ensure customers thrive. 

She also co-hosts the “Beyond Packaging Podcast,” with Matthew Wright, where they discuss industry trends, interview leading innovators, and discuss the history of different types of packaging.

Prior to Specright, she led advertising and analytics at GE Digital, GE’s Industrial Internet software business. Before that, she was a consultant at Deloitte Digital working in enterprise digital transformation. Laura was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for marketing and advertising and Brand Innovators 40 Under 40 and 100 Women to Watch lists. She graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. 

I’ve been in this industry for 2 and ½ decades! And have been focused on sustainable packaging and helping companies be more sustainable with their packaging. Working in a Weyerhaeuser corrugated production facility to pay my way through college helped me understand how corrugated is made and how it can be more efficient and sustainable. I’m married to an amazing supportive wife and we are so happy to have two wonderful kids. As the host of Sustainable Packaging Podcast I’ve learned so much about new sustainable products that are coming out to the market soon and I’ve seen how urgent this issue of change is for our environment. Join us in this movement towards sustainable packaging. 

Sustainable Packaging Podcast (Apple)

Sustainable Packaging Podcast (Spotify)

Krystal Hendricks Swensen is an accomplished Sales & Marketing Operations leader with over 15 years of experience optimizing business processes, technology, and cross-functional collaboration. At Gadge USA, she drives revenue operations strategy and Salesforce/Specright enablement to empower teams, strengthen data integrity, and enhance the customer experience.

Krystal played a pivotal role in bringing Gadge USA into the Specright ecosystem, serving as part of the core implementation team that transformed how product data, specifications, and packaging workflows are managed. She continues to lead ongoing enhancements, governance structure, and training that ensure the platform evolves with the business.

Passionate about scalable solutions and creative problem-solving, Krystal is recognized for transforming operational workflows into engines for growth, accountability, and smarter decision-making.

John Blake is a Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner Supply Chain Practice where he is the subject matter expert for packaging development and associated development tools.  In his analyst role, he provides research and actionable advice to global supply chain leaders promoting best practices and driving solutions to today’s most pressing challenges.  Prior to joining Gartner in 2018, John spent over 25 years in packaging development roles.  John is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science in Packaging Science, Sacred Heart University, MBA.  In addition to his role at Gartner, John serves as an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers School of Packaging Engineering, and serves on the Rutgers Packaging Engineering Advisory Board.

Ryan spent 10 years in packaging sales before jumping into industry reporting in 2020 with Bloomberg’s Green Markets. In 2022, he joined Bloomberg Intelligence as its corrugated-market analyst while remaining managing editor of the Green Markets Box Report. The monthly publication draws on insights from hundreds of packaging professionals to offer a unique forward-looking synopsis of box producers’ sentiment surrounding box demand. Ryan’s content can be found on the Bloomberg Terminal and in the Green Markets Box Report. 

Those interested in packaging trends may be familiar with some of Ryan’s work around corrugated recycling rates, which was highlighted in trade publications like Recycling Today, Resource Recycling and Packaging Dive. Following his presentation of recycling data, the American Forest & Paper Association revised its methodology, lowering the reported recycling rate from 93% to the low-70% range. 

In 2024, Ryan introduced Bloomberg’s Corrugated Box Cost Index, which aims to provide buyers with a more transparent approach to assessing the relationship between input costs and changes in box prices.  

Bio to come

Director, Packaging Services & Client Success | Founder