Cathy East is the Vice President of National Replenishment and Planning for the Albertsons Companies supporting the Meat, Seafood, Deli, Food Service, Starbucks and In Store Bakery departments across all Regional Divisions. In her role, Cathy is responsible for oversight and standardization of best practices within decentralized replenishment and planning teams in more than 20 distribution centers across the enterprise. She is a valued member of Supply Chain leadership, responsible for managing inventory, reducing waste, strategizing collaborative purchasing and planning for and meeting retail demand while maintaining the highest food safety and quality standards throughout the distribution network.

She began her career as a Production Supervisor for IBP (now Tyson) and held positions in both operations and quality control where she gained valuable industry experience working on several major initiatives including the development of the first HACCP documentation in a beef production facility as well as standardizing yields for close trim products. She then moved to a similar role within Safeway, Inc. before transitioning to supply chain in 2006 when she was named Group Director of the Meat and Seafood Product Supply Department. Upon the acquisition of Safeway by the Albertsons Companies, she was promoted to her current role of Vice President.

Cathy holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a major in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Missouri – Columbia. Although raised in a big city, she has become a passionate advocate of sustainable animal agriculture and serves as the lead member of Albertsons Companies Animal Well Being Committee. Cathy served as the first female co-chair of the Annual Meat Conference in 2018 and 2019 and is a recent board member addition to the newly formed Women in Meat Industry Network (WIMN). She also serves as the Chairperson of the Retail Advisory Committee for the National Pork Board and is a member of Colorado State’s Ag Next Industry Innovation Group. She has been named to Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery in 2015, 2016 and 2018 and 2020.

Carmen Rottenberg recently departed USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service after thirteen years of service. She held several leadership roles at the Department, including as Acting Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Office of Food Safety from August 2017 through January 2019, and Administrator from May 2018 to March 2020. From April 2016 to August 2017, Carmen served as FSIS Deputy Administrator. Carmen is credited with spearheading and implementing several key agency initiatives in recent years including modernizing food safety inspection systems, implementing Siluriformes inspection, and establishing and updating pathogen performance standards. Through her leadership and oversight, an unprecedented level of collaboration was achieved with federal, state, and municipal agencies, as well as other Stakeholders.

Carmen began her federal career in the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of General Counsel, and has experience working in the public and private sector. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Philosophy from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and a Juris Doctor Degree from American University’s Washington College of Law.

Sarah Little is vice president of communications for the North American Meat Institute following 20 years of traditional and social media relations experience on Capitol Hill. Little served as Communications Director for U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Most recently, Little determined media strategy for debate, negotiation and passage of the bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill, the defeat of mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and the Bioengineered Food Disclosure Act. She has a bachelor’s degree in Public Communication from The American University in Washington, D.C.