Retail Law Conference 2026

Simeon Gutman is a Managing Director who covers the Hardlines, Broadlines and Food Retail industries. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2014 and has 24 years of US Retail industry research experience. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Simeon covered Retail Hardlines at Credit Suisse and prior to that he covered retail stocks at Goldman Sachs. Simeon has been ranked as a top analyst in the Extel All-America Research Polls since 2018 in the Hardlines, Broadlines, and Food Retail categories. Simeon holds a BA in Economics from Brandeis University, an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business, and is a CFA charterholder

Corey Bouyea has served as L.L.Bean’s Vice President of Stores since January 2022, bringing decades of field experience and store operations leadership to the role. Corey began his journey with L.L.Bean in 2002 as part of the retail field organization in locations of increasing complexity and volume ultimately leading L.L.Bean’s Flagship Campus in Freeport for 6 years. In 2015 Corey joined the corporate team and has held roles of increasing responsibility across strategy, store operations and channel leadership helping to shape and accelerate the company’s retail growth strategy. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Maine, School of Business.

As Vice President for Supply Chain, Jess Dankert spearheads RILA's supply chain initiatives and annual LINK Retail Supply Chain Conference and plays a key role in helping inform RILA's policy position in key areas like infrastructure, transportation, labor, and more. She has over 17 years of experience in supply chain strategy and operations, in both the private and public sector including Ford Motor Company, Accenture, and the U.S. Government, and currently serves on the board of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation. Dankert also manages RILA's Supply Chain Leaders Council, Supply Chain Steering Committee, Distribution Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure Commitee, and RTech Supply Chain Advisory Council.

Kirsten Piacentini has served as L.L.Bean’s Chief Supply Chain Officer since June 2023, bringing decades of experience and leadership to the role. Kirsten began her journey with L.L.Bean in 1994 in information technology, and has been instrumental in shaping the company’s supply chain strategy. She earned her undergraduate degree at Smith College, and her Master’s from Loyola University. Kirsten serves as the President of Friends of Casco Bay.

Currently serving as Senior Vice President at LT Apparel in Greensboro, NC, Steve brings over 30 years of retail distribution experience. He has successfully led global brand operations by focusing on 3 key areas for maximum impact: people, performance, and transformation. Upon graduating from the University of Cincinnati, Steve began his career at PepsiCo/Frito Lay before accepting upward transitioning leadership roles at Toys R Us, Gap Inc., Ross Stores, Retail Ventures, and Ralph Lauren. After owning and successfully selling his own heated clothing line, in recent years, Steve has re-shaped supply chains with re-engineering and automation implementations at Supreme New York, Lulus.com, Made by Gather, and the O5 Group. Today, Steve leads LT Apparel thorugh dramatic volume growth for their well-known childrens' clothing brands including Carhartt, adidas, and French Toast.

Diana Mueller is a Senior Account Executive with KPI Solutions (KPI), a leading supply chain consulting, software, systems integration, and automation provider. In this role, Diana partners with clients to understand their distribution objectives and enable value-based strategic initiatives that support growth and build operational resilience. With over 155 years of experience in material handling and automation design, Diana brings particularly deep expertise in developing omnichannel solutions for the retail, apparel, and footwear industries. Diana holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management from Auburn University and resides in Florida.

Ryan is a managing director of Enterprise Performance for Retail & Consumer Products. He is an innovative industry thought-leader with extensive experience in Retail and Wholesale end-to-end enterprise business architecture and capability transformation. He has deep expertise in Merchandising and Supply Chain Integrated Planning transformation. Ryan has helped architect and lead large-scale business and technology capability (people, process, technology, and analytics/automation) transformation programs for many leading Fortune 500 retailers and brands. He has served as a client account leader and helped create and grow multiple consulting practices and offerings. Ryan has a Bachelor of Science from Bradley University in Finance and Masters of Business Administration from The University of Chicago in Finance and Entrepreneurship.

Suman Pattnaik serves as vice president, IT engineering at Dollar General where he leads teams to drive strategic tech initiatives to enhance DG’s merchandising and supply chain operations. He also manages vendor relations, risk assessment, budgeting and aligns strategies with the Company’s broader business goals. Suman joined Dollar General in 2022 as senior director, engineering, merchandising and supply chain where his responsibilities encompassed analyzing and leveraging emerging technology trends and applications to guide strategy at DG. Prior to joining DG, he held roles of increasing responsibility at Walmart, most recently serving as director of engineering, replenishment, forecasting and cloud strategy. Suman holds a bachelor’s degree from Biju Patnaik University of Technology, an MBA from the University of Arkansas and nine patents with multiple filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Craig Jones is chief supply chain officer at On. As a customer-centric supply chain leader dedicated to meaningful transformation, he brings a strategic blend of financial acumen, data-driven insights and digital transformation expertise to build agile, resilient and customer-focused supply chain ecosystems. Jones has a deep understanding of end-to-end supply chain dynamics, having led several large-scale global operations that drive profitability and operational efficiencies. He is passionate about the power of real-time data analytics, AI and predictive modeling for improved forecasting and inventory optimization.

Rodney Leonard is currently Vice President; U.S. Deliver Operations at Kenvue. In this role, Rodney has leadership responsibility for the Customer Service/Order Management, Warehouse Operations, Transportation Operations, and E-Commerce Operations teams. Prior to this role, Rodney served as the Global Head of Deployment & Scaling for customer facing supply chain innovation within Johnson & Johnson where he was responsible for the development and deployment of standardized end-to-end supply chain processes to commercialize customer-facing innovation solutions and other transformative initiatives. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Rodney worked for several large CPGs such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup & Newell Rubbermaid, gaining a wealth of global E2E supply chain experience. Rodney holds a B.B.A. degree in Operations & Engineering Management from Georgia State University and an M.B.A. from Missouri State University. In addition, Rodney is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional, and an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality & Organizational Excellence.