Meet the speakers who will be providing vital information for the Safety Summit March 20, 2025,聽 1:00 pm 鈥� 3:30 pm ET
Chris Ball聽
VP, Environmental, Health & Safety
WM
As WM鈥檚 Vice President for Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S), Chris Ball provides strategic direction for all EH&S programs across the company, while working with business leadership and teams to develop and deliver best-in-class EH&S management programs that drive meaningful impact. Prior to his current role, Chris led WM鈥檚 EH&S legal team, and he has extensive experience in environmental litigation, state and federal environmental and safety regulations, and government affairs. Chris鈥檚 position at WM encompasses risk analysis and mitigation, strategic services at the corporate level including ongoing advancements in the Company鈥檚 environmental and safety compliance programs, as well as a leadership role in WM鈥檚 Government Affairs and Sustainability teams. Before joining WM, Chris worked for 17 years in the U.S. EPA, the New Jersey Attorney General鈥檚 Office, and as a partner at Manko, Gold, Katcher and Fox, LLP in the firm鈥檚 Environmental and Energy practice.聽聽 Chris earned a B.A. from Bowdoin College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Dave Bennett
Public Works Solid Waste Director
City of Scottsdale, AZ
Dave Bennett is the current Public Works Solid Waste Director for the City of Scottsdale. Dave will share the reasons that drove Scottsdale to implement dash cams in their collection vehicles. He will also share how he addressed employee buy-in, and the impacts dash cams have had on their safety program. Dave started his career with the City of Scottsdale in 1994 as a solid waste laborer and worked his way up through the ranks to become Director. Dave currently serves as the Legislative Liaison for the Arizona Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America. He is a past President and in 2020, served as it鈥檚 Safety Ambassador.
David Biderman
President
Biderman Consulting, LLC
David Biderman has been a leader in the waste industry for more than 25 years. He currently helps companies and local governments address safety and sustainability issues, supports their advocacy objectives, and assists technology solutions providers grow their market share within the industry. During his tenure with SWANA as its Executive Director and CEO, he helped it significantly grow its membership, visibility and leadership position concerning solid waste and recycling issues in the U.S., Canada and overseas. He served on the U.S. Department of Commerce鈥檚 Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee (ETTAC) and multiple solid waste task forces in New York City. David joined SWANA in April 2015 after 18 years with the National Waste & Recycling Association, where he was General Counsel, Vice President for Government Affairs, and Safety Director. He has testified before numerous federal, state, and local agencies and councils, and has spoken about waste and recycling issues, policies, and trends at numerous international environmental conferences, including events in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and Europe. He can be reached at [email protected].
Nathan Brainard
Division President
Insurance Office of America
Nathan Brainard joined Insurance Office of America in 2005 and quickly became interested in representing companies with any type of environmental exposure, from manufacturing to Superfund clean-up.聽 He is responsible for establishing the corporation鈥檚 Environmental Division, and his client list has grown to include, but is not limited to:聽 recycling centers, landfills, oil & energy, trans-loading operations, material recovery facilities, asbestos and soil abatement services, demolition contractors, construction, residential and commercial waste collection companies, water treatment facilities, and portable toilet/septic companies. Nathan became the Division President of IOA鈥檚 North Florida region in January 2025. He can be reached at [email protected].
Jessica Cearfoss
Senior Business Development Manager
RouteSmart Technologies
Jessica Cearfoss is a Senior Business Development Manager at RouteSmart Technologies, Inc., where she has dedicated more than 18 years to helping waste and recycling organizations enhance efficiency through intelligent route optimization. With a strong foundation in geographic information systems and data analysis, Jessica works closely with clients to develop tailored solutions that streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve service delivery. Her hands-on approach ensures that clients receive ongoing support throughout the sales cycle and beyond, making her a trusted advisor in the industry. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland.
Mitch Cowart
Senior Sales & Marketing Strategy Consultant
Caterpillar
Mitch Cowart has worked with Caterpillar for 10 years.聽 He is the Senior Sales & Marketing Strategy Consultant for the Safety Technology Team, which is a part of Caterpillar鈥檚 Automation & Autonomy group.聽 Mitch has a Master鈥檚 degree in Positive Organizational Development and a BBA from Baylor University.聽 Mitch works with a team of safety vigilantes who are passionately working to help Caterpillar customers create work zones where people are safe both physically and psychologically, that supplement human factors, mitigate risk and generate data to inform continuous improvement and drive behavior change. His Caterpillar team has decades of experience supporting leaders who aspire to excellence in their safety practice.聽 New Mexico鈥檚 Sandia Mountains are Mitch鈥檚 home where he enjoys backcountry snowboarding and mountain biking.
Christien Ducker
CEO and Founder
SMS360
Christien Ducker is an experienced, multi-faceted sales and marketing professional whose educational start at the London School of Economics was sponsored by the UK Atomic Energy Authority and segued into an internship at Shell Petroleum.聽 Christien made her way聽stateside,聽initially with a role聽sponsored by聽the British Tourist Authority in New York City and then moved into the onsite management of assets for an investment firm, including industrial mining and hotel franchisees.聽 Using her skills and experience across many business segments she invested herself in a leading-edge technology startup at the beginning of the internet boom whereupon she leveraged her e-commerce experience and coupled with a major investment into online media, to lead Marketing for AMFMi, which was later merged into Clear Channel Communications.聽 Christien left corporate America for a consulting opportunity at the request of NatWest Bank to look at聽a potential聽investment in a UK EHS (Environmental Health & Safety) platform,聽which led to ultimately聽opening the North America market for two British companies.聽This experience, together with two close friends and an investor,聽resulted in her starting SMS360 in 2015.聽SMS360 focuses on聽a vertical market approach so that smaller companies can take advantage of EHS software.聽At the end of 2024, SMS360 added the Spanish language (by dialect)聽 platform, free of charge 鈥� on all modules. A self-pronounced “Data Junky”, what started as a business .. has truly become her passion.
Ryan Fogelman
Partner
Fire Rover
Ryan Fogelman, JD/MBA, is a partner at Fire Rover. He is focused on bringing innovative safety solutions to market, and two of his solutions have won the distinguished Edison Innovation Award for Industrial Safety and Consumer Products. He has been compiling and publishing the 鈥淩eported Waste & Recycling Facility Fires in the US/CAN鈥� since February 2016 and the 鈥淲aste & Recycling Facility Fires Annual Report.鈥� Two of Fogelman鈥檚 companies have made it on the聽; most recently, Fire Rover ranked 1,517 in 2024 with a three-year revenue growth of 341%. Fogelman was recently named as one of the 20 most respected and forward thinking people in fire and safety by the Fire & Safety Journal of the Americas. (Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn at聽聽or email at聽[email protected])
Michael Hughes
Director of Safety & Compliance
Casella
Michael Hughes has been a Waste industry leader beginning in 1982 to present time for various companies, Browning Ferris industries, Waste Management, Regulatory Compliance Services, and currently the vice president of safety for Casella waste. Hughes also is very active in the fire service arena for the same period of time and supports his community. He holds the position of Fire Chief for his local town in Vermont, as well as a Fire Commissioner for the city of Portsmouth NH. Hughes has a degree in Fire Protection and safety, and very much enjoys his chosen path.
Clay Layne
Senior Sales Support Consultant, Waste Application
Caterpillar Inc.
Clay Layne has worked for Caterpillar since 2008. He started out at the Peoria Proving Grounds working with the engineering teams on research and development of Caterpillar Equipment. He spent 9 years at Caterpillar鈥檚 Edwards Demonstration and Learning Center conducting operator training classes for Waste Customers in the Landfill and Transfer Stations. He is now the Senior Sales Support Consultant in Waste Applications. He now handles Landfill, Transfer Station and Material Recovery Facility applications. He will conduct site assessments, training in Waste Best Practices, machine right sizing based on production and density goals and safety training. He can be reached at [email protected].
Shawn Mandel
Vice President 鈥� Safety and Risk Management
Waste Connections
Shawn Mandel is the Vice President 鈥� Safety and Risk Management for Waste Connections, Inc. Shawn joined Waste Connections in 2011.聽 He began his career in the waste industry in 1995 with BFI (Browning-Ferris Industries) as an Environmental Health and Safety Manager. Shawn is co-chair emeritus of the National Waste & Recycling Association safety committee, a member of the Solid Waste Association of North America safety committee, a member of the ANSI Z245 committee, a professional member of the American Society of Safety Engineers and previous member of the NIOSH / NORA service sector committee.
Raghav Mecheri
CEO
BinIt
Raghav Mecheri is the CEO and co-founder of Visia, an AI-powered material visibility platform transforming industrial waste processing. Under his leadership, Visia has developed advanced technologies that enable recyclers and waste processors to gain real-time insights into inbound materials, enhancing operational efficiency and safety. Previously, Raghav studied Computer Science at Columbia University.
Megan Quinn
Senior Report
Waste Dive
Megan has been covering recycling and waste issues since 2015. She is currently senior reporter at Waste Dive, where she covers recycling policy, PFAS and safety issues. She previously covered the recycling industry as a senior reporter for Scrap News, where she learned about the industry at scrapyards and steel mills. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Mark Regan
President and CEO
SmarTruck HD
Jerry Sjogren
Senior Director of Safety
ReMA
Jerry Sjogren is the Senior Director of Safety at the Recycled Materials Association ReMA. He has over 34 years of experience in the environmental, health & safety (EHS) and transportation industries. Prior to joining ISRI, Sjogren was the Safety Director at Westborough, Mass.-based E.L. Harvey & Sons where he managed the development and administration of the company鈥檚 safety program and environmental issues, including compliance with all levels of related government regulations. In addition to receiving EHS certifications in Emergency Response & Incident Command, Sjogren has training in employee relations and government compliance subjects. Sjogren has served on local and national professional industry organizations, from the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA) to ANSI Z245 Sub-Committees. He is a member of the Westborough Local Emergency Planning Committee, and former chair of the ISRI Safety & Environmental Council (ISEC).
Paul Zambrotta
Director of Safety
Boro-Wide
Paul Zambrotta is a qualified safety professional with a vast experience in the waste and recycling industry, including driver/helper safety and operations training, MRF transfer and fleet operations, and insurance and claims handling. Starting as a Professional Driver with Mr. T Carting Corp (now Boro-Wide) in 1996, Paul performed pre-trip and post-trip daily inspections, as well as operating rear loader packers, box trucks and roll-offs in the New York City area. Paul then moved to Plant Manager Hi-Tech Resource Recovery & Scholes St Recycling Corp., where he received, processed, and shipped MSW, source separated organics and recycling from the NYC area to final destinations, managed scalehouse operations, negotiated community pricing, and operated and provided training on wheel loaders, forklifts and baling equipment. Paul returned to Mr. T Carting in 2006 as Safety Director, creating, managing, and implementing safety programs. This includes driver and helper recruiting, safety and operations training, fleet and equipment management, accident and injury claims handling, and improving safety culture. He can be reached at [email protected].
