Steering Our Efforts

Robert O. Martichenko has been a member of ALAN’s board of directors since 2019. He is also CEO of LeanCor Supply Chain Group, a 3PL he founded to improve businesses’ operational excellence and grasp of Lean principles in 2005. A longtime industry thought leader, he is the award-winning author of five business books (including his most recent, Discovering Hidden Profit), two children’s books and one novel. He is also a popular speaker and active participant/volunteer on multiple advisory boards and at various educational institutions. Throughout his 25-year-career, Robert has received numerous prominent industry awards, most notably the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ Distinguished Service Award. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, an MBA in finance, and a Six Sigma Black Belt. A native of Timmins, Ontario, Canada, he and his family have lived in the United States for two decades.

Richard Sharpe is ALAN’s vice president of people, process and technology as well as one of it founding members.  A longtime logistics professional, writer, speaker and thought leader, he is also CEO of Competitive Insights LLC, which he formed in 1998, and serves as a lecturer at Georgia Tech. In addition, he served as president of CAPS Logistics Inc. Over the past 25 years, he has been a frequent speaker at national gatherings and industry-related forums, where he actively promotes the collaborative power of integrated supply chain, sales, finance and marketing created strategies. He has authored numerous national articles and currently writes a blog on analytics and Big Data for DC Velocity, which designated him as one of its official “Rainmakers” in 2004. His other honors include being inducted into Georgia Tech’s Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni as part of the Engineering Hall of Fame and being named one of the school’s Distinguished Engineering Alumni. Richard received his master’s degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology while doing graduate work for the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Fleet. He earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Florida. He is also an active volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, where he has served as a den leader for more than a decade.

Mark Richards is ALAN’s Board Chair Emeritus as well as one its co-founders. As such, he plays a pivotal role in ALAN’s strategy, fundraising, and governance, while also serving as president of Associated Warehouses, a consortium of more than 50 logistics service providers that he has worked with for more than 30 years. A longtime logistics expert, he has also held key leadership positions with Nabisco, where he served as regional director of distribution and customer service for the Food Service Division, and Gillette, where he was national distribution manager for the company’s Oral-B division. In addition he has worked with two public warehousing companies in various operational and administrative capacities. Throughout his career, Mark has been actively involved with numerous industry organizations, including the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), WERC (the Warehouse Education And Research Council) and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). He is a former president of both WERC’s and CSCMP’s Southern California chapters and also was chairman of CSCMP’s board of directors in 2005-2006. It was while serving as the latter that he played an instrumental role in establishing ALAN, which he has actively supported in some capacity ever since. His six-step process on selecting a third-party logistics provider and creating win/win relationships has been featured in various national publications and presented at numerous professional organizations’ national and international conferences. And he is a frequent speaker at industry events. Mark received his bachelor’s degree in business from Graceland University in Lamoni, IA and his MBA from Miami University in Oxford, OH. He makes his home in Orange, CA with his wife of 45 years, Beth.

Mark Cabrera has been a member of ALAN’s board of directors since 2019, the same year he was named CEO of Saddle Creek Logistics Services, an omnichannel supply chain solutions company headquartered in Lakeland, Fla. Mark, who joined Saddle Creek in 2001, also has served as chief operating officer (COO) and chief financial officer (CFO) for the company. Prior to that, he spent 15 years in financial roles in a variety of industries for companies including Arthur Andersen LLP, GTE, National Insurance Services and Reeves Steel, Inc. He holds a degree from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., and is a graduate of Leadership Lakeland Class XX. He is a member of the International Warehouse Logistics Association Insurance Company (IWLAIC) executive committee and serves on the Lakeland Economic Development Council’s High Skill Investors Group.

Mike is a native of Cincinnati, OH. He studied at Miami University under the late Tom Speh. He began his 40+ career in Supply Chain Management working for Ken Ackerman at DCI (which was the foundation of DHL Supply Chain). Mike has held a series of progressive leadership positions with GATX Logistics, APL Logistics, DHL Supply Chain. Most recently, Mike was CEO of Kane Logistics. Mike retired and he is currently working in an Advisory Capacity in the 3PL, Commercial Real Estate and Venture Capital Industries. He is a Founding Board Member of ALAN and he is a Board Member of Miami University’s Center for Supply Chain Excellence. Mike has been married for 38 years. He and his wife, Cynthia, have 3 daughters and 7 grandchildren. He is a marathoner and long distance cyclist with no time for golf.

Brent Hutto has been a member of ALAN’s board of directors since 2019. He is also chief relationship officer with Truckstop.com, North America’s largest vendor-neutral freight matching company. As a transportation and logistics professional with more than 20 years of leadership in sales and marketing, his expertise includes brand consulting with Fortune 500 companies with specific experience in product development, distribution channel management, marketing communications, and research. He has been happily married to his wife Teresa for 19 years, and they have six children.

Global Logistics Consultant Stacey Kobayashi joined ALAN’s board of directors in September 2020. A 30-year supply chain professional, he has held key global supply chain leadership positions with a number of notable retail, food and beverage, and apparel companies, including Ace Hardware, Starbucks, Quiznos and Titleist Golf. Most recently he spent nearly a decade serving as Nike’s director of international transportation. Stacey is a graduate of the University of Washington and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Mary is the CEO of Abgility, on a mission to create more able and agile supply chains. She is a board advisor to ALAN, the American Logistics Aid Network, and a Lecturer at the University of Tennessee. Her food industry expertise comes from executive SC leadership roles at Domino’s and Campbell’s Soup, with early career roles at General Mills, Pillsbury, and Quaker Oats/Gatorade. Mary is passionate about developing supply chain talent and applying insights to accelerate public-private humanitarian partnerships and supply chain strategy. All these areas involve developing great supply chain talent and bring tremendous insights to accelerating public private humanitarian supply chain partnerships. Mary serves on the advisory board for AWESOMEleaders.org, and Hassett Logistics and was a previous Chair of the Board of Directors for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). She is on the editorial board for Supply Chain Quarterly and the Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics, and Procurement; and has co-authored two white papers.

Penelope Menzies is ALAN’s Membership Chair. As such she spends much of her time tirelessly working on behalf of the organization her late husband, Jock Menzies, founded and led – and carrying on his legacy of brilliance, kindness, humor and “can do” attitude. The daughter of a British civil engineer, she was born in North Borneo (then a British Colony) and raised there until the age of nine, when she left home to attend boarding school in Hampshire, England. Several years later she moved to the United States to rejoin her parents and complete her final year of high school. In between, she spent many school holidays traveling to the various countries where her parents were stationed, including Brunei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Turkey. Penelope attended the University of Colorado and received her bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism from the University of Maryland. She also attended the Johns Hopkins University, where she pursued international studies. Following graduation, she worked with the National Geographic Society and the Maryland Sister States Program before joining the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI), a new international trade initiative created by Maryland’s governor. Five years later, she became that organization’s executive director and two years after that, she was the elected to its board of directors. Both roles involved extensive international travel and interaction with leaders from many countries. Penelope married Jock Menzies in 1995, happily combining two families that now include two sons, two daughters, and five grandchildren. In 2005, she also became part of an additional family when Jock founded ALAN, and she became an active volunteer. Although Jock sadly passed away following an accident in 2013, Penelope has continued to remain an active part of the compassionate organization he helped create. When not working on an ALAN project, her pastimes include traveling, gardening, nature, orchids, pets, exercise, her children and grandchildren, though not necessarily in that order.

Tim Osmulski has been a member of ALAN’s board of directors since 2019. He is also the director of the supply chain & logistics segment at The Raymond Corporation, a company he has worked with since 2010. Responsible for conducting research and analysis for the 3PL and warehouse/distribution industries, his role includes participating in numerous industry events and being actively involved in various professional organizations such as the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, the International Warehouse Logistics Association, and the Warehouse Education and Research Council. He has been an IWLA-Certified Warehouse Logistics Professional (CWLP) since 2018 and holds two bachelor’s degrees from St. Joseph’s College (one in business management, the other in economics) as well as a master’s degree in business administration from Lewis University.

Natalie Putnam has been serving on ALAN’s board of directors since 2019, bringing more than 40 years of logistics experience in trucking, warehousing, and rail logistics in operations, marketing, and sales. She is currently Chief Revenue Officer at Openforce, where she is charged with accelerating the company’s growth through new customer acquisition. As a results-oriented executive, Natalie is acutely tuned in to the market and is instrumental in developing and communicating growth strategies with Openforce’s executive leadership team. Natalie understands the challenges of operating a trucking fleet in the logistics industry and specifically as an independent contractor in the final mile environment. Her marketing experience and leadership of large sales teams create the unique combination of skills best suited to address the rapidly growing logistics contracting market. Prior to joining Openforce, Natalie was most recently the CEO of DeliveryCircle, a technology company and final mile provider. She also served as VP of Marketing Strategy at Ryder, VP of Sales & Marketing at KC Southern Railroad, Chief Commercial Officer at Verst Logistics, and SVP of Sales at YRC Freight. Natalie has a Bachelor of Science in business from Central Michigan University, as well as additional, advanced education in business marketing strategy from Kellogg School of Business. In addition to volunteering with ALAN, she serves on the advisory board for AWESOME, a women’s logistics and supply chain leadership organization.

Elijah Ray has been a member of ALAN’s board of directors since 2019. He is also executive vice president of customer solutions for Sunland Solutions Inc., where he has been actively working to grow the company from a regional 3PL to a national provider since 2013. A longtime industry professional with more than 30 years of experience, he has held logistics and supply chain leadership positions with numerous companies such as Bausch & Lomb Distribution, Walmart, and Standard Corporation/UTi. In addition, he has developed a Relationship Management process that has made him one of that practice’s foremost thought leaders. In 2003, he served as president of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, and in 2016 he was named an Industry Thought Leader by Global Trade. He also has earned a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and received ASQ Certified Quality Manager training.

Roger W. Woody has recently joined ALAN’s board of directors – and retired from the University of Kansas, where he served as executive lecturer and director of the School of Business’s Supply Chain Management Center. He is also the founding partner of NaviChain Consultants, LLC and the current chair of the Trade Data Exchange Board of Directors in Kansas City. A 30-plus year logistics and supply chain management veteran, his distinguished career includes serving as a supply chain strategist for EMBARQ Logistics and holding several management and executive positions with Hallmark Cards, Yellow/Roadway Corporation, Delfour and Sprint. In addition, he has taught supply chain management at the U.S. Army’s Command & General Staff and served as founding president of the CSCMP Kansas City-Heartland Roundtable. He has been an active member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals since the mid-1980s and serves as a board member for many Kansas City organizations. Married for 45 years, he received his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and his master’s of business administration from Keller Graduate School of Management.