Andrew S. Harig currently serves as Vice President, Tax, Trade, Sustainability & Policy Development at FMI-The Food Industry Association. In this position, he is responsible for lobbying Congress and the Administration on behalf of FMI members, with a primary focus on agriculture, taxes, trade, sustainability, food waste, and pensions. Prior to joining FMI, Andy was an associate trade advisor and speechwriter for the Senate Finance Committee under its Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT).  From 1999-2001, he was the senior research associate for the Global Economic Policy Project at the New America Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank. Andy holds a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

Dean is a principal in the Finance & Enterprise Performance practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP. He has more than 20 years of experience in Retail, Consumer Products, and Financial Services, drawing on C-level executive and board roles in industry and consulting. Dean has helped build Deloitte’s practice helping CFOs drive margin and productivity improvements using digital core, advanced analytics, and operating model solutions. His experience spans corporate & finance strategy, board restructurings, financial modernization, enterprise performance management, finance business partnering, large-scale system implementations, and digital finance tools including robotics / cognitive automation blockchain.

Chris is a member of Microsoft's Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods enterprise business unit, and as an AI Workforce Technical Director, he and his team are responsible for the technical aspects of Microsoft 365 including Microsoft Teams,  Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agents and Cloud Endpoint technologies. He is passionate about helping customers understand how to leverage Microsoft AI capabilities to drive business transformation and to provide amazing experiences for employees and customers.

In his role at FMI, Markenson oversees the research & insights practice. He leads the discovery process on the latest industry trends and operational insights that champion FMI as a credible voice of the food retail industry. Markenson is a market research executive with 30 years of progressive experience in his field. His diverse experience includes research design, information/data collection and analysis and strategic planning. Markenson was formerly the president of WBA Research, a national market research firm founded in 1987, where he oversaw more than 30 full-time professionals, along with a part-time staff of more than 100 telephone interviewers, field interviewers and support staff. Earlier in his career, Markenson worked at Snyder Communications, where he directed all aspects of more than 90 annual market research studies and presented results to brand management, market research departments, advertising and promotion agencies.

Angie Springer is a Director‑level Specialist at Microsoft, where she helps finance leaders modernize accounting, auditing, and financial operations using ERP and AI‑driven technologies. With over two decades of experience in finance transformation, Angie specializes in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Copilot for Finance, working closely with CFOs, controllers, and audit teams to improve accuracy, efficiency, and business insight through automation and AI.  Angie’s work focuses on applying AI responsibly within core finance processes such as reconciliations, variance analysis, forecasting, and controls—bridging the gap between traditional accounting practices and emerging intelligent systems. She is known for translating complex technology into practical, real‑world outcomes that resonate with finance professionals.  Angie brings a practitioner’s perspective on how AI is reshaping the future of accounting and auditing, and what skills finance professionals need to stay relevant in an increasingly intelligent enterprise.

Ricky Volpe received his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Davis in 2010. He then spent four years working as an economist at the USDA Economic Research Service in Washington DC. There he researched a variety of topics, including food price formation, competitiveness in the food industry, and the healthiness of grocery purchases in the U.S. Ricky was also responsible for forecasting retail food price inflation at the national level. 

Now at Cal Poly, Ricky teaches courses on food retail and supply chain management, transportation and logistics, and data analysis. He also maintains an active research agenda using a variety of large data sets to study issues related to market structure, firm performance, food prices, consumers’ food choices, and health outcomes. He also works closely with industry leaders in food retailing, wholesaling, and distribution to facilitate collaboration on public-private partnerships, student internships, and scholarships. Ricky has also studied at the  University of Massachusetts, Amherst earning a M.S. Resource Economics and a B.S. Mathematics and Economics.