Leadership

Leadership
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Frank Ravndal

Frank Ravndal

Chief Executive Officer
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Frank Ravndal

Frank Ravndal

Chief Executive Officer

Biography:

As Chief Executive Officer, Frank drives HAVI’s strategic focus on growth, supports customer relationships and oversees key talent decisions to ensure optimal performance of HAVI’s three business units: Supply Chain, tms and PMI. Frank joined HAVI in April 2019 as President, The HAVI Group.

Prior to joining HAVI, Frank served for six years as President and CEO of Keystone Foods, a $2.7 billion global food services company that supplies the world’s best food service, retail and convenience brands with high-quality, fresh and frozen products including poultry, beef, fish and pork. Keystone Foods is a strategic global supplier to McDonald’s and employs more than 11,000 employees globally. The company was acquired by Tyson Foods at the end of 2018.

Before joining Keystone Foods, Frank worked for more than 16 years in senior positions at Cargill, Inc. spanning the Financial Markets, Grain Merchandising & Trading, and Energy sectors. Prior to Cargill, he was a partner at a financial advisory firm based in Caracas, Venezuela specializing in mergers and acquisitions transactions. He began his career at the Bank of Boston and spent eight years in different roles in the International area, most of which focused on emerging markets with an emphasis on Latin America.

Frank holds a Bachelor’s degree from Hobart College and Master's degree in Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University. He has lived in Peru, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S.

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Russ Smyth

Russ Smyth

Chairman and General Partner
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Russ Smyth

Russ Smyth

Chairman and General Partner

Biography:

As Chairman and General Partner, Russ is involved in key strategy, investment and talent decisions, as well as key customer relationships. He joined HAVI as Chief Executive Officer in 2010, then in 2014, he and five members of senior management purchased the business from founder Theodore F. Perlman and the Perlman family. After serving as CEO for nine years, he decided to step back from the day-to-day management of the business, effective January 1, 2020.

Prior to joining HAVI, Russ was President and CEO of H&R Block, one of the world’s largest tax services provider. In this role, he was responsible for H&R Block’s tax preparation business, as well as the H&R Block Bank and RSM McGladrey, a leading professional services firm providing tax and consulting services.

Prior to this, Russ spent more than 20 years at McDonalds Corporation, gaining extensive worldwide management experience in Latin America, Asia, the US and Europe. He last served as President of McDonald’s Europe, McDonald’s Corporation’s second largest area of the world. In this role, he was responsible for 6,200 restaurants in 51 countries, representing $6.7B in total revenues.

Russ earned a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Northern Illinois University. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees for Lewis University in Romeoville, IL and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL.

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Neil Humphrey

Neil Humphrey

President, Supply Chain Business Unit, HAVI
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Neil Humphrey

Neil Humphrey

President, Supply Chain Business Unit, HAVI

Biography:

As President of HAVI’s Supply Chain business unit, Neil provides strategic direction and oversight of HAVI’s global supply chain services, including supply chain management, analytics and logistics. These services are provided by more than 8,000 employees in approximately 50 countries globally. Neil joined HAVI in August 2017 and assumed the role of President, Logistics in January 2018.

Neil comes to HAVI from Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of food, home care, personal care and refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. In his more than 30-year career with Unilever, Neil served in a variety of sales and supply chain operations and leadership roles, most recently as EVP Supply Chain Europe and Chairman, Unilever Supply Chain Company, where he had executive responsibility for the total supply chain for all Unilever businesses in Europe.

During his five years in this role, Neil led an end-to-end team responsible for the manufacturing, planning, logistics and customer service delivery for a 13-billion-euro European business. He established a new direction and vision, creating a truly business-driven supply chain, and drove significant innovation within the supply chain, such as the implementation of an operational “control tower” approach globally. Improvements made under his leadership played a key role in Unilever being named Gartner’s number one supply chain in the world in 2016.

Born in the U.K., Neil holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southampton.

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Mark Landolt

Mark Landolt

President, tms
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Mark Landolt

Mark Landolt

President, tms

Biography:

Mark Landolt provides strategic direction and oversight to tms, a HAVI affiliated company that provides customer engagement and marketing services across the globe. Mark has served in this capacity since January 2008.

Prior to joining tms, he was President of Creata – McDonald’s, where he was responsible for overseeing the global McDonald’s strategy, promotional activities and business. From 2002 to 2005, Mark was President of IDM Matrix, a venture capital funded company engaged in intellectual property design and development. In this capacity, he had a team of marketers, engineers, and manufacturing experts in the U.S. and Asia focused on bringing a variety of diverse intellectual properties to market.

From 1988 to 2002, Mark worked at Simon Marketing in Los Angeles, California and Chicago, Illinois where he held various leadership roles. Over the course of his career at Simon Marketing, Mark was an essential part of the company’s explosive growth and development, building revenues from $100 million to $750 million. During this time, he was responsible for developing many precedent-setting campaigns that impacted the entire industry, including McDonald’s Monopoly Game promotion and the evolution of McDonald’s Happy Meal programs.

Mark received his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration from Western Illinois University. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago.

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Jill Ahren

Jill Ahern

Chief Transformation Officer
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Jill Ahren

Jill Ahern

Chief Transformation Officer

Biography:

As the Chief Transformation Officer and head of Corporate Strategy, Jill steers strategic processes and practices across HAVI’s global business units and leads key strategic cross-business initiatives. She brings to the role nearly 25 years of experience directing collaborative business initiatives including business development teams, corporate events, product launches, and joint ventures.

Since joining HAVI in 2012, Jill has held leadership roles in both the Packaging and Advanced Analytics & Consulting businesses in the areas of market and consumer insight, innovation, and strategy. Prior to HAVI, she was a Principal of Promentum, a business strategy and implementation consulting firm, and Strategic Development Officer at VerticalXchange, where she launched and led numerous successful business-to-business trade ventures in diverse industries including food and beverage, cosmetics, discrete manufacturing and consumer packaging.

Throughout her career, Jill has served a diverse client list including more than one hundred Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, publishing companies and entrepreneurs, which has honed her passion for creating cultures of innovation and inclusivity.

She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management.

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Howard Katz

Howard Katz

Chief Corporate Development Officer
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Howard Katz

Howard Katz

Chief Corporate Development Officer

Biography:

Howard Katz develops and supports growth efforts across HAVI, including driving the annual strategic planning process and facilitating increased collaboration across the business. Prior to this, Howard served for four years as Chief Operating Officer of The Marketing Store, where he oversaw the strategic development and execution of the company’s business interests across the globe.

Before joining The Marketing Store, Howard was one of the founders and President of Finansure Student Loans, a full-service U.S. based Student Finance Company. In his five years at Finansure, Howard developed the company from a four-person start-up to a multifaceted 300-person national organization serving more than 30,000 borrowers a year and financing over $1 billion in student loan assets.

Prior to Finansure, Howard was one of the founders and the Chief Operating Officer of RollingStone.com, one of the world’s largest online music-based media companies. Under the RollingStone brand and in partnership with Wenner Media, RollngStone.com became a content provider for the majority of the internet’s largest companies including Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft and others. Prior to RollingStone.com, Howard helped develop a medical technology company specializing in neurological services.

Howard earned his Bachelor’s degree in English from The University of Michigan and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Northwestern University.

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Dan Musachia

Dan Musachia

Chief Financial Officer
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Dan Musachia

Dan Musachia

Chief Financial Officer

Biography:

Dan Musachia oversees all aspects of financial governance, internal controls and resource allocation for HAVI and its three business units. Prior to becoming CFO in January 2016, Dan served as President of HAVI Global Solutions, one of the HAVI companies combined under the single brand HAVI in 2016.

Dan started his career with HAVI in 1989, progressing from Finance Manager to Controller and Director of Finance for The HAVI Group, LP. He joined Perseco in June of 1995 as Chief Financial Officer, then in June 2004, was promoted to President of Perseco Americas, responsible for operations in the United States, Canada and Latin America, as well as Perseco’s global financial and human resource functions. In July 2005, Dan was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of HAVI Global Solutions. Two years later, his responsibilities were expanded to include all of HAVI Global Solutions’ businesses globally.

Dan received his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Northern Illinois University,  and a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago and is a Certified Public Accountant.

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Terence Reilly

Terence Reilly

President, Stanley
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Terence Reilly

Terence Reilly

President, Stanley

Biography:

As President of Stanley, Terence is responsible for the $500 million global consumer products business within HAVI. He brings three decades of varied experience building brands, businesses, and people.  

Since joining Stanley in 2020, Terence has led the transformative growth of the Stanley business as it makes progress towards its goal of becoming a leading lifestyle brand.  Prior to HAVI, he was Chief Marketing Officer of Crocs, the leading global footwear brand and was instrumental in the re-positioning of the brand.   

Throughout his career, Terence has worked for leading companies like American Express, Prudential and Famous Footwear which has allowed him a broad range of experiences from financial services to consumer products to retail and consumer goods. 

He holds a B.A. in Journalism from Rider University.

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Allison Radecki

Allison Radecki

Chief Information Officer
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Allison Radecki

Allison Radecki

Chief Information Officer

Biography:

As Chief Information Officer, Allison is responsible for the information and digital technology functions globally, including strategic planning, product delivery, operations, security, controls and compliance. She is charged with leading the team to be a competitive asset for the company by focusing resources and prioritizing initiatives that deliver the greatest opportunities for revenue growth and improved business performance.

Prior to joining HAVI, Allison served has Chief Information Officer for Beam Suntory Inc., a world leader in premium spirits, Senior Director of Information Systems for Mondelēz International and spent 10 years at GS1 US as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

Allison began her career in management consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers where she spent ten years specializing in supply chain management process re-engineering and information systems implementation for the consumer products industry. 

Allison received her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.  She lives in Chicago and enjoys running, cooking, spending time with her husband, Steve, their three daughters and their Golden Retriever, Hazel.

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Renee Sotos

Renee Sotos

General Counsel
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Renee Sotos

Renee Sotos

General Counsel

Biography:

Renee Sotos serves as HAVI’s General Counsel, responsible for all corporate legal activities. She works closely with the business unit legal teams as well as supporting the corporate functions and leadership teams.

Prior to joining HAVI, Renee was with Molson Coors Beverage Company, where, for nearly 10 years, she was legal partner to numerous divisions across the commercial organization, ranging from brand marketing to sales and regulatory.

Before going in-house, Renee practiced litigation at the law firm of Winston and Strawn after completing a federal judicial clerkship at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Renee holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from Loyola University Chicago, and a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  

Our Founder: Theodore F. Perlman

Theodore F. Perlman founded HAVI in 1974 and owned and operated the business for 40 years. During that time, he architected HAVI's growth in terms of scope of service and geography and defined the core of who we still are today, including our deep customer focus and our passion for going the extra mile and always “delivering the promise,” one of Mr. Perlman’s favorite sayings.

Throughout his long career, Mr. Perlman has received many honors, including the “Press On” Award by McDonald’s Corporation, given to business leaders exemplifying Ray Kroc’s philosophies; the “Silver Fox” Award by McDonald’s Corporation recognizing outstanding contributions to the McDonald’s System, and the Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago in 2017 for distinguished leadership and achievement in advancing the cause of human welfare.

His philanthropic career includes serving on the Board of Trustees for Ronald McDonald’s House Charities; Board of Directors of the Jewish United Fund and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago; Vice-Chairman of B’nai B’rith Beber Camp; Board Member of BBYO, Inc., and President of The Perlman Family Foundation. 

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Ted Perlman portrait photo
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Founder Ted Perlman with Ronald McDonald
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Founder Ted Perlman with his wife Harriette