Industry Insight Series - Social Impact

Michelle Green

Sr. Manager, Global Confectionery Category and Brand Communications

Mars

Michelle Green is the Senior Manager of Global Corporate Affairs for Mars Wrigley, the world’s largest maker of chocolate, gum and fruity confections, and home of beloved brands like M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, Orbit and Extra. In this role, Michelle is chiefly responsible for building global corporate reputation through media and stakeholder relations, brand marketing communications, local community partnerships, global purpose initiatives and the segment’s contributions to the Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan.

Encompassed in this work is her role as the Communications Director for Global Sustainability, bringing to life the stories of how Mars Wrigley is working to improve the environmental and social footprint of its supply chains, and leading NGO partnerships to monitor and verify progress on the ground in critical sourcing communities. Also, as Global Director for the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Program, Michelle currently manages the business’s largest purpose initiative to improve public health policy and increase access to oral care around the world.  

Prior to Mars, Michelle spent ten years at Edelman Public Relations serving some of the nation’s most prominent consumer-goods companies and US agriculture associations. Her communications career across food marketing, nutrition and sustainability has included goods in every aisle of the grocery store. 

Michelle is a proud Big 10 alum (go Illini!) who lives on the North Side with her family. Her candy gig is supposed to make her the coolest parent ever, but her husband is a famous magician.

Megan Kashner

Clinical Assistant Professor in Kellogg's Public-Private Interface and Director of Social Impact

Kellogg

Megan Kashner is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Kellogg's Public-Private Interface and Director of Social Impact. Kashner came to Kellogg from an extensive career in the impact sector, most recently as the Founder of Benevolent, a philanthropic platform that invites donors to step in and fill gaps in the safety net for low-income families. Kashner is a self-proclaimed "ticked-off social worker" with more than 20 years of strategic management, community partnership building and organizational planning experience across nonprofits, philanthropy, volunteerism and corporate social engagement.

Prior to founding Benevolent, Kashner served as an Executive Director at the Taproot Foundation and in executive and innovation roles in nonprofits and companies across the impact sector. Kashner and Benevolent have been featured at the White House, at national conferences on philanthropy and entrepreneurship, on CNN Headline News, in FastCompany, Mashable, Working Mother, MSNBC, The New Yorker, The New York Times and more.

In her leadership of Kellogg's Social Impact offerings, Kashner focuses on the areas of impact investing, social entrepreneurship, sustainability, nonprofit management, policy, global development, values and ethics. Kashner and the Social Impact team withn KPPI support Kellogg faculty, students and alumni as they lead the way in blending economic, social and environmental factors into management organizations and markets to deliver lasting benefits for society. Kashner and her team host and lead the annual Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge as well as the global Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium. 

Kashner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of Illinois and holds a B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University, an MSW from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Kellogg.

 

Cory Thames

Obama Foundation

As Deputy Director of Community Engagement, Cory L. Thames manages community relations and strategic partnerships for the Obama Foundation. In this role, Cory is responsible for cultivating and managing stakeholder relationships across the city, including community and faith- based organizations, government entities, private companies, and other organizations whose mission-driven lens leads them to actively serve in their communities.

Before joining the Obama Foundation, Cory served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the City Clerk of Chicago, Anna Valencia. In this role, he managed the operations for the Office of the City Clerk which generates more than $130 million in annual revenue for the City.

Prior to this role, Cory served under Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration as Assistant to the Mayor for Government Affairs on the Legislative Council and Government Affairs (LCGA) team where he managed the administration's relationships with the Chicago City Council. Cory has also held leadership roles in several education/youth serving organizations including Mentor Illinois where he served as Associate Director as well as Project Manager for Chicago Public Schools.

In addition, Cory is a strong advocate in his community. As Chairman of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors, he is passionate about ensuring that South Shore's business community has the resources necessary to successfully thrive. In January of 2018, Cory was appointed by then Mayor Rahm Emanuel to the Board of Directors for Metra. Cory also served a term as the elected Community Representative for the O’Keeffe School of Excellence Local School Council in the South Shore community. Lastly, Cory has mentored through both the Chicago Scholars and Year Up Chicago programs and continues to be an advocate for youth.

Cory received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and his Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree from Indiana University.

Cory, 31, is a lifelong Chicagoan and proud resident of the South Shore community.

 

Jay An

Shoppinggives

Jay An is the Senior Director of Strategy & Operations for ShoppingGives®, an industry-disrupting donation technology that enables e-commerce retailers to give back to the cause of their customers' choice. As the first employee and partner, he’s dedicated the past 5 years of his career to building the Giving Economy, where every transaction can have a positive impact. In this role, he helps manage marketing, sales, and product teams ensuring that micro actions have a macro impact.

Before joining ShoppingGives, he founded the CollaboHQ branding agency in Korea that works with innovative startups who are also trying to make a difference in the world. He helped small and medium-sized startups to establish competitive corporate and product branding identities in the booming startup industry.

Jay earned a B.A. in Communication and Media at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

 

Chris Wu

Impact Engine

Vanessa Flores

Sustainability & Property Operations Manager

Ace Hardware Corporation

Vanessa Flores Andersen is an environmental scientist with a background in policy, green buildings, and corporate sustainability. In her new role as the Sustainability and Property Operations Manager for Ace Hardware Corporation, she is responsible for developing and implementing a long-term sustainability strategy across the organization. Key areas within her 2019/2020 plan are: creating an employee-led sustainability council, providing access to environmental education, natural resource conservation throughout the Ace supply chain, renewable energy generation at the distribution centers, and supporting local communities through volunteerism and financial contributions.

Vanessa received her B.S. in Environmental Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.