Speakers

Meet Your Speakers

At this event, interns will learn about ITW’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy, which is a shared commitment throughout the enterprise. With our decentralized and entrepreneurial culture, this strategy is operationalized at the divisional level. ITW’s CSR strategy is built around these four pillars: Our Governance & Ethics, Our People, Our Communities, and Our Environment.
In this session, we will discuss these four pillars, what the CSR strategy means to leadership at ITW, and how our speakers utilize this strategy in their roles.

Carolyn Woznicki

Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing and Environmental, Health & Safety

Carolyn Woznicki joined ITW in 2013 and is currently the Vice President of Global Strategic Sourcing and Environmental, Health & Safety. She leads creation and execution of the strategic sourcing function for ITW enterprise, encompassing over $7B of third party spend across seven diverse business segments. Along with the commitment to eco-efficiency and overall sustainability, ITW works with third-party suppliers to examine utility bills and make recommendations to reduce its overall usage. In the 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility report, Carolyn states, “In addition to helping ITW directly, another opportunity is to share our process and what we learn with key suppliers, and encourage them to adopt their own approaches to reducing their energy and carbon footprint.” With this expertise and passion for Strategic Sourcing, Carolyn plays a vital role in implementing the CSR strategy at ITW.

Carolyn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Administration from General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University) in Flint, Michigan and also holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Jennifer Perr

Global Sustainability Director of Hi-Cone Worldwide

Jennifer Perr is the Global Sustainability Director of Hi-Cone Worldwide, a solutions provider for beverage multipackaging, and a division of ITW. Prior to joining Hi-Cone in January 2020, Jennifer spent nearly 7 years at ITW as the Global Innovation Manager for the Construction segment and Global Marketing Director for the Global Tool Unit. She comes with over 24 years of experience in the engineering and manufacturing industries, having held leadership roles in marketing, innovation, operations, sales and engineering. In her current role, Jennifer is responsible for developing and leading strategies that drive the future sustainability of Hi-Cone. Her team manages the company’s product portfolio to ensure it has positive end-of-life outcomes and upholds Hi-Cone’s commitment to minimal environmental impact.

She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is also a certified Engineer in Training (FE) in Illinois.

Renita Dixon

Senior Sustainability and Product Stewardship Engineer

Renita Dixon currently serves as ITW’s Senior Sustainability and Product Stewardship Engineer, where she supports the ITW businesses globally regarding the implementation, interpretation and tracking of key chemical regulations. In addition, Renita coordinates the development of the Corporate Social Responsibility report, responding to external sustainability, and greenhouse gas related inquiries. Renita has been with ITW for over 23 years. She has worked in multiple business units as a design and project engineer. Her volunteer efforts within the company have included leading ITW C.A.R.E. the Glenview Campus Green Team whose mission is to Create Awareness of Recycling and the Environment. Renita is also a founding member of ITW’s Women in Technology, which was one of the predecessors of the employee resource group, IWN (ITW Women’s Network).

She holds a Master of Business Administration from Illinois Institute of Technology with a concentration in Sustainable Enterprise, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Career Journeys Panel

Kristen Cardoza

ITW Women's Network

Wyatt Burns

Young Professionals Network

Ryan Wise

Pride at ITW

Taylor Atkins

Pride at ITW

Jenai Alexis

African American Network

Jenai Alexis currently serves as the Business Development Manager for ZIP-PACK, one of ITW’s companies. He has been with ITW since 2018 and previously served as a Plant Manager with the Appliance Components Division, where he directed and coordinated all phases of the plant operations. Jenai holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florida International University.
Jenai joined the African American Network (AAN) as a general member when he started with ITW 3 years ago. In 2019-2020 he served as the Co-Chair of the chapter and then transitioned to the Chair position in late 2020. Being part of AAN has given Jenai a sense of community. He has enjoyed the personal and professional development that has come with being a member and a leader of the organization.

Jakeline Jungbluth

Latino/Hispanic Network

80/20 Workshop

Joe Kesseler

Senior Analyst

Joe Kesseler joined ITW in 2017 as a Strategic Sourcing Intern on the Center of Excellence team. At the conclusion of his internship, Joe accepted an offer to return to the sourcing team full-time in the summer of 2018, and is now approaching his three year anniversary with the organization. Joe began in the corporate sourcing department as an eSourcing Analyst and was promoted to a Segment Sourcing Analyst role within the T&M/E segment at the beginning of 2020. In this role, his primary responsibilities are to manage T&M/E’s $220M indirect materials, services and logistics spend with ancillary responsibilities related to financial reporting. Now a Sr. Sourcing Analyst, Joe has been supporting the segment 80/20 director for the last year with a focus on data analytics, inventory management and MRD implementation. Joe holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Finance and Economics from Michigan State University.

In this training session, you will learn how this process differentiates ITW from our competitors and how to apply 80/20 in your day-to-day lives. Joe will also share some tips to get the most out of your time at ITW this summer!

DiSC Workshop

Ellen Kapoor

Director of Talent Management & Leadership Development

Ellen Kapoor is the Director of Talent Management & Leadership Development, and she has been at ITW for 5 years. As part of Corporate Human Resources team, Ellen provides key leadership and support for enterprise talent management and leadership development initiatives, while enhancing the quality, depth and diversity of the leadership pipeline. Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from University of Minnesota.

Ellen also holds an Everything DiSC Workplace Certification. In this workshop, Ellen will walk us through the DiSC assessment, which is a personal assessment tool that helps improve teamwork, communication, and productivity in the workplace. As interns, you will learn how to use your assessment results to develop as employees, and as people, throughout the summer.

Closing Conference

Scott Santi

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

E. Scott Santi is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Mr. Santi joined ITW as an intern and has spent his entire career with the company. He was elected Executive Vice President in 2004 and named Vice Chairman in 2008. He became the Company’s Chief Executive Officer in 2012 and was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2015.
Mr. Santi graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and received a Master’s in Business Administration from the JL Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University.