SPEAKERS
Brand Protection Strategy Summit
Marriott at University Place | East Lansing, MI
March 21-23, 2023
Aaron Tucker
Assistant Director, Graduate Advising, School of Packaging, and A-CAPP Affiliated Faculty, MSU
Bio
Aaron Tucker advises undergraduate and graduate students majoring in or exploring the Packaging programs at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging located in East Lansing, Michigan. In 2010, Aaron received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University. In 2016, Aaron completed his Master of Arts degree in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education from the College of Education at Michigan State University. Aaron prides himself on being a first-generation college student who experienced a non-traditional undergraduate experience. In 2011, Aaron began his professional career as an Academic Advisor with the Neighborhood Student Success Collaborative (NSSC) with Michigan State University. During his time with NSSC, Aaron worked with freshmen and sophomore students not admitted to a college, students in academic distress, first generation and Pell Eligible students, students exploring majors, minors, and other programs. Aaron began his journey with the School of Packaging in the summer of 2018. In his time with the School of Packaging, Aaron has established the Packaging Help Room (providing free tutoring for STEM admission coursework), served as the inaugural chair of the School of Packaging’s committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and is a key member of the School of Packaging Scholarship Committee. In 2021, Aaron accepted the role of Assistant Graduate Director of Academic Advising for non-thesis graduate students. In 2022 began his journey leading Packaging students on their summer education abroad trip to the United Kingdom. During this experience, students learn about UK standards of packaging, branding, counterfeit packaging, and materials. In 2022, Aaron joined the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP) as adjunct faculty to support collaboration between A-CAPP and the School of Packaging.
Ahmet Kirca
Director, International Business Center and Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, Broad College of Business, and A-CAPP A-CAPP Affiliated Faculty, MSU
Bio
Ahmet Kirca is director of the International Business Center, co-director of the doctoral program, and associate professor of international business and marketing at the marketing deparment, Broad College of Business. He received his PhD degree in international business from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Prior to joining MSU in 2006, he worked at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
His research focuses on international business and marketing strategy with a special emphasis on firm internationalization, innovation, organizational culture and applied meta-analysis. He has published articles in major academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Management, Journal of Retailing, International Journal of Research in Marketing and Journal of World Business, among others. Kirca teaches international business/marketing, marketing research and marketing strategy in undergraduate, MBA and PhD. level courses. He also offers workshops and seminars on applied meta-analytic techniques.
Kirca had extensive industry experience in textile and tourism industries in Turkey before joining the academia. A native of Turkey, Kirca fluently speaks English, French, and Italian languages. He also has working knowledge of Spanish and Japanese.
Alexander Krasnikov
Assistant Professor, Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago and A-CAPP Affiliated Faculty
Bio
Alexander Krasnikov joined the Quinlan School of Business in the fall 2015. Prior to coming to Quinlan School, he was full-time faculty at the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.. In addition, he held visiting research positions at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Graduate School of Management at St. Petersburg State University, Russia.
His area of expertise include intellectual property and brands, marketing strategy in the emerging markets, and marketing analytics.
He contributes as invited speaker and instructor to the educational programs organizes by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Amaiya Jones
Sophomore, Criminal Justice and A-CAPP Intern, MSU
Bio
Amaiya is a sophomore majoring in criminal justice with a double minor in security management and law, justice, and public policy, this is her second semester with A-CAPP. Amaiya is interested in learning more about brand protection and counterfeiting products and how they affect producers and consumers. In the previous semester, Amaiya was a member of the Bring Down Counterfeiting 2022 Policy Hackathon team that was awarded the CINA follow up prize. This semester Amaiya has been working on Middle Eastern statistics on counterfeits, THC, and candy counterfeits.
Andres Diaz
Senior Consultant, Anti-illicit Trade and Anti-counterfeiting – Americas, AIT Enforcement
Bio
Andrés Díaz is an international senior investigator and consultant on anti-counterfeiting, anti-illicit trade, and enterprise security risk ranagement for the Americas, managing director and founder of the company AIT Enforcement which provides intelligence, criminal investigation, legal services, advisory and consulting in anti-illicit trade across the continent. He has an exceptional track record driving investigation firms and security teams in high-risk countries to protect market shares, customers, corporate reputation, and assets from criminal activities.Before running AIT Enforcement, that despite being founded at the end of 2021 already represents several SMEs and multinational companies, in his last corporate position as head of corporate security for Latin America at Syngenta Group, one of the world’s largest crop protection & seeds corporations, Andrés led public-private collaboration to seize more than 5.000 metric tons of illegal pesticides and illegal seeds (worth in $750 million), took down 56 illegal laboratories and trained more than 6.500 law enforcement authorities to fight illicit products. He substantially enhanced the protection of Syngenta’s market share and the industry reputation across Latin America. Andrés has been a permanent collaborator of CropLife Latin America since 2013, a non-profit industry trade association consisting of six companies and a network of 26 associations in eighteen Latin American countries. Andrés built the relationship foundations, among others, between the U.S. Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) and Syngenta. He was also invited as speaker to more than 30 global and regional intellectual property and brand protection conferences.
Anna Molnar
Senior, Criminal Justice and International Development and A-CAPP Intern, MSU
Bio
Anna Molnar is a senior undergraduate student at Michigan State University. She is studying criminal justice with a minor in international development. This is her second semester with A-CAPP, where she is currently investigating counterfeiting in cyberspace as well as within the country of Colombia. In her earlier collegiate career, she conducted multi-state research involving the use of Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) as a policy measure in response to violent threats using firearms. Upon graduation in May 2023, Anna hopes to bring her knowledge of policy and counterfeiting into a future career in national security and intelligence.
Brandon Holle
Marketing Graduate Student, MSU
Bio
Brandon is a doctoral candidate in marketing at Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business. He conducts research in the areas of digital marketing, branding strategies and international marketing. His current research is focused on examining how electronic word of mouth and social media impact stock market performance of firms and how firms can leverage customer and competitor information from social media to improve their performance. Being a huge sports fan, he also has interest in sports marketing, where he examines how illicit consumption impacts electronic word of mouth and firm performance in an international context. Brandon received a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo and an MBA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Brian Weinhaus
Associate Director, Brand Protection Investigations and Intelligence, Moderna
Bio
Brian Weinhaus is the associate director of investigations and intelligence for Moderna Brand Protection. Brian came to Moderna with more than 25 years in law enforcement working in Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Diplomatic Security Service, and U.S. Border Patrol. His last position with HSI was as the unit chief for the Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPRC) where he led the intellectual property and outreach and training units.
Bruce Foucart
A-CAPP Law Enforcement Field Liaison, MSU
Bio
Bruce M. Foucart is an intellectual property rights enforcement professional with extensive U.S. federal law enforcement experience. Since transitioning to industry in 2017 after 31 years in federal law enforcement (U.S Customs Service and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI-ICE)), he has worked as an anti-counterfeiting and IP protection and enforcement consultant, working for several companies and coalitions. He regularly provides training to foreign law enforcement officials and is a fellow at Michigan State University’s Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP).
Prior to this, Mr. Foucart was the director of the U.S. National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (USIPRC) from 2014-2016, which is located in Arlington, VA. The USIPRC operates as a task force of over 30 federal and international law enforcement and regulatory partner agencies including HSI, the FBI, CBP, Interpol and Europol who together, stand at the forefront of the U.S. government’s response to global intellectual property theft. As director, Mr. Foucart promoted coordination and communication between government agencies and the private sector that brought together key domestic and foreign investigative agencies to efficiently and effectively leverage resources, skills and authorities to provide a comprehensive response to trade fraud and IP theft. As director of the USIPRC, Mr. Foucart collaboratively partnered with many international organizations including WIPO, the WCO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, INTA and the IACC.
Mr. Foucart is a huge advocate of educating consumers and the public about the health and safety concerns of buying and using counterfeit products as well as the support of criminal organizations behind counterfeiting. Prior to joining the IPR Center, Mr. Foucart held a number of US federal law enforcement positions including special agent in charge of the Boston office, HSI-ICE. He is a graduate of Boston University where he earned bachelor of arts and master of criminal justice administration degrees. He is married with 2 grown children and lives in a suburb of Boston, MA.
Carrie Feeheley
Assistant Director, Education and Outreach, A-CAPP Center, MSU
Bio
Carrie Feeheley joined the A-CAPP Center in March 2023. A member of the State Bar of Michigan, her legal interests are in conflict resolution, specifically mediation and arbitration. Before joining the Center, she spent 15 years at the Michigan State University College of Law in various student services roles, most recently as the Assistant Dean of Admissions & International Programs. There, she focused primarily on recruitment of students for the College’s multiple degree programs, especially the Juris Doctor.
Starting with her time on study abroad in Russia as a college student, Carrie has tried to incorporate an international focus into her work throughout her career. At the College of Law, she grew the institution’s international student population substantially and helped launch the College’s first online degree program.
Prior to her time at the University, Carrie worked for a national dispute resolution services company helping grow the use of mediation and arbitration within various industries. She also managed the political action committee and did legal research for an energy company and worked for a statewide trade organization managing member services.
Carrie received her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kalamazoo College.
Catherine Boland
Vice President, Legislative Affairs, MEMA, The Vehicle Suppliers Association
Bio
Catherine Boland joined MEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association, in September 2005 as director of government affairs based in the association’s Washington, D.C. office. In December 2010, Boland was promoted to vice president of legislative affairs.
Ms. Boland manages the association’s legislative advocacy efforts, working closely with Congress to accomplish the legislative priorities of MEMA and its members. She represents the industry on a wide range of legislative priorities including vehicle technology and emissions, safety and transportation policy, raw materials, intellectual property, and labor policy issues.
Before joining MEMA, Ms. Boland spent almost 10 years on Capitol Hill, most recently serving as a legislative assistant for former Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) in his Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Boland was responsible domestic policy issues including energy, environment, agriculture, and technology. Her experience also includes working as a legislative correspondent in the Washington office of former Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Ms. Boland earned her bachelor of arts degree in politics, with a minor in philosophy, from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. She resides in Maryland with her husband Joe and their three sons.
Chandler Wirostek
3L, College of Law and A-CAPP Legal Researcher, MSU
Bio
Chandler is a 3L at the Michigan State University College of Law. He received two bachelor’s degrees in political science and international relations with a minor in philosophy from Appalachian State University in 2018. Before law school, he worked in the anti-money laundering division of US Bank and is going to apply knowledge used to prevent the flow of illicit funds to the field of brand protection.
Charles Olschanski
Senior Director, Global Brand Protection, Tiffany and Company
Bio
Charles Olschanski is the senior director for global brand protection at Tiffany and Company and he has been with Tiffany since 1997. His responsibilities include global oversight for all brand protection related matters at Tiffany. Charles is tasked with implementing and ensuring execution of the company’s global brand protection strategy to include security protection efforts for the Americas retail. His previous positions at Tiffany include senior director-global investigations, regional director of security-West, regional security manager-West and corporate investigator.
Charles works closely and collaborates with members of local and federal law enforcement as well as key investigative firms and task forces dedicated to protecting brands intellectual property worldwide. Charles also maintains multiple advisory and board memberships focused on brand protection, illicit trade and global security risks. Prior to Tiffany, Charles worked as a private investigator for a nationwide firm based in Chicago. He has also held various loss prevention positions at several luxury retailers in the domestic US.Charles is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Forensic Interviewer and holds certificates in data science and specialized executive training for security professionals from Kellogg Executive Training at Northwestern University.
Christopher Merriam
Prosecutor, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, United States Department of Justice
Bio
Christopher Merriam is a prosecutor with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the United States Department of Justice. Mr. Merriam is part of a team of 15 attorneys dedicated to intellectual property prosecutions and related issues. During his 20+ years at CCIPS, Chris has prosecuted cases of copyright and trade secret theft, and acted as the national contact for trade secret theft cases arising under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. He has also worked directly with law enforcement colleagues in more than twenty nations to help improve criminal enforcement of intellectual property laws, and served as the U.S. Co-chair of the IP Criminal Enforcement Working Group of the U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group of Law Enforcement.
Christopher Salgado
Investigator
Bio
Christopher Salgado is a highly accomplished and trusted security and investigations leader with more than 20 years in cyber investigations, physical investigations and general security. He has assisted several fortune-based companies, including a fortune 20 company, by installing and refining numerous innovative and efficient processes on investigative and security matters, including brand protection, threat management, business continuity, intelligence, operations, recruiting, customer service, employee morale and leadership. His expertise has been applied across industries such as social media, pharmaceutical, luxury brands (clothing, jewelry, etc.), consumables, automotive, electronics, film production, streaming services, entertainment, insurance, law firms, other investigative firms and more. In 2016 – 2019, Christopher assisted in building and managing Facebook’s global investigations division, including their Investigations Center, a 24/7 /365 security, investigations and intelligence support operation. While at Facebook, he was able to assist on sensitive matters, including Cambridge Analytica and the election-tampering of the 2016 US presidential election. Christopher is an expert social engineer and has presented on various physical and cyber investigative topics, including social engineering, romance scams, elderly fraud, child online safety, online investment fraud, general online fraud, cyber investigations, physical investigations, counterfeits, cults, assessing and reducing your online footprint and other topics. Christopher has presented to various companies, law firms and law enforcement agencies. Christopher was a keynote speaker at CrimeCon 2022 where he spoke on romance scams. He is founder of AGGOSO™ Training, a comprehensive OSINT/cyber training program for investigators, corporations, law firms, journalists and those desiring to up skill their OSINT/cyber investigative skill set. He is also a member of the London Speaker Bureau, offering various investigative and security topics.
Claudio Valerio
College of Law LLM and A-CAPP Legal Intern, MSU
Bio
Claudio is an Italian law student in his fifth – and last – year of study at University of Trento. He decided to spend his last year of university studying abroad at Michigan State University to pursue an LLM in the American legal system. Since certain well-known luxury brands have their origins in Italy, he has always been interested in intellectual property law, particularly trademarks. He is presently at Michigan State narrowing his knowledge of international law and intellectual property law, even though in Italy he has also grown more interested in the fields of corporate law and alternative dispute resolution. He intends to pass the bar in the US and work on a global scale with different businesses to defend their value and the things they stand for in the eyes of consumers.ve and security topics.
Dan Dougherty
Senior Director, Global IP Enforcement, Alibaba Group
Bio
Daniel Dougherty is a senior director with Alibaba Group’s global IP enforcement team partnering with multinational companies and SMEs to advance IP protection on Alibaba platforms. Daniel previously served as vice president & general counsel for the consumer electronics company, Monster, Inc., and has held global roles with other technology and e-commerce platforms managing international teams, litigation, enforcement and dispute management, and IP portfolio management. Daniel has been named one of the 25 most influential people in the United States in Intellectual Property by The American Lawyer, and currently sits on the EUIPO Observatory’s Cooperation with Intermediaries Expert Group and also chairs the America Bar Association’s Anti-Counterfeiting & Piracy Committee.
David Lake
CEO, Center on Shadow Economics
Bio
David Lake is a retired detective sergeant and 30-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department, specializing in organized commercial crimes. In that capacity, he conducted or directly supervised thousands of complex investigations across dozens of industries. This work led to the seizure of over 100 million dollars in cash and contraband from a wide range of criminal organizations.
During this time, David also owned several businesses in the retail and service sectors. He coupled his business experience and police expertise to conduct unique research with the Department of Justice and Arizona State University. This research focused on the business of crime, dubbed the shadow economy. Through research, David documented how shadow economy crime damages communities and contributes to urban decay. This groundbreaking work, coupled with David’s real-world experience, has made him an internationally recognized expert on shadow economic crime. As such, he has presented at hundreds of events to police, public, and private sector leaders from over 80 countries around the world.
Now retired from public service, David is the CEO of the Center on Shadow Economics. He works with private and public sector leaders in this role, building partnerships and capacity to understand and engage the shadow economy in communities worldwide.
Emily Schultz
Senior, Psychology and Interdiciplinary Social Science, MSU
Bio
Erika Austin joined Michigan State University as the director of licensing in February 2022, leading the university licensing programs office mission to ensure proper use of MSU trademarks, strengthen the MSU brand, and generate academic and athletic scholarship revenue. Serving as a collegiate licensing professional for over 15 years, Austin has overseen the licensing programs at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN), where she also served as assistant athletics director for compliance and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Indianapolis, IN) within the corporate alliances department. Austin most recently worked at The Indianapolis Colts as senior marketing manager. Her primary responsibilities include driving fan engagement and building the Colts’ brand through the team’s licensing and consumer products, brand quality control, loyalty program, influencer marketing, media planning and affinity clubs. Austin also had a successful corporate career, working at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana as a consumer marketing associate, managing numerous vendor relationships and supporting strategic product launches for two years. Prior to joining Eli Lilly and Company, Austin worked at Deloitte & Touche in Atlanta, Georgia and Indianapolis as an assistant director of corporate communications for three years. Originally from Indianapolis, Austin received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University and a masters of sports administration degree at Ohio University. Austin also has a graduate certificate in human resources from Purdue University Global.
Erika Austin
Director, University Licensing Department, MSU
Bio
Erika Austin joined Michigan State University as the director of licensing in February 2022, leading the university licensing programs office mission to ensure proper use of MSU trademarks, strengthen the MSU brand, and generate academic and athletic scholarship revenue. Serving as a collegiate licensing professional for over 15 years, Austin has overseen the licensing programs at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro, TN), where she also served as assistant athletics director for compliance and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Indianapolis, IN) within the corporate alliances department. Austin most recently worked at The Indianapolis Colts as senior marketing manager. Her primary responsibilities include driving fan engagement and building the Colts’ brand through the team’s licensing and consumer products, brand quality control, loyalty program, influencer marketing, media planning and affinity clubs. Austin also had a successful corporate career, working at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana as a consumer marketing associate, managing numerous vendor relationships and supporting strategic product launches for two years. Prior to joining Eli Lilly and Company, Austin worked at Deloitte & Touche in Atlanta, Georgia and Indianapolis as an assistant director of corporate communications for three years. Originally from Indianapolis, Austin received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Indiana University and a masters of sports administration degree at Ohio University. Austin also has a graduate certificate in human resources from Purdue University Global.
Gabe Wrobel
College of Law JD and A-CAPP Law Intern MSU
Bio
Gabriel is currently in his second year at the Michigan State University College of Law. Previously, he earned a bachelor of fine arts in musical theatre from University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. This summer, Gabriel will be a summer associate in the trademark, copyright & advertising practice group at Foley and Lardner LLP in Chicago.
George Adams
Global Relations Manager, Brand Protection, Amazon
Bio
Bio coming
Heijin Lee
Graduate Student, Department of Advertising and Public Relations
Bio
Heijin Lee is a second-year doctoral student in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University. She is currently studying the role of influencer marketing in international communication and intercultural communication. Heijin received her M.A. in mass communication at Tsinghua University in China, and B.A. in journalism and Chinese foreign affairs and commerce at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea. Before joining MSU, she worked as a marketer at TikTok and cooperated with government agencies and brands as a social media influencer.
Hernan Albamonte
Head of Illicit Trade Prevention U.S., PMI and A-CAPP Advisory Board President
Bio
Hernan Albamonte is the head of illicit trade prevention U.S. for Philip Morris International (PMI), based in Washington D.C. Albamonte has served in various PMI roles around the globe for over twelve years. As PMI’s head of illicit trade prevention U.S., Albamonte is charged with coordinating the company’s campaign to combat illicit trade including, training law enforcement officers across the country so illicit products can be easily spotted and removed from underground networks, cultivating and briefing the government authorities on PMI’s core initiatives and representing the company with a variety of audiences and stakeholders. Before transitioning to the company’s D.C. office in 2019, Albamonte served as PMI’s global government affairs manager in Lausanne, Switzerland. In that role, he developed a network of alliances with third party stakeholders and executed government affairs and media engagement campaigns for the Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa markets. In 2013, Albamonte was stationed in Costa Rica as PMI’s corporate affairs manager of Central America. He expanded the region’s public-private partnerships with local and international law enforcement agents, resulting in the seizures of over $36 million of unlicensed products and the closure of five illicit enterprises. Additionally, Albamonte generated a cross-industry anti-illicit trade web app sponsored by Chambers of Commerce and Ministries of Finance in three Central American countries. Furthermore, Albamonte orchestrated anti-illicit trade operations in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and the United States as PMI’s Latin America regional intelligence coordinator in 2011, based in Mexico City. In addition to recovering $42 million of illicit goods by deploying anti-black market commercial strategies, Albamonte and his team successfully dismantled an illegal-export border route of unlicensed products through a partnership with PMI’s US and Mexico public and private stakeholders. He began his career with PMI in 2007 as a communications intern in his native country of Argentina, and was quickly elevated to the role of brand integrity coordinator, where he launched communications campaigns to raise awareness about illicit trade in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Albamonte earned a double bachelor’s degree in international relations and political science from Pontificia Universidad Cathólica Argentina ‘Santa María de los Buenos Aires’ and was awarded a master’s degree in business/corporate communications from Universitat de Barcelona. A native Spanish speaker, Albamonte is also fluent in English. He lives in the D.C. area with his wife Caruba, a pediatric neuropsychologist and author, and their two children.
Holly Lance
Attorney Advisor, Office of Policy & International Affairs, USPTO
Bio
Holly is an attorney advisor in the office of policy and international affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As a member of the enforcement team, Ms. Lance focuses on anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy issues domestically and abroad. She devotes substantial time to public awareness work, including the USPTO’s Go For Real Anti-Counterfeiting campaign (https://www.ncpc.org/goforreal). Ms. Lance’s international work focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa, where she promotes and advocates for improved protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the region through capacity building and technical assistance programs. Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Lance was in private practice, where she worked with clients of all sizes – from startups to Fortune 500 companies – on trademark, copyright and internet law issues, including counseling, trademark and copyright prosecution, enforcement and litigation. Ms. Lance holds a bachelor of arts degree, cum laude, in cultural anthropology and public policy studies from Duke University, and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
Jacob Jones
Sophomore, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy; Psychology and A-CAPP Intern, MSU
Bio
Jacob is a second-year undergraduate student in Michigan State’s James Madison College studying political theory and constitutional democracy, as well as psychology. He plans to attend law school upon graduation in Spring 2024 and pursue a career in criminal law. This is Jacob’s first semester interning with MSU’s A-CAPP Center and he is looking forward to exploring the legal issues found within the field of product protection.
Jason Brewer
Executive Vice President, RILA
Bio
Jason Brewer leads RILA’s state affairs and grassroots advocacy campaigns, in addition to managing the organization’s strategic communications efforts. Brewer works closely with RILA’s partners at the state level to ensure retailers’ issue priorities are well-represented and communicated effectively to policymakers. In 2020, Brewer helped create the Buy Safe America Coalition, which brought together leading retailers, brands, and consumer groups to combat organized retail crime and illicit products sold through online marketplaces.
Jason Kosofsky
IP Coordinator, NFCTA
Bio
Jason Kosofsky works for the National Cyber-Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA) as the intellectual property coordinator. He was previously with Ford Motor Company where he served as a senior global brand protection investigator. Jason has over 21 years of experience in combating automotive counterfeiting and intellectual property violations in cases involving copyright, design patent, trademark, parallel import and trade secrets. During his career, Jason has also developed key collaborations with organizations involved in the areas of global security, cyber security, research & development, packaging engineering, office of general counsel, licensing, and has developed longstanding relationships with external law enforcement partners. Jason was a founding member of the Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council or A2C2 formed in 2015, served on its board and also as its president. A2C2 is a collaboration among automakers and their partners that strives to eliminate counterfeit automotive components that could harm U.S. consumers. Jason holds a bachelor’s in business administration from Northwood University in Midland, Michigan.
Jennifer Scoggins Hanks
Director, Brand Protection, AAFA
Bio
As the chief advocate and spokesperson for AAFA on intellectual property (IP) and brand protection issues, Jennifer Scoggins Hanks serves as the staff liaison to AAFA’s Brand Protection Council. She connects with government officials; members of Congress; and representatives of global e-commerce, social, and digital platforms to shape IP policy, protect U.S. branded products, and advance AAFA member online and offline priorities.Jennifer’s unique background of public policy, advocacy, coalition management, and strategic communications experience was earned serving across a series of bicoastal public and private sector positions, including with a Washington D.C. public affairs firm, CNN Worldwide, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Her career began working in the California State Legislature and the California Governor’s Office.
Jim Mancuso
Director, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center and A-CAPP Advisory Board Liaison
Bio
James ‘Jim’ Mancuso is currently the director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. In this position, he manages the federal government’s response to combat global intellectual property theft, protect national security, and ensure public health and safety. As a decorated federal law enforcement agent and civil servant, Mr. Mancuso has served and protected communities around the world for more than 27 years. He is a senior executive service member, spearheading transformational investigative efforts within Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Prior to this assignment, Mr. Mancuso served as the special agent in charge for HSI Baltimore, Maryland. During this time, Mr. Mancuso led and supported more than 250 special agents, intelligence analysts, task force officers and professional administrative staff charged with enforcing over 400 violations of U.S. laws by investigating transnational criminal organizations and terrorist networks that threaten or seek to exploit America’s legitimate travel, trade, cyber and financial systems for their illicit purposes.
Mr. Mancuso previously served as the HSI Attaché to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, and Gibraltar while posted at the U.S. Embassy in London, England. In this role, he provided investigative oversight in support of HSI’s critical international mission while serving as the agency advisor to the U.S. Ambassador. Earlier in his career, he served as the deputy assistant director for the Workforce Management Division in HSI Headquarters where he was responsible for all HSI human resources efforts emphasizing diversity and inclusion for a globally dispersed workforce consisting of over 10,000 employees working in 220 U.S. cities and 80 international offices in 53 countries.
Mr. Mancuso began his law enforcement career in 1995 with the U.S. Department of Justice and later became a special agent with the U.S. Customs Service’s Office of Investigations in San Diego, California. Mr. Mancuso held multiple leadership roles, including group supervisor of the Methamphetamine Smuggling Task Force and the Financial Investigations Unit before serving as an assistant special agent in charge in San Diego, California.
Mr. Mancuso holds a bachelor of arts degree in English, media communications & writing from High Point University, North Carolina. He is a Maryland native and is married with three daughters.
Josh Hopping
Global Director of Investigations, Corsearch
Bio
Bio coming.
Justin Gaudio
Shareholder, Greer, Burns & Crain
Bio
Justin Gaudio is shareholder at Greer, Burns & Crain. His legal practice focuses on overseeing GBC’s high volume litigation program against offshore ecommerce stores that offer for sale and sell products to the United States using counterfeit trademarks and/or infringing copyrights and designs. GBC has been the top filer of U.S. trademark counterfeiting lawsuits for the past five years with over 1,700 federal lawsuits filed for dozens of brands.
Kari Kammel
Director, A-CAPP Center, MSU
Bio
Kari is the director of the A-CAPP Center and maintains an active research agenda on legal issues pertaining to trademark counterfeiting, U.S. state and federal law, e-commerce and social media liability for trademark counterfeiting, public international and intellectual property legal issues, and the impact of culture in the Middle East on intellectual property and trademark enforcement. She has testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee based on her research. She runs the Center’s education programming, including executive education, the professional certificate in brand protection, the Center’s student internship program and student placement. She also heads outreach to brand protection stakeholders for the center.
Prior to coming to the center, she spent a significant time working, traveling, and living in the Middle East, including Egypt, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Libya, Jordan, and others. She was Deputy Chief of Party at DePaul College of Law’s Iraq office, where she managed rule of law programs; and Deputy Executive Director in the Chicago office. She is a licensed attorney in Illinois and Michigan with a J.D. from DePaul University, an M.A. in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, and a B.A. from the University of Chicago. She is serving her second three-year term on the Academic Specialist Advisory Committee at MSU, where she has been chair, vice-chair, and chair of the promotion subcommittee. She is also an adjunct professor of law at MSU’s College of Law, where she teaches Trademark Counterfeiting, Food Counterfeits, and International Intellectual Property. Additionally, she is a member of INTA and on the anti-counterfeiting sub-committee, AIPLA, and the ABA.
Kasey Patrick
2022 Maher Scholar Recepient and MSU Graduate
Bio
Kasey Patrick is a Fall 2022 graduate from Michigan State University with a B.A. in psychology and English, with a concentration in creative writing. She was an intern, then a research assistant, at MSU’s A-CAPP Center in 2022. As an intern, Kasey completed transcription assignments for Brand Protection Stories. She also completed research and authored an article discussing Generation Zs’ behaviors in regard to counterfeit luxury goods in the Brand Protection Professional. In the Fall of 2022, Kasey was selected as the Matthew R. Maher Scholar. As the Maher Scholar, Kasey undertook a quantitative data inventory for a counterfeit keyword being used on TikTok, a popular social media platform. Kasey Patrick was also team leader of ‘The Spartan Solution,’ Student Prize Winner of the ‘2022 Bring Down Counterfeiting Policy Hackathon.’
Katie Holka
Master Student, Law Enforcement Intelligence and Analysis and A-CAPP Intern, MSU
Bio
Katie Holka is a graduate student at Michigan State University studying law enforcement intelligence and analysis. She will be graduating May 2023 and is looking to start her career in federal law enforcement upon graduation. Katie is currently studying the issue of THC products being marketed and packaged as legitimate candy and snack products.. This is her second semester here at A-CAPP, last semester she was a member of the Bring Down Counterfeiting 2022 Policy Hackathon team that went to Arlington Virginia and presented a policy solution to counterfeiting. Katie is looking forward to furthering her knowledge on counterfeit products and risk assessments of counterfeit products.
Ken Feldman
Client Success Manager, Scout
Bio
Ken Feldman is current the client success manager at Scout, responsible to supporting case investigations with various Scout clients. Prior to joining Scout two years ago, Ken was the global brand protection manager for Ford Motor Company, retiring in 2020 after 32 years. Half of his career was in the brand protection role at Ford. During his tenure, the brand protection program underwent significant growth and development. While the rest of Ford downsized, investment was made in regional brand protection headcount. The department’s mission to protect the parts business and consumers from illicit trade activity transitioned from a cost center to a profit center.
Kevin McPherson
Counsel, Lee & Hayes, P.C.
Bio
Kevin’s practice at Lee & Hayes includes intellectual property protection, cease & desist recovery and ex parte litigation against counterfeit and infringing online and offline sellers. He also advises clients on intellectual property protection and management, which includes Customs and Border training and enforcement, online and offline enforcement, conduciting and organizing distributor and factory raids. Prior to joining Lee & Hayes, Kevin was the Sr. director of brand protection, corporate counsel for Otter Products, LLC; brand protection manager for New Era Cap Co., Inc; and senior trademark enforcement coordinator for Harley-Davidson Motor Company. In his various roles, he was responsible for global anti-counterfeiting enforcement, authorized reseller programs, minimum advertised price (MAP) policies, and handling numerous, complex corporate agreements for the US, Canada, LATAM and APAC regions. Kevin holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver – Sturm College of Law, where he earned an intellectual property certificate and was secretary of the Intellectual Property Law Society. He has a masters of businessadministration from Cardinal Stritch University, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a bachelor of arts degree in communication.
Kevin Weaver
Senior Director, Global Brand Protection, Johnson & Johnson and A-CAPP Advisory Board Member
Bio
Kevin Weaver is the senior director of brand protection technology and innovation at Johnson & Johnson. For the past 10 plus years, he has been responsible for developing and deploying innovative solutions that combat the risks of illicit trade (e.g. counterfeits, illicit diversion and tampering) for the Johnson & Johnson family of companies across the pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer segments worldwide. Mr. Weaver has over 30 years of experience working for Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg Company, and Computer Sciences Corporations across various roles developing competencies within supply chain, commercial, legal, data and analytics, strategic planning and architecture, business and market intelligence and information technology. Since August 2013, he has served on the Michigan State University (MSU) A-CAPP Industry Advisory Board and from 2019 to 2021 serviced as president of the board. In 2018, he was recognized with the Brand Protection Pioneering Award from his industry peers. Additionally, he serves on many customer advisory boards within the brand protection industry. He previously served on the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) Board of Directors along with several other industry and academic positions throughout his career.
Leah Evert-Burks
Industry Outreach Lead, A-CAPP Center, MSU
Bio
Leah Evert-Burks is the industry outreach lead for the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (A-CAPP Center) at Michigan State University. She is also the editor in chief for the Brand Protection Professional, a fully digital, quarterly industry journal dedicated to brand protection with articles written for and by practitioners and industry experts, published by MSU and launched in 2016. Additionally, Leah serves as the host of the podcast series, Brand Protection Stories, which utilizes storytelling by brand protection professionals to educate on counterfeiting and other crucial brand protection issues. Leah previously served on the A-CAPP Industry Advisory Board while with Deckers Brands where she retired as director of brand protection in 2015. At Deckers, Leah directed all anti-counterfeit programs worldwide and managed IP litigation for the Deckers footwear brands which included the UGG, Hoka and Teva brands. Leah began her legal career in 1984 working as a paralegal for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Since that time she has worked primarily in-house for corporations in a variety of industries, from seeds to shoes. Leah served as the 2014 co-chair for the American Apparel and Footwear Association Brand Protection Council. As an industry member of an FBI-led working group relating to IP cybercrimes, Leah helped write and develop a set of PSAs on IP cybercrimes and counterfeiting which were awarded an Emmy in 2014. Leah has been interviewed on the subject of counterfeiting by numerous media franchises including Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Milken Institute Review, ABA Journal Magazine among other publications and is a frequent speaker on the issue. Leah received her BA in history from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.
Lisa Esposito
Manager, Global Brand Protection and Risk Management, Johnson & Johnson and A-CAPP BPP Editorial Board Member
Bio
Lisa Esposito is part of the global brand protection team at Johnson & Johnson, where she develops and manages an array of communications and marketing tools designed to raise awareness of the important work of the team and dangers of illicit trade in healthcare, both internally and externally. Lisa has extensive experience in both communications and marketing and currently serves on the editorial board of MSU’s Brand Protection Professional quarterly industry journal. Lisa joined J&J in 2020 from Verizon where she spent the majority of her career in a variety of roles including corporate communications, product management, marketing communications and management of the VtoV Fund (an internal employee charity). Lisa holds an undergraduate degree from Loyola University Maryland, a master of science – international business and a master of arts – diplomacy and international relations from Seton Hall University. She also completed mini-MBAs in digital marketing and social media marketing at Rutgers University.
María del Mar Osma Potes Cairo
A-CAPP Legal Field Liasion, MSU
Bio
María del Mar Osma Potes Cairo earned her bachelor’s degree in law at Universidad Externado de Colombia. She worked for three years as a human resources lawyer at Instituto Colombiano para la Evaluación de la Educación – ICFES. In 2019, María moved to the United States and attended the paralegal program at Lansing Community College, and then she studied an LLM in intellectual property in law at Michigan State University. María was a legal extern at the A-CAPP Center during spring 2021.
Mark Dargin
Security and Network Architect, Optiv
Bio
Mark Dargin is an experienced security and network architect/leader. He is a senior strategic cybersecurity advisor/architect, advising Fortune 500 organizations for Optiv, the largest pure-play security risk advisory organization in North America. He is an information security & assurance instructor at Schoolcraft College in Michigan. He has over 20 years of experience designing, managing, and securing complex WAN and LAN infrastructures for large and medium-sized organizations. Mark’s experience includes leading and managing large-scale compliance and risk management initiatives and programs. He is a member of the Michigan Cybersecurity Civilian Corps., a rapid response team of experienced IT security volunteers who assist the state and industries during major cybersecurity incidents. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and communications from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master’s degree in business information technology from Walsh College. He is a graduate of Stanford University’s Executive Leadership Development program and Advanced Computer Security program. Mark has dozens of articles published in the computing press and holds various active certifications, including the CRISC, CISSP, CCSP, PMP, GIAC GMON, GIAC GNFA, certified blockchain expert and many other vendor-related certifications.
Matt Kramer
Associate Attorney, Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman, Ltd. and former A-CAPP Center Law Student Intern
Bio
Matthew Kramer is an associate at the law firm of Solomon Dwiggins Freer & Steadman where he works with clients on estate planning and administration. Matthew graduated Cum Laude from Michigan State University College of Law in May 2022, where he was on the editorial board of the Michigan State International Law Review. During his time in law school, he interned for the U.S. Air Force JAG Corp at Nellis Air Force Base and the MSU Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection. Prior to starting law school, Matthew earned a bachelor of science in biological sciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and served as a ship mechanic in the U.S. Coast Guard. He is licensed to practice in Nevada and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Max Feistenhammer
Manager, Global Protection, Tenneco Inc.
Bio
Max manages the global brand protection program for Tenneco Inc., which is an ~18 billion dollar company and owner of 20+ automotive brands such a Champion spark plugs and Moog chassis parts. He has 10+ years of experience in brand protection. In addition to brand protection, Max maintains close ties with Tenneco’s global security team and frequently conducts investigations into other areas of law, such as theft and fraud. To support these activities he is a Certified Fraud Examiner and licensed PI. Prior to brand protection, Max was a police officer and MSU alumnus from the school of criminal justice.
Michael Ball
Division Chief, National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center
Bio
Michael ‘Mike’ Ball is currently the division chief for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Global Trade Division (GTD), National Intellectual Property Rights Center (IPRC). In this position, he coordinates the federal government’s response to combat global intellectual property theft, enforce intellectual properties rights violations, and protect public health and safety.
Prior to this assignment, Mr. Ball served in several acting leadership roles. He served as the acting deputy special agent in charge for the HSI Special Agent in Charge (SAC) office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he was responsible for 8 offices with 140 special agents and support staff covering the entirety of states Pennsylvania and Delaware. Mr. Ball also served as the acting deputy assistant director for HSI global trade where he managed the operational activities for HSI global trade’s national programs related to trade enforcement, intellectual property, and counter proliferation investigations.
Mr. Ball held various other leadership positions within HSI. Mr. Ball served as an assistant special in charge for the HSI SAC office, Baltimore, Maryland where his investigative division included the HSI investigative mission areas of human trafficking, child exploitation crimes, national security, the Identity and Benefit Fraud Task Force and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force. Mr. Ball has also served in the key HSI leadership positions of: division chief for HSI’s Domestic Operations Division at HSI Headquarters in Washington, DC; HSI domestic operations chief -North; and a group supervisor for the HSI SAC office in Detroit, MI, where he supervised several investigative groups including the Michigan Trafficking and Transnational Crimes Task Force (MT3).
Prior to his employment with HSI, Mr. Ball was a special agent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and a Special Agent with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
Mr. Ball holds a bachelor of education degree from Southern Illinois University and is a graduate of the American University Executive Leadership Program. Mr. Ball is a U.S. Army combat veteran with multiple long-term foreign postings including the countries of Panama, Korea, and Bosnia. He is married with a son and daughter who are both attending universities in Maryland.
Michael Hanson
Senior Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, RILA
Bio
Michael Hanson is RILA’s senior executive vice president of public affairs, overseeing the association’s government affairs and communications arms. Hanson is responsible for identifying the industry’s top public policy challenges and working with both leading retailers and key stakeholders to elevate the industry in Washington, DC and across the country. Hanson most recently served as chief public policy officer at Sabre, a leading travel technology company, where he led legislative and regulatory strategy at the local, state and federal level. Prior to joining Sabre, he served as vice president for government affairs at JCPenney, where he was a leading contributor in shaping RILA’s top public policy priorities. Earlier in his career, Hanson was a partner with the D.C.-based government consulting firm, C2 Group and also served as chief of staff to U.S. Representative Sam Johnson, Texas.
Michael Hecht
Legal Manager, the LEGO Group and A-CAPP Advisory Board Member
Bio
Michael is currently a legal manager and part of the digital, eCom and marketplaces team of the LEGO legal department. He has been involved in brand protection for over 15 years, specifically with the LEGO Group for the last 9. The role has grown exponentially from simple IP enforcement on a few marketplaces, to creation and co-management of a broad global brand protection program covering online marketplaces, websites, social media, mobile app stores, fraudulent web stores, NFT marketplaces, dark web monitoring, leak mitigation and anti-piracy work. His other responsibilities include marketing to children review and trademark elimination clearance.
Michael Putney
IP Prosecutor, North Carolina Secretary of State
Bio
Michael W. Putney, Jr. currently works with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State as its intellectual property prosecutor in its trademark enforcement section. In this role, Michael is able to prosecute counterfeit trademark cases across all 100 counties of North Carolina. In addition to prosecuting, Michael works with agents within the Secretary of State’s office and the Secretary of State’s Anti-Counterfeit Trademark Task Force, which consist of local law enforcement from across the state of North Carolina, providing legal guidance and advice. Michael also plans an annual training conference for the Anti Counterfeit Trademark Task Force in which brand representatives and legal experts train officers and agents on how to identify and work with brand representatives to better bring criminal cases against counterfeiters. Prior to working with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office, Michael worked for 7 years as an assistant district attorney, where he tried everything from 1st degree murder to traffic violations. Michael also has experience working as a public defender and as the sole proprietor of the Putney Law Office, where he handled criminal, civil, and domestic cases.
Minehec Lebrón Negrón
Director, Investigations and Brand Protection
Bio
Bio coming.
Moldir Moldagaliyeva
Graduate Student, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, MSU
Bio
Moldir Moldagaliyeva is an information and media doctoral student in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University. She is an international student from Kazakhstan with a research interest in comparative (cross-cultural, cross-country) studies on new media and technology use, digital inequalities, and digital literacy among different age groups.
Moldir earned her MA in advertising and public relations at Michigan State University. Before joining MSU, she worked in the marketing and public relations department at one of the national IT companies in Kazakhstan on projects related to digitalizing government services and increasing the population’s digital literacy.
Nikki Nguyen
Junior, Criminal Justice and A-CAPP Intern, MSU
Bio
Nikki is currently a third year student, undergrad, majoring in criminal justice with a double minor in law, justice and public policy. This is her first semester at the A-CAPP center and is eager to learn more about the national and global impacts of counterfeiting. She wants to use this knowledge to protect both the businesses and consumers. escribing your block.
Nancy Merritt
Director of Platform Partnerships, Tracer
Bio
Nancy has been in the online brand protection and anti-counterfeiting industry for more than 13 years, partnering with service providers, online platforms, law enforcement agencies, and a wide range of industry leading companies in building out a comprehensive and collaborative ecosystem within the brand protection industry. In her previous role at Wish.com, Nancy was responsible for overseeing a team of brand protection leaders who were responsible for supporting Wish’s policies against intellectual property violations. Her efforts also focused on building brand protection strategies, developing operational efficiencies, and working closely with stakeholders to further enhance existing policies and scale Wish’s brand protection initiatives. Prior to her direct experience on the platform side, Nancy served as the senior manager of global relationships for MarkMonitor and Opsec Online LLC where she was responsible for developing and managing a global team whose primary focus was proactive outreach, cross-functional collaboration, and process improvement within the brand protection ecosystem. Nancy holds a bachelor of science degree in psychology and a masters in counseling.
Pat Huddleston
Director, Information and Media PhD Program, Advertising and Public Relations, and A-CAPP Affiliated Faculty, MSU
Bio
Patricia Huddleston is a professor of retailing in the Department of Advertising + Public Relations and director of the information and media PhD program at Michigan State University. She is an adjunct faculty member with the Center for Anti-Counterfeiting and Product Protection (ACAPP). She teaches consumer behavior, retail strategy, and strategic brand communication courses. Her current research focuses on eye-tracking to evaluate consumer information processing of point-of-purchase retail display elements (e.g., signage, price) and how these elements motivate purchase intention. This research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program and Horticulture Research Institute. Her work has been published in publications such as the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, PLOS, and the Journal of Product and Brand Management. Recently, she has collaborated with the A-CAPP Center and Drs. Saleem Alhabash and Anastasia Kononova on a 17-country study to understand global attitudes and behavior toward counterfeit products.
Peter George
Team Manager-East and Midwest, Online Brand Protection, Corsearch
Bio
Peter is the team manager of the client management teams in the Midwest and East Coast for Corsearch’s online brand protection department. He is responsible for overseeing a team of intellectual property experts focused on administering brand protection programs tailored to individual client needs. He values opportunities to mentor his team and to foster an environment of collaboration and inclusion among his peers. Peter has 17 years of brand protection experience. His past roles cover various areas of intellectual property, including trademark clearance reports, trademark watch, drafting cease and desist letters, drafting and filing UDRP cases, and domain name acquisitions and divestitures. He has also completed an ABA-approved paralegal post-baccalaureate program earning a paralegal certificate from Madison College.
Peter Fowler
Senior Counsel, Enforcement, Office of Policy and International Affairs, USPTO
Bio
Peter Fowler is senior counsel for enforcement, Office of Policy and International Affairs at the USPTO. Since joining the agency in 1995, from private practice in San Francisco, he has served in several positions, including attorney-advisor (copyright), acting deputy administrator for external affairs; regional intellectual property attaché for Southeast Asia; chief of staff; and senior advisor to the under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO, and worked on such trade agreements as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. Admitted to practice in California, he has taught at Golden Gate University School of Law, U.C. Hastings College of the Law, University of San Francisco, and serves on the Institutional Advisory Board of the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Region.He has a B.A. in political science from John Carroll University; M.A. in secondary education from the University of Alabama; M.A. in political science from Ball State University; and J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law, where he wrote for the Golden Gate University Law Review.
Pilar Toro
Brand Protection Manager- Americas, Tiffany & Company and A-CAPP Advisory Board Member
Bio
Pilar Toro oversees the brand protection program for the Americas at Tiffany & Co. With over 20 years of experience in brand protection, Pilar has worked with some of the most notorious brands in the luxury, fashion and digital entertainment. She firmly believes that every decision made within a company could have a positive or negative effect to the value of a brand, and that’s why, brand protection should not only reactively focus on the counterfeiting problems, but proactively be part of the governance under which the company operates. She has made it a priority to understand and assess the repercussions that internal policies and procedures have in the overall success of the business, and why the brand protection strategy should always align with that of the business. Pilar also believes that companies should make the same efforts to educate employees of the company, as those made to educate law enforcement. Originally from Colombia, she settled in New York after finishing her LLM at Cardozo School of Law, and lives with her husband, her soccer player son and her two grumpy old dogs.
Rich Halverson
Profit Protection Business Partner-Americas, Dyson
Bio
Mr. Halverson is the profit protection business partner, Americas for Dyson, working to secure Dyson’s assets through investigations, compliance, audits and outreach in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Prior to joining Dyson in 2022, Mr. Halverson spent two years as the organized retail crime manager for Kroger’s Houston division. Before joining the private sector, he spent 30 years in federal law enforcement with U.S. Customs and later Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Texas, Washington DC, and London, specializing in trade fraud and intellectual property and led the National IPR Center’s Outreach & Training—retiring as an assistant special agent in charge at HSI Houston. Mr. Halverson is loss prevention certified (LPC), a governance risk compliance professional (GRCP), and a GRC auditor (GRCA). Mr. Halverson earned a BA in general business administration from Michigan State University in 1991.
Rowan Hilend
Logistics Graduate Student, Supply Chain Management, MSU
Bio
Rowan is a third-year doctoral candidate in the logistics program, funded by a National Science Foundation grant focused on the global detection and interdiction of illicit wildlife supply chains. Her research on illicit trade has expanded beyond illegal wildlife trade to study other forms of trafficking, counterfeit and brand protection, and normal misconduct. Through her research, she strives to achieve a holistic, transdisciplinary perspective of the motivations and multifaceted impacts of deviant behavior exhibited across and at the intersection of illicit and licit networks.
Prior to joining the PhD program at MSU, Rowan graduated from Colorado State University in 2019 with dual B.S. degrees in supply chain management and industrial/organizational psychology.
Roy Albiani
Director, Global Brand Protection-Medical Devices, Johnson & Johnson
Bio
Roy Albiani is director of global brand protection for Johnson & Johnson MedTech where he leads global strategies to safeguard patients, consumers, health care professionals and brand goodwill against the risks posed by counterfeit, diversion and other illicit trade schemes across J&J’s $27B diverse surgery, orthopedic, interventional and vision platforms. Roy has an over 30-year career leading global brand protection, channel compliance, and marketing organizations on behalf of companies with revenues ranging $2M to over $7B. He pioneered global brand protection in 2003 at Johnson & Johnson which is recognized as a best-in-class industry leader. Roy has also taught courses at universities, authored articles and delivered podcasts on brand protection, and lectured at several conferences. He is a graduate of Western Illinois University with a BA in marketing and received his M.B.A. from the Cox School of Business at SMU.
Sam Gardner
Junior, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy and Former A-CAPP Intern, MSU
Bio
Sam Gardner is a junior at MSU double-majoring in political theory/constitutional democracy and Mandarin Chinese. He worked as a China-focused intern at the A-CAPP Center during the Fall of 2022, where he was a part of the Spartan Solution, a team of five interns which took third place overall at the Bring Down Counterfeiting 2022 Hackathon. As a part of the team, Sam came up with the idea, coded the prototype, and presented the solution to the judges.
Sasha Lazarevich
Deputy City Attorney,
Intellectual Property Prosecution Section Criminal Branch, Problem Property Public Protection Division,
Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney
Bio
Deputy City Attorney Sasha Lazarevich has prosecuted all intellectual property (‘IP’) criminal matters for the Intellectual Property Prosecution Section (‘IPPS’) of the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office since 2015. As the first prosecutor hired into this specialized position, Lazarevich built out a criminal prosecution program from the ground up. This includes developing prosecution best practices, which have led to notable results such as a 98% conviction rate and financial restitution to victims ordered in every case resulting in a conviction.
To date, Lazarevich has reviewed and prosecuted hundreds of IP criminal matters. She handles all stages of proceedings, including jury trials, and sets litigation priorities for the criminal part of her section. Ms. Lazarevich’s cases involve IP violations arising in numerous industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, fashion, personal care, and entertainment.
As a result of the overwhelming success of her enforcement efforts, Lazarevich spends significant time presenting IP prosecution best practices to law enforcement and industry representatives. Thus far, she has provided training to over 2000 law enforcement officers from over 36 state, local, and federal agencies as well as dozens of brand owners from across the United States. Lazarevich has also conducted training for over 100 prosecutors from California and beyond. She has also traveled internationally to speak to foreign law enforcement and legal professionals about best practices for IP crimes prosecutions.
More recently, the focus of Lazarevich’s work has turned to the sale of counterfeit and illegal pharmaceuticals including fake Xanax and Viagra, which can cause serious injury and death. She is also working on an initiative to improve enforcement of cybercrimes with an IP component especially in regards to criminal activity occurring on the dark web.
Prior to her work as an IP crimes prosecutor, DCA Lazarevich worked on routine criminal matters including driving under the influence cases and violent offenses. She is also a former Googler. Ms. Lazarevich received her J.D. from University of Washington and her B.A. in political science from Columbia University.
Stan Griffis
Bowersox-Thull Endowed Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Department of Supply Chain Management, MSU and A-CAPP Affiliated Faculty
Bio
Stan Griffis is the Bowersox-Thull Endowed Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management in the department of supply chain management at Michigan State University. His primary teaching interests include logistics and supply chain management.
Stan received his PhD in business administration from The Ohio State University with a major in logistics and a minor in information systems management. He also holds a master of science in logistics management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a master of arts in logistics from The Ohio State University. Prior to joining academia he worked on numerous logistics system design programs for the U.S. Air Force.
Stan’s research focuses on a variety of issues including how consumers truly value the set of logistics and supply chain services companies strive to differentiate upon (returns, assortment, speed). Additionally, he researches vehicle routing through real supply chain networks, seeking to account for the variability in traffic, stop lengths, and goods/services delivered/picked up in ways that classic vehicle routing techniques ignore. Lastly, Dr. Griffis works in the area of illicit supply chain networks where goods (e.g. counterfeit or illegal) co-mingle with legitimate supply chains, creating challenges for legitimate business operations.
Steve Francis
Acting Executive Associate Director, HSI
Bio
Mr. Steve K. Francis is currently the acting executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the principal investigative component of the Department of Homeland Security. HSI investigates, disrupts, and dismantles transnational criminal organizations and terrorist networks that threaten or seek to exploit the customs and immigration laws of the United States. In this role, Mr. Francis oversees HSI’s workforce, which consists of over 10,000 employees to include special agents, criminal analysts, mission support personnel and contract staff assigned to over 220 offices throughout the United States and across 50 countries worldwide.
Prior to this assignment, Mr. Francis was dual hatted as the assistant director for HSI’s Global Trade Investigations Division and the director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. In these roles, he oversaw HSI’s counterproliferation investigations, which prevents illicit procurement networks, terrorist groups, and hostile nations from illegally obtaining U.S. military products, sensitive dual-use technology, weapons of mass destruction, and nuclear materials. In addition, Mr. Francis led the federal government’s response to combat global intellectual property theft, enforce intellectual properties rights violations, and protect public health and safety. Earlier in his career, Mr. Francis served as the special agent in charge for HSI Detroit which has an area of responsibility that includes the states of Michigan and Ohio. During this time, Mr. Francis led and supported more than 220 law enforcement agents, intelligence analysts, and professional administrative staff charged with investigating over 400 violations of U.S. laws in furtherance of promoting national security, as well as public safety, and border security. Mr. Francis has served in several critical leadership positions throughout his career and has been recognized for his achievements as he has been presented the DHS Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Diversity Management, HSI Excellence in Public Service, DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberty’s “Game Changer” Award for establishing the Middle Eastern Law Enforcement Officers Association, Top 25 Trademark Influencers Award, and Michigan State University’s 2020 Wall of Fame Award.
Mr. Francis is a proud alumnus of Michigan State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
Summer Kostelnik
Policy Advisor, Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Executive Office of the United States President
Bio
Summer Kostelnik serves as policy advisor in the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) in the Executive Office of the President, where she advises senior officials on matters related to all areas of intellectual property and coordinates within the United States government on the development of intellectual property policy and strategy domestically and abroad. Prior to joining IPEC, Summer was a Patent Attorney in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In that role, she advised the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on domestic and international patent issues. Earlier in her career, Summer worked as a Patent Examiner in the field of medical devices.
Ms. Kostelnik holds bachelor of science degree in bioengineering and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Pittsburgh
Tim Mackey
Director, Global Health Policy and Data Institute, Univeristy of California-San Diego and A-CAPP Affiliated Faculty
Bio
Tim Ken Mackey is a professor of global health in the Global Health program at UC San Diego, the director of the Global Health Policy and Data Institute, and the editor in chief of JMIR Infodemiology. He is also the CEO and co-founder of the data science and research services company S-3 Research, currently funded by several government and private sector contracts and grants. He holds a BA in political science-international relations, a master’s degree in health policy & law, and also earned his Ph.D. in global public health from the joint doctoral program at UC San Diego – San Diego State University. Prof. Mackey’s work focuses on global public health, data science, regulatory science and policy. His work also specifically focuses on online threat detection, counterfeit products, digital supply chains and open source intelligence gathering. He also has extensive professional experience including over 10 years working in the private sector and acting as a consultant for the World Health Organization, the US Department of State, and others.
Tim Mohn
Director, Global Brand Protection Strategy & Risk Management, Johnson & Johnson and A-CAPP BPP Editorial Board Member
Bio
Tim has a 20+ year career in wide-ranging quality roles across medical devices and pharmaceuticals, primarily at Johnson & Johnson. Prior to joining global brand protection in 2019, Tim was director, business quality at Janssen, where he was the quality head for the US immunology and infectious diseases franchises and supported multiple brand protection investigations, including sitting on the ID board where decisions were made about what to do about these incidents. This is where Tim was first exposed to the very real impacts of illicit trade in healthcare and led to his passion of trying to do something about it, starting with increasing detection capabilities in the complaint handling process and leading to his current role in global brand protection where he oversees strategy & risk management globally.
Notably, Tim also spent two years at a software company (Sparta Systems, makers of TrackWise Quality Management Systems) in consulting and product marketing roles before returning to Johnson & Johnson in 2012. Tim earned a masters degree in manufacturing management and bachelor of science in biology from the Pennsylvania State University. He is also green belt certified in process excellence.
Tom Holt
Professor, School of Criminal Justice, MSU
Bio
Tom Holt is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His research focuses on computer hacking, malware, and the role of the Internet in facilitating all manner of crime and deviance. His work has been published in various journals including Crime and Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, the Journal of Criminal Justice, and Youth and Society.
Whitney Ingraham
3L, College of Law and A-CAPP Legal Intern, MSU
Bio
Whitney Ingraham is a first-generation lawyer who is a 3L JD candidate at MSU College of Law, with a bachelor’s degree in history focused on the Celtic medieval period for which she studied both at the University College Cork and the University of Mary Washington. She is an avid student of international law, having lived in many countries. In this time, she has assisted in researching and writing appeals to the EUIPO and the European Court of Justice. Additionally, she has international experience working in brand protection and anti-counterfeiting in Turin Italy with Jacobacci e Associati. Elsewhere, she has been a successful mediator, handling sensitive cases and seeking ideal solutions to complex problems. During her free time, she enjoys frequent traveling with her goal being to visit every continent.
Whitney Gibson
Partner and Chair, Vorys eControl
Bio
Whitney is a partner and leader of the firm’s nationally recognized Vorys eControl. He and the firm’s team have developed cutting-edge, yet cost-effective, solutions to help brands control their sales in the digital age. Whitney is also chair of the firm’s technology and intellectual property group. In leading Vorys’ eControl, Whitney has developed custom programs for companies confronting unauthorized sales, grey market sales, counterfeit sales, minimum advertised price (MAP) violators and other illegal sales on the internet. The team combines legal, technological and investigative tools and services., the US Department of State, and others.
Zach Toczynski
Senior Director, Global Brand Protection, Levi Strauss & Co. and A-CAPP Advisory Board Member
Bio
Bio coming.
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