NRF Foundation Campus | New York

OUR 2025 EVENTS

Tonya Hallett from Amazon speaks on stage at the Student Program 2025.

Main Stage Sessions

Insights and expertise from the speakers on our main stage.

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Watch the Main Stage Sessions

Welcome & Kick Off

NRF Foundation Student Program 2025 Speaker Steven Preston

Steven Preston - Goodwill Industries International President and Chief Executive Officer

Sustainability in Action: IKEA's Vision for a Circular Future

Javier Quiñones – CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA

Scot Case – National Retail Federation VP, CSR & Sustainability

AI-Powered Design: A New Era of Creativity

Joshua Longo – Senior Director of Design: Hardgoods, Crate & Barrel

Young Professionals Panel

Megan Marr - Location Planning Analyst, Ross Stores, Inc.

Clay Lute – Global Merchant - Men's Denim, Calvin Klein

Ashley Cairns - Ulta Merchandise Manager

Megan Marr – Associate Buyer, ALDI

Annie Hope Mazzola – Location Planning Analyst, Ross Stores, Inc.

Clay Lute – Global Merchant: Men's Denim, Calvin Klein

LeAnn Percivill – Brands Manager, Renovation Brands

The Courage Factor: Unlocking your Leadership Potential

Tonya Hallett – Vice President - People eXperience Technology, Amazon

The Power of Experiential Retail

Anna Harman – CEO & Co-Founder, Studs

Casey Lewis – Founder, After School

Leading with Authenticity & Impact: Unleashing a Career in Store Leadership

Isaiah Brown – Nordstrom Sr. Talent Manager

Brittani Thomas – Nordstrom Program Manager, Early in Career Engagements & Partnerships

Merchandising for Social Purpose

NRF 2025 Speaker Session Hannah Roshetko

Hannah Roshetko Raser – CVS Health AVP of Front Store Strategy & Transformation

Ron Brown – Target Vice President of Community Impact

Kimberly Lee Minor – CEO, WOC Retail Alliance

Mindy Scheier – Founder & CEO, Runway of Dreams and GAMUT Management

The 4th Frontier: How UNIQLO Plans to Become the #1 Global Apparel Retailer

Yoshihide Shindo – UNIQLO USA CEO

Sheneque Alexander – Fast Retailing USA, Inc. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager

Four men sit on stage answering questions about the tech and supply chain aspects of the retail industry at the Student Program 2025 Tech & Supply Chain breakout session.

Breakout Sessions

Go deeper with our breakout sessions for our NRF Foundation Ray Greenly Scholarship recipients.

The Future of Retail: Integrating Technology and Supply Chain Solutions

Presented by BestBuy

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Careers in Technology

In this conversation, speakers discuss their career paths in technology and how they found their place in retail. They share their backgrounds, and what excites them about their roles/the companies they work for. Speakers share high level insights on the projects they have had a chance to work on and the impact that technology has on the consumer and for the business. This session is designed to set the stage for students on the critical role of technology careers and the impactful work that they could be doing if they join the retail industry.

Fredrik Carlegreen - Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions VP, Head of Marketing & Communications

Michael Hess - Accuvia Software Group CEO

Smita Katakwar - Wegmans SVP, IT

Digital Risk & Innovation

This session focuses on cybersecurity, AI, fraud prevention, and related areas for consideration within digital risk. What role does technology play in retailers being able to address these important challenges? How are retailers leveraging technology and why is it so important today? Panelists draw on their own careers/experiences/knowledge, and/or the high level work their company has done in this space and the projects they get to work on. This session is designed to help students understand the work that happens behind the scenes every day in retail.

Christian Becker - National Retail Federation VP, Retail Technology & Cybersecurity

James Frank - Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Innovations Consultant

The Role of Technology in Delivering the Customer Experience

In this session, speakers dive into the front-end experiences for customers and how people are experiencing the technology that retailers create and put to use every day. Speakers discuss unified commerce - how the back-end systems they work on as technologists impact the consumer and enhance the experiences that we are so familiar with as consumers. This session is designed to help students connect the dots between the way they interact with retailers every day and the work they could do if they pursue careers in technology at retailers.

Allie Ferrari - Kohl's VP, Product Leader

Jason Williams - DICK'S Sporting Goods VP, Engineering

Rob Fusillo - Walmart SVP, Global Technology

Welcome

Best Buy EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer Mark Irvin and Best Buy Associate Vice President of Distribution Shauna Broderick set the stage for the supply chain breakout sessions.

Mark Irvin - Best Buy EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer

Shauna Broderick - Best Buy Associate Vice President of Distribution

Retail Supply Chain Sustainability

How are retail supply chains approaching sustainability, and why is it so important in today's retail environment? What impact does it have on the business, and on the consumer? In this panel, retailers share their insights on this topic and help students understand the work that happens behind the scenes by supply chain teams to make these systems function and further their efforts in sustainability and circularity.

Chris Woodbury - Best Buy Senior Director, Secondary Markets

Brittney Krajny - Target Senior Distribution Director

Alicia Martinez - Walmart Vice President, Inventory Health

Growing Trends in Automation and AI in Supply Chain

In this session, Lee discusses the key challenges of operating a Retail Supply Chain and how Automation and Technology can help address those challenges. Gain insight into the innovative technology that Best Buy uses in their Supply Chain today, as well as some exciting new technology that is just now coming to market that retailers of all kinds are considering for their automation portfolio.

Lee Nenstiel - Best Buy Senior Director, Supply Engineering and Innovation

Leadership Skills for the Future

This session helps students understand the skills they will need for a successful career in supply chain and in retail. Speakers share the importance of interpersonal skills/soft-skills and leadership/teamwork in the supply chain field, as well as stories of their own careers in supply chain and why they chose this path.

Shauna Broderick - Best Buy Associate Vice President, Field Distribution

Ed Oldham - PetSmart SVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer

Sonny Pooni - Kohl's Director of Operations

Richard Avila - Burlington Vice President, Supply Chain Industrial Engineering

A representative from Target gives advice to a table of students about to enter the retail industry work force at the Student Program 2025 Executive Mentor Experience.

Executive Mentor Experience

Presented by American Express

More than 100 leaders from companies will join students for small round-table discussions during our signature NRF Foundation Executive Mentor Experience.

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Career Fair

Connecting with top retailers and beginning the conversations to apply for internships and entry-level roles.

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A woman leads a discussion on stage at the Student Program 2025 Educator session

Educator Meeting

An exclusive session just for educators attending the Student Program.

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NRF Foundation Campus | New York

New York

NRF Foundation Student Program

OUR 2025 EVENTS

Welcome & Kick Off

Steven Preston - Goodwill Industries International President and Chief Executive Officer

Sustainability in Action: IKEA's Vision for a Circular Future

Javier Quiñones – CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA

Scot Case – National Retail Federation VP, CSR & Sustainability

AI-Powered Design: A New Era of Creativity

Joshua Longo – Senior Director of Design: Hardgoods, Crate & Barrel

Young Professionals Panel

Megan Marr – Associate Buyer, ALDI

Annie Hope Mazzola – Location Planning Analyst, Ross Stores, Inc.

Clay Lute – Global Merchant: Men's Denim, Calvin Klein

LeAnn Percivill – Brands Manager, Renovation Brands

The Courage Factor: Unlocking your Leadership Potential

Tonya Hallett – Vice President - People eXperience Technology, Amazon

The Power of Experiential Retail

Anna Harman – CEO & Co-Founder, Studs

Casey Lewis – Founder, After School

Leading with Authenticity & Impact: Unleashing a Career in Store Leadership

Isaiah Brown – Nordstrom Sr. Talent Manager

Brittani Thomas – Nordstrom Program Manager, Early in Career Engagements & Partnerships

Merchandising for Social Purpose

Hannah Roshetko Raser – CVS Health AVP of Front Store Strategy & Transformation

Ron Brown – Target Vice President of Community Impact

Kimberly Lee Minor – CEO, WOC Retail Alliance

Mindy Scheier – Founder & CEO, Runway of Dreams and GAMUT Management

The 4th Frontier: How UNIQLO Plans to Become the #1 Global Apparel Retailer

Yoshihide Shindo – UNIQLO USA CEO

Sheneque Alexander – Fast Retailing USA, Inc. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager

Careers in Technology

Fredrik Carlegreen - Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions VP, Head of Marketing & Communications

Michael Hess - Accuvia Software Group CEO

Smita Katakwar - Wegmans SVP, IT

Digital Risk & Innovation

Christian Becker - National Retail Federation VP, Retail Technology & Cybersecurity

James Frank - Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Innovations Consultant

The Role of Technology in Delivering the Customer Experience

Allie Ferrari - Kohl's VP, Product Leader

Jason Williams - DICK'S Sporting Goods VP, Engineering

Rob Fusillo - Walmart SVP, Global Technology

Welcome

Mark Irvin - Best Buy EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer

Shauna Broderick - Best Buy Associate Vice President of Distribution

Retail Supply Chain Sustainability

Chris Woodbury - Best Buy Senior Director, Secondary Markets

Brittney Krajny - Target Senior Distribution Director

Alicia Martinez - Walmart Vice President, Inventory Health

Growing Trends in Automation and AI in Supply Chain

Lee Nenstiel - Best Buy Senior Director, Supply Engineering and Innovation

Leadership Skills for the Future

Shauna Broderick - Best Buy Associate Vice President, Field Distribution

Ed Oldham - PetSmart SVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer

Sonny Pooni - Kohl's Director of Operations

Richard Avila - Burlington Vice President, Supply Chain Industrial Engineering