At the recent North American Supply Chain Executive Summit, one of the top awards presented was the Supply Chain Recognition Award. Ann Drake, AWESOME founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board of DSC Logistics, received the award, and Barb Schwarzentraub, Director in Global Information Services at Caterpillar, Inc., and an AWESOME Advisor, was a finalist. The third finalist was Jana Gessner, VP of Environmental, Health and Safety at Pepsico. All three were chosen because they serve as “examples and inspirational leaders.”
Ann served as Chairman and CEO of DSC Logistics from 1994 through 2018 and currently serves as Chairman of DSC’s Advisory Board. She founded AWESOME in 2013 after becoming the first woman in more than 47 years to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). Her vision for AWESOME was to bring senior supply chain leaders together, to expand opportunities for women to advance into the highest leadership ranks, and to transform the future of supply chain leadership. Ann has been recognized as an extraordinary leader by many other organizations, and through Lincoln Road Enterprises, which she founded in 2019, she continues to impact the future of women’s leadership in business, supply chain technology, and other fields.
Barb has worked at Caterpillar for nearly 30 years. Her tenure includes serving as Director of Component Manufacturing, Parts Distribution Director in Caterpillar Logistics, Technical Director of Caterpillar Logistics Tech Services and increasing roles of responsibility across numerous divisions, international borders, economic conditions and functions. Her career exemplifies leadership that expands in many directions and successfully drives major initiatives. Among her accomplishments are spearheading lean-based global organizational reengineering, being a key player in reinventing Caterpillar through digital transformation and building consensus to add sustainability as a fifth value to Caterpillar’s core values.