Speakers

Mr. Norton joined the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama in November 2004.  He is currently serving as Chief, Energy Execution Branch, providing strategic leadership and management for the execution of three energy programs that enhance the readiness of the warfighter, provide energy security and resilience as well as reduce energy and water demand. The Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC), Utility Energy Services Contracting (UESC), and Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) utilize performance third party financed acquisitions.  He leads the development and implementation of energy, water and waste reduction and renewable energy efforts that modernize installation infrastructure.  These efforts directly enable the warfighter to train, maintain their equipment, and deploy for combat. Prior to this position he served as the Chief, Energy Planning Branch providing strategic leadership and management oversight for the Commercial Utility Program (CUP), Resource Efficiency Manager Program (REM) and Energy Resilience Conservation Improvement Program (ERCIP).  Success in these assignments was through strong leadership of project delivery teams, development of strategic business plans and budgets, strong relationships with customers, and stakeholders in partnership with Energy Service Companies and utility companies.  Prior, he served as Program Manager for the ESPC, Access Control Point and Facilities Reduction Programs.  

Mr. Norton received the 2022 Secretary of the Army Individual Exceptional Performance Award, the 2014 Secretary of the Army Small Group Energy and Water Management Award for the ESPC Project Delivery Team received, the 2015 Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program Small Group Energy and Water Management Award and the 2016 Federal Energy and Water Management Director’s Award.

Mr. Norton is a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel with over 25 years in the Corps of Engineers.  While on active duty he served in a variety of assignments of increasing responsibilities leading people and organizations in the United States, Europe and combat operations during Desert Shield and Storm in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.  His last assignments were as the Director of Public Works for all Army garrisons in Italy and as the Deputy Commander of Tulsa District, US Corps of Engineers.  Mr. Norton’s military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (4 awards), Commendation Medal (4 awards), National Defense Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), Southwest Asia Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (2 awards) and Parachutist Badge.

Mr. Norton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Alabama and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

Mr. Ray is currently the Civilian Deputy for the Director of the Supply Chain Management Directorate (SCMD), G-3 HQ Army Materiel Command. In this role, Tom is responsible for planning, directing, integrating and coordinating the Army’s supply chains and the Organic Industrial Base, as well as the Enterprise Resource Planning software underpinning both.

Prior to his move to AMC Mr. Ray was the Director of Industrial Operations for the U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command (AMCOM) Logistics Center (ALC).  In this role at AMCOM he led the Industrial Operations Directorate to facilitate the work loading of the Organic Industrial Base and provided value added solutions that enable Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD), Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) as well as National Maintenance Provider (NMP) to act as a viable source of repair for the Army and the Warfighter.

Mr. Ray has over 30 years of combined government and industry experience.  Mr. Ray earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama and began his career at PPG Industries as a Maintenance Engineer.  During his 18 years of industry experience he worked for PPG Industries, General Electric and Tyler Tool Company (where he was part owner).  His titles in industry include Maintenance Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Global Aviation Quality Process Manager, Operations Manager, and Master Black Belt.  Mr. Ray joined the government service in 2012 where he served as AMCOM’s inaugural Master Black Belt guiding the Office of Continuous Improvement (OCI).  In 2015 Tom joined the ALC Industrial Operations team and as served various leadership roles before becoming Director of AMCOM Industrial Operations in early 2018.  In October of 2022 Mr. Ray moved to AMC as the Civilian Deputy for the Supply Chain Management Directorate at the G-3 HQ Army Materiel Command.

Mr. Ray holds multiple certifications including Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Certification in Production & Inventory Management (CPIM, APICS) and Program Management Professional (PMP, PMI).  Mr. Ray is also Defense Acquisition University Level III trained and certified in Production and Quality Management (PQM).  In addition, he has been awarded the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service on two different occasions as well as the Ernest A. Young Logistics Achievement Award in the management/executive category in 2017. He was also awarded the 2019 Louis Dellamonica Award for outstanding service and accomplishments that significantly contributed to AMC’s mission to develop and deliver materiel readiness solutions to U.S. warfighters.

Mr. Ray is a native of Russellville, AL. He and his wife, LaJeanna, have four children, Jacob (26), McKenna (24), Dylan (21) and Brayden (19).

Mr. Sweeney is the Assistant Program Executive Officer (APEO) for Logistics for PEO Aviation. Prior to this appointment, he worked in numerous positions within PEO Aviation. His previous assignments include serving as the Product Support Manager for the Apache Attack Helicopter ACAT I program, and the Aviation Systems Project Office Logistics Chief where he functioned as the Product Support Manager responsible for over 40 ACAT (II/III) programs within the Project Office. Before working within PEO Aviation, Mr. Sweeney served within the AMCOM Logistics Center as the Chief of both the Fleet Support and National Maintenance Branches supporting the Aviation and Missile Fleets. He served several years working within the logistics community to include supporting the Lower Tier Project Office and Air Defense. Mr. Sweeney began his career as a Department of the Army Intern in 1998 and was an honor graduate of the Army School of Engineering and Logistics.

Mr. Sweeney retired from the Alabama National Guard in October of 2010 after more than 20 years of service. He joined in 1990 and initially served as an enlisted Solider before graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1996. He was attached to 1st Infantry Division and was deployed to Iraq in December of 2003 and commanded a multicomponent unit comprised of both active and reserve personnel. Upon his return in March of 2005, he served as a Battalion Operations Officer for the 115th Signal Battalion and a Brigade Operations Officer in the 279th Army Field Support Brigade.

Mr. Sweeney attended Athens State College graduating Cum Laude in 1998 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He received a Master of Science in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2006 and has been part of the Acquisition Corps since 2005. He is advanced level certified in Life Cycle Logistics and is Practitioner certified in Program Management. Mr. Sweeney graduated from the Senior Service College Fellowship program in 2018 and has over six years of experience working in manufacturing to include Lean Six Sigma instruction in both private industry and government.

Mr. Sweeney’s civilian awards include the Meritorious Civilian Service Award, Commander’s Award for Civilian Service and the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service. He was awarded a Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge for his military service within Iraq. He is a veteran lifetime member of the Society of the 1st Infantry Division, and the Army Aviation Association of America.

Jared Crain is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and ESG Engagement at Salesforce. In this role he coordinates with Salesforce customers and partners to share sustainability and ESG best practices, enables the publication of the Salesforce annual ESG report, and supports public sector teams on their sustainability and ESG journeys. Previously he was the Director, Workforce Development for Salesforce Military, a training, certification, and job-placement program for veterans and military spouses.

Prior to joining Salesforce Jared served as an active duty army infantry officer for over 20 years. He served in command and staff positions across the globe, including four combat deployments to Iraq and two to Afghanistan. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and was a recipient of the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award.

Jared earned a Bachelors of Science from the United States Military Academy, a Masters in Business Administration from Florida State University, and a Masters in Sport Psychology from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Brooke Tvermoes is a board-certified toxicologist who currently serves as a manager within IBM’s Corporate Environmental Affairs organization where she leads a global team that is responsible for setting the strategic direction and requirements for IBM’s conservation, pollution prevention and chemical management programs and goals. In addition, she provides toxicological analysis related to IBM’s operations and products focusing on understanding the environmental and human health risks associated with horizon materials. She also advises IBM Research in the development of more environmentally preferable materials.

Brooke has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Northern Arizona University and a PhD in Toxicology from Duke University. She joined IBM and Corporate Environmental Affairs staff in 2016.