AI, tariffs, and trust-driven partnerships in sustainable supply chains with Dr. Robert Handfield and Ben Barras

Rob Handfield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, and Executive Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (http://scm.ncsu.edu/). Handfield is considered a thought leader in the field of supply chain management, and is an industry expert in the field of strategic sourcing, supply market intelligence, and supplier development. He has spoken on these subjects across the globe, including China, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Latin America, India, Europe, Korea, Japan, Canada, in multiple presentations and webinars. Handfield has published more than 120 peer reviewed journal articles and is regularly quoted in global news media such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Bloomberg, NPR, Washington Post, the Financial Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and CNN. He served on the Joint Acquisition Task Force during COVID which led to published articles on the shortages of PPE in the Harvard Business Review and the Milbank Quarterly Journal, and led a NIIMBL research team studying distribution of test kits during the pandemic. He was also invited to serve on the Biden White House Counsel of Economic Advisors in January 2022, and has worked with many companies through the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative for several years.

Ben Barras leads World Vision’s team responsible for developing and deepening relationships with US-based corporations and providing strategic direction to the Gifts in Kind, cause marketing, and workplace giving teams. Ben came to World Vision following more than 25 years of for-profit leadership experience in the Retail, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, and Technology industries. Ben has held leadership roles in global enterprise strategic planning, global supply chain management, customer management, technology product development, enterprise alliance partner creation and management, new business startup, business development, and enterprise marketing strategy. Ben did his undergraduate studies at The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, graduating with a BS in Business Management. Ben received an MBA from The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School. He remains involved at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and NC State, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in business, supply chain, and entrepreneurism. Ben has been married to his wife Jamie for nearly 30 years. Jamie and Ben have five children, and they live in Apex, NC.