MEET THE JUDGES - Swapcard
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M E E T T H E J U D G E S
They’re luminaries, designers, retailers and journalists. They’ve seen the growth of the outdoor industry over the span of decades. They’ve founded companies, guided new
product development and inspired many to take a leap in design and business. The initial panel will be joined by additional student judges for the evaluation of finalists.
They’ve founded companies, guided new product development, and inspired many to take a leap in design and business. Meet the judging panel for the third annual Outdoor
Retailer Innovation Awards!
The 16-member initial panel was joined by three student judges for the evaluation of finalists. Entries and finalists were scored by the judging panel based on the themes of
Spark, Desire, Function, and Impact. Judges considered a variety of factors, including concept, sustainability, originality, design, and what makes the product or service truly
innovative.
Richard Bangs is co-founder of www.Steller.co, now the world’s largest travel storytelling platform and app. He has oft been called the father of
modern adventure travel, and the pioneer in travel that makes a difference, travel with a purpose. He has spent more than 30 years as an explorer and
communicator, and along the way led first descents of 35 rivers around the globe, including the Yangtze in China and the Zambezi in Southern Africa. He
co-directed the IMAX Film, “Mystery of the Nile,” and co-authored the book of the same name. His book, “The Lost River: A Memoir of Life, Death and the
Transformation of Wild Water”, won the National Outdoor Book Award in the literature category and the Lowell Thomas Award for best book.
Patrick Brown-Hayes is a faculty member in the Apparel, Textiles, and Design program at University of Idaho and a private consultant. He previously
worked in a similar role as faculty at Washington State University. Between his teachings, personal work, and corporate consulting, he can often be
found spending time outdoors with his wife and three daughters. Brown-Hayes has worked in and out of the private and public sectors through creative,
design, leadership, and strategic roles. His love for the outdoors, photography, culture and travel has allowed him to visit and work around the United
States and Europe. He has been an active fly fisherman, runner, backpacker, back country skier, snowboarder, kayaker, mountain biker, wakeboarder, and
overall enjoyer of anything outdoor related.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 1
M E E T T H E J U D G E S
Daniel Calabrese is a soft goods designer and photographer. He received a BS in Industrial Design from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in Sports Product Design from the University of Oregon. Before moving to Portland for his
graduate studies, Daniel lived in Seattle and worked for eight years in the outdoor industry designing backpacks, travel bags, and luggage for a range of
brands. He was most recently the Director of Creative Services at Blackstone Investment Group overseeing the design and marketing for brands such as
Haiku Bags and LEGO® Bags. Upon graduation, he hopes to use his new knowledge to provide more inclusive, sustainable, and innovative solutions to
the market.
Joe Croft has honed a specialty in taking innovative, premium branded products to market in an accelerated, rapid-fire fashion and has been the catalyst
in many successful product and brand launches. A Stanford product design grad, his experience includes Gregory Mountain Products where he was
responsible for numerous patents and product line extensions. He then worked nearly a decade at brand-conscious eyewear giant, Oakley, Inc., and
later founded HyperDrive International, a product creation consultancy catering to premium brands in need of innovation, advanced design resources,
and global sourcing networks. He also founded and launched the successful brand Ju-Ju-Be, with its line of handbags for mothers and more recently a
footwear brand, Jeffrey Fitzhugh.
Ron Griswell’s foundation was molded after working as an outdoor educator and guide across the country. From the Boundary Waters Canoe Area to the
Grand Canyon, and from San Francisco Bay to the Anacostia River in Washington D.C., a vision in him came forward and sparked the passions and values
he holds today. He is extremely passionate about encouraging outdoor recreation at Historically Black Colleges/Universities through shared travel and
outdoor adventure experiences. As founder of HBCUs Outside, he’s helped increase participation rates of HBCU students in outdoor recreation and tackle
health issues plaguing the Black community. His vision is to diversify the experiences of members of HBCUs Outside, create tomorrow’s stewards of the
environment, help students become comfortable outside of their comfort zone, and ultimately diversifying the outdoors.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 2
M E E T T H E J U D G E S
Amy Horton is senior director of sustainable business innovation for the Outdoor Industry Association. With a passion for helping teams and companies
reach sustainability goals, she has worked for outdoor industry companies and Fortune 500 organizations facilitating sustainability progress. She helped
craft a greenhouse gas reduction strategy for the U.S. dairy industry and contributed to the design of Walmart’s initial sustainability index. While with the
Sustainable Apparel Coalition, she led collaborative impact projects and built the first business case for the Higg Index. She also facilitated the expansion
of OIA’s Chemicals Management Community of Practice and supported efforts by the OIA team that increased outdoor industry Higg Index adoption by
more than 80 percent. In her spare time, Horton enjoys exploring the vast Boulder trail network with her family.
Nick Johnson is a student graduating in the spring of 2021 from the Outdoor Product Design and Development program at Utah State University. His
designs focus on outdoor products with an emphasis on rapid prototyping and user interactions with outdoor environments. While at USU he has spent
time designing soft gear, apparel, and hard goods and has focused on the design process of balancing 3D models with hands-on prototyping. He has been
a teacher’s assistant for six consecutive semesters mentoring younger students in 2D and 3D design classes. Nick resides in Bozeman, Montana, and
spends his free time exploring mountains on skis and with climbing gear.
Dr. Gayatri Keskar is VP of research for Material ConneXion, working as a senior materials scientist and materials manager, and she is also a technical
advisor of carbon nanotubes and nanocomposites for Enhanced Nano Composites, Inc. Dr. Keskar has served as a technical advisor to various start-ups
and Fortune 500 companies including NBCUniversal, Hunter Douglas, and The Estee Lauder Companies. She earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and
Engineering from Clemson University and began her career as a research assistant in polymer nanocomposites for National Chemical Laboratory. She
holds numerous patents issued and pending in next-generation materials for consumer products.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 3
M E E T T H E J U D G E S
Yvonne Lin is a designer and an expert at considering gender in developing compelling and functional solutions to complex design problems. Founder of
4B Collective and the Femme Den, she was named a Master of Design by Fast Company and is the inventor on more than 20 patents. She has designed
numerous award-winning and best-selling products, messages, and services for clients such as Nike, Under Armour, Lego, Hasbro, Proctor & Gamble, Pepsi,
Nissan and American Express. She also spends a lot of time skiing, rock climbing and dressing up her small kids in a variety of unwieldy and fuzzy outfits.
Dr. Erin MacDonald is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University in the ME Design Group. She received an M.S. and Ph.D.
in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan; and a B.S. with honors in Materials Science and Engineering from Brown University. She
was a Sloan School of Management postdoctoral associate and mechanical engineering instructor at MIT from 2008 to 2009 and an assistant professor
of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University from 2009 to 2014. MacDonald spent several years designing hiking products before returning to
graduate school, and she holds two patents on consumer product designs. A main goal of her research is to increase the sustainability of products and
technologies by improving the representation of the consumer and other stakeholders in the design process.
John Martin is senior product development engineer at IDeology Firm in Seattle where he specializes in hardgoods and softgoods design, wearables,
and advanced R&D. With over 25 years of professional product development experience, he is passionate about helping companies and entrepreneurs
build out their product visions through prototyping from concept to production and everything in between. John was previously a product development
engineer for K2 Sports and also operated his own full-service product development firm, specializing in action sports.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 4
M E E T T H E J U D G E S
Adventure Correspondent Cameron L. Martindell is a freelance adventure travel and expedition writer, photographer and filmmaker who is always “Off
Yonder: Seeing the world for what it is.” In addition to writing his own popular blog [offyonder.com], he is the managing editor for Elevation Outdoors
Magazine and he has contributed to The Gear Junkie, National Geographic, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, The Washington Post,
Outside, Backpacker, Wired, and others. He has been to all seven continents and lived on five of them, including a four-month stint at the South Pole.
Cameron has more than 10 years of mountain search and rescue experience, is an Eagle Scout, has been an Australian bush firefighter, competes in
sailing regattas, plans national and international youth programs, guides Oregon rafting trips and Australian bush backpacking trips.
Jennifer Nolfi possesses a unique blend of work across both public and private sectors. In 2008, she entered the athletic and outdoor industry via her
work with Prosper Portland (then Portland Development Commission) where she led the first regional comprehensive industry study resulting in an
action plan and infographic. She now serves as executive director of the Center for Retail Leadership at Portland State University’s School of Business.
Her responsibilities include developing a pipeline of talent to support footwear, apparel and gear companies with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion.
Andrea Olsen is an apparel designer and an assistant professor at Utah State University in the Outdoor Product Design and Development Program.
She spent 12 years designing technical outerwear for Columbia Sportswear Company and creating sustainable apparel lines for prAna. Early in her
career, she noticed the impact of positive and negative leadership and team dynamics on companies she worked for and the people she worked with.
Out of these experiences, Andrea’s passion for teaching and supporting creative people and teams was born. She is now focusing her career on higher
education to empower the next generation of outdoor leaders and product creators.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 5
M E E T T H E J U D G E S
Jorge Rojas is an industrial designer at Industrial Design Workshop Inc. in Portland, Oregon, where he is involved in the design process from initial
research to concept development, refinement, and color design. An alum of The Art Institute of Portland and PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy, he
has developed footwear products for men, women, and kids across categories. He has also worked on both soft and hardgoods, including toys, cycling
gloves, protective gear, flotation devices, swim fins, snow helmet ear pads, hunting knives, packaging, and more, and he helps mentor aspiring footwear
designers.
Through nearly 30 years in the performance sporting goods industry, Dr. Susan Sokolowski has been working cross-functionally between footwear,
apparel and equipment in creative and strategic roles. She has been recognized internationally for achievements in product design and innovation,
including the Design Museum London, awards from the U.S. Olympic Committee and Volvo, along with authorship on 40+ utility patents. She has
managed and directed several product innovation and research organizations, including at Nike, Gravis/Burton Snowboards, FILA and the University of
Oregon, where she currently is the Founding Director and Associate Professor of the Sports Product Design Graduate Program.
Brandon Stoddard is a faculty member and director of the Hall Global Entrepreneurship Center in the Goddard School of Business & Economics at Weber
State University. His work with students has included the creation and management of Outdoor Weber, an outdoor recreation idea pitch competition
for university students worldwide. He also manages operations for Community Oriented Services for Helping, Inc. and maintains a seat on the Board
of Trustees for the Utah Certified Development Company. He has held various roles in both the private and public sectors assisting entrepreneurs and
helping organizations grow.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 6
M E E T T H E J U D G E S
Born into the First Family of American mountaineering, mountain climbing is in Peter Whittaker’s bloodline. His uncle Jim Whittaker was the first
American to reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1963. His father Lou (Jim’s identical twin) founded RMI in 1969 and led the First American Ascent of
the North Face of Everest in 1984. Peter has been guiding and climbing for more than 40 years. He first climbed Mt. Rainier at age 12, began guiding
professionally at 16, and has logged 250+ ascents of Rainier. He has completed the Seven Summits and led more than 4,000 clients on hundreds of
expeditions around the globe, from Rainier to Everest. Peter co-owns Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., the largest guide service in the United States, and
is founder of Whittaker Mountaineering and Bight Gear. He also has been the host of Trailside: Make Your Own Adventure, an Emmy-nominated outdoor
adventure series on National Public Television.
Malcolm Williams is a graduate of Georgia Southern University from Augusta, Georgia. His passion for footwear and storytelling landed him a spot in
PENSOLE’s 2020 Fueling the Future of Footwear Masterclass competition, hosted by Footlocker and New Balance. He is currently enrolled in Portland
State University’s Athletic and Outdoor Product Management Graduate Certificate Program, and aspires to become a storyteller in the footwear industry.
Outdoor Retailer Winter Online | 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards | Judging Panel 7
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