Agenda
Time | Event |
---|---|
9:00am |
|
10:50am |
|
11:00am |
|
12:15pm |
|
1:00pm |
|
Speakers

Juan Pablo del Valle Perochena
Chairman of the Board

Juan Pablo del Valle Perochena
Chairman of the Board
Since joining his family business, Kaluz, in 2003, Juan Pablo has been responsible for real estate investments and for Kaluz’s participation in Orbia. Under his watch, Kaluz has constructed more than 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use developments in Mexico, and Orbia has been transformed from a local chemical company to a world leader in polymers, fluor, precision agriculture, data communications, and building and infrastructure solutions that are advancing life around the world. Prior to his role at Kaluz, Juan Pablo founded Grupo Módulo Progresivo an affordable housing development company in 2001, and worked for Telmex from 1996 to 1999, where among other responsibilities he led the implementation of the first fiber optic sea cable project connecting the United States, Mexico, and South America.
Juan Pablo serves on the Johnson Controls Inc. and Elementia boards of directors. In the nonprofit realm, he is the chairman of Mexico City’s first water fund, co-chairman of the Latin American Conservation Council at The Nature Conservancy and a member of the International Advisory Board at Harvard Business School and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.

Sameer Bharadwaj
Chief Executive Officer

Sameer Bharadwaj
Chief Executive Officer
With more than 20 years of experience, Sameer is a proven strategic leader with a track record of fostering business growth through technology-led innovation, operational excellence and talent development across the advanced materials, technology, energy and pharmaceutical industries.
Since joining Orbia in 2016 to lead the compounds business group, Sameer has assumed leadership of the Alphagary, Koura and Vestolit commercial brands and brought Orbia’s fluorine-based and PVC and vinyl polymer compound solution portfolios to competitive market positions and his global teams to high levels of performance. Prior to joining Orbia, Sameer held numerous executive leadership positions over the course of an 11-year tenure at Cabot Corporation, most recently as Vice President and General Manager, where he steered go-to-market strategy and commercialization of new technologies with a key focus in the energy and materials spaces. Before that, Sameer worked as a strategy consultant for The Boston Consulting Group, where he served clients in the metals, telecommunications, technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He started his career as a senior research engineer at The Dow Chemical Company.

Tania Rabasa
Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs

Tania Rabasa
Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs
Tania brings a commitment to Orbia’s purpose-driven journey to her role as well as corporate development expertise and more than 15 years of experience in the energy sector. She has a background at the intersection of energy and strategy, with a particular focus on guiding transitions and sustainable development agendas. In addition, Tania has worked across the private and public sectors and built a broad network of stakeholders in Mexico, spanning policymakers, industry groups, academia, members of the media and NGOs.
Prior to joining Orbia, Tania held numerous leadership roles in Mexico’s largest state-owned electricity company, CFE, and in its trading and marketing entity CFEnergía. Before that, Tania worked at the Board level as well as in the finance department at PEMEX. Tania is a founding member of Voz Experta, an NGO that supports women’s leadership in businesses in the environmental and energy sectors as well as a member of numerous think tanks including COMEXI, Club of Rome and Centro Tepoztlán that are promoting the study and analysis of global challenges including climate change.

Nick Ballas
EVP & President, Vestolit

Nick Ballas
EVP & President, Vestolit
Nick is an accomplished executive with extensive global experience in the chemical and manufacturing industries. He has a track record of developing and executing strategy, enhancing operations and delivering top- and bottom-line results.
Prior to joining Orbia in 2020, Nick served for eight years as an Executive Vice President of Nexans SA, a worldwide leader in the cable industry, where he led the company’s Asia Pacific business division. Nick also served as a director of Nexans Foundation, where he helped steer efforts to bring electricity to disadvantaged communities throughout the world. Nick´s prior experiences include consulting work at Cathedral Hill Advisory, Samudera Shipping in Indonesia and an early career at Cabot Corporation where he was instrumental in the spin-out of Cabot LNG. Nick is currently a board member at Samudera.
Nick holds a Master of International Management degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a B.S. degree from St. Cloud State University.

Gautam Nivarthy
EVP & President, Alphagary

Gautam Nivarthy
EVP & President, Alphagary
A chemical engineer by training with over 20 years of management experience in the chemical industry, Gautam has led wide-ranging business transformation efforts that unlock significant value.
Since joining Orbia in 2017, Gautam has elevated Alphagary to an industry leadership position on the back of providing innovative solutions tailored to customer needs. Prior to joining Orbia, Gautam held executive leadership roles spanning marketing, strategy and general management for Honeywell, DuPont and Unilever. He has lived and worked in Southeast Asia and Europe during his tenure at DuPont and Unilever.
Gautam holds a PhD in chemical technology from the University of Twente, an MBA from Columbia Business School and a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bombay.

Maarten Roef
EVP & President

Maarten Roef
EVP & President
Maarten previously managed Wavin, which is part of the Building & Infrastructure group. He has almost three decades of experience in the plastics and packaging industry, during which time he headed Wavin’s overseas business in the Benelux and Northwest regions, before being appointed to the Wavin management board in 2010. Maarten also is a member of The European Pipe and Fitting Association (TEPPFA).
Maarten holds a master’s degree in business economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Gaby Miodownik
EVP & President

Gaby Miodownik
EVP & President
Over the course of 17 years, Gaby gained deep knowledge of Netafim’s global customer base and agriculture markets spanning geographies from holding positions including Chief Financial Officer for Latin America, Managing Director of Netafim Mexico, Vice President of the Americas, Vice President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and most recently as Senior Vice President and President of the Americas at Netafim.
Gaby holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a focus in Accounting and Finance from Tel Aviv University. He is also a certified accountant in Israel.

Peter Hajdu
EVP & President

Peter Hajdu
EVP & President
Peter joined Orbia in 2018 to lead the Dura-Line brand. Having held multiple executive positions in Cisco’s EMEA and emerging markets operations, Peter has great knowledge and vision on how to improve lives through data. Prior to his work at Cisco, Peter was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, serving clients in the chemicals, automotive, airline, and banking sectors.
He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained his MBA and management of technology degree.

Gregg Smith
EVP & President

Gregg Smith
EVP & President
Gregg has over three decades of global experience in the specialty materials and chemicals industries, with an established track record in general management, business development, entrepreneurship and technology development that unlocks growth.
Since joining Orbia in 2018, Gregg has led Koura to a competitive position in the fluorine value chain by expanding into existing and new verticals where fluorine is essential. Prior to joining Orbia, Gregg held executive leadership roles spanning operations, commercial and business development and technology at Cabot Corporation. He has had a successful history as a corporate entrepreneur and technology developer with the creation of new businesses and materials for inkjet and electrophotographic printing, carbon-reinforced composites and lithium-ion battery technologies.
Gregg holds an MBA from Northeastern University and a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of New Hampshire.

Shai Albaranes
Corporate Vice President, Innovation & Ventures

Shai Albaranes
Corporate Vice President, Innovation & Ventures
Being an entrepreneur himself, Shai founded a successful start-up and served in business development and marketing roles in several other start-ups. Today he is a mentor and an active investor to several start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Before joining Orbia in 2018, Shai led the Product Management, Product Marketing, and Strategic Crops units at Netafim. Prior to his position at Netafim, Shai worked as a project manager at McKinsey & Co., providing global multinational companies with guidance on a broad range of strategic, organizational and M&A topics.
Shai holds a BA in computer science with distinction from the IDC and an MBA from INSEAD.

Jim Kelly
CFO

Jim Kelly
CFO
Jim is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in building global finance organizations and a track record of financial and operational leadership in the chemical and manufacturing industries. He has expertise in establishing best-in-class finance systems, processes and fundamentals that enhance organizational resilience and support growth.
Prior to joining Orbia, Jim held a variety of senior positions, most recently serving as Vice President and Corporate Controller of Cabot Corporation, where he oversaw all reporting and internal control activities, finance process improvements and facilitation of Cabot’s Audit Committee activities. Over the course of his career, Jim lived and worked across several continents and steered teams in corporate reporting, business financial planning and analysis, investor relations and internal audit.
Jim holds an MBA from Harvard University and a B.S. degree in accounting from Georgetown University.