What Nine Leading Women Said at Procurement LIVE Chicago

Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago brought together the brightest minds across the industry, serving up a host of engaging, enlightening and vital conversations around supply chain resilience, digital transformation, sustainability, risk management, supplier diversity and the future of procurement innovation.

Co-located with Sustainability LIVE, the Chicago edition offers a unique opportunity to explore the intersections of sustainability with procurement and supply chain management.

Celebrating the voices of women

Women continue to be key drivers of innovation, resilience and transformation across procurement and supply chain functions. However, their presence in senior leadership roles remains disproportionately low.

Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE, co-located with Sustainability LIVE, provides a vital platform to spotlight and celebrate the female leaders shaping the future of procurement and supply chain, amplifying their voices. 

On the Procurement Stage in Chicago, influential leaders such as Kimberly Green Reynolds (Coca-Cola Bottlers'​ Sales and Services), Kathy Presto (HH Global), Nancy Tiran (AstraZeneca) and Lauren Hymen (PepsiCo) who shared their perspectives on the evolution of supply networks, supplier engagement and resilience in volatile markets.

By curating panels like Women in Procurement, the event not only recognises female leadership but also fosters vital conversations about gender equality, inclusive growth and the critical role women play in building agile, ethical and sustainable supply chains.

Here, we explore the crucial takeaways our female speakers shared during Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago 2025.

Anne Valtink, Principal at Oliver Wyman

The Silent Champion: How Indirect Procurement Wins in Tariff Times

Anne showcased the power of indirect procurement – an underutilised yet powerful lever, especially in times of economic volatility and tariff uncertainty.

She argued that businesses often overlook indirect spend, even though it can account for over 30%—and sometimes more than 50%—of total external costs.

"In times of economic uncertainty, indirect procurement is what you can control—and it’s often ignored, even though it accounts for up to half of your external costs."

Joselina Peralta, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Stractix

The Partnership Advantage: Why CPO Should Stand for Chief Partnership Officer

Joselina urged the industry to undertake a fundamental rethink of procurement’s purpose, advocating for a shift from transactional vendor management to strategic partnership building.

She argued that most organisations treat suppliers as subordinate vendors rather than as collaborative allies, stemming from legacy systems designed for control, not trust. 

Joselina gave compelling evidence showing that while supplier collaboration is widely seen as essential to innovation and resilience, few companies have formal strategies to enable it.

"The future currency isn’t just tech or geography. The true advantage is partnership, because no technological advance will serve you if your ecosystem cannot move with you."

Kimberly Green Reynolds, Chief Procurement Officer at Coca-Cola Bottlers'​ Sales and Services

Women in Procurement Panel

Kimberly advocated for greater visibility of female leaders and stressed that organisations must tap into the full talent spectrum to remain competitive. For Kimberly, inclusive leadership and actionable allyship are key to dismantling structural barriers and ensuring future talent can thrive without facing the same hurdles.

"Allyship is action—culture shifts when we speak up and model inclusive leadership."

Kathy Presto, Chief Procurement Officer at HH Global

Women in Procurement Panel

Kathy highlighted the importance of mentorship and lived experience in shaping inclusive workplaces. 

She championed advocacy through credibility and proactive support, urging women to take up space confidently and men to examine their words through a lens of empathy. 

Her advice was – challenge assumptions, share stories and build networks that sustain long-term cultural change.

"Don’t assume development and mentoring will just happen—be proactive in making it real."

Nancy Tiran, Global Head of Commercial Procurement at AstraZeneca

Women in Procurement Panel

Nancy stressed the need for self-awareness, courage and personalised advocacy. She advocated for finding your own voice and earning credibility in male-dominated spaces. 

Her guidance focused on using inclusion deliberately – creating space for others to speak, encouraging curiosity and building career development around both skill and confidence.

"Know your worth, keep your boundaries—if you’re not valued where you are, go find another room."

Lauren Hymen, Vice President of Strategy and Transformation for Digital Procurement at PepsiCo

Driving Business Value Through Strategic Procurement Transformation

Lauren emphasised that people, data and purpose-driven technology must align to deliver lasting procurement transformation. At PepsiCo, digital tools are not adopted for novelty—they are chosen to solve specific pain points within the procurement function.

"At the end of the day, a tool is just a tool. If I don't understand the people using it, what their needs are, where they are in this journey—we'll never move forward."

Liliya Rechitsky, Sr. Director Category Management and Procurement Operations at Best Buy

Spend Management Strategies Panel

Liliya discussed the critical role of data visibility and collaboration in driving successful spend management strategies. 

At Best Buy, procurement transformation is not just about systems and processes—it’s about enabling the business to make smarter decisions through shared data and trusted relationships. 

Liliya also emphasised that procurement must be embedded in the broader enterprise strategy, providing insights that influence planning and improve agility.

"Procurement should be the connective tissue between functions, enabling strategy through collaboration and visibility."

Anna Barej, VP of Procurement at Best Buy

Procurement Transformation – Building a Success Culture

Anna’s core message centred on building a sustainable, people-first culture to drive continuous procurement evolution, not a transformation with a fixed end. She challenged the traditional view of transformation, arguing instead that organisations must adopt a mindset of constant adaptation.

"Transformation suggests a start and a finish, but the answer to when we’re done is: never. We are always evolving, and culture is what allows us to adapt and feel good about change."

Barbara Mendez, Head of Wireless Operations & Strategic Sourcing at BOOST Mobile

Keynote Presentation

Barbara called for a complete reimagining of supplier relationships in today’s volatile, decentralised world during her keynote. 

She argued that global procurement can no longer operate with a narrow focus on cost efficiency and single-source dependency. Instead, sourcing leaders must adopt a strategic, ecosystem-based approach that prioritises resilience, redundancy and long-term adaptability.

"The future is ecosystem-oriented, not vendor-oriented. Redundancy isn’t inefficiency—it’s resilience."

You can watch all these sessions and more from Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Chicago over on Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE.

Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE and Sustainability LIVE Chicago will return in 2026… Subscribe to Procurement Magazine to be the first to know more.