Keynote Speaker and Panelists

Amelia Abernathy

Amelia Abernathy is an instructor in the Price College of Business Division of Marketing and Supply Chain Management. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with bachelor’s degrees in Supply Chain Management and International Business. While at OU, she was a member of the JCPenney Leadership Program, Price College Ambassadors and the Association for Operations Management. 

After graduation, she moved to Greenville, S.C., to work for Michelin North America in the company’s supply chain/logistics department. During her time with Michelin, she had multiple roles in logistics engineering, supply chain project management and operational steering. While in South Carolina, she completed an M.B.A. at the University of South Carolina.  

Wesley Anderson

Wesley Anderson is a senior vice president in commercial real estate lending with Valor Bank in Edmond, Okla. Mr. Anderson has held a position in commercial lending for 16 years beginning in 2007 with Bank of Oklahoma in their ATC training program in Tulsa, Okla. Mr. Anderson currently manages a commercial real estate portfolio of $75MM+ and oversees the business development for the bank primarily in the Oklahoma City market.  

Outside of his daily responsibilities, Mr. Anderson served on numerous local boards including Urban Land Institute and Cavett Kids. In his spare time outside of work and with family, Mr. Anderson runs a small business that designs and fabricates high-end signage displayed at professional golf tournaments in the Midwest. Wesley currently resides in Edmond, Okla., with his wife of 14 years, Dr. Serena Anderson, and their three children.

Wesley graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2005 with a B.B.A in Finance. He is also an alumnus of the JCPenney Leadership Program.

Blake Bowersock

Blake Bowersock is a principal consultant for North Highland, based out of Charlotte, N.C. He works with clients in the retail and consumer product space to help build innovative solutions that address their business transformation related challenges.

Prior to his current role, Bowersock worked for consulting firms Accenture, Ernst & Young, Kates Kesler where he primarily focused on business transformation processes. Blake also spent time as an organization design consultant for Lowe’s Companies.

Blake graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2001 with a B.B.A. in International Business. He is also an alumnus of the JCPenney Leadership Program.

Andi Fischer

Andi Fischer works at McKinsey & Company in Dallas, Texas. Prior to joining McKinsey, Andi spent six years in the tech industry, including IBM, an early-stage machine learning startup, and Apple (ask Siri "what causes seasons" to see the product that she deployed).

Fischer holds a B.B.A. in Supply Chain Management from the University of Oklahoma and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. She is also an alumna of the JCPenney Leadership Program.

Kaitlyn Gilliam

Kaitlyn Gilliam is a vice president and corporate banking relationship manager for Bank of Oklahoma. She provides financing solutions to business owners and management teams across Oklahoma and south-central Kansas, including treasury services, lending solutions, equipment financing and more.

Prior to joining Bank of Oklahoma, Gilliam spent six years with JPMorgan Chase in Oklahoma City, most recently serving as a commercial banker to middle market clients in the commercial & industrial space. She also completed the commercial bank analyst program and served as an underwriter in her time at JPMorgan.

Gilliam graduated with special distinction from the University of Oklahoma with a B.B.A. in Finance and a minor in Spanish. She is also an alumna of the JCPenney Leadership Program at the Price College of Business, and she served on the 2015-2016 JCPLP Student Advisory Board.

Robert Kelly

Robert Kelly is the information technology service manager for the University of Oklahoma. He leads and manages a team of full-time and part-time service specialists in the support and delivery of IT services to the OU campus community.

Prior to his current role, Kelly spent 25 years as an IT specialist and product owner for the OU Information Technology Department. He provided administrative support that helped identify and address weaknesses and deficiencies in team-owned products, related projects, infrastructure and support, along with proactively coordinating maintenance and upgrades, technical staff, and service providers.

Kelly graduated from OU in 1995 with a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems. He is also an alumnus of the JCPenney Leadership Program.