Board of Advisors

To ensure relevance, accuracy and continued best practices, the Operations Council™ is guided by the talented and experienced professionals of our Board of Advisors below. The Operations Council Board of Advisors supports program and resource planning, and strives to represent our community of COOs, CAOs, Operations VPs, General Managers (GMs), and other operations professionals.

Do you have questions or suggestions for the Board? Please use the Operations Council contact form.

courtney rottman

Courtney Rottman

Advisor

Courtney Rottman is Chief Operating Officer for Care Technology at Evernorth Health Services, a Cigna Group corporation. Courtney is based in Dallas and has more than 20 years of experience serving in operations leadership roles at such global social innovators as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital-ALSAC, Baylor Scott & White Health, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and Travelocity.com.

Courtney earned a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) at the International School of Management, France; Master of Public Service & Administration (MPSA), JD Law, and a B.A. International Studies and History from Texas A&M University. Courtney is a Certified Chief of Staff, and served on the Forbes Nonprofit Council. She currently serves as Vice President on the Board of Directors at Nexus Recovery Center, a Dallas-based recovery and treatment center for women and mothers suffering from substance use and addiction.

Charles Mayfield

Charles Mayfield

Advisor

Charles Mayfield is Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) the fourth-largest school district with 800+ sites, over 43K employees, and a $9B budget. Charles’ role involves Facilities, IT, Nutrition, Procurement, Safety/Security, and Transportation.

Prior roles included Executive Director/Chief Procurement Officer for CPS, and Assistant Director Procurement for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), and 24-years in the United States Air Force.

Charles earned an MBA and Bachelor of Science- Business degrees from Southern Illinois University, along with executive education at Northwestern University and University of Chicago.

Charles serves on the board of the Illinois Association of Public Procurement Officials (IAPPO), and is active with the Kindness Campaign, Children’s First Fund (CFF), the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), and the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO).

Swati Reichmuth

Swati Reichmuth

Advisor

Swati Reichmuth is COO/CFO of Rune Labs, a San Francisco based precision neurology digital health startup. Swati’s Operations career began as a mechanical engineer at CISCO, then management consultant and Chief of Staff at Deloitte Consulting (SF), followed by Business Operations at Samsung Digital Health, and then a rapid trajectory of funding and promotions at digital health startup BrightInsight.

Swati earned an MBA-Strategy & Operations at UC Berkeley, and a BS Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley. She is an Advisor in Residence at Kicker Ventures, and member of the San Francisco chapter of Chief, an association for women executives.

billy lawder

Billy Lawder

Advisor

Billy Lawder, a seasoned C-level supply chain executive, is dedicated to helping customers achieve their most strategic business objectives. With over two decades of experience in supply chain and operations, he has earned a reputation for delivering outstanding financial results, fostering highly engaged teams, and achieving bold business goals through innovative thinking.

In 2023, Billy was honored as Enterprise COO of the Year for his work optimizing operations, service, and procurement at Peak Technologies. As the CEO of Peloton Consulting, LLC, he collaborates with companies across various industry verticals, empowering them to break free from the daily grind and accelerate their progress. Billy’s expertise lies in supply chain optimization, scaling customer service and delivery operations, and strategically unlocking hidden value through procurement initiatives. 
 
He firmly believes that even “really good” just isn’t “good enough” when it comes to mission-critical customer solutions and develops strategies that focus on proactively identifying and resolving issues to smooth keep production lines humming, deliveries arriving, and customers delighted.
 
Billy’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ga Tech and a Master of Business Administration from Kennesaw State Coles College of Business. He holds certifications as a Six Sigma Black Belt and a Project Management Professional (PMP). Prior to founding Peloton Consulting, LLC, Billy led teams at various organizations, including Home Depot, Simmons Bedding, 3PD (now RXO Last Mile), Anheuser-Busch, Onsite Fuel Service, Mansfield Oil, and Peak Technologies. In his leisure time, he enjoys traveling with his wife, cheering on his four children during their activities, road cycling, and following Ga Tech football.
Mel Heckman

Mel Heckman

Advisor

Mel Heckman is an accomplished operations and technology executive with nearly 30 years experience in technology infrastructure, supply chain and procurement, digital transformation and business intelligence across a wide range of industries. His many COO and technology roles span mid-market to Fortune 500 corporations. Mel’s long consulting career focused on C-Suite advisory and technology implementation for West Monroe Partners, Sikich, Ernst & Young, and others. 

Mel earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science, Operations Management and Information Systems from Northern Illinois University. He is CPIM certified with the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), and is working toward his Certified Turnaround Associate distinction with the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).

Matt Barnes

Matt Barnes

Advisor

Matt Barnes is Managing Partner at Workfast Studios, an operations consulting firm focused on helping people connect strategy with execution through individual coaching, developing culture, and applying proven continuous improvement practices.  Matt’s 20 years of experience includes Vice President of Operations at Peak Technologies (a supply chain solutions provider), Director of Operations at TransMontaigne Partners (an energy supply chain services company) and in program management and project management roles across various industries. He began his career as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Navy and had the opportunity to serve and lead in overseas contingency environments and in the White House Military Office.

Matt holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, a Professional Engineer license (inactive), and Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) certifications.

Amy Julian

Amy Julian

Advisor

Amy Julian is Partner, Strategy & Transformation at Armanino, a Top 20 Accounting/Consulting firm with more than 2,500 employees and offices nationwide. Prior roles included senior Procurement, Operations and Supply Chain positions at ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV for more than 11 years, before launching her consulting career.

Amy earned a BS – Economics from Arizona State University, and an MBA from St. Louis University. Amy resides in St. Louis, MO.