NACS IDEA Conference

Michelle Duguid will present and moderate the NACS IDEA Conference.

She is Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging and an associate professor of management and organizations at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Professor Duguid’s primary area of research investigates the interplay of social status, power, politics, influence, and diversity in organizations, with a particular focus on the effect of social status, power, and group relations on perceptions and interactions. Her research also examines individual and group processes that affect creativity and the quality of decision-making.

Treasa Bowers was the first-ever Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer for 7-Eleven, Inc., she served as a change agent and subject matter expert overseeing the advancement of 7-Eleven’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) program. In her role, Bowers connected 7-Eleven’s DE&I strategy to business objectives with a special focus on leadership growth, cultural awareness and talent management. Following 7-Eleven’s acquisition of Speedway, she assumed the role of Vice President Human Resources and Women’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. A 31-year veteran of the company, Bowers is passionate about cultivating a diverse, inclusive and equitable culture throughout 7-Eleven’s workplaces, corporate stores and franchise locations.

James Colino has been building and optimizing recruiting functions around the world for over 20 years. As the Head of Talent Acquisition for Sheetz, Inc., James oversees recruiting for over 600 stores and all support functions across a six-state footprint. Prior to joining Sheetz, James led talent acquisition in North America and Asia for The Hershey Company, managed the Global Technology Enablement function at Cielo, and served as the Founder and CEO of HireBar Inc., an interview software company that was acquired in 2017.

As President GetGo Café + Market, Polly Flinn leads the 265-store food-first convenience retail chain of Giant Eagle, Inc., one of the nation’s largest multi-format food, fuel, convenience and pharmacy retailers. The Giant Eagle Enterprise encompasses over 425 stores and 35,000 team members and is listed on Forbes magazine’s largest private corporations list. It operates throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, north central West Virginia, western Maryland and Indiana. Polly has worked on a national and global scale leading multi-functional teams in multi-format and multi-channel businesses building major brands like Walmart, BP, Giant Eagle, Arco ampm, and Castrol. Her experience spans multiple consumer shopping occasions from convenience to big box as well as strategic sales customer relationships with large scale OEMs such as Ford and BMW.

Daillard Paris is the Director of Petroleum Supply & Trading at Sheetz, Inc. with over 600 stores and 20,000 employees and a footprint extending through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Ohio. After finishing his enlistment in the Marine Corps he entered into the Oil & Gas industry—he has over 15 years of experience in this field, with nine of those years at Sheetz. He currently serves as the Initiative Leader as Sheetz launches a corporate I.D.E.A. Initiative. He sits on the board of the Blair County NAACP Chapter and Special Olympics of Pennsylvania and has been actively involved with the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organization for over 10 years.

In October 2020, Heather Schott joined the Krause Group to build a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program across all of their organizations, including Kum & Go. Heather has a brand and leadership style founded in problem solving, influence, innovation and disruption. Over her career, she has held a variety of roles in IT, HR and actuarial functions, which allowed her to partner across business units and disciplines and test out equity and inclusion practices while supporting product development, accounting, actuarial, operational functions and data management practices. Heather received a B.S. in Mathematics and in Business with an emphasis on management from Morningside College, and completed a certification in DEI with The Conference Board. She currently serves as a Human Rights Commissioner for West Des Moines.

Paul Shore serves Pilot Company as chief people officer. He oversees the People initiatives to include global talent acquisition, talent development, total rewards, team member engagement and retention efforts to meet company goals and initiatives. Prior to joining the company in 2016, Paul served as the vice president of human resources for Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Missouri, where he led the HR functions for all Bass Pro Shops businesses (retail, manufacturing and hospitality). Prior to Bass Pro Shops, he spent 28 years in retail with Saks Incorporated, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Department Store Group and Saks Off Fifth, as senior vice president of human resources. Since joining Pilot Company as the vice president of talent acquisition, Paul has played a key role working with senior leadership and hiring managers to develop and implement strategies to attract the best talent in the industry.

Nan Thomae joined Casey’s General Stores in June 2020 as the Vice President of HR Field Operations. Her team of HR business partners, generalists, recruiters and trainers leads the Casey’s “People and Culture” strategy for the Stores, Supply Chain, Fuel and Operations Excellence functions through effective talent acquisition, talent management and team member engagement and retention initiatives. Prior to joining Casey’s, she had the privilege of spending 5 years with Tractor Supply Company as the HR Director for their Store Support Center, supporting the Merchandising, Marketing, Supply Chain, Loss Prevention and Store Administration leadership teams. She has built an extensive HR leadership career in the retail industry with previous roles in two Midwest-based department store chains, Shopko and Marshall Field’s.