Jim Gowen, Chairman, GeSI and  vice president, Supply Chain Operations and chief sustainability officer for Verizon  

Jim Gowen holds the complementary roles of vice president of Supply Chain Operations and Chief Sustainability Officer for Verizon. As Verizon’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Gowen is responsible for setting the direction of the company’s sustainable growth strategies and for reducing its carbon footprint. He also oversees initiatives being implemented across Verizon including fuel and energy reduction, paper suppression, waste reduction and recycling, and management of end-of-life-cycle material recovery. In his supply chain role, Gowen leads centralized operations and the global customer premises equipment program with responsibility for more than $2.5 billion in annual through-put and half a billion dollars in annual inventory. He oversees Verizon’s regional distribution centers, purchasing and materials management, investment recovery, international supply chain and centralized fleet operations. Gowen earned his master’s degree in business administration from Long Island University and his bachelor’s degree from Manhattanville College.