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The Annual Waste Management Conference and Exhibit is the highlight of The Forum’s regularly scheduled events. 
A Planning Committee is hard at work developing a timely and informative program and an impressive roster of speakers.  A program announcement and registration flier will be e-mailed to those on the Forum’s mailing list.
If you wish to be on the Conference mailing list, please message us through our Contact Us page. 

EXHIBITORS & SPONSORS INCLUDE

Conference Schedule ~Registration & Coffee --- 8:00-8:30

8:30-9:00 ~ Keynote Speaker  ~  Gary Clifford, Executive Vice President, Athens Services

9:00-10:50  Session 1:  Looking at the Path Ahead

Moderator - Olivia Sanchez
Speakers:

Chris Sheppard, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works: Where does it all go? 
Los Angeles County Disposal and Capacity Data

 

Andy Cortez, Assistant Chief Engineer, Riverside County Waste Resources, Riverside County Revealed: Unpacking Our Local Landfill Data

10-minute BREAK
 

Doug Kobold, Executive Director, California Product Stewardship Council, Product Stewardship in California: Statewide Programs & Progress

Colleen Foster, HF&H Consultants, LLC, SB 54 and Potential Impacts to Local Public Agencies
 

10-minute BREAK

11:00-12:15 Session 2: Boots on the Ground

Moderator - Melissa Morgan
Speakers:

Natalie Lessa, Co-Founder, ReCREATE, Effectiveness of Cart Tagging vs. Door-to-Door Outreach in Reducing Curbside Contamination in San Bernardino County
 

Angela Williams, Environmental Programs Manager, City of Inglewood, SB1383, the Lessons We Thought We Learned
 

Gina Whisenant, Waste and Recycling Manager, USC, Implementing the Integrated Waste Management Plan the Trojan Way
 

12:15-1:15 Lunch

Networking Only (Vendor participation)

1-hour LUNCH

Vendor Outreach = 1-minute opportunity @ the Lectern

1:15-3:15 Session 3: Complex Problems --- Two Steps Forward and 1 Step Back!

Moderator - Nick Morell

Speakers:

Jennifer King, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works: Presentation on the Food Donation, Recovery and Outreach Program (Food DROP)
 

Tom Fang, Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, Solid Waste Department (Energy Recovery Section), Food Waste Recycling Program, Benefits and Challenges
 

Joe Ayala, Econward, COO, Overcoming Challenges of Separating Organic Waste from MSW
 

Matt Cotton, Integrated Waste Management Consulting, The Importance of Organics Collection,
Making Compost, and Improving CA Soils

 

Wrap-Up, Feedback & Raffle

3:15-3:30

SPEAKER BIOS

Angela Williams began her career with the City of Inglewood in 1984.  She has held many keys positions including, Customer Service Representative (Finance Dept), Administrative Assistant (Administration & City Council Office) and Administrative Analyst (Office of Economic & Business Development).

Currently, Ms Williams serves as the Environmental Services Manager in the Public Works Department.  She is responsible for monitoring the Solid Waste Agreement between the City’s franchise waste hauler and overseeing vital programs as it relates to environmental compliance.

Her long tenure with the City has afforded her the unique opportunity to foster valued-added relationships with the community by providing public information and resources to enhance compliance to local, State and Federal mandates as required. Her passion and dedication to public service is responsible in part for many of the city’s special events and inventive programs.

Ms. Williams is in fluent in Spanish and certified in American Sign Language.

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Natalie Lessa is the Co-Founder of ReCREATE and the firm's education and outreach team specialist. She has spent the past 12 years as a waste consultant specializing in policy planning and implementation across the nation with municipal, private and nonprofit clients. She uses her background in public relations and passion for behavior change to develop new outreach strategies for recovering food from landfill and reducing plastic waste consumption.

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