The Final Mile: Creating the Experience Your Customers Expect (Panel Discussion)

Gina Colon is head of marketing and public relations at Aria Logistics and assists in coordinating all public relations and marketing activities. Her goal is to help develop a marketing communications plan including strategy, goals, budget, and tactics to evaluate opportunities for partnerships, sponsorships, and advertising on an on-going basis, in addition to seeking high-level placements in print, broadcast, and online media for Aria Logistics. Gina is a recent graduate with experience in the fashion industry involving high end consumers and clients.

Ms. Arelis Bonilla is the President and CEO at Aria Logistics. She is responsible for all U.S. operations, sales, and back-office operations.

Prior to Aria Logistics, Arelis has more than 12 years of experience in sales and distribution. She joined a distribution company that benefited retired veterans before coming up with the idea of Aria Logistics. In addition, Arelis has extensive background in the financial sector for leading companies, including Bloomberg L.P. and Thomson Reuters, servicing their prime accounts such as Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

In 2013, Arelis purchased her first truck working as a carrier for Macy’s furniture. By 2015, she had a fleet of 13 trucks running. Today, her company manages more than 100 trucks, 150 teams, and is rapidly expanding across the U.S.

Arelis is active in the “Women in Trucking” organization, which is a networking group that supports women in the logistics, operations, and driving business. She is also on the board of directors for several different organizations within the logistics industry and a regular supporter of St Jude’s & Breast Cancer fundraising initiatives.

Christine Chan is the Head of Strategy at Aria Logistics, LLC. Previously, Christine was one of the owners and the COO at UX Specialized Logistics, a leading provider of last mile logistics services acquired by XPO in 2015. At XPO, she was Senior Vice President for last mile.

Wendy Greenland, CEO, brings more than 30 years of experience and leadership to Openforce. Her focus is on developing and delivering technology-driven business services and solutions, providing outstanding client service, and driving profitable revenue growth. Within Openforce, she drives the mission of the organization to connect independent contractors and the companies that need them through the smartest technology ecosystem for contingent workforces worldwide. Through her leadership, Openforce is well-positioned at the forefront of developing the technology that empowers the fast-paced transportation owner-operator economy to thrive.

Outside of Openforce, Wendy sits on the Board of Directors for the Alliance of Technology and Women (ATW) and the National Home Delivery Association. She is also active within Women in Trucking.

Prior to Openforce, Wendy spent 25 years in technology companies and most recently was the COO at InfinityHR, which she helped position for acquisition by Arcoro in 2018. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and an MBA from Grand Canyon State University and is a certified master trainer with the Miller Heiman Group.

Neelima Parasker is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of SnapIT Solutions® LLC, an innovative high tech information technology company providing IT services, software product development solutions, training, and staffing. Through SnapIT, Ms. Parasker has developed a patent-pending business model, SPRNT™, which encompasses the company’s four primary lines of business: SnapIT Solves, SnapIT Pods, SnapIT Resources/Placements, and SnapIT Trainings. Together, these four lines work to seek, train and hone and deploy individuals into IT workforce, especially from underrepresented and underserved communities.

With more than 20 years of experience in IT, Neelima has held leadership positions with Fortune 500 companies, leading teams that perform enterprise transformations and promote innovation using Leading Edge Technology. She is a Board Member of KansasWorks State Workforce Board since 2019, and serves on the Community Development Advisory Council at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City since 2020 and was appointed on the Board for Overland Park Chamber in Jan 2020. She was a speaker at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, was invited to represent U.S. entrepreneurs by the U.S. Department of State at the 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, and spoke in Bolivia on invitation from the U.S. Consulate in La Paz.

Neelima is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious National Award as ‘Enterprising Women of the Year’ Award in 2020, Kansas City Business Journal for ‘Women Who Mean Business’ in 2018 and ‘Technology All Star’ National Award’ in STEM from Career Communications Group, Inc. and WOC Magazine for her contributions to STEM fields in 2015. SnapIT is also a recipient of the 2020 Kansas City Business Journal ‘Champions of Business’, and 2019 ‘Outstanding Minority Business of the Year Award’ from the Kansas Department of Commerce, Enterprising Woman of the year 2021 and Top 10 Small Business of Kansas City by Kansas City Chamber.