Professional Development Committee

Grow Professionally

The Chicago Section IFT Professional Development Committee organizes two types of events throughout the year; Technical Events, which provide targeted content valuable for professionals in the food industry and General Career Guidance Events that offer professional development opportunities that every business professional can learn from, not necessarily specific to food science. We have monthly update calls that last about 30min for our team to connect, regroup, and divide up work.

Current Members:
  • Alifia Merchant
  • Breanna McArthur
  • Eliana Pinilla Ryhal
  • Elieke Kearns
  • Jenn Farrell
  • Jenna Mills
  • Kristy Du
  • Leann Barden
  • Lisa Sprang
  • Nicole Augoustatos
  • Rajesh Potineni
  • Shawn Gebhardt
  • Subinuer Yilixiati

If you are interested in joining our team to help plan and execute engaging educational sessions please e-mail Elieke Kearns. We would love to have you!

Elieke Demmer Kearns PhD, RD
Chair, Professional Development Committee
R&D Principal Scientist - Nutrition Sciences, PepsiCo
Phone: 312-821-2394
elieke.kearns@pepsico.com
Professional Development Activities