2026 Impact Summit
EVENT OVERVIEW
Customer First. People Led. Innovation Driven.
Building trust, growth and lasting impact in a tech-powered world
Welcome to the 2026 UPS Impact Summit. This year’s discussion explores the intersection between human potential and digital capability and showcases how UPS is pairing artificial intelligence with the power of human ingenuity to shape a more resilient future. Across the program, we’ll examine how AI can amplify human ingenuity to shape a more resilient future.
AGENDA
- 2:30 p.m. - Opening Remarks from UPS CEO Carol Tomé
- 2:40 p.m. - Keynote Address: Unlocking the Human Edge in the Age of AI
Angus Fletcher - 3:00 p.m. - Panel: Delivering People-Led, AI-Enabled Solutions
Kate Gutmann, Danelle McCusker Rees and Bala Subramanian - 3:30 p.m. - Break
- 3:50 p.m. - Fireside Chat: Trust as the New Advantage
Matt Guffey and Jenna Lauer - 4:20 p.m. - Panel: People Powering Impact
Nikki Clifton, Jennifer Sirangelo and Captain Bill Vaughan - 4:50 p.m. - Closing Remarks from UPS CHRO Darrell Ford
- 5:00 p.m. - Volunteer Activity
- 6:00 p.m. - Event Ends
PROGRAM DETAILS
Opening Remarks from Carol Tomé, UPS Chief Executive Officer
Carol offers a welcome on behalf of more than 460,000 UPS employees worldwide and highlights how UPS is combining our greatest competitive advantage – our people – with technology to shape a more resilient future.
Keynote: Unlocking the Human Edge in the Age of AI
Angus Fletcher, author of Primal Intelligence and Wonderworks, explores how AI can complement – not outshine – human ingenuity. He examines whether AI’s undeniable data-processing power can truly replicate human qualities like imagination, emotional intelligence and narrative thinking.
Delivering People-Led, AI-Enabled Solutions
Danelle McCusker Rees, UPS Senior Vice President and Global Head of Talent, Culture and Learning, moderates a conversation with Bala Subramanian, UPS EVP & Chief Technology Officer; and Kate Gutmann, UPS EVP & President International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions. Together, they discuss how UPS is driving meaningful impact by developing and deploying AI-enabled solutions paired with human insight, creativity and a deep understanding of customer and employee needs. The discussion explores what success looks like as AI reshapes the way companies grow and operate.
Trust as the New Advantage
Matt Guffey, UPS EVP & Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, moderates a fireside chat with Jenna Lauer, The Harris Poll Chief Commercial Officer. The discussion examines why trust is harder to earn in a world shaped by rapid innovation and rising skepticism, why authenticity has become a critical leadership advantage and how companies can build trust through the experiences they create for employees, customers and communities.
People Powering Impact
Nikki Clifton, UPS President of Social Impact and The UPS Foundation, moderates a conversation with Jennifer Sirangelo, Points of Light Chief Executive Officer, and Captain Bill Vaughan, UPS Pilot and 2025 Jim Casey Community Service Award Winner. Their conversation highlights how The UPS Foundation helps unlock the power of people to create meaningful change. Panelists will share stories of service, leadership and problem-solving, while exploring how purpose-driven actions strengthen communities, culture and business performance.
Closing Remarks from Darrell Ford, UPS Chief Human Resources Officer
Darrell Ford, UPS EVP & Chief Human Resources Officer and The UPS Foundation Chairman, reaffirms that enduring success comes from the unique ability of humans to adapt, create and lead with purpose, even as the tools around them evolve.
Volunteer Activity
Join us for a volunteer activity to support Operation BackPack4Kids, a nonprofit founded by panelist and UPS pilot, Captain Bill Vaughan. We will be filling backpacks with meaningful comforts – like warm blankets, water bottles, hygiene kits and toys – to distribute to children displaced by war, natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.
SPEAKERS
كارول تومي
Chief Executive Officer, UPS
بصفتها الرئيس التنفيذي لشركة UPS منذ عام 2020، وعضو مجلس إدارتها منذ عام 2003، تقود كارول تومي الشركة الرائدة عالميًا في مجال تسليم الطرود وحلول إدارة سلسلة التوريد العالمية وفريق موظفي UPS الذي يضم حوالي 460 ألف موظف. كارول هي المخطط الأول لاستراتيجية UPS القائمة على "العميل أولًا، والقيادة من قِبل الموظفين، والتوجه نحو الابتكار"، كما تعمل على ترسيخ مكانة UPS لتكون المزود الرائد لخدمات الطرود الصغيرة والشريك اللوجستي للعملاء في أكثر من 200 دولة ومنطقة.
نيكي كليفتون
President of Social Impact and The UPS Foundation, UPS
نيكي كليفتون قائدة ذات رؤية وهدف، تُحوّل الأثر الاجتماعي إلى قيمة تجارية. As the President of The UPS Foundation, she oversees the company’s global philanthropy and international community affairs, leveraging UPS’s trusted logistics network to build more resilient, safe, and healthy communities while advancing core business priorities. تتمتع نيكي بخبرة تمتد لما يقرب من ثلاثة عقود في مجال القانون، والشؤون الحكومية، والعمل الخيري، وتجسد نقطة التقاء بين الأفراد، والأداء، والمجتمع.
Angus Fletcher
Author, Primal Intelligence and Wonderworks
Angus Fletcher is a leading voice on human creativity, intelligence, and the power of story –and his newest book, Primal Intelligence, puts him at the center of today’s conversation about what humans do better than machines. In a moment dominated by automation and AI, Angus demonstrates why our real advantage lies in the brain’s ancient, narrative-driven abilities: imagination, emotional insight, flexible judgment, and problem-solving under uncertainty. His research translates these strengths into practical tools leaders can use to innovate faster, make better decisions, and unlock the human potential inside their organizations. His earlier book, Wonderworks, introduced audiences to stories as proven mental technologies – demonstrating how narrative fuels resilience, clarity, and creativity.
دارل فورد
Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, UPS
يشغل دارل فورد منصب نائب الرئيس التنفيذي (EVP) ورئيس الموارد البشرية (CHRO) في شركة UPS ورئيس مؤسسة UPS. وبصفته عضوًا في فريق القيادة التنفيذية للشركة، فإنه يقود استراتيجيات UPS لشؤون العاملين والصحة والسلامة، وهو ما أدى إلى تحويل تجربة الموظفين لتشمل حوالي 460 ألف موظف في UPS في جميع أنحاء العالم. تحت قيادة داريل، اعتمدت UPS أحدث التقنيات، مثل الذكاء الاصطناعي لتحسين تجربة المرشحين والموظفين والكفاءة التنظيمية الشاملة. As Chairman of The UPS Foundation, Darrell leads the company’s philanthropic arm focused on delivering health and humanitarian aid, eliminating systemic barriers to economic opportunity, building local community engagement and advancing sustainability around the world.
مات جوفي
Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, UPS
يشغل مات جوفي منصب نائب الرئيس التنفيذي (EVP) ورئيس الشؤون التجارية والاستراتيجية في شركة UPS. وباعتباره عضوًا في فريق القيادة التنفيذية، فإنه يلعب دورًا محوريًا في تشكيل الاتجاه الاستراتيجي لشركة UPS وهو ما يؤدي إلى تسريع ربحية الأعمال ونمو ونجاح العملاء في جميع أنحاء العالم. يشرف مات على استراتيجية UPS، والتحول، والتسويق، والمبيعات في الولايات المتحدة، والاتصالات والشبكة حسب الطلب، والتي تتضمن The UPS Store، وRoadie، وHappy Returns. تعمل هذه الفرق على بناء عرض قيمة مختلف للعملاء ويبتكرون من أجل وضع UPS في مكانة مميزة لتحقيق نمو مستدام وطويل الأجل.
كيت جوتمان
Executive Vice President and President International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions, UPS
Kate Gutmann serves as Executive Vice President (EVP) and President International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions. A member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team, Kate oversees the company’s business operations outside of U.S. small package. إنها مسؤولة عن عمليات ووظائف الطرود الصغيرة الدولية فضلًا عن الرعاية الصحية العالمية وحلول سلاسل التوريد العالمية. Kate’s leadership connects UPS International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions to create greater synergy and deliver more for customers across the global supply chain.
Jenna Lauer
Chief Commercial Officer, The Harris Poll
Jenna Lauer is the Chief Commercial Officer at The Harris Poll, where she leads commercial growth and research strategy for one of the world’s most trusted consumer intelligence firms. With nearly three decades of experience spanning qualitative, quantitative, social, and mobile research — as well as agency advertising — Jenna has a rare combination of methodological depth and commercial instinct. Prior to The Harris Poll, Jenna served as a senior leader at MarketCast, where she drove growth and innovation across the company’s research practice. Before that, she spent nearly a decade as Managing Partner at Hall & Partners, an Omnicom research business, leading West Coast operations for a client roster that included top consumer brands, video game publishers, and automakers.
Danelle McCusker Rees
Senior Vice President, Global Head of Talent, Culture, and Learning UPS
Danelle McCusker Rees serves as Senior Vice President (SVP) and Global Head of Talent, Culture and Learning at UPS and serves as HR Business Partner to UPS’s Chief Digital and Technology Officer and UPS’s Chief Human Resources Officer. She is a senior human capital executive with more than 20 years of experience aligning workforce strategy, leadership capability, and culture with enterprise performance in complex, global organizations. Danelle works closely with UPS’s CEO and Executive Leadership Team, and the Board’s Compensation and Human Capital Committees on succession, executive talent, workforce health and leadership readiness. She is recognized for modernizing talent and HR ecosystems through digital innovation and data-driven decision making, and for translating workforce complexity into clear executive narratives.
Jennifer Sirangelo
President and Chief Executive Officer, Points of Light
Jennifer Sirangelo is a purpose-driven executive, whose work is grounded in the belief that everyone has a unique gift. She is passionate about helping people discover and activate their purpose. As President & CEO of Points of Light, Jennifer leads one of the world’s foremost organizations powering volunteering and civic engagement. She led an inclusive effort to shape the organization’s new strategy and, under the new Reimaginng Service 2035 platform, set an ambitious goal to double volunteering in the U.S. by 2035. This included the launch of a National Volunteer Strategy that elevates volunteering as a national priority to strengthen our society. This bold strategy champions volunteering as a transformative force: one that fuels human connection, builds trust across differences, and strengthens communities from the inside out.
بالا سوبرامانيان
Executive Vice President and Chief Digital and Technology Officer, UPS
يشغل بالا سوبرامانيان منصب نائب الرئيس التنفيذي (EVP) ورئيس التكنولوجيا والتقنيات الرقمية في شركة UPS. بصفته عضوًا في فريق القيادة التنفيذية، يتولى بالا مسؤولية قيادة التحول الرقمي للشركة لتعزيز تجارب العملاء والموظفين، وبناء الطلاقة الرقمية، وتحسين المرونة التنظيمية. إنه يقود الاستراتيجية الشاملة لتكنولوجيا UPS، والهندسة الصناعية للشركة، ووظائفها، وتصميمها، وتطويرها، وتنفيذها. ومن خلال منصبه، يُركز بالا على تسهيل التعامل مع UPS ومنح الموظفين أدوات جديدة لإطلاق المزيد من الابتكارات لعملاء الشركة.
Captain Bill Vaughan
Founder and Executive Director, Operation BackPack4Kids and Captain, UPS
Bill Vaughan is the Founder and Executive Director of Operation BackPack4Kids. A current UPS Airline Captain based in Louisville, Kentucky, Bill combines his lifelong love of aviation with a deep commitment to humanitarian service, ensuring children in crisis have the comfort, dignity and care they deserve. His professional career has spanned multiple airlines and aircraft, starting at Ram Air Freight in Raleigh-Durham, followed by Atlantic Coast Airlines, Midway Airlines, Comair Airlines, and NetJets International. Today, as a Captain for UPS on the Boeing 747, he continues to fly globally while dedicating his time on the ground to leading Operation BackPack4Kids.