What does it really take to lead, grow, and create impact in today’s manufacturing environment?

In this candid Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, FPSA brings together a subset of last year’s Red Circle Honors winners— Ester Codina with Alfa Laval, Elizabeth Cobb with Intralox and Melissa Reinhart with Burns & McDonnell.  These leaders have been recognized for advancing women, driving innovation, and shaping inclusive, high-performing organizations across the food and beverage industry. Hosted by FPSA President & CEO Chris Lyons, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at leadership as it actually happens.

This is not a slide presentation but a fireside chat.  Panelists will reflect on leadership decisions, career inflection points, inclusion, confidence, innovation, and navigating real-world challenges—sharing lessons learned, perspectives gained, and advice they wish they had earlier in their careers. 

Whether you’re early in your career or leading teams through change, this AMA offers honest insight from women whose work and leadership earned recognition through FPSA’s Red Circle Honors—an award that celebrates excellence, impact, and progress across our industry.

 

Expect an honest conversation about:

• Leadership in real manufacturing environments

• Career decisions and growth over time

• Building teams people actually want to be part of
• Adapting to change without burning out
• Learning from and leaning on your industry community
  

Speakers:

 

Ester Codina

President of Alfa Laval North America

Alfa Laval 

Ester Codina, President of Alfa Laval North America, brings over 20 years of leadership and manufacturing experience. She drives performance through strategic improvements, team leadership, and efficiency initiatives. A strong advocate for sustainability, she aligns operations with Alfa Laval’s global commitment to sustainable solutions. Ester also founded W@lfa – Women at Alfa Laval, fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. She is Board Member of Women in Manufacturing Association; she has been a member of the FPSA Women Alliance and has been mentoring women within the Mentorship Circle. 

Elizabeth Cobb

Business Development Analyst

Intralox

Elizabeth Cobb is a Business Development Analyst at Intralox with more than 18 years of experience in business development, customer experience, and operations management. In her role, she has been instrumental in advancing Intralox’s FoodSafe platform, supporting the launch of more than 20 product innovations and strengthening partnerships that enable processors worldwide to operate more safely and efficiently.

Melissa Reinhart

Staff Process Engineer

Burns & McDonnell 

Melissa Reinhart is a staff process engineer at Burns & McDonnell, where she has quickly become a key technical leader and a trusted advisor to top-tier clients. Her career path exemplifies resilience and growth, beginning as a plant process engineer before she paused her career to raise a family and then transitioned into teaching.  Since returning to engineering, Melissa’s contributions have been transformative. She spearheaded the resolution of a critical processing issue at a frozen prepared foods facility, leading to a 25 percent increase in production capacity. Currently, Melissa serves as the process lead for a $500 million greenfield ready-to-eat food manufacturing facility, the most intricate project in her group’s portfolio.

Chris Lyons, Moderator

President & CEO

FPSA 

Chris is a seasoned executive and manager with experience in private, government, and non-profit sectors. His focus is the development of long term business plans and their translation into operational plans guided by meaningful performance metrics. 
 
He has worked with businesses and organizations in a variety of industries: non-profit associations, technology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and state and federal government. Chris began his professional career as one of the first employees in IBM’s Public Sector Strategic Consulting Practice working with federal agencies and state governments. He held several positions within IBM including practice area leader, principal at one of IBM’s e-Business Innovation Centers, and internal IBM corporate consultant. He completed his IBM career as an account manager for the Navy and Marine Corps focusing on business development for IBM financial and technology services. 
 
Chris transitioned to mission-focused work with associations in 2013. He was the CEO of the Society for Technical Communication, a c(3). There he increased membership, greatly strengthened finances, and created a professional certification program. In 2016 he took a position as the first COO for the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, a c(6) with an associated c(3). There he re-staffed several key roles, re-organized responsibilities to increase focus on their two annual conferences, and created a roadmap for IT improvements. He continued to work with associations as a consultant through a partnership with the Impact Center Leadership Institute. Recently, Chris rejoined IBM colleagues at Dynamic Integrated Services, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business, assisting federal clients in improving the achievement of desired benefits and capabilities from their substantial IT investments. He is pleased to return to working with associations and their members as the CEO of the Food Production Solutions Association.