Adam Thocher, GCCA, Senior Vice President, Global Programs & Insights, Executive Director, World Food Logistics Organization, and Manuel Cabrera Kabana, IARW Chairman, presenting Kulsoom Khan with the 2022 Don Schlimme Future Leader Award.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SAN DIEGO, CA, October 12, 2022: The World Food Logisitcs Organization (WFLO), a Core Partner of the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), is proud to announce the recipient of the 2022 Don Schlimme Future Leader Award is Kulsoom Khan, Energy Efficiency Manager, Congebec Inc. The award was presented by Manuel Cabrera Kabana, IARW Chairman and Adam Thocher, GCCA, Senior Vice President, Global Programs & Insights, Executive Director, World Food Logistics Organization at the 131st Annual IARW-WFLO Convention in San Diego, California, where over 500 temperature-controlled logistics executive leaders gathered for the number one event for warehousing, logistics, transportation and design-build/construction industry to come together.

Kulsoom competed among other finalists Clifton Alt, Operations Manager, InterChange Group, Judina Arends, Operations Manager, Bradner Cold Storage, India Grayson, Warehouse Lead, Agile Cold Storage, and Brian Magnus, General Manager, Midwest Logistics, United States Cold Storage.

As part of the selection process, each finalist was interviewed by a panel of judges made up of industry leaders. The 2022 judges were Paul Henningsen, Lineage Logistics, Angie Schmidt, Mattingly Cold Storage, Michael Fischer, RLS Logistics, and Bryan Hedge, RLS Complete. Each candidate also delivered a presentation on stage to the panel of judges and the attendees of the IARW-WFLO Convention. A final award recipient was selected as a result of the selection process.

“The talent, dedication, and quality of the emerging leaders within the cold chain continues to be so impressive and this award highlights some of the best in our industry,” GCCA President & CEO Matthew Ott said. Congratulations to Kulsoom and to all the finalists for this well-deserved achievement.”

Kulsoom will virtually compete with other young leaders from around the world for the Global GCCA NextGen Award later this year.

About the Don Schlimme Future Leader Award

Established in 2015 by WFLO, the Don Schlimme Future Leader Award recognizes talented young professionals in North America, who have the potential to become future leaders and make a positive contribution to the development of the temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics industry. Nominees demonstrated excellence in their work, the potential to excel further in the many facets within the industry and possess insight into their organization's strategic values and direction, policies and ways of working.

This award is named in honor of Donald V. Schlimme, Ph.D., who passed away in 2012 and was a longtime member of the WFLO Scientific Advisory Committee (1983-2012) and a WFLO Staff Advisor for many of those years. He was an expert in food science and cold storage and was committed to sharing his extensive knowledge.

About the Global Cold Chain Alliance

Comprised of its Core Partners, including the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW), the World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO), the International Refrigerated Transportation Association (IRTA), and the Controlled Environment Building Association (CEBA), the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) represents all major industries engaged in temperature-controlled logistics. GCCA unites all partners to be innovative leaders in the temperature-controlled products industry.