We are business people and research experts committed to meeting the needs of our customers by providing innovative, sustainable solutions that maximize business performance and profits, while being environmentally and socially responsible.
Sphinx's team of licensed sustainability professionals specializes in driving performance, profits, and organizational alignment through sustainability. Our collaborative team of professionals has backgrounds that include LEED Certification, Black Belt Six Sigma, senior executive management and advanced degrees in sustainability and business.
Tracye Miles, President of Sustainable Communities, Inclusion, Business Development, helps corporations leverage their supplier diversity initiatives as part of their overall sustainability plan. Additionally, she works with corporations to green their supply chain through sustainability-focused supplier development activities.
Ms. Miles is a seasoned business veteran, whose blend of talents includes management, finance, marketing and sales. Ms. Miles has over 10 years in corporate sales experience, primarily with Federal Express Corporation; served as Director of Airport Concessions for the City of Chicago; and developed a strong commercial lending background at Continental Illinois National Bank. She most recently served as President of the Chicago Minority Business Development Council, Inc. (CMBDC), a regional affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) and serving over 1,000 corporate and minority business members and affiliates.
Ms. Miles has served on several boards and advisory committees, and has provided municipal and congressional testimony on issues concerning minority business development and supplier diversity, as well as conducted various speaking engagements at the local and national level on this topic.
She was noted as one of "100 Women Making a Difference" by Today's Chicago Woman in July 2000; as one of Black Chicago's ‘N'Fluential Chicagoans in 2001, 2003 and 2005 by N'Digo Magazine; as 2004 Minority Business Advocate of the Year - Chicago and Midwest Region by MBDA; and noted as one of Crain's Chicago Who's Who - Chicago Power Brokers in 2004 and 2005.
Ms. Miles is a member of the International Society of
Sustainability Professionals (ISSP).
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Dr. Anke Arnaud, Director of Sustainability Research & Training, leads Sphinx Enterprise's sustainability research initiatives. Her work on sustainability has been published in journals, such as
Organizational Dynamics and the Journal of Business Ethics. In addition, Dr. Arnaud has published several books on leadership, justice, and ethics focusing on the ethical environment of organizations and how these environments influence human decision-making and behavior, as well as organizational performance.
Dr. Arnaud earned a Ph.D. in Management from the University of Central Florida, Orlando; and serves on the faculty at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Business. The Academy of Management has recognized Dr. Arnaud for her work on ethical work climates with the William H. Newman Award for Outstanding Paper Based on a Dissertation.
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Daryl M. Hodnett, Director of Supply Chain Inclusion, Sourcing, Global 2nd Tier, is a well-respected leader and trainer in the area of diverse business development and currently serves as lead trainer for Diversity Information Resources, Inc.
He began his career at Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1976, serving in several different management positions until moving to the company's Supplier Diversity division in 1991. During his tenure as Supplier Diversity Group Manager, Mr. Hodnett led all strategy development and implementation, which lead to 97 percent increase in spending with minority and woman-owned businesses. Mr. Hodnett is credited with crafting P&G's Business Case for the development of minority-owned companies, creating "big hit" joint ventures and leading P&G's Supplier Diversity training as part of P&G Sourcing College.
Mr. Hodnett directed
Supplier Diversity – the American Business Case in 2001, which ties together the business case for corporations to use diverse businesses. In 2003, he directed
Economic Inclusion and in 2006 he completed the film
Creating Opportunities, the Diverse Solutions Story for a project for IAMS Company.
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Peter Meissner, Director of Sustainability Integration and Business Performance, focuses on helping businesses through the transformation to become a triple-bottom line company. He is dedicated to working with small and medium size businesses to achieve their goals to have a sustainable enterprise.
Mr. Meissner is an experienced business veteran with 29 years of technical, commercial and managerial experience with General Electric. He is a BSChE and MSChE from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. He is a certified Six-Sigma instructor and Master Black Belt, holding several patents and a Basel II certification. His breadth of experience encompasses leading change within an organization, development of processes to support key objectives and providing metrics to insure long term success.
His leadership helped GE transform a manufacturing-based quality toolset into a potent cultural change for sales & marketing within an industrial business. The application of the Six-Sigma methodology with the commercial teams led to gains in both traditional business metrics (sales, net income) and broader business metrics (employee satisfaction). Continuing the development and use of Six-Sigma methodology, Peter led programs to operationally improve GE's customers businesses based on their critical needs.
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Dr. James L. Miles, Sr., Director of Sustainability Adoption, Leadership and Research, concentrates on promoting sustainable (triple-bottom line) business growth, enhanced organizational performance, and the development of local living economies. As a member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce – Environment committee, his passion is to help corporate executives and small to midsize business owners benefit from the adoption of sustainability best practices.
Dr. Miles is a licensed sustainability professional and assessor with more than 20 years of professional experience assisting organizational leaders, senior executives and business owners in researching and executing their market growth, organizational development, and triple bottom line - sustainability goals with an emphasis on generating success through applied research, leveraged technology, innovation and collaboration.
From the age of 13, while attending military academy and then as a top performing US Marine, Dr. Miles received several successive years of strategic and leadership training. Dr. Miles spent his early days as a US Marine at the National Military Command Center-Pentagon providing data support to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as a management systems analyst, contracted to design and fulfill enterprise technology goals. Building on these early experiences and additional training, Dr. Miles has successfully led business performance management and supplier development consulting projects, faith-based community economic development collaboratives, and sustainability (triple-bottom line) initiatives.
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Alicia Ponce, Director of High Performance Space & Building Design, LEED AP, works to educate and share holistic design solutions with the community and building in a cost-effective manner through conscious design and sustainable building methods. Her current projects include two developments seeking LEED Silver ratings that will integrate the use of renewable energy sources, as well as a non-toxic approach to the design of building components and interior design elements.
Ms. Ponce holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and is a LEED accredited professional. Her passion for environmental improvement has led her to the specialized field of sustainable design solutions. The scope of her architecture, interior design and green consulting experience includes residential, office interiors, commercial, and healthcare. Alicia previously worked for various large Chicago architecture firms, such as A. Epstein & Son's- Interior Space International, LR Development, and VOA Associates.
Her certification and affiliations include LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional, U.S. Green Building Council, Arquitectos (The Society of Hispanic Professional Architects). Alicia also serves as Adjunct Associate Professor, Materials & Methods – Sustainable Practice at Columbia College, Harrington College of Design student work juror.
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