Peter MacGillivray is a seasoned marketing and public relations professional who has made significant contributions to the automotive industry. One of his most notable roles was as the Vice President of Communications and Events at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), where he oversaw the organization's global events and strategic communications.

During his tenure at SEMA, MacGillivray played a pivotal role in growing the SEMA Show into one of the largest trade shows in the world, attracting thousands of exhibitors and attendees from all over the globe. He also helped establish SEMA Cares, which has provided financial assistance to industry charities.

MacGillivray's expertise in event management and strategic communications led him to the Electrify Expo, an annual event that showcases the latest advancements in electric vehicles and sustainable transportation. The event aims to educate and inspire consumers to consider environmentally-friendly transportation options.

Prior to his work at SEMA and Electrify Expo, MacGillivray held several notable positions at Petersen Publishing, including serving as the Editorial Director of the truck group (Four Wheeler, 4Wheel & OffRoad, JP and Sport Truck) and Publisher of Super Street. During his time at Petersen Publishing, MacGillivray was instrumental in developing sales, marketing and PR strategies for some of the most iconic automotive brands in the world.

Throughout his career, MacGillivray has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to the automotive industry, earning numerous awards, including the Media Industry Newsletter (MIN) Hall of Fame, Trade Show Executive Magazine "Most Experiential Show" and "Best International Show." In addition, his shows have been recognized by the US Dept of Commerce President's Recognition for Export Service.

Loren is also an experienced keynote speaker having delivered more than 350 presentations and webinars to audiences in 19 countries. Loren is an award-winning marketer with 30+ years of experience as a marketing executive, consultant, and marketing evangelist/content marketer at companies including IBM, Arthur Andersen, USWeb/CKS, and Silverpop.

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Matt Teske is the Founder/CEO of Chargeway. Teske’s career spans over twenty years with a focus on branding, marketing and communication strategies with numerous brands in the automotive, energy and lifestyle brand industries. After years of research into consumer behavioral response to electric vehicles Teske developed Chargeway to create a better way of understanding the complexities of EV charging and using electricity as a fuel. Chargeway’s patented software platform creates a simple, visual way for EV drivers to identify charging plug and power options for all vehicles and charging networks, while also providing electric utilities and dealerships tools to more effectively engage the public.

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Gilbert Castillo is the senior group manager of product strategy & regulatory compliance at Hyundai Motor North America. He is responsible for the company’s exploration into new vehicle segments, including those with alternative powertrain technologies. He also is responsible for the strategic planning for the company’s future line of vehicles in the United States. Castillo led the successful introduction and launch of the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell Vehicle, the first production fuel cell vehicle sold in the United States. Castillo joined Hyundai in 2012 from Honda R&D Americas, where he worked in the areas of vehicle research and design and strategic vehicle development. Prior to joining Honda, he worked for Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.

Castillo graduated from Stanford University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Product Design Engineering. He is married and has two children. Castillo can often be found on weekends driving, both for work and pleasure, on the back roads of Southern California in a variety of vehicles, including his classic Alfa Romeo Spider.

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With more than 15 years of experience in the vehicle electrification industry, LeGrand has a proven track record of innovating not only in technology, but also design. With the help of his co-founders and ever-growing team of professionals, LeGrand has shown to be a leader in the charge of light vehicle transportation. Although Super73 has a lot more to accomplish, the near future holds huge potential and unexpected development.

Mark Dipko is vice president, product marketing, Ford Model e effective January 2023. He reports to Marin Gjaja, chief customer officer, Ford Model e. Dipko is responsible for representing the ‘customer’s voice’ in the Model e organization as the company continues to strengthen the position of the present EV portfolio – the Mustang Mach-E and F-150Lightning. Dipko also works closely with the teams developing the next-generation EV products to ensure they are tailored to future customer needs and desires. Dipko has dedicated his 30-year career to the automotive industry. Prior to his present role at Ford, he worked at Amazon, serving as head of product marketing for Alexa Auto, and was a founding member of AWS for Automotive. Prior to Amazon, he spent a decade at Hyundai where he was responsible for the product, brand, and business strategies in the US and was integral to the brand’s growth and product portfolio. Dipko has also worked at Yamaha, where he was responsible for expanding the motorcycle business to new audiences and developing a holistic Yamaha Motorsports brand strategy in the US. Dipko’s career started in 1994 as an intern at Ford Powertrain. During his tenure, he held positions in Advanced Powertrain and Mustang calibration before switching to SVT to lead the 2000 Cobra R and 2003 Cobra chassis and vehicle dynamics development. Dipko holds an MBA in marketing from Arizona State University and a Masters in automotive engineering from University of Michigan. He also has a Bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Penn State University. He resides in Orange County, California with his wife and son, where he loves spending his free time mountain biking.

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Uwe Dreher is vice president of marketing for BMW of North America.  In this role, Dreher oversees all marketing communications and product planning for the BMW brand in the U.S.

A 17-year employee of the BMW Group, Dreher has a wide range of marketing expertise with positions both at headquarters in Munich and abroad.  He started with the company in 2002 working on brand management with MINI at the time of the relaunch of the brand.  In 2007, Dreher transitioned within the global marketing department to a position with BMW brand management, as the head of all motorsport marketing and product placement.  Three years later, he became the global head of marketing for BMW i, where he led the launch of the brand.  In 2013, he moved to the UK on an expat assignment, taking over as marketing director for BMW UK until 2015, when he returned to Munich to serve as the vice president for global BMW, BMW i and BMW M brand communication in the central marketing department.  

Dreher studied at the University of Ravensburg, Germany, where he received a business administration degree.

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Melika is currently the Senior Group Manager for Mobility at Hyundai Motor America and has worked in the mobility space for the last 5 years, most recently coming from Wunder Mobility. Previously, she has held roles within Ridecell, Chariot Transit (Ford Smart Mobility) within their mobility business unit, as well as working within startups both in stationed carsharing as well as subscription-based EV car sharing at both Envoy and Borrow.

A solutions-driven mobility leader, partnering with some of the best within the mobility space to help bring their products and vision to the market, Melika is dedicated to finding ways to tackle the first mile/last mile problem, finding high utilization to vehicles, creating seamless operations, and making mobility safe and tangible within cities. In 2020, Melika was named TU Automotive’s Rising Star of the Year in Automotive.

Jason Kenagy has a diverse work experience across various industries. Jason is currently the Co-Founder & CEO of JackRabbit Mobility, a company that specializes in micro eBikes. Prior to that, they co-founded 5G4U, an enterprise-focused 5G wireless network provider. Jason also worked as a Strategic Business Development professional at Cyngn, where they focused on autonomous machines.

Saul Leiken, Global Category Leader for Specialized Globe, is a 10 year veteran of the electric bicycle industry and a lifelong advocate for getting more people riding bikes more often. After opening one of the USA’s first e-bike stores in Washington, DC, Saul moved on to lead Specialized’s Turbo business nationwide from 2017-2022. He is honored to accept a role on PeopleForBikes’ E-Bike Steering Committee, contributing to the e-bike strategy for the industry’s trade association. Today, Saul is accelerating the future with Globe, Specialized’s entry into the cargo e-bike market. In his free time, Saul moonlights as a League Cycling Instructor at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, where he teaches children and adults how to ride and how to confidently navigate city streets by bike.

Ben Masek is currently the VP of Global Sales at SUPER73. Ben has also previously worked as the General Manager at Future Stitch, the VP of Global Market, Sales and Business Development at Fox Racing, and the SVP of Global Sales at Stance Socks. Prior to that, they served as the Director of Sales for National Accounts at Oakley.

Ben has over 20 years of experience in sales and management. Ben is a proven leader with a track record of success in developing and executing sales strategies. Ben is passionate about building strong relationships with customers and partners and is known for their commitment to excellence.

Ben is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.

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Michael McHale is Director of Brand Experience at Kia America. McHale leads all aspects of public relations and external communications including events, experiential, auto shows and strategic partnerships.  McHale has more than 25 years of automotive industry experience including 4 years in EV communications up to joining Kia. McHale was head of communications at Rivian Automotive where he oversaw the brand’s introduction to the U.S. market in 2018. Previously, McHale spent 11 years as director, corporate communications at Subaru of America where he oversaw all public relations, social media, auto show and internal communications efforts. He has also held positions with the BMW, Land Rover and MINI automotive brands. McHale began his career in design and production engineering at Land Rover in the UK.

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Sandy Munro is a hands-on, self-made American businessman and owner of Munro & Associates, Inc. He is known as an extraordinary innovator and famous for his Lean Design® methodology, which has helped many major OEM’s catapult their products to market domination. Following the advice of his mentor, Dr. Edward Deming, Sandy left Ford and founded Munro & Associates, Inc. in 1988. He then began traveling the globe proclaiming the fundamental importance of “design-first” thinking. In his 50+ years of experience as a blunt and honest critic of product design, he has impacted products in different industries around the world. His first major success came while still working with Ford Motor Company on the Ford Taurus.

Jim Nichols was named Head of Product and Technology Consumer Offer for the Americas in August 2021. He joined Volvo Cars in 2015 within the Communications team leading product, brand and technology communications for the United States before his appointment.

Prior to Volvo, Jim worked with several technology and science-related organizations driving communications, brand positioning, and go-to-market strategies. Early in his career he was an Emmy-Award winning Meteorologist with NBC News and worked at network affiliates in Baltimore, Philadelphia and elsewhere. This work contributed to Jim’s expertise in translating scientific and engineering-related material into products, services and information consumers want and need.

Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jim holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. He currently resides in New Jersey with his wife and two children

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It was not an easy path, but Gloria Roberts has a telling illustration for how she traversed the challenges and  opportunities to become Chief Deputy Director of Caltrans District 7. “Alex Honnold was the first person to free climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. And he said, ‘My comfort zone is like a little bubble around me, and I’ve pushed it in different directions, and made it bigger and bigger until these objectives that seemed totally crazy eventually fall within the realm of the possible.’” And that’s exactly how she continues to blaze trails for Caltrans and the transportation industry today. District 7, comprised of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, is the second largest Caltrans district. So, as the number two ranking officer behind District 7 Director Tony Tavares, Roberts has her work cut out for her. But she understands her role and the value she brings to the table.

Heiko Schmidt is the Manager for EQ Brand Management and Technology at Mercedes-Benz USA. He oversees Product Management for Battery-Electric vehicles and coordinates all EQ-related activities across the organization. His team also manages Product Planning for Autonomous Driving and Vehicle Connectivity. He previously headed Strategic Product Planning and Market Research as well as the NAFTA CASE organization, after being the AMG Brand Manager for the United States. Prior to joining MBUSA in 2011, Schmidt worked at Daimler AG Headquarters in Stuttgart in various Product Management roles.

Karl Simon is the Director of the Transportation and Climate Division of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. His portfolio includes work with voluntary programs like SmartWay, international trade issues, renewable fuels, and modeling and forecasting of mobile source emissions trends. He previously served as Director of the Compliance and Innovative Strategies Division. Previously, he was the Assistant Director for the Office, worked in the mobile source recall branch, and the submarine construction and design division at Newport News Ship building and Dry Dock Company. Mr. Simon holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law, and a Masters in Environmental Law from George Washington University.

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Claudia Wasko is the GM of Bosch eBike Systems Americas, a global market leader of electric bike systems. In her position, Ms. Wasko is responsible for all operational activities in eBike Systems within North and South America.

Ms. Wasko co-founded Bosch eBike Systems, Germany, in 2009. In 2014, she established the US-based business unit Bosch eBike Systems Americas.

In addition to her role at Bosch, Ms. Wasko serves on the board of the US bike industry trade association, People for Bikes, and its Trade Association Committee (TAC). She is also co-chair of the nonprofit organization’s eBike committee.