MEET OUR FOUNDER

Joanne C. Penne

Joanne is known for consistently balancing strategic rigor and creativity with discipline and a bias for action, while proving that better work happens when you have fun along the way. This unique combination is at the heart of The Innovation Umbrella.

During her 16 years at Unilever, Joanne mastered world-class innovation practices, and generated hundreds of millions of incremental sales dollars for brands such as Suave and Dove. As a seasoned Consultant, she has built innovation organizations from scratch and led the strategy, design and innovation pipelines for a range of clients. In each case, she quickly navigated situations, built trusted relationships and adapted best practices to meet the unique needs and culture of the organization.

Joanne brings a natural sense of curiosity, a high level of energy, and a passion for cutting through the clutter to focus on what’s important. She has extensive experience leading consumer-centric innovation on brands in Food, Beauty, Healthcare, Retail, Non-Profit and more. She has launched new brands on a global scale, reignited growth on stalled brands, and positioned entrepreneurs to jumpstart their dreams.

Joanne earned an MBA from Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management and a BS in Economics from Cornell University. She spent a semester studying abroad at The London School of Economics.

A fantastic collaborator, Joanne is flexible enough to not be tied to one way of doing things but with the depth of experience to end up in the desired location whatever the path to get there.

Owner, Entrepreneur Client

Joanne has been an incredible partner for us, setting the bar for the kind of diligence and thought leadership our innovation process needs.

CMO, Nonprofit client

Achieving what, to many, appeared unthinkable – Joanne led breakthrough communication campaigns, industry leading cost structures and truly new-to-the-world innovation. She ignited unprecedented growth on seemingly tired brands and created enduring market positions for new ideas. Best of all, Joanne accomplished her goals with humor, humility, and humanity.

GM, Personal Care CPG

Meet Our SENIOR CONSULTANTS

Maria Sigmond

Maria brings over 25 years of strategic commercial leadership with a passion for marketing strategy, innovative product development, consumer insights and analytics. She has grown large, established brands, and established meaningful strategic positionings for smaller ones. Experience in both B to B and B to C with companies including Colgate-Palmolive, AB-InBev, Nestle, and GSK.

Maria earned an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a BA in Philosophy from Lafayette College.

Sue Conley

Sue has over 25 years in the consumer goods and insight space, including 20 years at Procter & Gamble leading marketing, strategy and innovation on beauty brands including COVERGIRL and OLAY. She is an expert at identifying emerging trends, new product design and mining data to uncover consumer insights that drive business growth. Sue is currently a brand strategy and innovation consultant and a lecturer for undergraduate marketing courses at Loyola University, MD.

Sue earned an MBA from Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management and a BA in Psychology from Bucknell University.

Heather Calamari

Heather brings over a decade of experience leading marketing strategy and business operations for major consumer brands at Unilever and Pepsico. She also serves as a non-profit board member, providing strategic guidance and increasing community impact. Heather currently works as a consultant helping organizations achieve their growth goals through a collaborative approach to shaping strategy, creating structured plans and strengthening operations.

Heather earned an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a BS in Business from Indiana University.

Meet Our industry experts

Education & Team Building Expert

CINDY HUNT

Cindy is an expert in communication and conflict resolution and has spent her career building high performing teams in organizations ranging from corporations to education and nonprofits. She is trained in the Process Communication Model, which enhances communication skills and leadership agility to help organizations maximize talent. People and teamwork is always at the heart of her work.

Aging & Disabilities Expert

Lisa Peters-Beumer

Lisa has spent over 20 years as a passionate and dedicated leader in the field of aging. She spent 15 years leading Adult Senior Services for Easterseals and is an expert in home and community-based services, dementia and long-term care. Lisa has served as Chair on the Board of Directors for the National Adult Day Services Association and actively partners across disciplines including research, policy, service providers and technology innovators.

Health & Wellness Expert

Barbara McCartney

Barbara is a leader in the Food, Nutrition and Wellness space. She spent over 25 years running branded portfolios with leading consumer products companies including Unilever, Pillsbury and Nestle, where she served as the North American President of Nestle Healthcare Nutrition. Most recently, Barbara was CEO of Trofi Nutritional's, a health and wellness company developing next generation nutritional solutions and is currently servers as Chief Growth Officer at Florida's Natural Growers.

Food & Culinary Expert

Josh Hubbard

Josh has spent over 25 years in the hospitality industry, sharing joy through food. He has demonstrated leadership in roles ranging from management of upscale culinary restaurants and entrepreneurial consultancies to running complex food service organizations. Josh is known for his strong business acumen, developing high performing teams, and nurturing innovation in all types of environments.