Daron Gifford leads Plante Moran’s strategy consulting practice. With more than four decades of consulting and management experience, he has developed the reputation for versatility and thoughtful, strategic client insights as a trusted advisor to executive teams. His extensive experience includes financial, operations, and strategic management consulting with a wide range of organizations across automotive, manufacturing, distribution, and government.

Daron’s strategy expertise has encompassed business transformation, market analytics, operational planning, budgeting and organization change utilizing business processes and technologies. Prior to joining Plante Moran, Daron has been a partner in leadership roles with Deloitte, A.T. Kearney, and KPMG, as well as serving as a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Energy on advanced technologies. 

Bryan Clem is a Senior Manager in the Purchasing Supplier Development (PSD) division of Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) located within Toyota’s R&D facility in Saline, Michigan. With more than 16 years of Purchasing experience across several buying roles and commodity responsibilities, his financial analysis skills and supply chain management acumen have led to him serving as manager of PSD’s Supplier Performance Management | Risk Management team since 2018.

Bryan and his team are responsible for coordinating with divisions across TMNA to oversee various Supplier management activities, supply chain risk monitoring and assessments, and providing coordination for PSD’s efforts to mitigate and resolve supply chain disruptions.

Planning: Volume Planning Forecasts

Managing: Supply chain mapping (SAVE), TMNA Direct Purchasing Terms & Conditions, ESG expectations

Assessing: New Supplier due diligence; Supplier cyber security evaluations

Monitoring: Supplier Organized Labor activities, USMCA legitimization, Supplier financials, Supplier Quality & Delivery KPIs, supply chain human rights legislation & emerging risks

Reporting: Conflict Minerals, Environmental Management

Coordinating: Response to supply chain disruptions – COVID-19 pandemic, North American labor shortages, port delays, extreme weather events, sub-tier supplier impacts, Supplier cyber attack response, Supplier financial distress and many other challenges.

Bryan’s past experiences include leading several customer groups for financially distressed suppliers, supporting development of TMNA’s systems for USMCA local content surveys and Supplier KPI system, and management and buying roles for seats, interior and exterior components. Bryan earned a B.A. in Finance from the University of Cincinnati and is a member of Automotive Industry Action Group’s (AIAG) Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee.

Bryan lives near Ann Arbor, MI with his wife and four children.

Dean Lee brings 30 years of experience in Automotive OEM Sales, Marketing and Supply Chain Management.  Mr. Lee is currently Vice President of Nissan Trading Corporation Americas, a subsidiary of Nissan Motor Ltd. He is responsible for all business units from standpoint of Sales, Purchasing, and Supply Chain Management.

Mr. Lee started his career with Hitachi Automotive Products where he began in Supply Chain Management and ended as Vice President Sales & Marketing for Japanese OEMs before his departure.

David Walden is a vice president on MiddleGround Capital’s Investment Team based in Lexington, KY. David was previously an investment banker at J.P. Morgan and received his bachelor’s in business administration and master’s in accounting from the University of North Carolina. He currently serves on the board of directors of several MiddleGround portfolio companies.

Ashish Sadhu was born and raised in India. He moved to Japan to work at Honda and Toyota before. He later relocated to the United States and started as a design engineer at Calsonic Kansei, which merged with Magneti Marelli to form Marelli in 2019. Ashish has held a variety of roles in the region and at the company’s global headquarters in Japan. These roles have ranged from program and pricing management to global manufacturing, business development, product management and strategy. Ashish currently leads global strategy and program management for the thermal business unit of Marelli.

Jonathan Miller, who leads the firm’s multi-state, multi-discipline hemp practice.

Jonathan has emerged as one of the nation’s leading hemp lawyers, while serving as one of the industry’s leading advocates for legalization. Upon leading successful lobbying efforts that laid the groundwork for the current hemp program regime, Miller now serves as trusted counsel to dozens of companies in the industrial hemp space. In 2014, Miller helped lead the successful battle against the DEA’s efforts to ban importation of hemp seed, and he now serves as general counsel to the US Hemp Roundtable, the industry’s leading business trade association, which led the fight to securing permanent federal legalization of hemp and continues to address the development of hemp-friendly state regulation. Jonathan’s work was recognized by the prestigious National Law Journal which named him to its inaugural class of “Trailblazers” among government relations professionals.

Prior to joining FBT, Miller spent nearly two decades in public service, where he held numerous senior positions in state and federal government, including two terms as Kentucky’s State Treasurer, in addition to serving as Kentucky’s Secretary of Finance and Administration, Deputy Chief of Staff of the U.S. Department of Energy, and Legislative Director for Congressman Jim Cooper.

Jonathan assists his broad client base – ranging from Fortune 500 firms, to aspiring entrepreneurs, to non-profit associations – in navigating complex local, state and federal government institutions through his counsel on legal, public policy, political and public relations matters. Jonathan leads teams of lawyers, lobbyists and economic development specialists in helping his clients win and retain government contracts and incentives, develop and execute public-private partnerships, and survive and transcend crisis management episodes.

There are typically three types of government relations professionals. Those with broad, substantive knowledge in matters of law and public policy; those that can refine and articulate an effective message to policymakers and bureaucrats, and those with the political skills and personal connections to navigate administrative and legislative progress. Jonathan is all of the above. As former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele opines: “It is the rare individual that can combine intense substantive legal and policy experience with a broad understanding of the interpersonal dynamics and deep personal relationships that make our system of government prosper. Jonathan Miller is not only uniquely gifted, but more importantly, a good friend and trusted advisor.”

Dr. Rich Davies is the Director for the Sustainable Transportation Program for the Energy Science and Technology Directorate at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  He has over 25 years of research and development experience in manufacturing for light and heavy-duty ground and aerospace vehicles, as well as the development of energy-saving technologies across the U.S. transportation system. His experience includes over 20 years in the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories developing and directing federally funded and privately funded research programs under collaborative agreements with vehicle manufacturers and transportation entities. Dr. Davies holds a Ph.D. in mechanics of materials from the University of Strasbourg in France, an MBA from the University of Maryland, as well as a BA and MS in mechanical engineering.

Brian Daugherty is the Chief Technology Officer for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and its divisions including OESA. Brian serves as a senior advisor to MEMA’s executives and members relative to vehicle technology.

As MEMA’s CTO, Brian’s role is to advance member’s business interests related to the advanced vehicle technologies that are transforming opportunities and business models within our industry. He works to understand member’s technology needs and actively advocates on their behalf with regulators – such as NHTSA – as well as with legislators and OEMs.

Brian also provides thought leadership on the business impact of technologies, shares knowledge through forums and networking, and advances the supplier industry’s interests in areas such as safety systems, fuel economy, data access, cybersecurity, connectivity, and vehicle automation. He participates on several SAE committees focusing on these areas and is also MEMA’s representative for the Auto-ISAC.

Brian has extensive experience in existing and emerging vehicle technologies. Before joining MEMA, he was the Director of Global Intellectual Property for Visteon Corporation and managed intellectual property and advanced development programs, including advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V). Prior to that, Brian was Visteon’s Director of Global Advanced Development.  During his 16-year tenure, he was also responsible for blind spot detection (BSD) systems for Honda and Chrysler and led the team that developed a FlexRay-based, failsafe steer-by-wire (SBW) system for GM’s Chevrolet Sequel.

Prior to Visteon, Brian spent ten years at Ford Motor Company where he worked on robotics and advanced manufacturing as well as the development of electric power steering systems (EPS) and anti-lock braking systems (ABS). He received a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.S. from Stanford University, both in mechanical engineering and holds 8 US patents.

Joanna Foust has over 25 years of experience working in Washington, D.C. in the public and private sector.  She is the Vice President of Government Affairs in the Washington, D.C. office of North American Subaru, Inc (NASI) where she helps develop policy positions and directs advocacy efforts.  In her role, she represents Subaru’s policy interests in meetings with government officials, external advocacy groups and industry representatives.

Prior to joining NASI in 2019, Joanna spent over 10 years in the Washington office of Daimler North America.   As General Manager-Federal Affairs she was responsible for advocating for the company on various issues before the U.S. Congress.   Joanna began her career in Washington on Capitol Hill where she served in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.    Joanna received her undergraduate degree at the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Joanna earned her graduate degree in public policy at the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C.    Joanna is from the State of Michigan and is an avid fan of Detroit sports teams.

Mark Johnson currently serves as the Vice President for Government Affairs for Toyota in their office in Washington, D.C. where he manages a team of 5 Federal lobbyists.

Prior to coming to Toyota, Mark served as Chief of Staff for Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). As Chief of Staff, he managed Representative Capito’s three Congressional offices and served as her chief legislative and political advisor.

Before joining Representative Capito’s office, Mark served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Representative Ed Bryant (R-TN) and as a Legislative Assistant for Representative Don Sundquist (R-TN), who later went on to become the Governor of the state.

Mark also spent a brief period of time as Director of Government Affairs for Fluor Corporation, a major construction and engineering company headquartered in Texas. Mark was responsible for legislative issues related to product liability, tax policy, health care, and trade.

Before beginning his career in government service, Mark spent two years as a high school Latin and government teacher at Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia.

Mark is active in his community having served as a member of his Home Owners Association Board for 7 years and a vestry member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Manassas, Virginia. Currently, Mark serves on the Board of Directors for the Congressional Sports for Charity, the House Chiefs of Staff Alumni Association and the Augustana College President’s Board of Advisors. Mark currently resides in Fairfax Station, Virginia with his wife Lisa.

Mark graduated from Augustana College in 1991.

Kuniharu Tanabe is the Director of the Future of Mobility Automotive Industrial Strategy Office, which is part of the Automotive Division of the Government of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In this role, Tanabe is in charge of policies aimed at achieving carbon neutrality in the automotive sector. His office promotes the adoption of electrified vehicles through purchasing subsidies and the development of the country’s electric charging infrastructure (with the goal of increasing Japan’s share of electronic vehicles to 100% by 2035).

Prior to this post, Tanabe worked for the Cabinet Secretary and assisted in the drafting of policy proposals for the Prime Minister’s “Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism,” which included economic growth strategies. He is a graduate of Chiba University and served as Deputy Mayor of Atami, Japan, a city famous for tourism, from 2011 to 2015.

Yugo’s practice focuses on intellectual property infringement litigation in the high-tech and manufacturing technology industry. He works with American and Asian companies in the IP arena. He has litigated before the U.S. International Trade Commission and Federal District Courts. He is also experienced with assisting and advising Japanese companies and foreign-owned subsidiaries in the U.S. with various legal needs.

Yugo’s practice focuses on data privacy, data security, and intellectual property issues involving cutting-edge electronics and computer software. Yugo is a member of Frost Brown Todd’s Data Services Team, focusing primarily on international and domestic data privacy issues involving international data transfers, GDPR compliance, U.S. federal regulations, and CCPA/CPRA compliance issues for domestic and international clients. This includes automotive first-tier clients with data breach and data privacy issues.

Yugo is also experienced in privacy issues involving the intersections of privacy and fintech and blockchain issues. Yugo works with clients across the globe to assist and advise domestic, Asian, and foreign-owned subsidiaries in the U.S. with various legal needs in the emerging manufacturing, healthcare, and financial technology space.

Yugo is an attorney admitted to practice law in Japan who litigated before the Tokyo District Court and Tokyo High Court. There, he represented technology companies on matters ranging from patent and trademark licensing agreements to international mergers and acquisitions.

Mekesha represents management in the areas of union negotiations and arbitration and employment discrimination/wrongful discharge. She has successfully represented companies defending against class and collective actions alleging employment discrimination and wage and hour violations, including class actions under the FMLA, collective actions under the FLSA and EEOC-initiated class actions. Mekesha regularly provides advice and counsel to management responding to union-initiated grievances and has represented management in numerous labor arbitrations. She also has significant experience dealing with issues arising from covenants not to compete and with ERISA and Employee Benefits Litigation.

Understanding that each client has different pain points and objectives in dealing with labor & employment matters, Mekesha stays informed with what is happening within the clients’ industries she serves by attending industry events, reading industry publications and satisfying her natural nosiness through facility tours and field trips. This approach allows her to understand not only the legal challenges her clients are facing, but how those challenges directly impact operations. As a result, she can help to steer clients through a multitude of issues with an immediate understanding of the business context of the legal decisions.

Brenda Brickhouse is a thought leader in energy and environment. As a Technical Executive at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), she leads EPRI’s Equitable Decarbonization Initiative and supports EPRI’s Strategic Sustainability Science program, Energy Sustainability Interest Group, and Sustainability Assessment Services. Brenda is involved in research efforts characterizing priority sustainability issues, on the intersection of sustainability and enterprise risk management, optimizing sustainability in decision making and investments, and understanding the equity implications and opportunities associated with decarbonization and the clean energy transition.

Passionate about making a difference, Brenda also volunteers with the Tennessee River Gorge Trust, currently chairing its board; Green|Spaces, serving on its board; Vermont Law School, leading the Masters’ Committee of the VLS Alumni Association; and NC State University, serving on the Board of Visitors.

Prior to joining EPRI, she worked as Chief Sustainability Officer at the Tennessee Valley Authority and held various environmental, operational and leadership roles in the utility industry and in consulting. She received a Bachelor of Science in Forestry and Master of Public Affairs from NC State University and a Master of Energy Regulation and Law from Vermont Law School where she focused on energy and environmental justice.

Todd Coy represents over 30 years of expertise in the battery supply chain and recovery of advanced battery chemistries such as lithium ion and nickel metal hydride batteries used in products – including hybrid and electric vehicle applications. Todd’s history in recycling, policy, and regulations related to battery management brings a broad perspective to the team.

Michael Schönberger is the Global Director of Engineering Charging Systems at Webasto Charging Systems Inc., a global full-service business partner delivering innovative energy management and e-mobility solutions. In his current role, Michael is responsible for the R&D Department of all Webasto Charging products worldwide. He has successfully launched e-mobility products for Webasto’s automotive customers on a global scale. His previous roles include Director of Engineering at Webasto Charging Systems – U.S.A., Director of Project Management & Mechanical Design for Webasto Battery Systems – Germany, and Director of Customer Engineering – Germany, with a focus on roof systems.

Michael has more than 19 years of R&D engineering experience within the automotive industry, with a more recent focus on e-mobility products, services, and solutions for over five years now. He is an ambassador for renewable green energy solutions and all his projects reflect his enthusiasm for a carbon-free, green future. Michael holds a master’s in mechatronics engineering from the Munich University of Applied Science in Germany.

As Deputy Commissioner and Chief Engineer of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Paul Degges oversees the design and implementation of the Department’s engineering projects as well as the maintenance, preservation, and operation of Tennessee’s state highway assets.

Serving in this capacity since 2004, he has overseen the awarding of over $17 billion in highway contracts. He is responsible for the activities of 12 divisions and 4 regional offices.    In addition to these responsibilities, Paul works closely with appointed and elected officials on a state and national level in formulating transportation policy.

Paul received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and is a licensed engineer.  Beginning his career with TDOT in 1988, Paul has worked within several disciplines including field construction, roadway design, information systems, hydraulic design and structures.

Paul currently serves as Vice Chairman of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Council on Highways and Streets.  He is also active in many other aspects of the transportation field.