Audience:
Open industry. All apparel and footwear industry professionals, regardless of AAFA membership, are encouraged to participate.
Description:
As global supply chains face increasing scrutiny and regulatory requirements, businesses must adopt smarter, more efficient strategies for traceability, supplier compliance, sustainability, and risk management. This webinar will explore practical approaches to overcoming key challenges, featuring insights from industry leaders – TradeBeyond, Kharon, and United Legwear & Apparel Co.
Attendees of this webinar will learn:
- How to engage with suppliers to meet regulatory compliance data requirements, overcome challenges in obtaining reliable responses, and ensure consistent communication for compliance.
- About the current state of sustainability certifications and predict how the landscape will evolve in the next few years.
- Strategies to build trust with suppliers, reduce audit fatigue, and still meet critical traceability requirements under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).
- To identify current gaps in traceability programs and understand the investments needed to improve traceability and meet evolving regulatory expectations.
Speakers:
Jono Blackmore
Enterprise Account Executive
TradeBeyond
Jono Blackmore is an Enterprise Account Executive at TradeBeyond, where he brings over five years of experience delivering quality, product compliance, and sustainability solutions to global brands. Having worked directly in manufacturing in China, Jono specializes in helping brands digitize their operations, streamline compliance processes, and strengthen supplier collaboration, enabling companies to meet today’s regulatory and sustainability challenges while driving efficiency and trust across their value chains.
Ethan Woolley
Director
Kharon
Ethan Woolley is a Director at Kharon, where he leads the firm’s work on UFLPA due diligence best practices and the use of data to strengthen risk management programs. Ethan frequently works with private sector organizations in every industry and regularly speaks at conferences and industry events on forced labor risk. Ethan received his BA in International Relations and Russian from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Energy Politics from the European University at St. Petersburg. Ethan speaks Russian and spent time living in Moscow.
Angerra King-Hardy
Director of Sustainability
United Legwear & Apparel Co.
Angerra King-Hardy serves as the Director of Sustainability at United Legwear & Apparel Co., where she leads the development and execution of environmental and social responsibility initiatives. With a background in Compliance and Quality Assurance and a degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology, Angerra brings a holistic perspective to sustainability in fashion. Angerra’s role focuses on monitoring environmental impact and driving systemic improvements across operations, product development, and supply chain engagement—helping shape a more responsible future for the apparel industry.
AAFA Host:
Conor O'Brien
Senior Vice President, Policy
AAFA
Conor O'Brien joined AAFA's policy team in 2024 as its Sustainability Policy Coordinator after completing his Masters in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University. Prior to joining AAFA, Conor worked for several years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Boston, where he engaged with RCRA compliance, state coordination, climate adaptation planning, and environmental justice application. Initially trained as a chemist at Princeton University, Conor combines scientific research with policy analysis and application to provide holistic approaches to sustainable resource usage in pursuit of a more circular economy. Conor supports the work of the AAFA Environmental Committee and AAFA Product Safety Council by engaging with public and private stakeholders on issues of sustainability, product safety, and chemical management germane to the apparel and footwear industry.
Unable to join on October 27?
Register for the webinar to receive an email containing the direct links to access the recording and the PDF version of the presentation. The email will be sent 1-3 business days after the webinar.
CONTACT | QUESTIONS
Stephanie Paendong