DAVID SUTHERLAND

Board Member, Finance Committee Chair

Dave Sutherland worked for the Kellogg Company, headquartered in Battle Creek Michigan for 36 years, retiring in 2016.  Dave’s final role for Kellogg was Finance Director at the W.K. Kellogg Institute for Food & Nutrition Research (WKKI).  Previous roles include Associate Director, Global Costing Solution at the Kellogg European headquarters in Manchester, England. Prior to that, Dave served as the Plant Controller and also a Shift Manager at the Kellogg cereal manufacturing plant in Memphis Tennessee.

Dave holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Michigan State University. He is currently an Instructor at Western Michigan University where he teaches a Strategic Business Solutions course to cross functional undergraduate Seniors preparing to complete their degrees and begin their business careers.

Dave serves on the Board of Directors for the International Food Protection Training Institute [IFPTI] where he is Chairperson of the Finance Committee. Dave is also currently the Treasurer and a Board Member at a nonprofit charity called Maya Indian Missions whose mission is to serve the Maya Indians in the impoverished remote pueblos outside of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

Dave learned business concepts early while working in a family owned business – a grocery store in southern Michigan.  Today he works with people to improve their ability to identify strategic issues and opportunities facing organizations and to develop effective solutions by evaluating strategic business alternatives and their implications, focusing on the key business dimensions of information, operations, people, and technology. Dave enjoys coaching people to understand that the successful strategist integrates these four dimensions, sees the organization as a whole, and works proactively to improve organizational performance.