Footprint Expands Senior Leadership Team to Support Global Growth

Footprint, a sustainable technology firm specializing in materials science engineering, today announced the appointment of Josh Walden as chief operating officer and Heather Knox as senior vice president of global communications.

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Heather Knox, SVP Communications (Photo: Business Wire)

Walden comes to Footprint after 38 years at Intel Corporation. At Intel, he served as senior vice president and held senior leadership roles overseeing engineering, new technology strategy and scaling global manufacturing operations. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Florida. At Footprint, he will lead operations including manufacturing, production, planning, and procurement.

“The shift to Footprint’s plant-based solutions that eliminate plastic, is accelerating customer demand and driving rapid growth,” said Footprint CEO Troy Swope. “Josh shares our passion for process technology and brings years of best practices in production and scale that will help us ramp at the speed and efficacy we need to continue to innovate and deliver on customer expectations around the world.”

“Footprint is innovating, disrupting traditional packaging solutions and bringing patented new technologies to market, and it is a unique opportunity for me to join the company at this stage and make real impact. I look forward to bringing my experience to Footprint as we continue to innovate, scale and globalize our delivery capabilities for customers.”

Heather Knox joins Footprint from Amazon, where she led operations communications for the Americas during hyper-growth, playing a critical role in reputation management. Prior to Amazon, Knox held senior communications roles in the US and Europe at Microsoft, Nissan, and Groupe Renault and led marketing and communications through major financial events, including IPO, in growth-stage technology companies. Knox graduated with double bachelor’s degrees in international relations and French from the University of Southern California. At Footprint, she leads all global internal and external communications.

“Educating and exciting a range of stakeholders about plant-based materials solutions and helping our business customers deliver on their ambitious sustainability goals is key to Footprint’s growth. Heather’s range of experience and track record with both global brands and private companies is invaluable as we accelerate our mission to usher out the era of single-use plastics,” CEO Troy Swope said.

“Footprint has done an impressive job already driving thought leadership and working with multi-national customers like ConAgra and Beyond Meat to deliver patented bowls, meat trays, and other bio-based, compostable and recyclable fiber products you can see today in grocery stores. It’s an honor to join a group of seasoned leaders at this stage to help tell the Footprint story and build a healthier future for people and the planet.”

Footprint has been recognized by the World Economic Forum for its leading plant-based solutions and is a member of the organization’s Global Innovators Community, Footprint was named to the 2020 Fortune “Change the World” and the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company, and is a NextGen Cup Challenge 2019 winner for its plant-based cups and lids.

About Footprint

Footprint has a clear vision to provide solutions to businesses and direct to consumers that eliminate single-use and short-term use plastics. Footprint’s team of engineers use plant-based, molded-fiber technology to design, develop and manufacture biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable products that are on par with plastic’s cost and exceed its performance, keeping harmful chemicals away from consumers in materials digestible by the earth. Footprint is rapidly expanding into new categories with differentiated and patented solutions for customers. Footprint’s products have already led to a global redirection of 61 million pounds of plastic waste from entering the air, earth, and water.

Footprint, founded in 2013 by two materials engineers from Intel, Troy Swope and Yoke Chung, has more than 1,500 employees and is based in Gilbert, AZ with operations in the US, Mexicali, Europe and Asia.

For more information on Footprint’s sustainable solutions visit www.footprintus.com.

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