Testimonials
I, Michael Barrow, managed the World Wide Operations and Silicon and Package Engineering for International Rectifier (IR), headquartered in El Segundo, California. I was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, and my assessment of the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) status of a 60-year-old family managed company was that a complete assessment of all factory and engineering sites needed to be undertaken. Constance Manders was specifically assigned, based on her experience and knowledge, to drive this review including all factory audits and engineering EHS improvements and to develop a first-time corporate level EHS management program.
Constance demonstrated very strong leadership, interpersonal and technical skills and rapidly not only built the EHS program and quantified our risks, but also managed the entire factory EHS staff to make major measurable improvements. The net result of Constance’s efforts was an 80% reduction in insurance premiums, and significant reduction in the severity and frequency of regulatory compliance risk.
When IR decided to join the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and to improve its corporate social responsibility (CSR), Constance once again rose to the occasion and delivered a new, world-class CSR program across our global factory footprint. This program was implemented in under 12 months with near-perfect conformance to the EICC’s Code of Conduct, and IR scored (via third-party audits) in the top 1% of the EICC audit program results.
Constance is a consummate professional. I’m proud to have worked with her, and she delivered excellent results that were internationally recognized. She will be a great leader and a very valuable asset to any executive team she works for.
Michael Barrow
EVP and COO
International Rectifier
I worked with Constance Manders at International Rectifier (IR) from 2008-2016. Constance developed the corporate-wide EHS program to address IR’s citizenship in a growing global concern for the environment, labor, security and safety. Constance leveraged her experience to develop and implement an EHS strategy of transparency, accountability and advocacy that significantly improved regulatory compliance and formed the framework for risk management. Her implementation of this strategy resulted in a positive organizational behavioral change. Her strategy provided the company with both a formal root cause analysis of EHS findings and an informal analysis of the Company’s EHS knowledge, management, leadership and culture.
Constance was responsible for developing and directing the company-wide Social Responsibility (CSR) program. Constance led this new program with outstanding NGO and customer-verified results through her team work and strategic thinking skills.
I am happy to recommend Constance as an outstanding leader to any team that wishes to build and improve its EHS or CSR management programs.
- Gregory Takagi
Director of Loss Prevention and Real Estate
International Rectifier
Coni Manders was a valuable contributor to Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s (OPC’s) health, environment and safety (HES) programs over the past 16 years. She worked in compliance, due diligence, corporate social responsibility, and program development in a number of key areas, and led the redesign and implementation of OPC’s HES quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) programs from 1997 through 2007. QA/QC programs are a key element of strong HES programs in businesses of all sizes, operating anywhere in the world, whether they produce goods or services.
In her capacity directing OPC’s HES QA/QC programs, Coni coordinated with our operating subsidiaries and reported to the Environmental, Health and Safety Committee of OPC’s Board of Directors (the Board Committee). Coni was also a leader in the Auditing Roundtable, which she has served in a number of capacities, including as its past president. Coni introduced and implemented a number of best practices in our HES QA/QC Programs, and she has educated and trained many professionals at our company and other companies in auditing and assessment.
OPC retained Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a worldwide consulting firm, to conduct a thorough, three-year benchmark of our HES QA/QC Programs. ERM issued the following opinion in 2001, which serves as a testament to Coni’s design and implementation:
“Environmental Resources Management has conducted an evaluation of the Health, Environment, Safety, Transportation, and Product Stewardship Audit Programs (the Programs) of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OPC) and its wholly owned subsidiaries over a three-year period.... ERM has concluded that OPC’s Program and the Programs of OPC’s wholly owned subsidiaries satisfy or exceed the mandates of OPC’s HES Policies and Procedures, and the expectations of established HES audit criteria of governmental agencies and recognized non-governmental organizations. OPC’s Program, and the Programs of OPC’s subsidiaries as overviewed by OPC, provide competent, reliable and objective information to the management of Occidental Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries about the status of HES compliance and performance. Occidental Petroleum Corporation can rely on OPC’s Program and the Programs of its subsidiaries.
In ERM’s opinion, Occidental Petroleum Corporation has implemented an effective Health, Environment, Safety and Process Risk audit program that clearly ranks in the upper quartile of companies in the chemical manufacturing and oil & gas industries.”
Thanks to Coni’s thoughtful stewardship, we have maintained strong, vibrant HES QA/QC Programs on which our management and our Board Committee depend.
- Charles F. Weiss
VP – HES
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Coni Manders is a seasoned professional across the broad range of Environmental, Health and Safety practice from policy development to audit assessments of performance. She is unique in her ability to listen carefully and understand her clients, thus enabling her to recommend appropriate and practical courses of action to manage and reduce risk.
- John Feick, Chairman
Matrix Solutions, Inc.,
an Environmental Consulting Company
and Member of the Board of Directors and Chair, EHS Committee of the Board
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
I have worked with Coni Manders for more than 15 years and she has consistently delivered world class advice in the field of Environmental Health and Safety. If you need practical and professional advice in HES, ICON can provide what you need.
- Dr. Dale Laurance, CEO
Laurance Enterprises, LLP
and Former President
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
During the more than dozen years that I worked with Coni in the Health, Environment and Safety department of a major Fortune 500 corporation, I found her to be a knowledgeable and creative contributor to our efforts, which enabled Occidental Petroleum to implement an exceedingly strong HES program that achieved outstanding results.
- Richard A. Swan
Vice President of Health, Environment and Safety (Retired)
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
What makes Coni such an effective instructor and consultant? She knows how to communicate complex technical and regulatory information so that students and clients not only understand that information but also how to use it.
Coni bridges the corporate gap between executive management and technical staff – she is effective in communicating environmental issues to corporate decision makers and directors while helping staff merge business factors with front-line technical and regulatory issues.
- Donald K. Rothenbaum
Executive Vice President
Network Environmental Systems, Inc.
I have known Coni Manders for almost 20 years both as a client and a colleague. I have always been impressed with her unique blend of interpersonal, technical and management skills. As a veteran of the regulatory based environmental, health and safety business over the past 20 years ICON understands what your company must do to stay in compliance and also has the vision to guide your business to a sustainable future.
Whatever your EHS management consulting needs may be; risk management, compliance programs, training or strategic advisory support, ICON has the skill, integrity and business insight to assist you.
- Ray Kane, P.E., CPEA
Principal
Raymond W Kane & Associates
Coni is a strategic thinker; she sees the dimensions of management from a different view point than her peers. She continually considers structural impediments that prevent the organization from fulfilling its mission. When the situation is defined, she presents a vision to those around her and then facilitates solutions by drawing in key players to change and restructure the organization. While she is the catalyst, in the end all players claim the success of the team.
- Ronald E. Lund, CPEA
Vice President - Auditing Services
Midland Engineering, Ltd. and
former Member of the Board of Directors
Auditing Roundtable, Inc.
Recently our company faced a very challenging situation as the New Jersey Department of Health declared that turf fields represented a potential health issue for children. As a supplier of turf fields we needed to decide how to react to this announcement. We engaged Coni Manders to help us formulate not only a short term response to this but the company policy that we would follow for the future. Coni’s insights into how the public would react to these types of announcements and the types of approaches that had been successful and not so successful for other companies was invaluable for us as we formulated our path forward.
- Stephen P. Noe
President and CEO
Sportexe Construction Services, Inc.
I have collaborated with Coni in prior years in her leadership roles within the Auditing Rountable, Inc., and now as its Training Director, and have found her to be enthusiastic, practical, knowledgeable and insightful, and she has always had an eye to achieving objectives with minimum impact on the bottom line.
- Partner at top international law firm.
Coni Manders and I worked together for 15 years with a major U.S. Oil & Gas and Chemical Manufacturing company. Coni is extremely knowledgeable in all phases of Industrial Environmental, Health and Safety Management. I have worked with her on many sensitive and complicated issues and in all cases she has been a great asset.
- F. Allen Meek P.E.
Senior Engineer III
Conestoga-Rovers and Associates
I work closely with Coni in the development and delivery the Auditing Roundtable's newly established Auditor Training Program. I have found her to be her to be extremely passionate about her work. She is very dedicated to the project at hand and combines her expertise with her professionalism to develop products that exceed expectations. Coni is an excellent team player that will help you accomplish your goals.
- Susie Noreus
Administrative Manager
Auditing Roundtable, Inc.
It is my pleasure to recommend the services of Coni Manders.
I have worked and known Coni for over 15 years. I worked with her closely as a board member of the Auditing Roundtable (AR) and most recently in my capacity as board member of our certification organization the Board of Environmental, Health and Safety Auditor Certification (BEAC).
Coni has served us as President of AR and played a critical role in creating BEAC to certify environmental, health and safety (EHS) auditors. In her many years with the organization she has been a very strong contributor and a role model for many of us. Coni spearheaded a successful complete reorganization of the AR to a structure which effectively delegated more decision making of the organization to the committee level. This greatly helped streamline the management process of the board which freed the board members to think more strategically and proactively. Her approach to the many challenges of AR included clear objectives, well-organized strategies, good benchmarking examples and a generally positive attitude to change. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Coni for many years of fine service to the EHS profession.
I highly recommend the services of Coni Manders. She is professional, efficient and has made key contributions in the field of environmental and safety management.
Sincerely,
- Lincoln Romain
Former Chair,
Board of Environmental Health and Safety Auditor
Certification (BEAC) and
Senior Manager,
Environmental, Health & Safety
Global Crossing Development Company