Bio : Nehemiah Manufacturing
DAN MEYER BIO
Dan has over 40+ years of consumer-packaged goods experience. He has held senior management positions with large multinational companies for over 20 years and over 26 years has co-founded and run two start-up companies.
From 1978-1994, Dan has spent over 16 years with Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats and the Drackett companies in a variety of marketing, sales and general management positions.
From 1994-2009, as founder and CEO of Changing Paradigms, Dan's team built an $85M CPG company, becoming a leader in premium private label products within the air care, household cleaners, drain care, laundry additives, and baby care categories.
In 2009, Dan founded Nehemiah Manufacturing, whose mission is to build brands, create jobs and change lives through second chance hiring in the inner-city of Cincinnati. With the support of P&G, Nehemiah licensed the Pampers Kandoo business in September 2009, which was the foundation for the start of Nehemiah Manufacturing. In 2012, Nehemiah acquired the Boogie Wipes brands, a patented saline nose wipe for little children, building the company's presence within the baby/toddler category.
In October 2013, Nehemiah partnered with P&G to license 3 Fabric Care and Home Care brands. Located in Cincinnati, OH, Nehemiah currently employs 200 people, 130 employees in production, warehousing and office positions, being second chance citizens. Second Chance employees are those that find it extremely hard to find sustainable employment because of having a felony on their background, a misdemeanor or gap in employment from drug and or alcohol abuse or even those who have been homeless for a period of time.
In 2015, Dan led a group that set into motion plans to team with other businesses in providing critically needed jobs for returning citizens. in April 2016, The Beacon of Hope Business Alliance was formally launched, engaging leaders from business, government, churches and related social services. The mission is to expose 2,500+ new jobs each year to the Second Chance population by creating awareness, providing a proven process and easy access to an ecosystem of social support- so that everyone who wants to work and change their life will be given that chance. To date, over 100 companies are involved in the mission.
Today, Nehemiah is a $128M+ business, employing over 250 family members (180 of those second chance).
Dan received his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School in 1978. Dan resides in Cincinnati with his wife, Deb, of over 40 years and is the product daughter of three girls and a granddaughter.
KRISTEN SCHUMACHER BIO
Kristen is the influential Head of Marketing at Nehemiah Manufacturing Company, an organization renowned for its dedication to building brands, creating jobs and changing lives. Kristen brings a unique and powerful perspective to the world of brand development and consumer engagement having spent 7+ years at Nehemiah.
Kristen’s passion at Nehemiah is to drive consumer choice with purpose; in a world where many of the most successful brand equities have been built on trusted product superiority, Kristen believes in the opportunity to further elevate the performance of Nehemiah’s incredible products by connecting to the heart of Nehemiah’s mission in order for consumers to buy Nehemiah’s products not just for “what they do” but they buy over and over again for Nehemiah’s mission of providing hope to the hopeless.
Before rejoining Nehemiah in January 2023, Kristen co-founded Uprising Food, Inc., where as Chief Brand Officer, she broke new ground in the food industry alongside her husband. Kristen’s innovative leadership and a keen understanding of market dynamics steered the company to blend health-conscious products with true gut-health transformations, captivating consumers nationwide, landing Uprising Food on Shark Tank and a powerhouse captable.
Kristen’s approach to marketing is both innovative and heartfelt, championing initiatives that elevate the brand while reinforcing the company’s mission to strengthen and support the local community.
Today, Nehemiah is a $128M+ business, employing over 250 family members (180 of those second chance).
Kristen resides in Cincinnati with her husband, William, and their two little boys, Liam and Luka.