Meet the nine candidates interested in serving in the four open Director seats on the RAIN Alliance  Board. They’ve each prepared an introductory video so that you can learn a bit more about them and why they believe they would be an excellent candidate for the RAIN Alliance Board of Directors. Voting will be conducted from Wednesday, 12 February through Wednesday, 12 March.

To ensure strong leadership, we need Board members who:

  • Have experience in governance, strategy, and oversight of rapidly scaling organizations.
  • Hold senior roles with the ability to commit financial and intellectual resources to RAIN initiatives.
  • Are well-connected and actively engage in industry growth and member acquisition.
  • Demonstrate passion, energy, and a growth mindset to help shape the future of RAIN.

We encourage your company to vote for the candidates who best align with the above criteria and can help take the Alliance to the next level. Your vote is an investment in the future of RAIN. Please reach out to operations@therainalliance.org if you do not know who your primary delegate designated voter is.

Abby Wu

Xindeco IoT, Assist to GM – Xindeco IoT,
GM – Xindeco IoT Malaysia Sdn., Bhd

Thanks to the platform provided by Xindeco, I’ve had the opportunity to grow together with the RAIN RFID ecosystem partners in last 14 years. As the Chair of RAIN APAC Advisory group, together with Xindeco, we are keep working on RAIN RFID technology developments and provide clients much more high-level products and services through RAIN technological innovation. I am willing to work with all of you for creating a shared future created by RAIN RFID.

*Abby Wu nominated herself.

Gwen Volpe

Fresenius Kabi
Senior Director of Medication Technology Programs and Strategic Partnerships

Gwen Volpe is the Senior Director of Medication Technology for Fresenius Kabi US, is a licensed pharmacist, Fellow of ASHP, and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. As a pharmacist she has worked in Hospital, Community, and Long-term Care Pharmacy, Healthcare Technology, and now Pharma in a career that has spanned more than 25 years. As a pharmacist she understands and advocates for the use of standards and auto-id technologies to support patient safety, interoperability and clinician efficiency.  In Gwen’s current role as Senior Director of Medication Technology at Fresenius Kabi she is responsible for upstream commercialization of RFID and 2D Barcodes, Strategic Partnerships, and Customer Insights needed to ensure Fresenius Kabi products continue to support clinicians as they care for life.

*Paul M. Elizondo from Intelliguard nominated Gwen Volpe.

James Goodland

NXP Semiconductors
Director, RAIN RFID Solutions

James Goodland is responsible for RAIN RFID Solutions at NXP Semiconductors. He oversees global strategy and product marketing for part of the UCODE portfolio and market development in target industries. Collaborating with ecosystem partners, he facilitates solution development and system implementation in support of end users. With 25 years of experience of RAIN technology across the value chain—including roles with hardware manufacturers, systems integrators, and end users—James has led implementations for brand owners in various industries including the introduction of the technology at the UK supermarket, Asda. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and an MBA from the University of Bradford School of Management.

*James Goodland nominated himself.

Joan Miro

Trace Tech ID Solutions SL / Kyubi
C.E.O.

15 years of experience as a director in the Food industry plus 5 years involve in the RFID technology. Great analytical skills and sense of organization. I transform circumstances into opportunities thanks to my strategic vision and the ability to adapt. I have a creative character; a corporate attitude and I believe in the process of continuous improvement.

*Joan Miro nominated himself.

Juho Partanen

Impinj Inc.
VP Market Transformation

For more than 20 years, Juho Partanen has been a globetrotter in the RAIN RFID market, working passionately with others for the growth and scalability of the RAIN industry. Juho’s leadership experience covers all the organization levels: team lead, leadership team, CEO, Board of Directors, Chairman and owner. His standardization experience spans over ISO, CEN/CLC, and GS1. Success in these positions and activities manifests excellent communication skills, leading by example, and prudent management of limited resources. At the RAIN Alliance, Juho has been an elected director since 2019, and has served as the Chairman for three years. Juho Partanen holds a M.Sc. Degree in Applied Electronics.

*Chris Diorio from Impinj Inc. nominated Juho Partanen.

Mathieu DeBacker

Avery Dennison
VP, Global Innovation and Sustainability

Mathieu is Vice President global innovation and sustainability for Avery Dennison Smartrac. In this role, Mathieu leads the R&D and New ProductDevelopment, Product Management, Application Testing and Sustainability teams within Avery Dennison’s RFID business. Mathieu joined Avery Dennison in 2000 and has worked in a number of different roles across in the business. Most recently, Mathieu has led the strategic innovation project developing the solution portfolio for more integrated RFID technology in the apparel segment, including playing an instrumental role in Avery Dennison’s acquisition of Textrace. He was also responsible for building the segment innovation platform for Avery Dennison Smartrac. Mathieu has a bachelor’s degree in Applied Economist with a Masters in Marketing from the University of Ghent, he is also fluent in Italian, French, Dutch and English.

*Jeremy Schenof from Avery Dennison nominated Mathieu De Backer.

Pierre Muller

EM Microelectronic
RFID BU Leader

Pierre Muller leads the EM Microelectronic RFID Business Unit. With over 30 years of presence in the RFID industry, EM Microelectronic is one of the pioneers of RFID, encompassing all segments of RFID technologies (Low Frequency, NFC, and RAIN RFID). Pierre is responsible for overseeing all activities related to RFID within EM Microelectronic, including strategic roadmap, product development, partnership and all business aspects.

With over 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry and 10 years specifically in RFID, Pierre has a track record of developing Bluetooth and cellular systems, as well as leading the development of security and payment products. Pierre serves as ISO expert and is a RAIN Alliance board director since 2023.

Pierre holds an MSC in Microelectronics from Grenoble INP.

*Pierre Muller nominated himself.

Rafael Pous

Keonn | Pompeu Fabra University
Chief Innovation Officer | Full Professor

Over 35 years advancing antenna and RFID technology, including pioneer work in fractal antennas. Full Professor at U. Pompeu Fabra, leading the UbiCA Lab on ubiquitous computing. Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Keonn Technologies, delivering RAIN RFID solutions for retail. An entire career dedicated to bridging academic research with real world innovation.

*Ramir De Porrata-Doria from Keonn nominated Rafael Pous.

Zander Livingston

Maxim Label and Packaging
Global RFID Manager

Zander Livingston is a prominent figure in the RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) industry, known for his innovative contributions to retail technology. He co-founded Truecount Corporation, an RFID solutions provider for retailers, where he served as CEO. Under his leadership, Truecount developed scalable RFID software packages aimed at enhancing inventory visibility and management for retailers of various sizes.

Before establishing Truecount, Zander was the Director of RFID at American Apparel. In this role, he implemented RFID technology to track garments from manufacturing to the sales floor, significantly improving inventory accuracy and customer service. This initiative enabled the company to react swiftly to market demands, reducing the time from fabric production to store availability to just 48 hours.

Zander is currently the Global RFID Manager at Maxim Label and Packaging.  In his current position, he is responsible for leading RFID innovations and strategic direction, design, construct and manage RFID testing labs and support RFID sales initiatives.

Zander’s expertise in RFID has made him a sought-after strategist and consultant in the field. He has been instrumental in demonstrating how RFID technology can transform retail operations, leading to increased efficiency and profitability.

*Joshua Macy from Maxim Label and Packaging nominated Zander Livingston.