About Crazy Clean

Germ Advisors & Clean Team

Germ Advisors

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  Dr. Charles Gerba

  Dr. Germ

  Dr. Chuck Gerba is considered by many the foremost germ scientist in the world.

  Dr. Gerba is germ microbiologist and professor at The University of Arizona.

  The media has affectionately dubbed Dr. Gerba “Dr. Germ” dating back as far as 1999.

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  Chuck Gerba is a professor in the Department Environmental Science, and the Department of Environmental and Community Health at the University of Arizona. He obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Miami, Florida and was a faculty member in the Department of Virology and Epidemiology at Baylor College of Medicine from 1974 to 1981. He conducts research on the transmission of pathogens by water, food and in health care environments. He has been an author on more than 500 peer-reviewed articles and several textbooks in environmental microbiology and risk assessment. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the International Water Association.

  He was lead investigator at the University of Arizona for the Center for Advancing Microbiology Risk Assessment funded by the Department of Homeland Security; an investigator with the CONSERVE Center funded by the USDA; and the National Science Foundation-funded Water Environmental Technology Center.

  His current research projects include an assessment of novel disinfection technologies for the control of Coronavirus, use of wastewater monitoring to identify and predict number of cases of Coronavirus in a hospital or community, and quantitative microbial risk assessment.

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  Dr. Jay Bhatt

  Former Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, American Hospital Association

  Dr. Jay Bhatt, the former Chief Medical Officer of the American Hospital Association (AHA).

  A practicing physician with a Masters in Public Health Administration from Harvard, Dr Bhatt oversaw the regulatory policy related to disinfecting, hospital disease transmission and overall hygiene as the highest-ranking doctor at the AHA from 2016-2020.

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  Dr. Jay Bhatt is a highly regarded and widely quoted expert in public health, epidemics and preparedness, Medicare and Medicaid, social determinants, healthcare innovation and the applications of big data, analytics in public health and medicine.

  Jay is a recognized thought leader on the biggest challenges and opportunities in health care. He’s spoken at South by Southwest, National Academy of Medicine, the Aspen Ideas Festival and been published in Academic Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He’s appeared in ABC News, USA Today, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, Modern Healthcare, Becker’s Hospital Review and Huffington Post, Health Leaders Media.

  Jay’s innovative programs have made hospitals deliver safer, smarter and better care, doctors more skilled and responsive to patients, and government more aware of the health impact of policing, housing and other social policies across sectors that can impact outcomes and health of communities.

  Jay started out as a grassroots Chicago doctor working with underserved populations. Through a combination of hard work and fresh ideas he emerged as a trusted leader, eventually becoming the Senior Vice-President and Chief Medical Officer at the American Hospital Association including leading several subsidiaries.

  Before joining the AHA, Jay served as the first chief health officer of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, where he launched a Hospital Engagement Network that worked to improve quality and safety, tackled psychiatric and substance abuse, urban trauma centers and rural hospitals. He launched a physician leadership academy and led a statewide zero-harm initiative and a regional patient safety organization.

  As chief innovation officer for the Chicago Department of Public Health, Jay implemented Healthy Chicago, the city’s public health agenda. Under his guidance, the department was recognized internationally for using predictive analytics and machine learning to target food-safety hotspots, improve approach to inspections, reduce lead exposure as well as reduce chronic disease and strengthen the culture of safety and continuous improvement

  Over the years, Jay has received many honors, including Aspen Health Innovator Fellow, Crain’s Business’ 40 Under 40, Becker’s Healthcare Rising Star, and Presidential Leadership Scholar. Jay earned a B.A. from the University of Chicago; Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; M.P.H.A. in public health from the University of Illinois at Chicago; and M.P.A. in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Zuckerman and Commonwealth Fund Minority Health Policy Fellow.

  Known to his patients as the “dancing doctor,” Jay teaches dance classes, participates in fitness programs and enjoys Chicago’s lively restaurant scene with his family. He enjoys podcasts, and nonfiction reading on leadership, and autobiographies.

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  Kelli Foster Makerson

  MSPH

  Kelli Makerson has served as a Public Health Analyst at the CDC since 2014 focusing on pandemic responses to the Ebola, Zika and now Covid-19 outbreaks. Kelli has first-hand knowledge through her work of how to apply both personnel and chemical agents to slow the spread of infectious disease.

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  Kelli Foster Makerson is a Public Health Analyst at the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Division of Laboratory Systems (DLS) with the mission to improve public health surveillance and practice as well as patient outcomes by advancing clinical laboratory quality and safety, data and biorepository science, and workforce competency. Kelli works with federal employees and external and internal partners at hospitals and clinical laboratories. She helps support scientific staff on policies and regulations regarding protection of human subjects, Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requirements, and other Federal regulations and CDC-specific procedures. This position has given her the opportunity to have a wide range of experience from handling public-private partnerships, evaluating team projects, and managing data to protect and improve the health of people and their communities.

  In 2014, Kelli began her CDC career as an ORISE Fellow at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH). She was on the Performance Improvement Team in the Environmental Health Service Branch. Past projects focused in the areas of vector control, safe drinking water and workforce development. She volunteered in the Emergency Operation Center during the Ebola and Zika Response. Her experience led her to the role as a Staffing Coordinator in the Division of Emergency Operations. Her duties consisted of providing staffing for deployment teams performing public health service to control and prevent the spread of Zika.

  Kelli earned her Master of Science in Public Health from Meharry Medical College and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from Spelman College. In her free time, Kelli enjoys going for hikes, trying new recipes and spending time with her family.

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  Kelly Spinola

  Kelly Spinola is the Global Product Manager of Facilities Management at JLL, Inc. She is responsible for delivering products that are at the forefront of market trends across JLL’s 1.5B square foot portfolio under management.

  In this role Kelly drives the strategic planning and digital roadmap for JLL’s facilities management and soft services products including, cleaning, disinfecting and janitorial.

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  Kelly is the Global Product Manager of Facilities Management at JLL, Inc. She is responsible for delivering products that are at the forefront of market trends across JLL’s 1.5B square foot portfolio under management.

  In this role Kelly drives the strategic planning and digital roadmap for JLL’s facilities management and soft services products including, cleaning and janitorial. Leveraging emerging technologies, proven methods and a digital end to end process has enabled the facilities management product to effectively deliver client needs for health and wellness and employee productivity.

  Over her last five years at JLL, Kelly has held various leadership roles within the Corporate Solutions business, including: the Americas Head of Commercial Optimization; Vice President, Program Management for Global Integrated Facilities Management (IFM); and was a member of the IFM Global Board.

  Prior to JLL, Kelly spent 10 years as a management consultant primarily focused on Corporate Real Estate strategic advisory and outsourcing. Kelly is a member of the International Facilities Management Association and is a Six Sigma Green Belt.

  She holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Florida.

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  Marty Astorga

  Marty Astorga and his partner own and operate Food Safety and Quality Systems, LLC, a licensed and accredited training center.

  He has held leadership positions in the food manufacturing industry for over 35 years.

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  Marty Astorga and his partner own and operate Food Safety and Quality Systems, LLC, a licensed and accredited training center. He has held leadership positions in the food manufacturing industry for over 35 years.

  Marty has worked with top industry producers including Tyson Foods, NutraSweet, Pinnacle Foods, Tootsie Roll, and Select Beverages. Throughout his career Marty has further developed his skills through attendance in various seminars such as the Zenger Miller Management Training, 5S Organizational Structures, OSHA Compliance, Material Resource Planning (MRP) II, Lean Manufacturing Principles and MRP training for SAP. As plant manager, Marty was responsible for full operations of the processing facility including production, sanitation, quality assurance and food safety departments. He led the development, implementation and training of SAP at the first Tyson Foods manufacturing plant.

  Today, as an owner of Food Safety and Quality Systems, LLC, Marty provides guidance to food, packaging and chemical manufacturing facilities to develop and implement operations, maintenance and sanitation programs that are functional and easily sustained while ensuring the policies meet current regulatory and Global Food Safety Initiative requirements.

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  Christina Kelly-Astorga

  She is the President of Food Quality and Safety Systems and one of the premier trainers in America on hygiene and safety in the food workplace. She’s a licensed trainer on SQF (Safe Quality Food) standards and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) standards.

  Christina teaches food manufacturers all over the world how to keep their facilities safe from harm and how to leverage disinfecting to keep the environment safe and clean. She has been a leader in this space since 1998.

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  Christina Astorga and her partner own and operate Food Safety and Quality Systems, LLC, a licensed and accredited training center. Christina attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, AR, where she studied microbiology, medical technology and chemistry.

  She specializes in quality assurance, food safety and regulatory compliance. Her leadership skills began at Tyson Foods where she developed and maintained third party audit criteria, quality assurance programs and HACCP Food Safety Systems for FDA and USDA processing facilities. Christina led the implementation of the first snack food processing facility in the United States to achieve Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. As Technical Director of the SQF Institute, her responsibilities included Chairman of the Panel Review Committee, member of the Technical Advisory Council, Member of the Fresh Shell Egg Sub-committee, Member of the SQF International Conference Committee, Member of the Technical Committee for Meat and Poultry, Member of the Technical Committee for Cold Chain Supply.

  Today, as an owner of Food Safety and Quality Systems, LLC, Christina is a Lead Registered Trainer for Safe Quality Food, HACCP, Preventive Controls for Human Food, Statistical Process Control, Quality Systems for Manufacturing and other courses required by food safety regulations or the Global Food Safety Initiative.

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  Jessi Dōne

  NRCM (RM), M.B.A.

  Jessi Dōne is a Nationally Registered, Certified Microbiologist at the baccalaureate level.

  She has led teams focused on disinfectant efficacy across the food manufacturing landscape and has spent years testing and analyzing tissues, medical devices, personal care products and pharmaceuticals to determine microbial load for sterilization validations.

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  Jessi Dōne is a Nationally Registered, Certified Microbiologist at the baccalaureate level. She specializes in food safety, quality, pharmaceutical and medical device.

  Jessi holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah; an AACSB accredited school. Her work and leadership positions include years of Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Management as a Sr. Quality and Food Safety Manager, and SQF Practitioner, within an Extruded, Baked and Canned Products Plant, as well as, Senior Microbiologist and Director of Laboratory Operations within Dietary Supplements and Medical Device fields. Jessi has built, implemented and maintained Food Safety and Quality Plans within a large manufacturing facility with multiple processes. Throughout her career Jessi has further developed her skills through attendance in various seminars and certifications like Better Process Control School (BPCS), Principles of Internal Auditing, FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food and FSPCA Preventive Controls for Animal Food, Thermal Processing Course for Low Acid Canned Foods (21 CFR 113), and is a contributing member of the American Society of Quality (ASQ) and American Society of Microbiology (ASM).

  Jessi is a Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) body of knowledge consultant for food processing, manufacturing and packaging plants. Jessi currently sits on the Weber State Microbiology Advisory Board as the Co-Chair Vice President and enjoys sharing her broad base of the sciences, risk management and mitigation, and passion for education and food science.

The Clean Team

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  Pete Kadens

  Crazy Clean Founder & Chairman

  Pete Kadens is a renowned serial entrepreneur and philanthropist who has founded and has run companies that have employed 4,500 people and created billions in shareholder value.

  Pete is a Henry Crown Fellow with The Aspen Institute, serves on five corporate boards and has donated millions of dollars and countless hours to underserved communities and individuals in need.

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  Pete Kadens the founder and chairman of Crazy Clean, and the chief evangelist of our mission to ignite well-being for our communities and pathways out of poverty for our underserved.

  Pete is a serial entrepreneur and dedicated philanthropist and he currently serves as the chairman of The Kadens Family Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to closing the pervasive wealth and education gaps in the US.

  Pete retired in August 2018 as co-founder and CEO of Green Thumb Industries, one of the largest publicly-traded, legal cannabis operators in the US with a current market capitalization of over $2 billion. Prior to Green Thumb Industries, in 2008 Pete started one of the largest commercial solar companies in the US, SoCore Energy. Under his leadership, SoCore expanded operations into 17 states and was named one of Chicago’s most innovative businesses by Chicago Innovation Awards. In 2013, he sold SoCore Energy to Edison International, a Fortune 500 energy holding company. Pete has employed over 4,000 people over his 16-year career as a CEO.

  Pete believes deeply in, and actively leads, organizations that seek to transform lives and strengthen communities, serving as chairman of StreetWise (2009 – 2018), one of the largest homeless aid organizations in Chicago. Pete currently serves as chairman emeritus at StreetWise and sits on several other boards in the nonprofit and for-profit space. In 2019 Pete founded HOPE (Helping Our Population Educate) in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio to ensure that all Toledo Public School children could go to post-secondary school for free.

  His effort to fund a senior class, and their parents, at the historically most under resourced school in Toledo was recently a focus of a CBS National News story viewed by over 11,000,000 people around the world: FreeTuitionStory.

  Pete was awarded the Trailblazer Chicago Award by The Cara Program in 2019, The Catalyst Man of the Year by Streetwise in 2015, The Distinguished Alumnus for Citizenship in 2010 by his college alma mater, Bucknell University, where he earned his bachelor of arts in political science. He was also named one of the 40 Under 40 by Crain’s Chicago

  Business in 2012 and named to the Hall of Fame at his high school, Ottawa Hills High School in Toledo, Ohio. Pete was named one of the 20 People to Watch in the Cannabis Industry in 2018 by Marijuana Business Daily.

  Pete is a 2019 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, a fellowship that accepts roughly 20 individuals from around the world each year who have been identified as individuals who have the capacity to create ventures that solve one of society’s intractable problems.

  Pete is married to Amy Robbins Kadens. Together they have three amazing kids who are being groomed to have a strong sense of empathy and a strong will to help others who are less fortunate.

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  Greg Buzzell

  Chief Financial Officer

  Greg brings 15+ years’ experience of strong finance and strategic focus to Crazy Clean. He has an MBA/MS from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics from Bucknell University.

  He currently serves as the CEO of Kadens Family holdings, following C-Suite roles in the solar energy and finance industries.

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  Greg is a proven leader with a strong finance and strategic focus. Utilizing a systems thinking approach, he works relentlessly to ensure success for the entire organization. Day-to-day, Greg oversees finances of Crazy Clean. Additionally, he serves as CEO of Kadens Family holdings, a single-family office.

  Prior to his time at Crazy Clean and KFH, he founded and was the CEO of New Resource Solutions, a boutique investment advisory and software technology platform for solar projects. Prior to NRS, he helped grow solar developer and finance leader SoCore Energy from a seven-person, VC-backed start-up into an 80-person integrated developer/EPC firm where he held multiple roles including leading pricing, leading small utility scale development in New England and project M&A efforts.

  Before getting his MBA/MS from the University of Michigan, Greg was the Canadian Dollar trader for JP Morgan in NY where he was a managed market making and proprietary trading book for the investment bank. Greg holds a BA in Economics from Bucknell University.

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  Stephanie Towers

  Chief People Officer

  Stephanie is the foundation and inspiration behind the Crazy Clean team mission and spirit. She is continually focused on people with a clear objective to achieve the highest potential for the Crazy Clean company and its team.

  Stephanie is the former CEO of The Kadens Family Foundation and also served as the COO at Laura Davidson PR in New York City.

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  Stephanie Towers brings 15+ years of human capital and business management experience to the Crazy Clean team.

  Principally focused on Crazy Clean’s most valuable asset – our people – Stephanie designs and drives human-centered people operations and talent management solutions aimed at positioning Crazy Clean as a top employer and leader in the industry, and empowering our team to achieve their personal and professional potential. Prior to joining the Crazy Clean team, Stephanie served as CEO of the Kadens Family Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to closing the pervasive wealth and education gaps in the US. Before that, she served as COO at Laura Davidson PR, a travel and lifestyle communications agency in New York City.

  Stephanie is propelled by curiosity and empathy, and a strong belief that a culture of openness, learning, and mutual respect leads to top-notch work, happy clients, and a thriving business.

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  Kyle Wortham

  VP Brand Experience

  Kyle brings 20+ years branding, marketing and product innovation experience to Crazy Clean.

  He’s  experienced working in highly regulated industries building and leading brands including Marlboro USA/Mexico, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Blue Moon and Green Thumb Industries.

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  Kyle’s brand portfolio is pretty insane. He’s a seasoned brand builder that brings 20+ years’ marketing experience to Crazy Clean.

  He started his career with ad agencies like Publicis’ Frankel and Leo Burnett leading global brands like Marlboro USA, Philip Morris Mexico, and McDonald’s. Kyle helped lead the national resurgence of the Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz and Chicago’s Old-Style brands, catapulting the Pabst Brewing Company back to big brewer status and fueling the company sale. In addition, he led marketing for Mike’s Hard Lemonade and MillerCoors’ Blue Moon and Peroni brands before transitioning to the start-up cannabis industry with companies like Privateer and Green Thumb Industries where he developed the Marley Natural, Dogwalkers, and Rythm brands.

  Kyle builds brands with soul and purpose while taking a clever, grassroots approach to activation and experience. In his free time, he restores vintage cars and motorcycles, volunteers at pet rescues including Chicago Canine Rescue, loves playing guitar and searching for old records and hi-fi stereos.

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  Terri Evans

  VP of Corporate Development and Partnerships

  Terri brings over two decades of business experience leading sales and strategy across the country for global brands as well as small businesses.  A majority of her career was spent with BMW Group where she worked across the US and Munich in various capacities.

  Terri received her BA in Economics from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and her MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

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  Terri is the VP of Sales for Crazy Clean.  She brings over two decades of business experience leading sales and strategy across the country for global brands as well as small businesses.  A majority of her career was spent with BMW Group where she worked across the US and Munich in various capacities.  Terri has led large organizations as well as small businesses to successfully get the organization to their sales targets.

  Originally from Chicago Area, Terri attended St. Ignatius College Prep where she still volunteers her time supporting the students in the Entrepreneurship program and serves in a leadership capacity for The Business Society.  She continues to be active in her sorority for over 20 years, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., which provides another platform for her to serve and give back globally.

  Terri received her BA in Economics from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and her MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

  Outside of work, Terri’s passion has always been to ensure that all students have an equal playing field to succeed regardless of their zip code.  She is passionate about education and providing resources to underserved communities.  Terri will be able to continue with her mission of serving underserved communities in her capacity as VP of Sales.

  Outside of work and volunteering, Terri’s most important role is being a mom and an example to her six-year-old son, Evan.

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  Renee Lawlor

  VP of Operations

  Renee is a natural operator driven by curiosity, innovation and efficiency. She thrives on digging into each detail of the business and has proven it takes wearing many hats to create a scalable, successful company.

  She helped build the company PillPack, which recently sold to Amazon, as a leader on the operations side of the company.

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  Renee Lawlor is an operator, a problem solver and an efficiency driver. She is passionate about creating and scaling complex operations of the Crazy Clean disinfecting business that the world has never seen, but definitely needs right now.

  Before joining Crazy Clean, she worked at PillPack where she wore many hats for the rapidly growing startup, which was acquired by Amazon in September 2018. Her work there ranged from starting and managing a national Continuous Improvement team; being responsible for the packaging P&L, procurement and operations; and implementing a new automation technology in the fulfillment centers.

  Renee received a Bachelor of Science in International Business with a dual concentration in Finance and Spanish with a minor in Entrepreneurship from Bryant University. She served on the Bryant University Board of Trustees.

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  Kelly Keffer

  Director of Administration and Training

  Kelly is a former inner city school teacher and administrator who is tirelessly dedicated to making a difference in Chicago’s underserved communities. She is a DePaul University graduate, the former Chief of Staff The Kadens Family Foundation, and the former Program Director for GLOW Chicago.

  She holds multiple commercial cleaning certifications including the Certified Custodial Cleaning Technician issued by the Cleaning Management Institute.

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  Kelly is the Director of Administration and Training for Crazy Clean.

  She is a Cleaning Management Institute Certified Custodial Technician and has completed the Global Biorisk Advisory Council Fundamentals course through ISSA. After six years of teaching in the Englewood and North Lawndale neighborhoods of Chicago, she leverages her teaching experience, deep value of empathy, and passion for closing the education and opportunity gaps to the Crazy Clean team. At DePaul University she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences, with a focus in Biology and Chemistry.

  For the past year she has served as Chief of Staff for the Kadens Family Foundation and Program Director of GLOW Chicago (Growing Leaders through Ownership and Work).

  Kelly is a former inner city school teacher and administrator who is tirelessly dedicated to making a difference in Chicago’s underserved communities.

  She is a DePaul University graduate, the former Chief of Staff for The Kadens Family Foundation, and the Program Director for GLOW Chicago.

  She holds multiple commercial cleaning certifications including the Certified Custodial Cleaning Technician issued by the Cleaning Management Institute.

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  Marty Cowherd

  Really Smart Associate

  Marty is a young, smart, rising star beginning his entrepreneurial journey.

  He joins the team as a Junior at Chicago’s Johnson College Prep in Englewood and serves as a Sergeant in MCJROTC. Marty is endlessly curious about business and how to give back to his community.

  He plans to attend Harvard University.

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  Marty Cowherd is a rising junior at Johnson College Prep in Englewood.

  He is currently a Sergeant (E5) in MCJROTC and has attended the Cadet Leadership Course at a Naval Station in Great Lakes, Illinois. Marty joined GLOW Chicago (Growing Leaders through Ownership and Work) in the fall of 2019, where he was the VP of Engineering, developing a strong interest for entrepreneurialism.

  He then joined the Crazy Clean team, bringing his knowledge and passion for entrepreneurialism and making the world a better place, specifically for our underserved communities. Marty plans to attend Harvard University, majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Psychology, after graduating from Johnson College Prep.

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  Marcus Williams

  Manager of Germs Solutions & Microbiology

  Marcus is practical-minded scientist who loves having problems to solve. He brings professional expertise in sanitation, food safety, and microbiology to help Crazy Clean develop disinfection plans and validation tests tailored to each client space.

  Prior to joining Crazy Clean, Marcus spent six years developing and operating quality control programs at three breweries. He has an MS in Biology from New Mexico State University with a background in industrial microbiology labs.

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  Marcus brings an array of biology experience to the team. Since first starting research in a genetics lab at Louisiana State University over two decades ago, Marcus has held a variety of roles in biotech, science education, and brewery quality control. After receiving a Master of Science in Biology from New Mexico State University, he led research and development efforts at two companies to cultivate algae in open artificial ponds for the production of biofuels and nutraceuticals. More recently, after working in brewery quality control at Thirsty Dog and Lagunitas Breweries, Marcus developed the quality program at Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville, Illinois from the ground up as Quality Manager. He played a leading role in the creation of the popular Dank Lloyd Wright and City Water Hard Seltzer beverage lines produced by the brewery.

  Marcus is using his background developing labs focused on cell culture, genetics, and sanitation to help the Crazy Clean team develop our own set of diagnostics and protocols for effectively disinfecting client spaces. He has a track record of coming up with simple, practical solutions to complex technical problems. He’s also someone who enjoys sharing his love of music and nature with his family.