Joe Pickard, ISRI Chief Economist and Director of Commodities

Joe Pickard serves as the Chief Economist and Director of Commodities at ISRI where he conducts research and analysis on commodity and market developments and the key economic role that recycling plays in the United States and abroad. Pickard regularly provides information and insights on the primary and recycled iron and steel, nonferrous metal, paper, plastics and electronics markets to the 1,300 ISRI member companies as well as to industry associations, policymakers, the press and the general public. As a current member of the Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee and Industry Trade Advisory Committee No. 5, he serves as an advisor on industry-related trade issues to the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Pickard previously served as the economist for The International Copper Study Group in Lisbon, Portugal and as a research analyst at Slayton & Associates in Alexandria, Virginia. He previously worked at nonprofit organizations including the Urban Institute and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Pickard holds a master’s degree in Economics from Virginia Tech, a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola University Maryland, and also studied at George Mason University and K.U. Leuven in Belgium.

Jason Schenker, President, Prestige Economics and Chairman of The Futurist Institute

Jason Schenker is a futurist, economist, and author who prepares leaders for the future. Mr. Schenker is the President of Prestige Economics and Chairman of The Futurist Institute. He has given over 1,000 keynote speeches and over 1,000 television interviews. Over 1 million students have taken Mr. Schenker's 20 LinkedIn Learning courses on business, leadership, economics, and emerging technology. He has been a Guest Host on Bloomberg Television and an occasional columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Mr. Schenker is the author of 36 books, including 15 bestsellers on energy, leadership, and the economy. Bloomberg News has ranked Mr. Schenker the #1 forecaster in the world in 26 categories since 2011, including for his forecasts of industrial metals prices, gold prices, oil prices, natural gas prices, the Chinese Yuan, the euro, and U.S. jobs. Mr. Schenker is Chairman of the Climate Change Advisory Panel for Sasol (NYSE: SSL), the South African fuels and chemicals company. Mr. Schenker is one of the 100 CEOs on the non-partisan Texas Business Leadership Council, a member of the Bretton Woods Committee, a Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors, and a Non-Resident Fellow of the Joint Special Operations University at USSOCOM. Before founding Prestige Economics, Mr. Schenker was a Risk Specialist at McKinsey and Chief Energy and Commodity Economist at Wachovia (Wells Fargo). Mr. Schenker earned master’s degrees in Applied Economics, Negotiation, and German Literature. He has been speaking at ISRI events since 2005