Between them, Alvaro Lopes and Scott Dubin have almost 40 years of experience managing projects that involve complex logistical considerations and nuances. Lopes is a Private Sector Engagement Program & Solution support lead with VillageReach, a non-profit global health innovator that builds responsive primary healthcare systems that deliver health products and services to the most-under-reached. Dubin, meanwhile, serves as a Supply Chain, Private Sector Engagement Advisor with The Global Fund, one of the largest financiers of public health projects in the world. In this episode of Supply Chain Now, as part of the Supply Chain Leadership Across Africa series, the duo reflect on the variables and challenges that define their workloads on a daily basis – as you can imagine, they encounter a tremendous variety of scenarios and stakeholders from many corners of the world. During the conversation, Lopes and Dubin touch on several specific topics. This includes: Coordinating public and private sector stakeholders to ensure health products reach everyone. The importance of human resources and plugging gaps in countries’ supply chain expertise. The role of logistics outsourcing in the public health sphere. What partners can do (government, private, donors, and implementing partners) to make outsourced logistics successful in Africa

In this episode of Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton and special guest host Claudia Freed, President & CEO of EALGreen, welcome Chuck Johnston, Chief Strategy Officer at ReturnPro, for a deep dive into the “dark side” of supply chain: reverse logistics and returns management. They unpack why returns are a nearly trillion-dollar challenge in the U.S., how BORIS (buy online, return in store) strains store operations, and why many retailers still under-invest: leaders often can’t see the full cost across functions or make the ROI case for what’s treated as a cost center. Chuck shares how the space has evolved from yellow notepads to data-driven decisioning, highlighting intelligent algorithms that route items at the customer’s first return click, fraud mitigation with imaging and behavior signals, and how third-party innovation is compressing software build times. Claudia adds a nonprofit and circularity lens: donation channels, extended tax credits, and AI pilots (computer vision + MCP agents) that identify item condition and slotting in real time. Together, they explore where to start, why cross-functional “ambassadors” matter, and how partnerships across retailers, manufacturers, nonprofits, and 3PLs can turn returns from margin erosion into measurable value and social impact.   This episode is hosted by…