Big Ideas Bloom at Trinity’s Inaugural Week of Wonder

06/27/2025

Big Ideas Bloom at Trinity’s Inaugural Week of Wonder

Trinity Logistics, a leading third-party logistics provider (3PL), proudly hosted its first-ever Week of Wonder, an internal initiative designed to spark creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving among its Team Members. Its goal was to empower Team Members across departments to develop forward-thinking solutions aimed at improving Trinity’s operations, customer experience, and service offerings. The event took place from February 24th to the 27th. 

Rooted in the Working Genius model, Week of Wonder encouraged Team Members to group up and tap into their individual strengths and collective ingenuity to address and solve real-world logistics challenges. After months of planning and collaboration, finalists presented their concepts to an esteemed panel of judges from the fields of logistics, academia, and technology. 

“Innovation isn’t just about big, flashy ideas—it happens at every level, in every role, when people are given the space to think differently,” said Russ Felker, Trinity’s CIO. “Week of Wonder showed that creativity and problem-solving aren’t limited to a single department or title. The energy and collaboration we saw this week is exactly what drives our company and industry forward.” 

Meet the Finalists 

Out of several teams, three emerged as finalists with solutions focused on improving operational efficiency, fraud prevention, and Carrier relationships: 

Trinity CarrierOne Experience 

A picture of the winners of the Week of Wonder competition, the Trinity CarrierOne Experience, along with two of the judges. From left to right stands Donnie Burris, a middle-aged white man with short dark hair, glasses, clean shaven and smiling, wearing a navy polo t-shirt and blue jeans with sneakers; James Beveridge, Trinity Team Member and part of the CarrierOne group, a young white man with shaggy dark brown hair, a short beard and mustache, smiling, wearing a black long sleeve zip up with the Trinity logo, blue jeans, and black sneakers, holding a gift set with a white mug and other goodies wrapped in cellophane; Michael Adams, a Trinity Team Member and part of the CarrierOne group, a young white man with short blond hair, glasses, clean shaven and smiling, wearing a dark t-shirt with a black zip up vest with the Trinity logo over that and blue jeans with white sneakers, holding his prize, the same as James; Amanda Ashford, Trinity Team Member and part of the CarrierOne group, a young white woman with long red hair, smiling, wearing white hoop earrings, a long sleeve black zip up with the Trinity logo, blue jeans and knee high black boots, holding the same prize as the others; and Donna Palumbo-Miele, the Executive Director for the Center for Supply Chain Research at Penn State, a young white woman with long dark brown hair, smiling, wearing black rimmed glasses, hoop earrings, a black long sleeve turtleneck with a brown leather blazer over top, a long necklace, dark jeans, and white sneakers, along with several rings. Behind them is the Trinity Operations floor consisting of Team Members working at their desks.
Left to right: Donnie Burris, James Beveridge, Michael Adams, Amanda Ashford, Donna Palumbo-Miele


Submitted Pitch: An enhanced Carrier Portal offering Carriers a streamlined, user-friendly space with improved access to key tools. 
Team Members: Michael Adams, Amanda Ashford, James Beveridge, and Jessica Clapp 
Executive Mentor: Chad Taylor 

Fraud Force 

Pictured left to right are the three members of the Fraud Force team, Tracy Mitchell, a middle aged white woman with long dark brown hair, wearing a white t-shirt with the Trinity logo and a black blazer over top, dark pants, smiling; then Kristin Deno, a middle aged white woman with long black hair, wearing the same, then Angela Smith, a young white woman with long dark brown hair, wearing the same. The group stands in front of one of Trinity's patterned walls, tan with black abstract lines all over, and a framed quote on black canvas and white text.
Left to right: Tracey Mitchell, Kristin Deno, Angela Smith


Submitted Pitch: A fraud detection and prevention program using advanced technology to protect Carriers and Shippers. 
Team Members: Tracy Mitchell, Kristin Deno, and Angela Smith 
Executive Mentor: Derek Wise 

The Predictive Profits 

A photo the Predictive Profits group, taken during their pitch. From left to right is Cheryl Swain, a young white woman with long blond hair, black rimmed glasses, smiling, wearing a black long sleeve dress. To the right of her is Zach Howard, standing in front of a podium with his laptop. He is a young white man, with short dark hair, smiling, perhaps laughing, slightly bent over, clean shaven, wearing a light colored button up shirt, long sleeve, and khakis. To the right of him and the podium is Chris McAvoy, smiling or laughing as well, a middle aged white man, bald and clean shaven, wearing a maroon red short sleeve polo shirt and khakis with a dark brown belt. To the right of him is a small glimpse of a large screen, with their presentation, mostly white with some black text. In front of the group you can see the back of heads of some of the judges sitting in front of a table with paper and pens in front of them.
Left to right: Cheryl Swain, Zach Howard, Chris McAvoy


Submitted Pitch: A Carrier grading tool that uses data-driven insights to rank Carriers and enhance routing decisions. 
Team Members: Chris McAvoy, Laura Willey, Cheryl Swain, and Zach Howard 
Executive Mentor: Greg Massey 

After careful deliberation, the Trinity CarrierOne Experience team was crowned the inaugural Week of Wonder winner. Their upgraded Carrier Portal pitch stood out for its immediate usability, long-term scalability, and potential for cross-functional impact. 

“Collaborating with Team Members across departments to solve this problem for our Carriers was an exciting experience,” said Amanda Ashford, Analyst II at Trinity and member of the winning team. “By bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise, we created a solution that not only serves Carriers better but also improves experiences for Shippers, Team Members, and our Burris Logistics relationships.” 

A Judging Panel of Industry Experts 

Finalists presented their innovations to a distinguished panel, who evaluated each concept based on problem relevance, impact, and feasibility: 

This photo shows the judges, standing and smiling for the camera. Left to right is Dr. Raj Agnihotri, a medium brown skinned middle aged man, with short dark gray hair, clean shaven, wearing a long sleeve red zip up jacket with the Iowa State logo on the right breast and a light colored button up shirt with a collar underneath, dark blue jeans, and black loafers, hands crossed in front of him; Joe Negron a middle aged light brown skinned man, wearing a black baseball cap, sunglasses, a bluetooth ear piece on his right ear, a light blue gray button up dress shirt, untucked, a black blazer over top, possible dog tags, dark slacks, and white sneakers, leaning back with his hands in his pockets; Donna Palumbo-Miele, a middle aged white woman with long brown hair, wearing hoop earrings, a black long sleeve turtleneck with a brown leather blazer overtop, a long necklace, gold bangles on her right wrist, dark blue jeans, white sneaks, hands crossed in front of her; Zach Buckner, a middle aged white man with short brown hair, clean shaven, wearing a plaid striped but light button up dress shirt, a gray zip up vest over top, dark blue jeans, dark gray sneakers or loafers, with his hands by his sides, and Donnie Burris, a middle aged white man, wearing glasses, clean shaven, short cropped dark hair, a navy blue polo t-shirt, blue jeans, and dark sneakers, with his hands crossed in front of him.
Left to right: Dr. Raj Agnihotri, Joe Negron, Donna Palumbo-Miele, Zach Buckner, Donnie Burris

“Learning about all the creative and impactful ideas was fun, but what stood out most was the thoughtfulness behind each presentation,” shared Dr. Raj Agnihotri. “It was refreshing to see diverse teams from Data Science, Compliance, Carrier Development, and Operations come together. The experience was wholesome, and I appreciated the opportunity to be part of it.” 

A Culture of Innovation Takes Root 

The success of the first Week of Wonder reinforces Trinity’s commitment to cultivating a workplace where innovation is not only encouraged but expected. 

“Week of Wonder was a perfect example of how collaboration, guided by the Working Genius framework, can turn ideas into real impact,” said Carlie Crouch, Senior Director of People Operations. “Seeing our Team Members challenge themselves and create solutions that will shape our future was truly inspiring. This is just the beginning.” 

Trinity Logistics looks forward to making Week of Wonder an annual tradition by expanding its scope and continuing to drive meaningful innovation throughout the logistics industry. 

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About Trinity Logistics

Trinity Logistics is a Burris Logistics Company, offering People-Centric Freight Solutions®.Our mission is to deliver creative logistics solutions through a mix of human ingenuity and innovative technology, enriching the lives of those we serve. 

For the past 45 years, we’ve been arranging freight for businesses of all sizes in truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), warehousing, intermodal, drayage, expedited, international, and technology solutions.

We are currently recognized as a Top Freight Brokerage by Transport Topics, a Green Supply Chain Partner by Inbound Logistics, and holds a silver sustainability rating by EcoVadis.

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