Alberto is co-producer and researcher at the Reawakened Food Initiative by The Lexicon, a global storytelling campaign aimed to raise awareness around biodiversity in our food system.
Based in Italy, Alberto consults for startups, companies and Universities and his main focus is innovation in food and business models for sustainability.

Alberto holds a bachelor degree in Philosophy and a master in Social Entrepreneurship. The philosopher in him lives by the Maieutic method, pushing him to be a catalyst for change.
This focus strongly also drives his work with the Design Factory of the University of Bologna. Here Alberto coaches multidisciplinary teams of designers and researchers in open innovation projects, towards prototyping working solutions to social challenges.

Alice holds a PhD in Population Genetics, MSc in Plant Biotechnology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education and a BSc in Agriculture. She coordinates the activities of the ICRAF seedbank in Nairobi and regional field genebanks to ensure that superior tree germplasm is available for ICRAF collaborative projects and other interested users.

Her main areas of interest include conservation and use of important indigenous African tree germplasm, communicating generated scientific knowledge so that informed choices can be made in implementing science-based technologies, and mentoring young scientists, especially African women.

Ann Thrupp is the founder and principal of Down to Earth Innovations, providing consulting services and  advising in sustainable and equitable agriculture and food systems. Ann has extensive experience as a pioneer and leader in sustainable and regenerative food systems and food justice for over 25 years, and has worked in the non-profit, business, and government sectors. She served as the founding Executive Director of the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI) at the University of California Berkeley since 2013. BFI develops and fosters food systems transformation through interdisciplinary research, education, policy initiatives, community engagement, and empowerment of emerging leaders. From 2003-2013, Ann was the Manager of Sustainability and Organic Management at Fetzer and Bonterra Vineyards, where she coordinated and led a diversity of initiatives to implement sustainable practices in the winery and vineyards, and developed partnerships and outreach to stakeholders about sustainable business practices. At Fetzer she also worked in grower relations, for grape sourcing and procurement, and provided education and technical assistance to growers, and assisted hundreds of growers and wineries in the transition to organic and sustainable practices. Ann also served as the Managing Director and consultant for the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) in 2005-2007.  During 1999-2002, Ann worked with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Agriculture Initiative in the Western Regional office, managing partnerships and grants to support sustainable farming initiatives.

Ann also has many years of experience in international agriculture and natural resource management. From 1990-1998, she was Director of Sustainable Agriculture at World Resources Institute, working on projects in Latin American and other regions of the world. She has spoken at dozens of conferences in the U.S. and abroad for a wide diversity of audiences, and has experience in leadership, management, teaching, research, event organizing, as well as grant/budget management.  She has worked as a consultant for diverse organizations and businesses, including Robert Mondavi Winery, Roots of Change Fund (formerly called Funders Agriculture Working Group), Clif Bar, Annie’s and others.

She has a PhD and MA from Sussex University and a BA from Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa), and speaks Spanish fluently. Ann has over 75 publications, and has served twice on committees of the National Academy of Science (National Research Council), to co-author books related to sustainable agriculture, and on advisory councils and boards for both non-government and government entities. She’s an avid runner (and former All-American champion 3 times  in cross country running) and also enjoys roller-blading, hiking, gardening, and creative writing.

Gisela Herrerías Guerra is President, Education Director and Co-Founder of Alternativas y Procesos de Participación Social A.C (Alternatives and Social Participation Processes), a community-based development organization focusing on ecological regeneration of watersheds, ecological agriculture, development finance, and development of social enterprises. Since 1980, Gisela and her husband Raúl Hernández Garciadiego have promoted sustainable regional development processes that benefit the poorest families and towns in the semi-arid region of the Mixteca, Mexico, with the support of an interdisciplinary team of around 200 people. As part of their work on ecological agriculture and amaranth production, Gisela and Raúl founded the Quali Cooperative Group, a vertically integrated agribusiness sourcing organic amaranth from 88 regional producer cooperative organizations, processing and producing nutritive amaranth food products. Quali supports 1,100 smallholder producers by providing a consistently above market average price for their harvest.

The work of Gisela and her team has been recognized internationally, receiving the Latin American and Caribbean Award for Water, the Slow Food Award for Defense of Biodiversity, and distinctions from the FAO and UNDP. Gisela has a degree in Pedagogy from the National Autonomous Mexico University (UNAM) and a Masters in Sciences of Enterprise Planning and Regional Development at the Oaxaca Institute of Technology.

Becca is a Partner at (en)visible, a sustainable food company founded on the belief that some of the world’s largest social and environmental challenges are rooted in the opaque, often corrupt systems that bring us our food. She is passionate about the intersection of sustainability, social justice and supply chain technology, and splits her time between communications and developing (en)visible’s Wholechain traceability system. Becca has a BA from Pomona College in Environmental Analysis, and after college taught middle school math in Oakland, CA for two years with Teach for America. Since then she has held various supply chain leadership roles, including at Yellow Leaf Hammocks, a social enterprise committed to women’s empowerment in rural Thailand, and organic textile company Coyuchi, where she managed supply chain operations and responsible sourcing.

As the Mars Advanced Research Institute’s (MARI) Plant Sciences Director, I am responsible for developing science and technology to support ecological and economically sustainable agriculture.

My focus of interest is fostering innovation and sustainability across food systems, agriculture, plant breeding and genetics. My expertise includes vegetable crop genetics, accelerated genetic improvement, and managing large R&D programs. I’m a passionate leader and industry executive with more than 25 years’ experience and take great pleasure in seeing innovation solve real problems for growers while increasing sustainability.

Originally from New Jersey, I studied photography at Rochester Institute of Technology, and it was my environmentalism and love of nature that drew me out of the studio and darkroom into farming and graduate studies.

At Mars we have a deep commitment to science. I sit within MARI, which provides Mars with capabilities, connectivity and resources to be on the cutting edge of science and technology trends. Our mission is to drive long-term science and technology breakthroughs that have the potential to unlock crucial innovation. Leveraging a global network of external academic, research, and scientific partners, MARI links external expertise and innovation with business units across Mars.

We know that agriculture is faced with many challenges that require action today. At Mars I leverage science and technology to support sustainable agriculture that protects land and preserves natural resources. For example, along with IBM and the US Department of Agriculture, we published the preliminary version of the cacao genome, helping advance farmers’ ability to plant more robust, higher-yielding, and drought-and disease-resistant cacao trees. We’re also elevating nutritional research to understand bioactive compounds in cocoa flavanols – which are found in the cacao plant – and their potential benefits for human health. In 2018 we were part of a collaboration that published groundbreaking results showing that corn can acquire a significant amount of the nitrogen it needs from the air by cooperating with bacteria. Through these cases, and many others, we’re applying the best-available science to our strategies.

Lotus Foods is one of the most innovative organic and fair trade specialty rice brands in the country, pioneering the preservation of rice biodiversity and more ecological methods of rice production that save water, reduce greenhouse gasses and minimize work for women. As Co-Founder/Co-CEO, Caryl leads Lotus Foods’ strategic mission and vision to change how rice is grown around the world.

Over its 25 year history, Lotus Foods has received many awards, most notable: the 2011 Biodiversity Award for Leadership from the Union for Ethical Bio Trade; the 2014 Specialty Foods Leadership Award for Vision and the 2017 Leadership Award for Citizenship; Whole Foods Market 2018 Supplier of the Year Award for Environmental Stewardship; the first Climate Collaborative Award for Outstanding Value Chain Engagement, as well as runner up in the first Sustainable Foods Award for Sustainability Pioneer. Caryl holds a MPA in Public Administration from the University of Hartford.

Public health, food systems, social impact program management with focus on creative solutions for sustainable, healthy, ecological, equitable, and economic vitality.

Clement is founder and ceo of Green Gold Social Enterprise.  Green Gold introduces a solution to alleviate poverty and combat malnutrition in the North of Ghana by introduction smallholder farmers to Moringa as an additional cash crop. Moringa seeds are bought and processed into Moringa Oil by Green Gold. The moringa oil which will be sold to the global cosmetic industry while the nutritious leaves will be used locally to combat malnutrition. Besides involving smallholder farmers, it is also establishing its own plantation and processing factory and create fair wage jobs. At least 50% of the profit made by Green Gold S.E. is reinvested in the farmers’ communities in the areas of health, education and economic development.

Danielle Nierenberg is a world-renowned researcher, speaker, and advocate, on all issues relating to our food system and agriculture.

She is president of Food Tank, nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. Food Tank is a global convener, research organization, and non-biased creator of original research impacting the food system.

Danielle has written extensively on gender and population, the spread of factory farming in the developing world, and innovations in sustainable agriculture.

Prior to starting Food Tank, Danielle spent two years traveling to more than 35 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America, meeting with farmers and farmers’s groups, scientists and researchers, policymakers and government leaders, students and academics, along with journalists, documenting what’s working to help alleviate hunger and poverty, while protecting the environment.

She has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic.

Douglas Gayeton, Chief Lexicographer and Co-founder of The Lexicon, is an award-winning information architect, filmmaker, photographer, and writer who has created work at the boundaries of traditional and converging media since the early 90’s. He directed the KNOW YOUR FOOD series for PBS and GROWING ORGANIC for USDA, and has authored two books, SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town, and LOCAL: The New Face of Food & Farming in America.

Dr Eric Huttner is the Research Program Manager for Crops since 2012. He started his career in plant molecular genetics working in public research institute, INRA, in France, and has worked for more than 20 years in a range of private companies, including founding a start-up plant genetic analysis service company. He has also been involved in managing public-private research initiatives in both Australia and France. Eric was a founding partner and director of Australia’s Cooperative Research Centre for Plant Science and a member of the Australian Biotechnology Advisory Council. He is a graduate of France’s leading agricultural science school, Institut National Agronomique (AgroParisTech) and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chinese Academy of Science in 1987.

Erik Oberholtzer is the co-founder of Tender Greens, a pioneering fine casual brand founded in Los Angeles, CA in 2006 with a mission to democratize good food. A vision of the future he continues to drive as a Food Forever Champion on global biodiversity for the Crop Trust with whom he cooks globally alongside the world’s leading chefs. He joined the Rodale Institute’s board in 2019 to help drive awareness around soil health, regenerative organic agriculture and food as medicine. In 2009, he founded The Sustainable Life Program, a six month paid culinary internship program with a mission to provide a path forward for foster youth. Many of the students now hold leadership positions at Tender Greens, serving as beacons of success and inspiration to those at the edge of society. In 2019, Erik joined Cohere as an advisor to founders of conscious brands as they navigate the headwinds of scale. With the success of Tender Greens, he provides a founder-centered roadmap to growth with emphasis on culture, supply chain integrity and long term strategic planning. Currently he is advising brands that are putting the health of people and the planet first, such as The Butcher’s Daughter in NYC/LA, Pocono Organic’s regenerative farm and Mulberry & Vine in NYC. Prior to founding Tender Greens Erik worked as a chef in many of California’s best restaurants. This chef identity informs his intense dedication to ingredient providence, technique and deliciousness without compromise. A daily practice of meditation, fitness and good food helps Erik show up with a calm demeanor in a dynamic world. Erik is based in Brooklyn, NY and a small farm in Pennsylvania where he and his family grow organic hemp, native flowers and heirloom crops.

Erin is the Director of the Climate Collaborative, responsible for management and execution of the Collaborative’s work, including all programming, communications, and outreach. Erin has a range of corporate campaigning and sustainability experience. She previously worked for CDP, managing corporate engagement for the We Mean Business coalition’s commitments campaign. In that role, Erin worked with hundreds of the world’s largest companies, industry groups and investors, supporting them in making leadership commitments on climate change. She has also worked in public relations and international development and earned a master’s degree in international relations and economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She is based in Oakland, CA.

Founder, owner, and Managing Director of Virtual Linguistic Solutions (VLS) and Organic Trade & Investments (OTI), a Ghana based online retail store selling organically produced commodities, from Shea butter to herbs, which are sourced from small holder farmers. Esther Asante, was awarded the “Best Female eCommerce Entrepreneur of the year” at the Ghana maiden eCommerce Awards, at Swiss Spirit Alisa Hotel, Accra on November 2018, making her the first woman to ever be honored with such an award in the history of the Ghana eCommerce Awards, organized by OML Africa.

She was Commercial and Quality Manager of Swissport Ghana from 2015 to 2018, and the Relocation Manager of Executive Relocation Africa for more than 12 months before she decided to hop on her own ship.

Dr. Fabrice DeClerck is the EAT Science Director. In this role, Dr. DeClerck leads the development of EAT’s research and synthesis science. With the Stockholm Resilience Centre, EAT’s Science Secretariat, he works closely with EAT’s partners and programs as the interface between science and practice.

Dr. DeClerck’s professional background is in agricultural and environmental sciences with more than a decade focusing on sustainable development in Latin America, Africa, and South East Asia. His collaborations with the health and nutrition community date back to 2004 focusing on dietary and environmental health in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. DeClerck maintains a role as Senior Scientist at Bioversity International, a member center of the CGIAR. His engagements with EAT enable him to engage closely with UN Agencies such has FAO, UNDP, UNICEF and UNEP; progressive private sector partners; and individuals farmers and farming communities on the radical food transformation needed in support of human health and environmental sustainability.

Dr. DeClerck has a long publication record with more than 110 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on integrated approaches to conservation, food production and environmental health, including several published in Science and Nature. He has co-edited several books, including a two-volume book on Integrating Ecology into Poverty Reduction published in 2012. Dr. DeClerck is a Contributing Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and has held adjunct faculty positions with Columbia University, CATIE in Costa Rica, and the University of Idaho. He serves on the Science Advisory Board for the Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP). He was Humboldt State University’s “Person of the Year” in 1995 and recipient of the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development’s Young Professional of the Year in 2005.

Dr. Fabrice DeClerck is a Belgian National although he spent the majority of his life in California. He is fluent in French, English and Spanish and has lived in Africa, Latin America and Europe. He earned his doctoral degree in Geography/Ecology from the University of California Davis (2004), and completed his postdoctoral fellowship with the Earth Institute at Columbia University in 2008. He holds a master’s degree in Forest Biology from Iowa State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Plant and Forest Ecology from Humboldt State University. He currently resides in Montpellier, France, with his wife and two children. Dr. DeClerck is an avid brewer, gardener and chicken farmer.

Gabriele Volpato is a research fellow in the project “Food Systems for Sustainable Development in Africa” ​​and teaches courses in Ecology and Gastronomic Zoology at Unisg. He has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Padua and a PhD in Social Sciences and Anthropology from the University of Wageningen (Netherlands).
For his doctorate, he conducted research in Western Sahara and Algeria among Saharawi refugees and nomads, studying their subsistence practices and ethnobiological knowledge, especially in relation to the use of desert resources and the breeding of dromedaries. As part of a post-doctorate at the University of Georgia (US), Volpato conducted research at the Maasai communities of Laikipia (Kenya), analyzing resilience and adaptations in their pastoral system using dromedary breeding and practices of beekeeping as case studies.
As a scholarship holder for Wageningen University, Volpato also analyzed the importance of traditional and ethnobiological knowledge in creating resilience in Cuba in a context of transition and relocation of the national food system. His research and interests are interdisciplinary and include human ecology and use and management of natural resources, ethnobiology, food systems, sustainability and bio-cultural diversity, pastoralism and breeding systems and human-animal relations in general.

Gina leads a research programme to understand the role of agricultural biodiversity in improved nutrition and health and serves as the Bioversity International focal point for the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.

She develops, leads and manages nutrition research activities and projects on the use of agricultural biodiversity, particularly in the context of smallholder farmers in developing countries. Her activities also include research design, implementation and analysis of primary research questions related to the role of agricultural biodiversity, nutrition and sustainable diets. She also identifies and pursues opportunities for funding and provides technical assistance to other CGIAR Research Program leaders working on the diet diversity and diet quality cross-cutting Intermediate Development Objective.

Prior to joining Bioversity Gina worked for the Nutrition Division of FAO on food-based indicators for use in food and nutrition security programs, nutrition assessment and nutrient requirements. She also managed a research project studying the impact of food security interventions combined with nutrition education on use of locally available foods to improve nutrient intakes, micronutrient status and growth of young children.

Prior to working for FAO, she worked for GIZ in Guinea, West Africa and the public health system in the Republic of Kiribati.

Gisela Herrerías Guerra is President, Education Director and Co-Founder of Alternativas y Procesos de Participación Social A.C (Alternatives and Social Participation Processes), a community-based development organization focusing on ecological regeneration of watersheds, ecological agriculture, development finance, and development of social enterprises. Since 1980, Gisela and her husband Raúl Hernández Garciadiego have promoted sustainable regional development processes that benefit the poorest families and towns in the semi-arid region of the Mixteca, Mexico, with the support of an interdisciplinary team of around 200 people. As part of their work on ecological agriculture and amaranth production, Gisela and Raúl founded the Quali Cooperative Group, a vertically integrated agribusiness sourcing organic amaranth from 88 regional producer cooperative organizations, processing and producing nutritive amaranth food products. Quali supports 1,100 smallholder producers by providing a consistently above market average price for their harvest.

The work of Gisela and her team has been recognized internationally, receiving the Latin American and Caribbean Award for Water, the Slow Food Award for Defense of Biodiversity, and distinctions from the FAO and UNDP. Gisela has a degree in Pedagogy from the National Autonomous Mexico University (UNAM) and a Masters in Sciences of Enterprise Planning and Regional Development at the Oaxaca Institute of Technology.

Dr. E.D. Israel Oliver King is Ethno-botanist serving as a Principal Scientist at M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, India. His team has created innovative community based models for conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, particularly landraces of small millets with the support of national and International agencies. He has contributed to the study on using markets to promote the sustainable utilization of crop genetic resources supported by FAO and IFPRI. He was a researcher for the Payment for Agro-biodiversity Conservation Services project of Biodiversity International in Rome supported by Syngenta Foundation. He was involved in a global study on CBM and Empowerment supported by Wageningen University and the Research Centre/Centre for Development Innovation, Netherlands. He coordinated the small millets project supported by IDRC and served as a National coordinator of IFAD-Bioversity International project on reinforcing the resilience of poor rural communities in the face of Food insecurity, Poverty and climate change through on farm conservation of local agro biodiversity. As a coordinator for South Asia, he facilitated a FAO- ITPGRFA sponsored CBM and Resilience project. He is currently engaged in operationalizing Tribal empowerment projects supported by IFAD EU, NABARD, National Agricultural Science fund, National Academy of Sciences, and Frauen Power e.v Germany. His current passion is Natural Resources and Tribal livelihoods, Sustainability management, Gender issues and Community institutions, Folk-art and traditions and Visual documentation.

Managing Director, she is passionate about leveraging enterprise to drive sustainable development. Prior to GreenPath, Jacie advised teams founding early-stage social ventures in the San Francisco Bay Area. She formerly worked as a Technical Advisor and Manager at TechnoServe, where she supported a portfolio of market-based agriculture and enterprise development programs across East Africa. Jacie has supported and consulted on a variety of ventures focused on value chain development, smallholder training and extension, producer certification, and environmental marketing. Before migrating to warmer climates, Jacie grew up on a family farm in northern Wisconsin. She loves running, traveling, and all things coffee.

James Joseph is the founder of Jackfruit365™- an initiative to create an organized market for Indian jackfruits, 80 percent of which is reported to be wasted every year.

James has over 20 years of Manufacturing, Sales and Marketing experience in India, North America, and Europe with Globally reputed organizations like Microsoft, 3M and Ford. In his last role as the Director, Executive Engagement at Microsoft India; he was responsible for strengthening Microsoft’s relationship with the senior executives of top 200 enterprises in India. Prior to this role James was responsible for the manufacturing industry marketing for Microsoft UK. Before joining Microsoft UK, he held manufacturing, supply chain, business development, sales and marketing positions at Minda, 3M, Ford Motor Company, i2 Technologies and Informatica. James is a recipient of several awards including Circle of Excellence, the highest award for Sales and Marketing employees across the world at Microsoft, Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year at TiEcon Kerala 2013, New Age ICON d’ YOUTH Kerala 2011, etc.

During his work across three continents James had the rare opportunity to design Signature dining experiences for his clients with several internationally renowned Chefs which helped him to develop Jackfruit365™

James is also an author and his first book “God’s Own Office- How One Man Worked for a Global Giant from a Village in Kerala” was published by Penguin Books and released by Shri Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala in October 2014. Malayalam translation of the best seller got published by Manorama Books and released by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder of Infosys, in October 2015. In addition James serves as a guest lecturer at IIM Kozhikode, writes columns for leading newspapers and regularly speaks at events to promote entrepreneurship among youth in India.

He has a Masters in Engineering Business Management from University of Warwick, UK and has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.

Jayson is a co-founder and technology lead at Envisible, a sustainable food marketing company and the creators of Wholechain traceability system. He has more than a decade of leadership experience in mobile technology and has worked in partnership with organizations such as BSR, Unilever, the GSMA and the US Department of State on developing digital innovations for food and agriculture supply chains.

Prior to his work at Envisible, Jayson lived in Indonesia for 5+ years working for XL Axiata, one of the largest mobile network operators in Southeast Asia, leading their flagship sustainability initiative. Prior to that he served as Head of Marketing for a Swiss-based mobile game payments company with distribution in 50+ countries worldwide.

Jayson holds a BBA from the University of Texas at Arlington, an M-DIV from Baylor University and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Joanna is Assistant Director General – External Relations at ICRISAT India.

Prior to joining ICRISAT she was Director, Communications and Marketing Information and Knowledge Group, International Water Management Institute, where she was responsible for science marketing, corporate communications, uptake approach of research findings, private industry fund raising, internal communications and information management. She was also Head, Information Management and Marketing, Bioversity International and Information and Communications Leader, WorldFish Center

She began her career as an agricultural economist with the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (BAE at the time) and later moved into market research in the agribusiness area of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. Since then she has worked in a wide variety of marketing-related areas including strategic marketing, communications, fundraising, knowledge management, and uptake of scientific research.

She has worked for government, private industry (manufacturing and consulting) and with nonprofit organizations (including four CGIAR agricultural research centers). She has 25 years professional experience and has lived and worked in India, Sri Lanka, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia.

She is a certified practicing marketer in Australia, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK and a fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.

Juanita Baltodano is the president of APPTA, or, the Association of Small producers of Talamanca. With Fair Trade revenues, APPTA has constructed a tele-school for a remote community that would otherwise have no access to education. APPTA also hired an agronomist to teach members new production techniques that substitute for the use of pesticides. The farmers intersperses cocoa and banana trees shade trees, which supports ecological diversity and sustainability. In addition, APPTA created a small fund to give emergency loans to members in times of need.

As a founding member, Juanita has been head of the association council for more than a decade and is currently president of the Cooperativas Sin Fronteras. The Cooperative is dedicated to developing fair trade in organic products from various organizations in Latin America.

Professor Kadambot H.M. Siddique AM, CitWA, FTSE, FAIA, FNAAS, FISPP, FAAS

Hackett Professor of Agriculture Chair and Director The UWA Institute of Agriculture

After completion of his PhD at UWA in 1985 Professor Siddique joined the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) as a cereal crop physiologist and worked his way up to principal scientist and leader of DAFWA’s Pulse Program.  He became the Director of Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA) at UWA in 2001 and remained in this position until 2006 when he was appointed to establish and lead The UWA Institute of Agriculture.

Strategic advisor in the fast-moving food, consumer product and retail sectors in the U.S. and abroad, providing additional bandwidth, expertise and agility to clients in today’s highly-connected and digital marketplace.

LINKAGES helps clients on diverse initiatives ranging from blockchain and biotechnology to CBD, food safety, consumer labeling, supply-chain standards and international trade.

LINKAGES represents many of the world’s most famous brands, leveraging 25+ years of experience and extensive contacts in the CPG and retail sectors as well as U.S., state and foreign governments.

LINKAGES is called upon frequently to serve as a subject matter expert and keynote speaker on emerging issues as well as the dramatic changes ongoing in the food, CPG and retail marketplace.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Kevin has enjoyed 40 years of developing people while immersed in strategic planning, project development, quality assurance and supply-chain management. He brings his experience collaborating with key partners, designing practical solutions across Farafena’s international operations. He has worked in several countries in Africa, within Canadian First Nation communities, Europe, India and Australia.  Most recently he has been traveling to Mali in support of Farafena partners.  He is focused on introducing traceable and equitable African indigenous foods to a global market.

“The agricultural value-chain is evolving fast to meet sustainability demands.  Both food consumers and impact- investors are demanding authenticity, transparency and traceability.  Food security, biodiversity and the very future-of-food itself all depend on the equitable participation of farmers. Farafena is focused on removing barriers so African women smallholder farmers can equitably participate in the agri-food business and share their voices with families consuming healthy and nutritious African food.”

Chef Lisa Feldman oversees the development of all menus and recipes for non-retail concepts at Sodexo. With more than 28 years of experience and two Spirit of Sodexo awards under her belt, Lisa loves creating menus with healthy, delicious recipes for children. If she had to choose one kitchen tool she couldn’t live without, it’d be her immersion blender – the key to perfect soups, dressings and sauces.

As the founder of COcollaborate, Lucas works with a number of companies in a corporate development and strategic guidance capacity. One of these companies is Where Food Comes From (WFCF), based in Castle Rock, CO. WFCF is the industry leader in certification and verification services for the food industry. In alignment with developing authentic human experiences, being able to authenticate and verify how, where and by whom, a food product is produced is a personal passion for Lucas. WFCF is a technology forward organization at the leading edge of experimenting with and implementing emerging technologies to automate and scale source verification processes, ensuring the human element of food production is deeply ensconced within those processes. Overlaying his applied human sciences and game theory concepts to food supply systems, Lucas believes is critical to effecting necessary changes in those systems.

Lucio is one of the most authoritative voices in Italy regarding sustainable agriculture, organic farming and fair trade.

A graduate in Sociology at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Lucio Cavazzoni is one of the pioneers of organic farming in Italy: he began working as a beekeeper in 1978 and then founded the Valle Idice beekeeping cooperative and later CONAPI, National Beekeepers Consortium, of which he remained at the helm until 2008. In 2004 he became president of Alce Nero, one of the major Italian companies gathering together organic farmers, beekeepers and fairtrade producers. Today he is the co-founder of Good Land, a company that helps agricultural and agri-food companies grow in harmony with the territory.

Professor M S Swaminathan has been acclaimed by the TIME magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century and one of the only three from India, the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. He has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as “the Father of Economic Ecology” because of his leadership of the ever-green revolution movement in agriculture and by Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary General of the United Nations, as “a living legend who will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction”. He was Chairman of the UN Science Advisory Committee set up in 1980 to take follow-up action on the Vienna Plan of Action. He has also served as Independent Chairman of the FAO Council (1981-85) and President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1984-90). He was President of the World Wide Fund for Nature (India) from 1989-96. He also served as President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs (2002-07), President of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1991-96 and 2005-07) and Chairman, National Commission on Farmers (2004-06). He was a trustee of Bibliotheca Alexandrina in its formative years.

He served as Director of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (1961-72), Director General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (1972-79), Principal Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture (1979-80), Acting Deputy Chairman and later Member (Science and Agriculture), Planning Commission (1980-82) and Director General, International Rice Research Institute, the Philippines (1982-88).

A plant geneticist by training, Professor Swaminathan’s contributions to the agricultural renaissance of India have led to his being widely referred to as the scientific leader of the green revolution movement. His advocacy of sustainable agriculture leading to an ever-green revolution makes him an acknowledged world leader in the field of sustainable food security. The International Association of Women and Development conferred on him the first international award for significant contributions to promoting the knowledge, skill, and technological empowerment of women in agriculture and for his pioneering role in mainstreaming gender considerations in agriculture and rural development. Professor Swaminathan was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership in 1971, the Albert Einstein World Science Award in 1986, the first World Food Prize in 1987, and Volvo, Tyler and UNEP Sasakawa Prize for Environment, the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development in 2000 and the Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal, the Mahatma Gandhi Prize of UNESCO in 2000 and the Lal Bahadur Sastri National Award (2007). He is the recipient of Padma Shri (1967), Padma Bhushan (1972) and Padma Vibushan (1989).

Professor Swaminathan is a Fellow of many of the leading scientific academies of India and the world, including the Royal Society of London and the U S National Academy of Sciences. He has received 84 honorary doctorate degrees from universities around the world. He currently holds the UNESCO Chair in Ecotechnology at the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai (Madras), India. He was a Member of the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha), during 2007-13. During 2010-13, he chaired the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) for the World Committee on Food Security (CFS). He also Chairs the Task Force set up by the Ministry of External Affairs to oversee the projects undertaken in Afghanistan and Myanmar in the field of agriculture.

During 2013, Prof Swaminathan received the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration and Greatest Global Living Legend Award of NDTV. He was also elected at the 20th International Congress of Nutrition held at Granada, Spain, “as Living Legend of International Union of Nutrition Sciences”. He received the Life Time Achievement Award at the 9th Nutra Summit in Bangalore. He received the “Yerarinjar” (agricultural legend) award for his work in sustainable agriculture in India today. He received Bharath Shanthi Dootha Award, 2017 (World Peace Festival Society, Warangal). He is also the recipient of World Agriculture Prize (2018).

More reading on Prof Swaminathan here:

Scientist, Hunger Fighter, Food Prize Laureate

Living Legends in Indian Science

Zero Hunger is Possible

Maria Isabel Andrade received a BSc (Agronomy) in 1984 and a M.Sc. (Plant Genetics) in 1985 from the University of Arizona. She also obtained a Ph.D. (Plant Breeding and Plant Physiology) from North Carolina State University in 1994. She strengthened her skill in communicating as a teaching assistant at both the University of Arizona and North Carolina State University. She also got involved in student affairs as Secretary of the African Student Association at North Carolina State University, as Secretary (1992) and as Administrative Secretary for the Graduate Students Association in the Department of Horticulture at the North Carolina State University in 1992. Having worked on root crops since 1985 and done her PhD on sweetpotato in NCSU, and knowing that their benefits would be substantial if diets are supplemented, Maria has always had deep interest in bio-fortified crops.

Maria Andrade has 30 years of working experience in Africa.  Her research interests include technology transfer, breeding seed systems and the amelioration of value chains for income-generation. She has spent the last 21 years working in Mozambique. The first 10 of these, she served as a regional cassava and sweetpotato agronomist for the Southern Africa Root Crop Research Network, a program run conjointly by IITA and CIP. From 2002-2006 she coordinated a five year IITA project on Accelerated Multiplication and Distribution of Healthy Planting Materials of the Best High Yielding Varieties of Cassava and Sweetpotato.  Over one million farmers received improved planting material under this project in 98 of the 141 districts of the country with Maria collaborating with 124 partners to achieve this challenging objective.

In 2006, she joined CIP to manage the SASHA Southern Africa Sweetpotato Support Platform bringing together sweetpotato breeders from Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique and Angola, with a research emphasis on breeding drought-tolerant sweetpotato varieties. She has released 30 bio-fortified sweetpotato varieties of which 20 are drought tolerant. The Mozambican government recognizes bio-fortified sweetpotato as a food and nutrition security crop. These drought tolerant varieties have reached more half million farmers and farmers have adopted them and making profit selling the roots and the vines. Maria is highly skilled in training other breeders, facilitating knowledge sharing and constructing communications platforms to heighten the visibility and impact of sweetpotato in Sub-Saharan Africa to reduce Vitamin A deficiency and improve markets and crop production.

She also serves as CIP’s country liaison scientist with the Government of Mozambique, coordinating with the Regional Leader as needed to address specific requests from Government officials and entities. She also worked closely with other CGIAR scientists in the region to capitalize on potential synergies to be gained from joint planning and will be spearheading the Sweetpotato Support Platform for Southern Africa under the SASHA project. In the Platform for Innovation of Agriculture and technology transfer in Mozambique she represents all CGIARs members of this platform (8). She is also in the board of Directors of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa. Maria served as the vice president for fund raising for ISTRC global for five years. She also was one the recipients of the 2016 World Food Prize, received also an outstanding Alumnus Award from College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University and Appreciation Award for Outstanding Leadership & Contribution to the development of roots and tubers crops in Africa.

Mark Dorfman is biomimicry chemist and principal with Biomimicry 3.8. His work centers on the premise that living organisms, by necessity, have developed sophisticated, highly effective, life-friendly chemistries that can inspire provocative, high-performing, sustainable technology for modern society.

Mark applies the design principles of nature’s time-tested chemical strategies to develop innovative solutions to the toxic chemical and material challenges of the 21st Century. He couldn’t image a better way to spend the work week!

Mark has worked closely with clients such as Estee Lauder, Colgate, Ashland Chemical, Natura, Johnson and Johnson, WD-40, Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Conoco-Philips, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Kimberly-Clark, Patagonia, UC Berkeley’s Center for Green Chemistry, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a set of challenges as diverse as nature herself.

Mark has been a featured speaker the GreenBiz Forum, The Guardian’s Making Green Chemistry Mainstream event, Greener Electronics Council summit, Chemical Manufacturer’s summit, Outdoor Industry Association’s Sustainability Working Group meeting, Textile Exchange conference, and the Green Chemistry and Commercial Council’s Innovation Roundtable. He has shared his work, including the wonderful fact that Nature is Alive with Chemistry, on numerous occasions, most recently during the 2016 Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference.

Prior to joining Biomimicry 3.8, Mark worked in the nonprofit sector researching and writing case studies on industrial chemical pollution prevention and waste water management practices. These research efforts influenced the creation of federal and state public policies including the Federal Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, the New Jersey Pollution Prevention Act of 1991, and the Federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000.

Mark is a board member of the Biomimicry NYC regional network, where he helps to cultivate a community of nature-inspired practice in the New York City metropolitan region in conjunction with The Biomimicry Institute’s Global Biomimicry Network. He also sits on the Science Advisory Board of Pantheon Enterprises, a chemical company at the forefront of sustainability in Phoenix, Arizona. He brings nature into his NYC home by maintaining three distinct aquatic environments.

Mark is a globally-experienced and recognized industry leader in the mobile marketing, sustainability and telecommunications industry. Mark is a Partner in (en)visible LLC, a technology focused food company. Mark is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs focused on Food & Agriculture and Global Cities.

Prior to joining (en)visible, Mark was Global Vice President of Sustainable Solutions for Unilever. At Unilever, Mark was responsible for integrating technology across the Chief Sustainability Office’s partnerships, establishing new digital partnerships, expanding existing digital partnerships and leveraging Unilever’s existing technical assets to accelerate the economic, social and environmental impact of initiatives driving towards the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Prior to joining Unilever, Mark was CEO of Tone Mobile LLC, a start-up focused on digital inclusion. Tone led the mFish Initiative with the U.S. State Department and GSM Association, representing the world’s mobile operators.