Geoff AndersenDirector of Regional Agriculture Strategic Planning at John Deere
After completing degrees in Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, Geoff worked for an agricultural consulting company. He then worked in the agriculture technology field for ten years, including roles with AGRIS and Farmland Industries. He became Director, John Deere Information Systems in 1999 and led that business for seven... [ View ] |
H.E. Mercedes AráozVice President of Peru & Chair of the Food Forever Initiative
Mercedes is a Peruvian economist and politician. She currently serves, since 2016, as Vice-President of the Republic of Peru, Extraordinary Commissioner for Peru’s accession to the OECD, and as a member of Congress. She also served as Prime Minister between September 2017 and April 2018, and as President of the... [ View ] |
Shawn BakerDirector, Nutrition, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Shawn K. Baker joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in August 2013 and is Director of Nutrition in the Global Development Program. He has over 30 years’ experience in international public health, including 25 years living in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining the foundation, he was with Helen Keller... [ View ] |
Catherine Bertini2002 World Food Prize Laureate
An accomplished leader in international organization reform, Catherine Bertini has a distinguished career improving the efficiency and operations of organizations serving poor and hungry people in the United States and around the world. She was named the 2003 World Food Prize Laureate for her transformational leadership at the World Food Programme... [ View ] |
Rob BertramChief Scientist, Bureau for Food Security, U.S. Agency for International Development
Rob Bertram is the Chief Scientist in USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, where he serves as a key adviser on a range of technical and program issues to advance global food security and nutrition. In this role, he leads USAID’s evidence-based efforts to advance research, technology and implementation in support... [ View ] |
Jennifer BlankeVice President of Agriculture, Human, and Social Development, African Development Bank
Jennifer Blanke is Vice-President Agriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank Group, responsible for overseeing the Bank's strategy and activities in this area. She was previously Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum, overseeing economic research activities and projects. She has written and lectured extensively on issues related... [ View ] |
Kathryn BoorThe Ronald P. Lynch Dean College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University
Kathryn J. Boor is the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Cornell University. Under Dr. Boor’s leadership, CALS has prioritized programming in food and energy systems; environmental sciences; life sciences; and economic and community vitality. Dr. Boor serves on several boards, including... [ View ] |
Marshall BoutonPresident Emeritus, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Marshall M. Bouton is Acting Director & Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania. He is president emeritus of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, having served as its president from 2001 to 2013. From 1990 to 2001 he was the... [ View ] |
Andre BriendAdjunct Professor, University of Tampere
Dr. André Briend is a former research scientist of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (France). He has over 30 years of experience researching child nutrition in developing countries. In the late 90’s he played a key role in the development of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) which lead to... [ View ] |
Noelle CockettPresident of Utah State University
Noelle E. Cockett was appointed as Utah State University’s 16th president in October 2016, beginning her official tenure in January 2017. Cockett has built a distinguished career in sheep genomics research, maintaining an active research program even while serving in various leadership positions at USU. Her research program has centered... [ View ] |
James C. CollinsChief Operating Officer for Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™.
Jim joined DuPont as an engineer in 1984 and began his career in Manufacturing. He held positions in engineering, supervision, business management and sales and marketing. Jim then served in a variety of roles across the globe, supporting DuPont’s seed and crop protection businesses. From 2004 to 2010, he was... [ View ] |
Liam CondonMember of the Board of Management, Bayer AG & President of the Crop Science Division, Bayer
Liam Condon serves as a member of the Bayer AG Board of Management and as President of the Crop Science division of Bayer. He is also responsible for the Animal Health Business Unit. Based in Monheim, Germany, Condon drives the vision for Crop Science and leads the business to shape... [ View ] |
Sir Gordon ConwayProfessor of International Development, Imperial College London
Gordon Conway is a pioneer of sustainable agriculture developed integrated pest management programs for the State of Sabah in Malaysia. He joined Imperial College in 1970 setting up the Centre for Environmental Technology in 1976. In the 1970s and 1980s he lived and worked extensively in Asia and the Middle... [ View ] |
Ashok DalwaiChairman, Committee on Doubling Farmers' Income & CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority
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Ellen de BrabanderSVP Global Functions, Governance & Compliance, R&D
Ellen joined PepsiCo in 2014 and is currently Senior Vice President for Nutrition Research and Development for PepsiCo, based in Purchase, NY. Apart from her role in PepsiCo, Ellen also served until January 2018 as the interim and founding CEO of EIT Food. Currently, she serves on a number of boards... [ View ] |
Sandro DemaioChief Executive Officer, EAT Foundation
In April 2018, Sandro became Chief Executive Officer of EAT. From November 2015 until April 2018, Sandro was Medical Officer for non-communicable conditions and nutrition with the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development for the World Health Organization. Sandro held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School from 2013... [ View ] |
Helene DillardDean, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences – UC Davis
Helene R. Dillard was appointed dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis in January 2014. Dillard is the chief academic and administrative officer of the college and oversees fifteen departments, several centers and institutes, more than 7,000 undergraduate students, and 380+ faculty. In addition to... [ View ] |
Marco FerroniChair of the System Management Board, CIGAR
Marco Ferroni is passionate about international agriculture, sustainable development and the geopolitics of food. From 2007 to 2017 he was Executive Director of the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, a product and solutions incubator for farm sectors in low-income countries and Emerging Markets. Currently he advises clients on strategic choice... [ View ] |
Robb Fraley2013 World Food Prize Laureate
Dr. Robert Fraley is executive vice president and chief technology officer at Monsanto. He has been with the company for more than 35 years, and currently oversees the company’s global technology division which includes plant breeding, plant biotechnology, ag biologicals, ag microbials, precision agriculture and crop protection. Dr. Fraley is... [ View ] |
Prof. Louise FrescoPresident, Wageningen University and Research
Louise O. Fresco is the President of Wageningen University & Research in The Netherlands. Louise combines a long academic career as a professor at both Wageningen and Amsterdam with extensive involvement in policy and development, with many programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America and teaching in Sweden, Belgium and... [ View ] |
Hon. Dan GlickmanFormer U.S. Secretary of Agriculture
Dan Glickman is Vice President and Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program. He is a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Glickman served as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Before his appointment, Mr. Glickman served for 18... [ View ] |
Elwyn Grainger-JonesExecutive Director of CGIAR System Organization
Elwyn Grainger-Jones began his career as an Overseas Development Institute (ODI) fellow in Guyana in 1993, following his studies in economics at the London School of Economics and the University of Warwick. After ODI he joined DFID, where he held various positions and worked in South East Asia leading the... [ View ] |
Lawrence HaddadExecutive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Dr. Lawrence Haddad became the Executive Director of GAIN in October 2016. Prior to this Lawrence was the founding co-chair and lead author of the Global Nutrition Report from 2014 to 2016. From 2004-2014 Lawrence was the Director of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the world’s leading development studies... [ View ] |
Hon. John HickenlooperGovernor of the State of Colorado, United States
John Hickenlooper is a lifetime entrepreneur who ran as a "dark horse" to become Mayor of Denver in 2003. He led the campaign to pass FasTracks, the largest regional transportation initiative in U.S. history, and helped convince the 34 metro mayors (2/3 Republican) to unanimously support and pass the 0.4%... [ View ] |
Chavonda Jacobs-YoungAdministrator, USDA, Agriculture Research Service
Chavonda Jacobs-Young is the Administrator of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) chief scientific in-house research agency. Prior to joining ARS, Dr. Jacobs-Young held several scientific leadership roles to help transform USDA’s scientific coordination and create a lasting impact on the conduct, quality, integrity, and access... [ View ] |
Greg JaffeBiotechnology Project Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
Gregory Jaffe is the Biotechnology Project Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Mr. Jaffe came to CSPI in 2001 after a career in government service as a Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice and as Senior Counsel with the U.S. EPA. He is a... [ View ] |
Anil JainChief Executive Officer of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd
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Nabeeha Kazi HutchinsExecutive Director, No Wasted Lives
Nabeeha is Executive Director of No Wasted Lives, a global coalition dedicated to scaling up prevention and treatment action to combat acute malnutrition. With more than 20 years of public health, nutrition, agriculture and early childhood development expertise, Nabeeha has directed multi-sectoral programs to accelerate development impact at scale. She... [ View ] |
Lawrence KentSenior Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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Eluid KiregerDirector General & Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization
Dr. Eliud Kiplimo Kireger is the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of KALRO. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Managing Director/CEO of the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. Dr Kireger attained his PhD in Plant Eco-physiology from the University of Wales, (UK), MSc in Genetics and Tree breeding... [ View ] |
Randal J. KirkChief Executive Officer, Intrexon Corporation
RJ Kirk, an attorney by training, entered the biomedical field in 1983 co-founding General Injectables and Vaccines. General Injectables ensured vaccines and therapeutic drugs were accessible at the point-of-care as pre-loaded injectables, helping to pioneer an intervention that is now a healthcare standard. RJ is one of biotech’s foremost individual investors,... [ View ] |
Amb. Michael KlossonVice President, Policy and Humanitarian Response, Save the Children
Michael Klosson serves as Vice President for Policy and Humanitarian Response at Save the Children, having joined the agency 11 years ago. He oversees the agency’s public policy and advocacy work with the U.S. and foreign governments as well as the U.S. contribution to its global emergency response work in... [ View ] |
Martin KropffDirector General, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT
Martin Kropff joined the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in 2015 from Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands, where he was president and vice chairman of the executive board for almost 10 years. He earned undergraduate degrees in biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and a... [ View ] |
Thomas LauritaCEO & Board of Directors, NewLeaf Symbiotics
Co-founder and CEO of NewLeaf Symbiotics and experienced entrepreneur, Tom has successfully founded and run 5 companies in agriculture finance and production areas. He speaks fluent Russian and lived in Moscow, Russia for 17 years, where he led Monsanto USSR for 3 years. He co-founded Vitas Company, which was an... [ View ] |
Nancy LindborgPresident, U.S. Institute of Peace
Nancy Lindborg has served since February 2015 as President of the United States Institute of Peace, an independent institution founded by Congress to provide practical solutions for preventing and resolving violent conflict around the world. Ms. Lindborg has spent most of her career working in fragile and conflict affected regions around... [ View ] |
Rohtash MalChairman, EM3 Ag Services
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Lucas MannCo-Founder and Managing Partner, Acre Venture Partners
Lucas Mann is a Co-Founding Managing Partner of Acre Venture Partners, contributing over 15 years of entrepreneurial management and founding experience. With a focus on helping brilliant entrepreneurs develop modes of disruption in a practical and scalable way, Lucas has lead teams in a variety of sectors, including software and... [ View ] |
Berry MarttinMember of the Rabobank Managing Board
Berry Marttin joined Rabobank as a management trainee after earning his degree in Business Administration in his native Brazil. Over the course of his career at Rabobank he has gained extensive experience as a banker in both the Wholesale and Rural & Retail Banking business worldwide. Before joining the Executive... [ View ] |
Hon. Under Sec. Ted McKinneyUnder Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, USDA
Ted McKinney serves as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. Under Secretary McKinney leads the development and implementation of the Department’s trade policy, oversees and facilitates foreign market access, and promotes opportunities for U.S. agriculture through various trade programs and high-level government... [ View ] |
Purvi MehtaSenior Advisor and Head of Agriculture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, India
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Mark MessinaExecutive Director of Soy Nutrition Institute
Dr. Messina is the co-owner of Nutrition Matters, Inc., a nutrition consulting company, an adjunct associate professor at Loma Linda University in California, and the Executive Director of the Soy Nutrition Institute. Dr. Messina devotes his time to the study of the health effects of soyfoods. He writes extensively on... [ View ] |
David NabarroStrategic Director of Skills, Systems & Synergies for Sustainable Development (4SD)
David Nabarro leads a Swiss-based start-up social enterprise (4SD), is a 2018 World Food Prize laureate and is curator of the Food Systems Dialogues. As a medical doctor, international civil servant and teacher, he has held various senior positions within the World Health Organisation and wider United Nations system. He... [ View ] |
Jane NelsonDirector of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
Jane Nelson is Director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Stewardship Board on Food Security and Agriculture and co-chair of WEF’s Global Future Council on Food Systems Innovation. She serves on... [ View ] |
Mandefro Nigussie[ View ] |
Ruth Oniang'oChair of the Board, Sasakawa Africa Foundation
Ruth Oniang'o has been Chair of Boards of Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and Sasakawa Africa Fund for Extension Education (SAFE). She also sits on CABI Board in the United Kingdom. She is Professor of Food and Nutritional Sciences, received her BSc and MSc at Washington State University, Pullman USA and... [ View ] |
Matthew PakulaSenior Manager for Corporate Responsibility, Tyson
Matthew Pakula is a senior manager of corporate social responsibility for Tyson Foods. He is responsible for shared value and social enterprise projects and works with a variety of nonprofit organizations, providing strategic input to align the company’s CSR goals with business objectives, as well as tactical support for a... [ View ] |
Rajul Pandya-LorchDirector of Communications and Public Affairs, International Food Policy Research Institute
Rajul Pandya-Lorch is the Director of Communications and Public Affairs and concurrently serves as Chief of Staff in the Director General’s Office. From 1998 to 2017, Rajul served as head of IFPRI's 2020 Vision Initiative, a global initiative that seeks to identify solutions for meeting world food needs while reducing... [ View ] |
Pradeep PrabhalaPradeep Prabhala is an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company and is a leader in The McKinsey Center for Agricultural Transformation. Pradeep has worked extensively across the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa on a number of country agricultural transformation efforts. He has advised a number of... [ View ] |
Peter RobinsonPresident and CEO, United States Council of International Business
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Pedro SanchezResearch Professor in Tropical Soils, University of Florida Soil and Water Sciences, 2002 Laureate
Dr. Pedro A. Sanchez is a professor of Tropical Soils at the University of Florida Soil & Water Sciences Department and core faculty of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems. Previously he was Director of the Agriculture and Food Security Center at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, Director General of the... [ View ] |
Nteranya SangingaDirector General, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Dr Nteranya Sanginga has 30 years of experience in international agricultural research and development and research administration with various international organizations and universities, particularly in applied microbial ecology, plant nutrition, and integrated natural resources management in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Under his leadership, IITA has been transformed from a... [ View ] |
Mark ScantlinPresident, Kemin Food Technologies
Marc Scantlin is president of Kemin Food Technologies, North America and Latin America. In this role, Scantlin oversees all shelf life, flavor, color and food safety solutions for the North America and Latin America food markets. Scantlin began his career at Kemin as worldwide director of human resources. Prior to... [ View ] |
Paul SchicklerPresident, DuPont Pioneer
Paul E. Schickler is president of DuPont Pioneer, the advanced seed genetics business of DuPont. As president, he has continued to expand Pioneer’s global business by remaining focused on innovation that improves local productivity and profitability of farmers in more than 90 countries. Since joining Pioneer in 1974, Schickler has... [ View ] |
Liz SchrayerPresident and CEO, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
Liz Schrayer serves as President & CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a broad-based network of over 500 businesses and NGOs that advocates for strategic investments in development and diplomacy alongside defense. Under Liz’s leadership over the last 20 years, the USGLC has grown into a nationwide network of... [ View ] |
Ismail SerageldinEmeritus Librarian, The Library of Alexandria
Ismail Serageldin, an Egyptian national, is the Emeritus Librarian of Alexandria and the Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), the new Library of Alexandria in Egypt, which he headed from its inauguration in 2002 to his retirement in 2017. He serves on many boards and advisory committees for various... [ View ] |
Roy SteinerManaging Director, Food Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation
Dr. Roy Steiner is the Managing Director, Food at the Rockefeller Foundation leading multi-year initiatives to advance a more nourishing and sustainable food system. Previously he was a Senior Director at the Omidyar Network where he worked across strategic initiatives and with the board to build a best in class... [ View ] |
Karsten TemmeCEO & Co-founder, Pivot Bio
Driven by a passionate belief in the power of science and the desire to create meaningful change in the world, Karsten Temme, Ph.D., has founded two companies focused on increasing farmer productivity. As Pivot Bio CEO and co-founder, Dr. Temme leads a team that is unlocking new ways to provide... [ View ] |
Ponsi TrivisvavetCEO and Director, Inari
Ponsi Trivisvavet has joined Inari as CEO and Director in 2018. Ponsi brings global knowledge of the agriculture and seeds business, commercial experiences and management skill sets. Previously, Ponsi was COO at Indigo Agriculture, one of the fastest growing AgTech startups. She led the R&D operations, the largest team at Indigo,... [ View ] |
Kathryn VandenBoschDean and Director, University of Wisconsin – Madison, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Kathryn VandenBosch became dean of the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences in March 2012. Prior to that, VandenBosch was a professor of plant biology at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. In 2001, she became head of the plant biology department there, but took a brief hiatus... [ View ] |
H.E. Gerda VerburgUnited Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Coordinator, SUN Movement
Since August 2016, Gerda Verburg has served as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, working with the 60 country governments that lead the SUN Movement, united with UN agencies, civil society, business and donors, in a common mission to defeat malnutrition in all its... [ View ] |
Juergen VoegeleSenior Director, World Bank
Juergen Voegele, Ph. D., was appointed Senior Director of the World Bank's Food and Agriculture Global Practice in July, 2014. There he provides leadership on issues such as climate-smart agriculture, agriculture policy reform, food and nutrition security, and agriculture value chain development. Dr. Voegele is chair of the CGIAR System... [ View ] |
Daniel VoytasCo-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Calyxt, Inc.
Dr. Dan Voytas is the Chief Science Officer and co-founder of Calyxt, Inc., a consumer-centric food and agriculture focused company. He is also a Professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota and the Director of University’s Center for Precision Plant Genomics. It... [ View ] |
Ren WangSpecial Advisor to the President, BGI Genomics
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Lt. Gen. William E. (Kip) WardPresident and Chief Operating Officer, SENTEL Corporation
A retired Army General Officer and former president of SENTEL Corporation of Alexandria VA, Ward, the inaugural Commander of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), successfully established the nation’s newest and uniquely positioned interagency geographic command responsible for all U.S. defense and security activities on the African continent and its... [ View ] |
Simon WinterExecutive Director, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture
Simon Winter became Director of the Swiss-based Syngenta Foundation in 2017. He joined from TechnoServe, where he had most recently been Senior VP, Development, in Washington, D.C., and previously led regional operations in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2015-2017, Simon was also a Senior Fellow of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center at the Harvard... [ View ] |
Wendy WintersteenPresident, Iowa State University
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