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Speakers for the summit include:
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Chip Jones
Senior VP Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability
Dean Foods |
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Mr. Jones joined Dean Foods in 2002 as its labor and employment counsel, after practicing labor and employment law in the Dallas, Texas office of Littler Mendelson, P.C. for 8 years. In 2004, Mr. Jones took on the responsibility of serving as the company’s chief compliance officer. Now, Mr. Jones is in charge of the company’s corporate responsibility efforts, which include ethics, compliance, and sustainability. As the company’s chief compliance officer, Mr. Jones is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Company’s compliance program, which includes conducting risk assessments, training programs, and investigations of alleged violations of the company’s Code of Ethics.
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Erin Fitzgerald
VP of Sustainability
Dairy Management Inc |
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Erin Fitzgerald is the Director of Social and Environmental Innovation at Dairy Management Inc., (DMI) the nonprofit planning and management organization responsible for increasing sales of and demand for U.S.-produced dairy products and ingredients on behalf of America’s dairy producers.
Erin joined Dairy Management Inc. in 2007 to assist the dairy industry in becoming more consumer-driven for long-term growth. In the process of identifying and assessing strategic market opportunities, she came to believe that sustainability can become a genuine differentiator for the U.S. dairy industry, strengthening its marketplace position while generating lasting economic, environmental, and social value.
Her business case was convincing and today Erin is a key player in the industrywide U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment. This effort, sponsored by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, is identifying and implementing opportunities to reduce environmental impact and build business value across the supply chain. In this role, Erin works with dairy producers, processors, retailers, associations, universities, government and non governmental organizations (NGOs) to drive change and innovation. She led the effort to establish industrywide goals and build a long-term strategic plan for the initiative.
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Sylvain Cuperlier
VP of Worldwide Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability
Dole |
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Mr. Cuperlier joined Dole Europe in 1998 as Coordinator, Markets Strategy and Communication Department after spending 2 years in Argentina in order to fulfill his French civil servant requirements. In 2000, he was promoted to Manager, Responsibility Programs and Communication, Europe and Africa. Since February 2002, he has represented the Dole Food Company, Inc. on the Advisory Board of Social Accountability International (SAI) a New York based NGO focusing on workers' rights. Mr. Cuperlier has an MBA from Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) and a Bachelor's degree in law from the Université de Cergy - Pontoise, both obtained in France. In addition, Mr. Cuperlier has a Diplom Kaufmann with a specialization in organization and social psychology from the Universität Mannheim in Germany.
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Roberto Vega
Director of Sustainability
Dole |
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Costa Rican, based in Paris.
Financial background with a Master in International Business and a specialization in Sustainable Development.
7 year in the Banking Industry in Costa Rica, joined Dole in 1998.
Experience within Dole:
Dole Costa Rica: Financial Analyst, Farm Controller, Financial Analysis Manager
Dole Latin America: Strategic Business Manager, Organic & Exotic Program Controller
Dole Food Company (worldwide): Corporate Social Responsibility Manager
Main responsibilities:
Coordinate Dole’s Carbon Footprint Project
Develop strategies and projects to assess and reduce Dole’s Environmental Footprint
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Michael Levine
Organics & Sustainability
Fonterra |
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Michael Levine has spent the last 20 years involved in the Food Industry in a diversity of roles and organizations. Over time he has become increasingly concerned with strategies and resulting actions that drive our current food systems. The sum of which can defined by highly processed ingredients, well-meaning but not well-being agricultural practices, and an overwhelming culture of cheapening the food we eat. In effect, the antithesis of sustainability. It was from this perspective that lead him to the Natural & Organic segment – where today he represents New Zealand based dairy producer - Fonterra’s Organic interests in North America. “Our cows are raised on pasture and the entire dairying process from farm, through processing, and on to the supply chain is keenly focused on respecting the natural behavior of cows while concurrently lowering our overall carbon footprint - allowing us to not only embrace the future, but help preserve it”, says Levine.
Mr. Levine obtained his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School. He splits his time between Chicago and rural Wisconsin.
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Rick Peyser
Director of Social Advocacy & Coffee Community Outreach
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters |
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Rick Peyser is Director of Social Advocacy and Coffee Community Outreach for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters where he has worked for over 22 years. He is a past President of the Specialty Coffee Association of America the world’s largest coffee trade association, and served six years on the Board of Directors of the Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) which sets the standards for Fair Trade that benefit over 1,500,000 small-scale farmers around the world. Currently Rick serves on the Coffee KidsÔ Board of Directors, the Coffeelands Trust Advisory Board, and the Board of Directors of Fundacion Ixil which is working to improve the quality of life in Ixil coffee communities in El Quiche, Guatemala.
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Allison Jordan
Director of Environmental Affairs
Wine Institute |
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Allison Jordan will be speaking at the conference.
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Alison Dennis
Director of Supply Chain
Burgerville |
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Alison Dennis serves as Director of Sustainable Programs for Burgerville, a Pacific Northwest restaurant company committed to serving great food made from local ingredients, and doing business in ways that promote sustainable ways of working and living. Alison’s accountabilities range from fueling Burgerville’s operations with 100% renewable energy, to recycling used cooking oil into biodiesel, to making their drive-through windows bike-friendly, to building direct relationships with the most sustainable farmers, ranchers, fishers, cheese makers, bakers and food processors in the Pacific Northwest. In 2007, Alison launched a composting, recycling and sustainable packaging system that is now the most comprehensive of its kind in the quick service food industry, bringing Burgerville’s sustainable values full circle from the farm to the table to the compost bin and back to feed next year’s garden.
Prior to joining Burgerville in 2006, Alison served as Purchasing Director for Oregon Health and Science University, leading large scale supply chain process improvement in an innovative environment. In 2005, Alison traveled the world for a year, eating local food across 27 countries and 6 continents in 365 days. She holds a liberal arts degree from Bennington College.
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Kevin Rabinovitch
Director of Sustainability
Mars |
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Kevin Rabinovitch is the Global Director of Sustainability for Mars, Inc. In his role he develops and deploys strategies, goals, targets and policies relating to all aspects of sustainability (climate, water, waste, etc.) for Mars’ operations. He also chairs the Sustainability sub-group of the Mars Scientific Advisory Council which advises Mars on the science behind our sustainability decisions throughout our entire supply chain. Kevin has been with Mars for 16 years, 3 years in sustainability and the first 13 in R&D functions of multiple Mars business segments in the U.S. and Europe specializing in technology development, scale up and intellectual property. Kevin joined Mars with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and subsequently earned an MBA in Entrepreneurship.
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Don Butler
Communication Affairs Manager
Murphy Brown LLC |
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Don is Director of Government Relations and Public Affairs for Murphy-Brown LLC. Based in Warsaw, N.C., Murphy-Brown is the livestock production subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc., the world’s largest producer and processor of pork and pork products. Don’s duties include internal and external communication, interaction with local, state, and federal regulatory agencies, elected officials and other government and non-government organizations. He is responsible for public policy development for the company.
He began his career in the pork industry in 1990. Don was the project manager for the development and implementation of the company’s Environmental Management System (EMS) which has been certified to the ISO 14001 Standard, the first livestock operation in the world to achieve this distinction. He also is the chairman of the Murphy-Brown animal welfare committee which developed a comprehensive Animal Welfare Management System (AWMS) which is widely recognized as the most comprehensive program of its kind in the industry.
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Juan Fernando Valenzuela
Director of Agricultural Promotion and Commodities Purchase
Compania Nacional de Chocolates |
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- Agricultural Business Manager. CNCH.
- Finance Specialist. EAFIT University.
- International Purchasing and Supply Chain Management. ITC (International Trade Center - UNCTAD/WTO)
- Representative and member at National Cocoa Council of Compañía Nacional de Chocolates in Colombia.
- Representative of Latin American Committee at World Cocoa Foundation-WCF.
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Betsy Cohen
Vice President of Sustainability
Nestle |
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As Nestlé becomes a global Nutrition, Health and Wellness company, sustainability is critical. Nestlé operates with a philosophy of Creating Shared Value, with work in local markets to improve nutrition, water and rural development. Betsy works in North America on company and industry initiatives for the supply chain from farm to fork. Nestlé brands include Nestlé Waters, Nestlé Purina Pet Care, Stouffers, Dreyers, Nescafe, Powerbar, Gerber baby products and Nestlé Professional.
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Karl Walk
Director of Cocoa Department
Blommer Chocolates |
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As Director of Cocoa for the Blommer Chocolate Company, Karl Walk’s responsibilities include the procurement, import logistics, and quality control of the company’s 220,000 metric ton cocoa bean supply. In addition, Karl leads the development and management of Blommer’s global corporate social responsibility programs and currently is Chairman of the World Cocoa Foundation an industry lead global organization focused on cocoa sustainability. In February, he was named to the Cocoa Merchants Association of America Board of Directors. Karl also serves as Co Chair for the National Confectioners Association’s Cocoa and Chocolate Regulatory Affairs Committee, and has chaired the Board of Cocoa Graders for the New York Board of Trade/Intercontinental Exchange since 1999.
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Lauren Faber
Assistant Secretary for Climate Change Programs
California EPA |
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In February 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Lauren Faber to Assistant Secretary for Climate Change Programs for the California Environmental Protection Agency.
Faber has extensive experience working on energy and climate policy development at the state, federal and international levels, including the coordination of campaigns across large networks.
Before joining Cal/EPA, Faber served as Senior Director for Lighthouse Consulting Group, where she advised on comprehensive climate change and energy strategies for domestic and international companies, and non-government organizations.
Faber also served over four years at the British Embassy in Washington D.C. as the Senior Policy Advisor for climate change and energy. In this capacity, she advised the UK Government on its strategic engagement with the U.S. government, as well as with the business, labor and non-profit communities. She was responsible for maintaining strong relationships with Congress and the Administration, with specific expertise in emissions trading, competitiveness, international climate finance and negotiations for a post-2012 international agreement on climate change.
Faber began her career as a fellow with the Natural Resources Defense Council and then moved on to work with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
Faber holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Earth Systems, with a Minor in Economics from Stanford University, and a Master’s degree in Climate and Society from Columbia University.
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Ron Moore
Board Member American Soybean Association
American Soybean Association |
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Ron Moore is member of the Board of Directors of the American Soybean Association, an organization that represents all U.S. soybean farmers on domestic and international issues of importance to the soybean industry. Moore serves on the subcommittee for Global Issues Marketing on ASA’s Trade Policy and International Affairs Committee, as Chairman of the Illinois Soybean Association, and Vice Chairman of the National Sustainable Agriculture Standards Committee.
Moore began farming in1977 on a family farm located in the west central part of Illinois. He raises 600 acres of corn and 400 acres of soybeans along with 230 head of feeder cattle grazed on 250 acres of pasture. His cropping practices include conservation tillage on about half the acres and no-till on the other half.
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Scott Exo
Executive Director
Food Alliance |
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Scott Exo is executive director at Food Alliance, a national non-profit that works at the juncture of values, business and science to define sustainability in agriculture and the food industry. Food Alliance operates a third-party certification program for environmentally friendly and socially responsible agricultural and food handling practices.
Before joining Food Alliance in 1999, Scott worked on farm and forest land conservation issues for 1000 Friends of Oregon, managed rural development and study abroad programs in Asia and Africa and was an organizational consultant.
Scott serves on the National Good Food Network’s advisory council, the Oregon Department of Ag/Oregon State University Food Innovation Center advisory board, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch advisory board.
Scott holds dual Masters degrees in Geography and in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
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Alex Morgan
Manager of Sustainable Agriculture, US and Canada
Rainforest Alliance |
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Alex Morgan will be speaking at the conference.
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Josh Dorf
Owner
Stone-Buhr Flour Company |
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Josh Dorf runs the Stone-Buhr Flour Company. Stone-Buhr is the only major brand of wheat flour supporting certified sustainable agriculture and our American family farmers. Last year, he launched FindTheFarmer.com allowing consumers the unprecedented ability to learn about the farmers who grew the wheat inside the bag. Prior to Stone-Buhr, Josh started and worked with a variety of technology companies before returning to his roots in the food space.
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Martha Villareyna
General Manager
Cecocafen |
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Martha Villareyna will be speaking at the conference.
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Hal Hamilton
Founder
Sustainable Food Lab |
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Hal Hamilton founded and co-directs the global Sustainable Food Lab, with more than 50 organizational members and partners, including farming, manufacturing, food service and retail, as well as social and environmental NGOs and universities.
Hal was the Executive Director of Sustainability Institute, based in Vermont, from 2001 through 2006. Before that he was Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Systems and led a variety of leadership and rural development initiatives. He was a dairy farmer in Henry County from 1973 through 1988, and was awarded a “Master Conservationist” award by the Conservation District board and opened his farm for a variety of field days while farming.
Hal’s education was at Stanford University and the State University of New York, Buffalo. He has written numerous columns and journal articles and three chapters in books on agricultural policy and change.
Hal is an adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative and a frequent guest faculty or lecturer at the MIT Sloane School of Management, the Harvard Business School, the Society for Organizational Learning, and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. At the invitation of the U.S. State Department he gave the annual George McGovern Lecture to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2006.
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John Dodson
Managing Director Food & Agriculture and Latin America Divisions
Scientific Certification Systems |
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John Dodson is the Managing Director of Food & Agriculture at Scientific Certification Systems, providing services in food safety, training, and sustainable agriculture. Today, Dodson works with some of the fastest growing producers and retailers to stake out leadership positions on responsible sourcing, sustainability, eco-labeling, enhanced flavor and nutrition, and fair labor branding. For more than 25 years, SCS has supported retailers, growers and?distributors in these efforts to build corporate and product brand loyalty with the best in certification and quality management solutions.
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Graham Mitchell
General Manager
UTZ CERTIFIED North America |
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About Graham Mitchell. As General Manager, UTZ CERTIFIED- Good Inside North America, Graham’s goal is to grow UTZ CERTIFIED sales of coffee, tea, and cocoa; and educate the North American market on the importance of professionalism, quality, and traceability in agricultural products. Graham is active in an active promoter of sustainable agriculture both domestically and internationally and is the President of the Good Inside Foundation, a US based non-profit, dedicated to education and capacity building in agriculture.
Prior to joining UTZ CERTIFIED, Graham has held senior positions with global retail and food companies and developing and sourcing ethical foods and beverages, and has a background in food development and quality systems.
Graham earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and his MBA from the J.L Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
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Gord Kurbis
Director, Environment
Pulse Canada |
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Gord grew up on a Canadian grain farm and studied agriculture at the University of Manitoba, Escuela Agricola Panamericana, and the University of British Columbia. Gord has spent the last 14 years in the Canadian grain industry in the areas of commodity analysis, policy development, and sustainable agriculture.
Gord is responsible for sustainability at Pulse Canada, which represents growers and exporters of peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas, for which Canada has about 40% of world trade. Pulse Canada is currently involved in several projects and partnerships that seek to credibly measure environmental impacts and identify opportunities for improvement, including the areas of carbon footprinting, water footprinting, carbon offsets and life cycle analysis.
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Kristian Moeller
President
GLOBALGAP North America |
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Dr. Kristian Moeller, GLOBALG.A.P Secretary, studied Agricultural Economy and Agribusiness Management at the Universities of Paderborn and Kiel in Germany as well as at the Purdue University, Indiana, USA. His experience was expanded by internships at Deutsche Bank, Hamburg, German-French Chamber of Commerce, Paris, and The Worldbank, Washington, D.C.
His dissertation was on Risks to Invest into the Central and Eastern European Food Industries. After 1 year of basic agricultural training on farms in Germany and the UK he became Manager European Projects and Senior Consultant Quality Assurance at the EHI-EuroHandelsinstitut e.V., Cologne, Germany, in the areas: Food, Fresh Produce, Meat, and Dairy Products.
Dr. Kristian Moeller started with EUREPG.A.P in 1997 (now GLOBALG.A.P) whereof he is the Managing Director since 2001.
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Tim York
President
Markon Cooperative Inc. |
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Tim York is the President of Markon Cooperative Inc. Markon is a purchasing, marketing, and logistics cooperative serving North America’s leading independent foodservice distributors and their operator customers. Based in Salinas, California, Markon distributes produce to over sixty locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Mr. York has over thirty years experience in the produce and foodservice industries. He began his career in 1977 at H. Hall & Company, a grower/shipper of strawberries and mixed vegetables. Mr. York joined Markon in 1985 as Purchasing Director. He was promoted to Executive Vice President in 1990 and to his current position of President in 1997. Mr. York has held numerous committee and task force positions, including Member, USDA Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Council, Chairman of the Produce Marketing Association (2002), Director of the PMA; Chairman of PMA’s Foodservice Division, and is a founding member of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops.
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Albert Straus
CEO
Straus Family Creamery |
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Albert Straus is a committed steward of the land who has worked for decades to make his dairy and creamery clean, sustainable and environmentally friendly. Albert serves as the president of his family’s 68 year old dairy and of the Straus Family Creamery which bottles the milk from the dairy and produces delicious and high quality organic yogurt, butter and ice cream.
After completing a Bachelor of Science degree at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California in 1977, Albert returned to his family’s farm to continue their tradition of environmental activism and sustainable farming practices. In 1993, he transitioned the dairy to the first certified organic diary west of the Mississippi river and founded the creamery in 1994.
Albert actively promotes farmland protection, organic and GMO issues and sustainable farming methods. Improvement and innovations on his dairy include waste reduction, competition planting and silage production. Since 2004, he has been powering his dairy with methane captured from the farm and creamery waste. Through responsible management of the dairy and creamery, Albert has demonstrated outstanding sustainable management of natural resources while also being a pioneer of the sustainable food movement.
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Brie Johnson
Sustainability and Communications Manager
Straus Family Creamery |
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Brie’s environmental experience spans the realms of sustainable business, government and law. At Straus Family Creamery, Brie works with the management team to define, implement, maintain, and communicate SFC’s sustainability strategy and initiatives. Brie also manages internal and external communications at the company. Her experience includes designing and implementing general and specialized sustainability projects for global corporations including Whole Foods Market, Williams-Sonoma, ICF International, and organizations including the NRDC and the US EPA. Brie has BA in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MBA in Sustainable Management from the Presidio Graduate School.
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Sarah Stokes Alexander
Director, Sustainability and Leadership Programs
The Keystone Center |
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Sarah Stokes Alexander serves as Director of Sustainability and Leadership Programs for The Keystone Center and is a senior facilitator with over fifteen years experience working on collaborative problem-solving models. She is currently leading Field to Market: The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture—a diverse alliance of producers, agribusinesses, food companies, conservation organizations, universities and extension services that is grounded in science, technology neutral, outcomes based and committed to achieving long-term continuous improvement for production agriculture. She graduated from Middlebury College with a Bachelors degree in environmental studies, and holds a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University.
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Pablo Ramirez
Ethical Sourcing Manager
Starbucks Coffee Company |
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Born in Colombia, South America. B.S. in Animal Science for University of LaSalle in Bogota (1992). Upon graduation worked for local and international NGO’s in coffee and other agricultural commodities mostly on implementation of sustainability programs at the farm level in Central and South America. In 2000, he moved to Chicago to pursue a MBA at the University of Illinois and in 2004 to Texas for a Masters in Agribusiness at Texas A&M. Early in 2006, worked as a business analyst for JBS-Swift, the largest meat processor in the world. In mid 2007, moved to Seattle to work for Starbucks as a Senior Financial Analyst for the international markets, primarily on financial modeling and quantitative analysis. He started the Ethical Sourcing Manager position early in 2009, to manage the Cocoa, Tea and Food & Beverage ingredients’ ethical sourcing programs. Currently, their Cocoa Practices program sources from more than 12,000 farmers and 24 cooperatives in West Africa.
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Ashish Malik
Senior Vice President Global Marketing
AgraQuest |
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Ashish Malik will be speaking at the conference.
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M. Vincent Restucci
Managing Director
USADS LLC |
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Vince is responsible for emerging business platforms and technologies within the Business Development and Marketing department for Simplot’s AgriBusiness group. His duties surround communications to ag related trade publications, media and web traffic and is responsible for all grower facing marketing programs. In addition he has worked on the acquisition team for specific retail opportunities and new product development. Working in concert with the other Simplot divisions; Food and Land & Livestock, his job to anticipate future needs of customers throughout the food and feed supply chain, and deliver solutions to those opportunities. Additionally, Vince’s role is to serve as the Managing Director of a joint venture partnership to market and deploy the Agri-Data Solution throughout modern agriculture. The goal is to help their clients to document sustainability initiatives by creating a “Digital Farm” virtual copy of the activities performed on the physical farm. Current clients include growers, food processors, agricultural input retailers, industrial users, agri-finance, and crop protection manufacturers. Vince’s educational background includes Bachelors of Science in Marketing and Management with a minor in Natural Science and Mathematics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management with a concentration in Marketing and Project Management.
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Denise Kettelberger
Special Counsel
FAEGRE & BENSON LLP |
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Denise Kettelberger concentrates her practice in intellectual property law with a particular emphasis on biotechnology patents. She focuses on strategic IP counseling and portfolio management for clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, seed, and medical device industries. Her work in this area includes patentability assessment, strategic and coordinated prosecution of worldwide patent applications, including prior art management, analysis of individual inventive contributions, proactive and coordinated PTO examiner interviews, appeals, and strategic reexamination and opposition.
Denise's work also includes analysis of third party patents for infringement, validity, and freedom to operate, participation in analysis of litigation strategies, including potential claim constructions, and has served as an expert witness. Denise possesses a Ph.D. from University of Maryland School of Medicine.
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Gretchen Greene, PhD
Senior Consultant and Senior Economist
Environ |
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Dr. Gretchen Greene has 15 years of diverse economics experience in agricultural, community, and natural resource economics. Dr. Greene has expertise in natural resource damage assessment (NRDA), ecoservice valuation, net environmental benefit analysis (NEBA), agricultural trade, and natural resource management. She also brings expertise in NEPA (EAs and EISs); endangered species economics; water demand and water resources planning; land conservation and sustainable economic development; cost-benefit analysis; demographics, socioeconomics, and environmental justice; population projections and forecasting; decision analysis with uncertainty; and survey design and data analysis. Dr. Greene has worked as a trainer, and a trainer of trainers, and is an experienced facilitator. She has worked with numerous federal, state, and municipal agencies throughout the U.S., as well as private industrial clients and law firms. Gretchen has considerable international experience, including economic analyses of the North American sweetener market in the wake of the NAFTA.
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Blake Sanden
Irrigation & Agronomy Farm Advisor
University of California Cooperative Extension |
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Blake Sanden is the Irrigation and Agronomy Farm Advisor with the University of California Cooperative Extension, stationed in Kern County at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley. He conducts county-based, applied research and extension programs focusing on irrigation system management, salinity/fertility management for all crops, and agronomic field crop production of alfalfa, dry beans and oil crops.
Blake has a BS in International Agricultural Development & Agronomy and MS in Irrigation and Drainage from UC Davis and 28 years of experience in production ag, international development and extension. Significant projects include: development of salt tolerance thresholds for pistachios in the San Joaquin Valley, soil moisture monitoring and irrigation efficiency assessment on 12,000 acres in Kern County and almond water and fertilizer use for optimal yield.
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Bob Meek
Chief Executive Officer
Wada Farms Marketing Group |
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Bob Meek is Chief Executive Officer of Wada Farms Marketing Group. Bob is an alumnus of Adams State College and BYU with a degree in Business Administration/Marketing and Spanish. He is a 22 year veteran in the produce Industry and, in addition to Idaho, has lived in Washington and Florida during his career.
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Mark Carpenter
Partner
Faegre & Benson LLP |
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Mark Carpenter is a partner in the agribusiness practice at Faegre & Benson LLP in Minneapolis. An experienced litigator, he focuses his practice primarily on defending clients in agricultural product liability litigation, including cases involving pesticides, seed, animal feed, and agricultural equipment. Mark has obtained summary judgment, dismissal, or trial defense verdict in over 20 cases as first-chair lawyer. In 2006, Lawdragon.com, a source of legal rankings and legal news, identified Mark as one of 500 "New Stars" nationwide. From 2003 through 2008, Mark served as the co-editor of Defending Pesticides in Litigation (Thompson and West 2003?2008). Currently Mark is defending a client in a pesticide drift case in Arkansas involving over 60 plaintiff cotton farmers.
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Brian Hrudka
Food Chain Manager
Bayer CropScience |
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Brian Hrudka was raised on a farm in Southwestern Ontario, about 50 miles South and East of Detroit. Since graduating from the University of Western Ontario with degrees in biochemistry and business, Brian has been working in the global agricultural industry. This includes the crop protection, seed, trait and animal health/nutrition businesses. Brian spent most of his career with the companies that are now known as Syngenta; since 2008 he has been with Bayer CropScience in Research Triangle Park. Brian is responsible for the new Food Chain Partnership initiative of Bayer CropScience, a global program designed to add value throughout the food chain, beyond the farm where Bayer CropScience products are used.
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Jennifer L. Shaw
Head of Sustainability
Syngenta |
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Dr. Jennifer Shaw is Head of Sustainability in North America for Syngenta where she leads initiatives to align Syngenta businesses with emerging trends in sustainability. Prior to this role, Jennifer held several leadership positions in Regulatory Policy, Issues Management, Stewardship, Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Risk Analyses. Jennifer led strategic initiatives to address major environmental challenges for U.S. agriculture and has had several leadership and expert roles in industry and government multi-stakeholder initiatives. She began her career with ICI Plant Protection in the U.K. as an ecologist, then went on to manage agro-ecosystem field programs in the U.S. and established an Aquatic Ecosystem research facility for collaborative research between industry and academia. Jennifer was educated in Scotland and has a B.Sc. with 1st Class Honors in Agricultural Zoology from the University of Glasgow. She also has a Ph.D. in Ecology and Epidemiology from the University of Aberdeen and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.
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Deane Little
CEO and Founder
New Sky Energy, LLC |
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Deane Little is CEO and Chief Scientific Officer at New Sky Energy. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biophysics and conducted postdoctoral research at US EPA and Stanford. New Sky has developed profitable technology to combine waste salts and CO2 into valuable chemicals and carbon negative carbonates baking soda and limestone. In Central California New Sky's process is being used to subsidize treatment of high salinity drainage water and eliminate waste brine streams from reverse osmosis. Dr. Little will co-present with Patrick O'Toole, president of the Family Farm Alliance. Mr O'Toole, a successful rancher and farmer, is an advocate of the kinds of water treatment projects New Sky and its partners are doing in the western US.
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Patrick O’Toole
President
Family Farm Alliance |
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Patrick “Pat” O’Toole is all about achieving balance for Wyoming— making sure that the need for healthy landscapes, abundant water and wildlife, and the need for continuing energy sources work together and grow in tandem.
Understanding that Wyoming’s three main industries—agriculture, energy development, and tourism—all depend on natural resource use to remain economically stable, he strives in everything he does to “find a way of going about things to maximize resources.”
With a decidedly holistic approach to everything he undertakes, Pat calls himself a “philosopher farmer.”
Pat O’Toole wears many hats. He and his wife, Sharon Salisbury O’Toole, and their extended family, preside over the Ladder Livestock Company, a six-generation family ranching operation in the Little Snake River Valley on the Colorado-Wyoming border near Savery, Wyoming.
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