Hallie specializes in building and scaling new ventures, with a focus on brand and marketing. She brings deep value-add from her experience across the CPG value chain, from her roles overseeing new product commercialization at
co-packer, Canopy Foods to portfolio management at venture fund, Almanac.
After 15 years in corporate sales, Liz chose to honor her love to connect through food by training to be a chef. Her food journey spans from being a line cook in fine dining and Michelin star restaurants to incubator kitchen and facility management supporting food entrepreneurs.
She believes that the commitment to be in service with food as a medium is key to creating equity and joy.
Diana Levy is the Founder, CEO and Co-Owner of Undercover Snacks. Diana founded Undercover in 2017 after two of her three daughters were diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and she wanted to create a better-for-you gluten-free, allergy friendly, sustainably sourced chocolate snack.
Undercover can currently be found in over 25,000 stores nationwide and is one of the complimentary snacks on United Airlines.
With nearly four years at Honeycomb Credit, Annamarie Galante has spoken with thousands of business owners navigating their funding options.
Whether you're hesitant to work with a bank or curious about involving your community in your business growth, Annamarie has the insights to help you make an informed decision.
LaRon Batchelor is the cofounder / CEO of Passport Food & Beverages, where he drives strategic marketing, events, and partnerships for CPG brands and restaurant owners. As a general partner at Caminus Ventures, he invests in and mentors emerging brands, fueling growth and innovation in the food and beverage sector. LaRon also serves on the board of Naturally New York, where he supports the advancement of local, sustainable businesses in the natural products industry. Known for his collaborative approach and industry expertise, LaRon is dedicated to empowering founders and fostering vibrant brand ecosystems.
Jamila has been working with money for almost two decades. From working for a multi-billion dollar hedge fund in NYC to now helping small companies and entrepreneurs grow their businesses and maximize their profits and purpose - money is the critical tool she uses to be of service and support to others.
Jamila has been a Fractional CFO with CFO on Speeddial and through her company The Beryl Co for over 6 years.
As co-founder and CEO, Michael Robinov sets the vision and strategy for Farm to People. Immersed in the natural food industry since a young age, his infectious obsession for food & technology has attracted an ambitious team who have successfully bootstrapped Farm to People and made the brand one of NYC's premier food delivery services.
Farm To People aims to help more folks in NYC access ethically grown food and to foster a community around sustainability! He was selected to Forbes 30U30, Class of 2021.
As the Founder and CEO of The Nourish Spot, a healthy food and beverage oasis in Jamaica, Queens, Dawn has been leading the vision, strategy, and operations of the business since 2015. With the support of her team, she has created a unique and impactful brand that offers delicious and nutritious smoothies, juices, salads, wraps, and vegan desserts to the community.
Dawn's passion for health and wellness stems from her extensive background in media, public relations, and strategic communications, where she has over 20 years of experience working with global businesses and organizations.
Mark Watson is Co-founder and President of Potlikker Capital, a farm community-governed charitable integrated capital fund dedicated to supporting BIPOC farmers at the intersection of racial and climate justice. He is also the founder of Keel Asset Management LLC, a financial advisory firm that provides socially responsible financial planning and investment advisory services to nonprofits, public and corporation pension plans.
Mr. Watson helped to launch and manage an integrated racial justice capital fund that deployed capital to BIPOC entrepreneurs, The Boston Impact Initiative Fund.
Karrie is the co-founder of Roc Paper Straws located in Rochester, NY. She is here to help save the planet and rid the world of soggy paper straws. She started this company back in 2018 with her mother Kathryn, and also currently owns a funky neighborhood bar that has been in business for the past 22 years.
Kim has a background in psychology research and public health before working in NYC fine dining for 10 years. Her professional experience and deep connection to the struggles in the restaurant industry fueled Kim's life-long commitment to building just systems.
Cheff’ Rootsie is a popular vegan chef based in Brooklyn, NY. She owns a successful vegan catering company called, Veggie Grub. Cheff' Rootsie has been active in the food industry for 34+ years, 26 of those years as a vegan chef. Cheff' Rootsie’s journey has led her to owning 2 restaurants, winning food competitions as NYC’s Mac and Cheese Champion as well as Best Vegan Burger, and winning numerous business plan competitions just to say the least.
Donna Davis
Creator/ Executive Chef
Sean is CEO & co-founder of LUNAR Hard Seltzer, an award-winning, All-American craft hard seltzer made with real Asian fruits to be “sweet, but… not too sweet.”
Since its founding in Brooklyn in early 2021, we have collaborated with iconic restaurants and artists—like Raku, Win Son, keshi, Questlove and Maison Kitsune—and have been featured in Eater, the Infatuation, and more.
LUNAR’s 4 flavors of Yuzu, Lychee, Korean Plum, and Passion Fruit can be found at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target, and HMart throughout NYC.
Dianna Rose is a Community Cultivator. In 2021, Dianna looked to expand her mission in another new, bold direction with the creation of Essential Kitchen, a 65-square-foot shared community kitchen in Jamaica, Queens. Through its classes and workshops, the Kitchen is an incubator not only for culinary talents of all skill levels but for upstart entrepre-neurs looking to leverage those skills into a career.
Essential Kitchen is especially interested in developing Black and minority-owned businesses, with seminars all about the finer details behind starting a food business. Classes cover everything from incorporating useful technology into a food business to Food Department safety guidelines.
Earnest Flowers is the CEO/Founder of Earnest Foods. He has earned a B.S. in Economics and an MBA. He is the former Small Business Director for his local NYS Senator. He is also the founder of the small business consulting company EF3 Consulting LLC.
Earnest Flowers
Uncle Waithley's Beverage Company is a line of mixologist-crafted, Caribbean-inspired, alcohol-free adult beverages, built on the foundation of our award-winning 'Vincy' Brew ginger beer.
Urban Revitalization Strategist, Peabody Award winning broadcaster, Author, Princeton Univ professor, MacArthur Fellow, real estate developer. Majora builds projects that make people feel better about their future. She works internationally, but still lives in her hometown of the South Bronx. She applies talent-retention strategy to all her community development work.
Susan Hartman is an avid athlete who was in search of a clean label drink she could enjoy after yoga or a surf session to hydrate and recover. With a background in natural products and innovation (Unilever, Campbell’s, eos) she combined purpose with passion to build a regenerative organic brand on a mission to help people feel better and live well through plant-powered modern remedies. Susan has a BA from Gettysburg College and an MBA from Cornell University.
Kathryn Flouton brings 20+ years of retail and CPG experience across brick and mortar, direct to consumer and B2B. She has deep expertise as an executive operator in product innovation, building brands, and leading retail merchandising in the natural products and specialty food industry.
Larissa Zimberoff is a freelance journalist and author covering the intersection of food and technology. Her book, "Technically Food: Inside Silicon Valley's Mission to Change What We Eat," covers how what we eat is rapidly changing and the startups behind it. The book has been translated into Chinese and Korean. Zimberoff has appeared in the film "Food Inc 2.0" and "The Future of Meat," a Korean series. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Wired, The Atlantic, and more. After working in high tech for a decade, she earned her MFA from The New School in New York city. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and will gamely try any new food.
Vasana Ly, Investment Manager at ICA, uses his financial modeling and capital acquisition skills to support communities of color and promote financial inclusion. As Director of Innovation at TMC Community Capital, he developed new underwriting models to better serve these communities. At Zymergen, he helped raise $600 million in venture capital funding. His experiences as a refugee and his understanding of the challenges faced by those with limited access to capital drive his commitment to creating a more inclusive financial system.
