FOOD FUNDED

Albert Straus has been a leader in sustainable organic farming practices for many decades. He is a strong advocate for organic, non-GMO dairy production, environmental stewardship, and family farms. In 1994, when he converted his family farm to organic - the first organic dairy farm west of the Mississippi River - he founded the creamery in the same year, and it became the first 100% certified organic creamery in the United States. 

Albert aims on having his dairy farm become carbon neutral in 2023 and is extending the carbon-neutral farming model to Straus Family Creamery’s supplier farms. Albert has been recognized internationally for his substantial environmental accomplishments.

Anna Lappé is a national bestselling author, a renowned advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain, and an advisor to funders investing in food system transformation. A James Beard Leadership Awardee, Anna is the co-author or author of three books on food, farming, and sustainability and the contributing author to thirteen more.

Anna is the founder or co-founder of three national organizations including the Small Planet Institute, Small Planet Fund and Real Food Media. Anna developed and leads the Food Sovereignty Fund, a global grantmaking program of the Panta Rhea Foundation.

Clayton Harvey is a White Mountain Apache farmer with Ndee Bikiyaa (The People's Farm), a program working to restore personal and cultural health to the White Mountain Apache Tribe through agriculture.

Clayton spends his days growing healthy food for his people in eastern Arizona and teaching community members about food sovereignty, including how families can grow their own foods and revitalize a local food system that existed for thousands of years by Apache ancestors long before the reservation was created.

Cole is a modern-day shepherdess, an agrarian entrepreneur, educator, and community advocate. With over a decade of experience working in land stewardship, regenerative agriculture, and targeted grazing with sheep and goats, Cole's pursuits contribute to ecological resilience, wildfire mitigation, evolution in the fiber and hide industries, and supporting the next generation of agrarian change-makers.  Shepherdess Land and Livestock Co. is a targeted grazing business with educational, consulting, and wool production arms. She is also the director of the Community Supported Grazing Program, an endeavor of the Ojai Fire Safe Council, and co-director of the Grazing School of the West, a training program for new shepherds and grazing entrepreneurs.

Esther is the CEO of Cienega Capital, a regenerative investment firm utilizing an integrated capital approach to systemic change in the areas of soil health, regenerative agriculture, and local food systems.

Cienega Capital is also part of the #NoRegrets Initiative, a regenerative asset strategy focused on the health of agricultural soils and agricultural communities of North America.

Jonathan is a Partner at Brightpath Capital, where he focuses on growth equity investments across food, agriculture, cleantech, and resource efficiency.

Jonathan also advises and mentors incubators/accelerators including Food System 6 and ICA Fund Good Jobs and is an active angel investor in healthy food/foodtech, sustainable/regenerative agriculture, renewable energy, resource efficiency, and health & wellness.

Lisa Curtis is the Founder & CEO of Kuli Kuli, the leading brand pioneering the sustainably sourced superfood moringa. Moringa is a protein-rich leafy green, more nutritious than kale, with anti-inflammatory benefits rivaling turmeric.

Kuli Kuli’s moringa powders, bars and wellness shots are sustainably sourced from African women and other small farmers around the world and sold in 11,000 U.S. stores.

Nick McCoy is a Co-Founder and Managing Director with Whipstitch Capital, the largest independent investment bank in
the U.S. solely focused on the better-for-you consumer sector. Nick has over 20 years of investment banking experience. Previously Nick was at First Albany (now Jeffries), Allmerica Financial Corp, and Wheelabrator Technologies.

Personally, Nick is an avid road cyclist and thinks it’s ok to cross country ski in below-zero temperatures. He’s a health-focused foodie, cooks frequently and has an extensive knowledge of wine and whiskey. Nick is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has
an MBA from Wake Forest University and an undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire.

Noramay Cadena is a Managing Partner at Supply Change Capital, an early stage venture firm investing at the intersection of food, culture, and technology.

Pierre Thiam is a chef, award-winning cookbook author, activist, and entrepreneur.

Born and raised in Senegal, he is widely considered a leading authority on African foodways.

Reem Assil is a Palestinian-Syrian entrepreneur based in Oakland, CA and founder of Reem’s California, nationally acclaimed bakeries and restaurants, inspired by her passion for Arab street corner bakeries and the vibrant communities they feed.

Informed by twenty years of work in the both non-profit and food industry, Reem’s current work sits at the intersection of her three passions: Arab hospitality, community-building, and social justice.

Scott Chang-Fleeman is an organic farmer in West Marin county. His farm, Shao Shan Farm, grows cool season vegetables with a focus on East Asian and dry farmed varieties on 5.5-acres of coastal land.

Stephen brings a decade of focus on regenerative food systems, having invested, studied and collaborated across diverse categories of food and agriculture. His perspectives were shaped by a systems approach, the teachings of others, observations in exploring a thesis for how our food system is evolving, and a belief that all stakeholders are interdependent.

Since 2017, Stephen has served as the CEO & CIO of Meyer Family Enterprises, an entrepreneurial impact-focused single-family office in the Napa Valley, where he oversees entities that include direct investments, real estate and farming. He graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Agribusiness.