October 15, 2024
Berkeley
Speaker Info
Alice Mintz is an experienced thought leader in the CPG industry, specializing in turning data into actionable insights for brand growth. As the Director of Solution Architecture at SPINS, she drives revenue and market expansion for brands in the food, beverage, and beauty sectors.
Alice's industry expertise and intellectual curiosity help her solve challenges and uncover opportunities to succeed in a dynamic marketplace.
Alisa Knapp grew up at Green Gulch Farm Zen Buddhist Meditation Center in Northern California and is the founder and principle at Grows Together Consulting where she advises on full cycle innovation and growth strategy for consumer brands of all sizes. Find me if you want to talk Buckwheat!
Arno Hesse is dedicated to financing a sustainable and equitable future with thriving food systems and regenerative technologies.
As a co-leader and investor with Slow Money Northern California, Arno has led multiple investments in food businesses, with a focus on climate change and social justice. Previously, he was Executive Vice President for Retail Markets at MUFG Union Bank, now U.S. Bank.
Co-Founder & President of ¡Ya Oaxaca!
Bay Area native with 18+ years experience building brands in the active lifestyle consumer segment.
Co-Founder and CEO of SMBX --the world's first Small Business Bond marketplace, which connects qualified small businesses with investors in their communities.
He was an adjunct professor of finance at UC Santa Cruz and San Francisco State from 2009 to 2020. He built a fintech research program at UC Santa Cruz shortly after the 2008 financial crisis.
Benina Montes
Owner/Manager
Burroughs Family Farms
A visionary entrepreneur at the forefront of sustainable food innovation. As the Founder and CEO at Oregon Seaweed, Chuck has pioneered the development of pacific dulse, a nutrient-rich seaweed, into a versatile protein source for both human and pet food markets. With a strong background in alternative proteins and sustainable agriculture, Chuck is dedicated to revolutionizing the food industry through innovative, eco-friendly solutions. Chuck’s work not only promotes healthier diets but also supports environmental conservation and sustainable practices.
Colleen is a lifelong advocate of improving health of people and our planet through better food. She has worked on the market level and in public policy at the local, state, and federal level. Colleen's goal is to leverage the power or consumer demand to rapidly clean our food system and planet.
She launched the idea of Purity Verification of agricultural toxins (pesticides, heavy metals) in her company ZEGO (B Corp and Woman Owned) in 2019 both to provide transparently clean food to consumers and to educate them on how to demand Purity Verification from other brands.
Colleen is in the process of purchasing a small gluten free organic grain mill in Montana to create a new business model called a Collaborative Integrated Value Chain (CIVC). CIVC is a for profit collaborative of farmers, the mill, brands, and consumers working together to bring better pricing and ecosystem health to all.
What do I want? Equitable access and financial support for anyone interested in sustainable, growth-oriented, generational wealth building entrepreneurship!
When do I want it?? Now!!
Combining 2 decades of experience assessing, creating and optimizing people and operational "systems" with a doctorate in Public Policy and Education Leadership - Cynthia tries to throw the majority of her mental effort and physical labor behind actions and initiatives that solve the (arbitrary, racist and systemic) inequities that prevent individuals from fully realizing economic market success.
David is the co-creator of the Mission Driven Finance Regenerative Harvest Fund. He leads the Fund’s business development, structured finance, and impact due diligence. He and his team create opportunities that match risk with return and reconnect impact investors to the entrepreneur's performance.
David’s work is focused on an industry-wide commitment to agroecological social, environmental, and climate impact investing and asset management.
Elliot Begoun is a 30-year industry veteran, author, podcast host, founder of TIG Brands, and champion of Tardigrades. TIG Brands supports a community of entrepreneurs interested in building nimble, capital-efficient, resilient brands that become Tardigrades, not Unicorns. Learn more about TIG Brands’ programs here and catch Elliot at FoodBytes, the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute, and the Natural Products Business School. Tune into the TIG Talks podcast and find Elliot’s articles in publications such as The Huffington Post, SmartBrief, and New Hope.
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.
A wild gal turned sober-curious, Fay Behbehani is an Iranian-Kuwaiti living in Los Angeles, and a beverage entrepreneur in both the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic space. As former head of marketing for a California-based brain tech company, she discovered her passion for bio-hacking and incremental gains for mind and body. After co-founding Uncle Ed’s Damn Good Vodka, Behbehani had an epiphany on a meditation retreat in Northern California that alcohol no longer served her, and that drinking culture needed a radical shift. Harnessing her breadth of experience, whilst indulging in her passion for all things beverage, wellness and plant medicine, she founded Bonbuz, setting out to revive the spirits industry and what it means to drink together and get buzzed in the modern age.
Jen Berliner is the Head of Marketing, Sales & Ecommerce at Patagonia Provisions, Patagonia's food and beverage division. At Patagonia, she focuses on commercializing and scaling foods that help fight the environmental crisis, with an emphasis on building consumer awareness and adoption of regenerative organic agriculture.
jocelyn ramirez is a chef, published cookbook author, new york times recipe contributor, CPG founder and advocate for healthy food access in her community. she founded todo verde, one of LA’s acclaimed plant-forward Latin food businesses, with a mission to create delicious and healthy plant-forward food inspired by her Latin roots. her work has been featured in several press outlets including new york times, los angeles times, food & wine, vice, smithsonian, bon appetit, and more. she currently sits on the culinary advisory board for food forward and the leadership board for the los angeles food policy council.
Hella Dac Biet Foods specializes in Asian-influenced meals, offering fried rice burritos and culturally inspired dishes.
The Fancy Lunch Crew brand provides school meals that meet USDA nutrition standards while delivering bold, global flavors.
Julia Collins is the founder and CEO of Planet FWD, the leading decarbonization platform for the consumer industry. Empowering the next generation of sustainable brands through its proprietary data and software, Planet FWD provides consumer companies with the tools to understand and reduce their carbon footprint to align with The Paris Agreement.
In addition to leading Planet FWD, Julia sits on the Climate Collaborative board, the Food for Climate League board and the advisory council for Launch with GS. She is also an active angel investor focused on funding female entrepreneurs and BIPOC founders.
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.
Our mission is to revolutionize the dessert experience, from an occasional guilty treat, to an everyday nutrient-dense indulgence.
Kelly Pan is the Co-Founder & CEO of Impact Food. She is a foodie turned entrepreneur on a mission to build a more sustainable and resilient food system. With a degree from UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business, Kelly has led multiple interdisciplinary teams and launched impact-driven projects, including a skincare brand and a pro-bono consulting organization for small businesses. Through Impact Food, Kelly envisions a future of food that can reliably feed a growing global population while keeping fish in the oceans.
Ken is a serial entrepreneur, sustainability leader, and co-founder of CataCap, a cutting-edge impact investing platform unlocking philanthropic capital for impact investing.
Kyle is the CEO and co-founder of Wildway. Wildway is on a mission to build a food system that goes beyond sustainable, connecting climate health to human health through resilient, equitable, and regenerative business.
Lara is a founder in the OSC Venture Fund, J.E.D.I Collaborative and the Climate Collaborative, projects of OSC (One Step Closer) and SFTA.
Lara was the CEO of LightFull Foods, VP Retail Sales & Marketing at Numi Organic Tea, and VP of Marketing at the Balance Bar Company, where she helped drive sales growth from $10M to $110M and sell it to Kraft Foods.
Lara has spoken on food trends, sustainability, and innovation at Natural Products Expo West, So Cap, SXSW Eco, Zero Waste Summit, SFTA, Bioneers, Net Impact, the Brower Center, and Esca Bona.
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.
I founded Saba Grocers in 2019, tackling historic infrastructure barriers in the fresh food supply chain by delivering fresh, healthy produce to Oakland's low-resource neighborhoods where fresh food is scarce, and urgently needed. Saba eliminates market bias against small retailers, addressing nutrition and economic apartheid by partnering with immigrant Arab-American corner store owners, providing produce handling training, refrigerator cases and an e-commerce ordering platform for our produce. Our non-profit prioritizes sourcing from BIPOC CA farmers for cultural and culinary resonance.
Lisa Curtis is the Founder & CEO of Kuli Kuli Foods, the leading brand pioneering the sustainable superfood moringa. Moringa is a protein-rich leafy green, more nutritious than kale, with anti-inflammatory benefits rivaling turmeric. Kuli Kuli’s superfood powders and snacks are sustainably sourced from African women and other small farmers around the world and sold in 11,000 U.S. stores.
Lisa began working on Kuli Kuli while serving in the Peace Corps and has grown it into a multi-million dollar social enterprise.
Maryam Hariri is climate-change policymaker turned climate-adaptive winemaker. Azizam is a project of the soul. After 4 years of honing in on her craft at the premier natural winery in Mexico, Maryam launched her own winery to focus on climate-adaptive grapes and uniquely Mexican varietals, sourced from old vines, lost ranches and small-scale, sustainable farms.
Azizam’s energy stems from its authenticity, in vision and practice. Maryam brings together her ancient Persian heritage of winemaking with ancient production methods.
Matt Reynolds has 25+ years experience in the natural products industry holding senior leadership roles from president, VP business development, and Chief Revenue Officer. Matt co-founded & led one of the founding B Corporations in the apparel industry, delivering over $70 million in fair trade and organic product sales.
I am passionate about leveraging my experience to help elevate impact-driven companies to achieve profitability and growth. BeyondBrand is a team of 24 partners across the country. We exist to Co-create, incubate, and accelerate conscious brands safer, smarter, and faster.
Food lover, learner! An immigrant who lived in 3 continents, working passionately to build our food brand with engineering background!
Merril Gilbert is the CEO of Curious Futures and founder of FoundHer Forward, where she helps entrepreneurs build scalable, profitable businesses. With expertise in CPG, food-tech, and health-wellness, she’s a trusted advisor for investors and founders, known for turning vision into sustainable success.
King is the CEO of OMECE, a venture studio that creates Profits Rooted In Purpose companies.
He has an extensive background in entrepreneurship, consulting, finance, and non-profits, where he has held various roles, including Founder, Board Member, Advisor, CEO, and Venture Capitalist.
King graduated from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He also studied Venture Capital and Private Equity at Columbia University and Creating Public Value at Harvard University.
He lives in Reno with his spouse and a rescue dog, where he enjoys hiking, creative culinary adventures, and local arts.
A native of Singapore, Nona first started her career as a management consultant in London before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area where she started the first online meal delivery business and created the first food-based detox program. While running her business, Nona was also a competitive fencer for many years, representing Singapore.
In 2014 she pivoted and launched her eponymous brand. where Nona’s Singaporean food heritage drives the brand’s obsession with authentic flavor and serves as the platform for its continual exploration of the delicious street food found throughout Asia. She is the first Asian American Vice Chair of the Specialty Food Association, and also a founding member of (included).
Patrick Wyman has 29 years of experience in the natural foods industry, and 19 with Whole Foods Market. He started with the company in a store support role for the grocery department, moved through grocery leadership, and now oversees the Northern California region’s local purchasing program and local vendor partnerships. In this role Patrick helps guide vendors through the logistics of bringing a product to market including topics like packaging, distribution, financing, and compliance with company and governmental standards. He’s passionate about the environment; professionally he participates in Whole Foods Market’s Green Mission leadership team, and spends plenty of time off work hiking and skiing.
Renata's career has been focused in philanthropy, community relations and the impact ecosystem - both from the investment and entrepreneurship side. She has directed community programs at Social Venture Circle and Investors' Circle, and for more than 20 years served in various leadership roles at The Hitachi Foundation, focused on using the tools of business to advance economic opportunities for under-represented communities.
With a decade+ of experience in international climate change solutions and a Masters in Environmental Management from Yale University, Sachi is well aware of what we’re collectively up against. In seaweed, she found hope! She founded Rootless to help build a regenerative food system while empowering millions of women to reclaim their health during major hormonal transitions, including menopause, pregnancy, and beyond - all through seaweed.
Sadie Scheffer is an artist, an MIT drop out, and an accidental baker who learned the art of gluten-free baking to impress her college crush. Today she is the CEO of Bread SRSLY, makers of certified gluten-free sourdough bread in Oakland, CA.
MSc in Personalized Nutrition and Functional Medicine, growing up in food-focused Europe and Japan, Sakiko sees food as fundamental to both nourishment and joy. Inspired by nature and led by science, conducting intestinal health research and cell taste receptor analysis, Sakiko and team are building the brand that enables us all to enjoy honestly sugar-free, health-enhancing, and objectively delicious confectionery: NOMOSU.
Working in venture capital and company leadership including CPG, food and beverage since the late 20th century.
Sri stumbled into food sustainability 15 years ago and has been a passion advocate ever since, having worked all along the food supply-chain from fair trade certification for cocoa, tea, sugar, coffee, and coconut farmers around the world to building a nationally-distributed plant-based meat brand.
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.
At Kaveri Coffee, we celebrate the art of coffee with heart. We specialize in crafting high-quality Indian coffee that tells a story. Kaveri Coffee is named for the river that feeds the traditional coffee growing regions of Southern India. Here coffee is grown in lush forests amongst fruits, flowers, and spices. The result is a robust, full-bodied coffee flavor that’s easy to love. Kaveri Coffee is owned by Tanya Rao, a female 3rd generation coffee roaster sourcing from India and roasting in Berkeley.
Tim Richards is the Founder, Owner, and CEO of Philosopher Foods since 2013. He combined his passions for food, health, philosophy, and activism into founding this regenerative CPG company.
Philosopher Foods® exists to promote the flourishing of all Life through delicious, nutritious, ethical, and ecological food products from regenerative agriculture. Know Thy Foods® is our mantra!
Our line of sprouted almond butters and dehydrated Gut Nuts™ fermented snack nuts are Regenerative Organic Certified® and Glyphosate Residue Free certified plant-based proteins.
Vanessa is the founder of Cultivate Creations, a boutique consultancy specializing in marketing, strategy, and innovation for natural products, lifestyle, and CPG brands.
She's on a mission to bring responsible and amazing brands to the world, and builds captivating, distinctive, and meaningful brands that spark consumer love.
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.
Wynn Austin is the founder and CEO of Wynn’s Kitchen. An Asian natural foods brand founded in her own kitchen - inspiring both the brand name and her dedication to kitchen-quality ingredients. At the time, Wynn had a health issue that forced her to clean up her own diet by cutting out soy, gluten, sugar, artificial ingredients and preservatives. She discovered that it was impossible to find any Asian sauces that didn’t have those ingredients.Given her Vietnamese heritage and love for Asian food, it became a challenge for her to give up those flavors, until she decided to create a healthier version of her favorite Vietnamese sauce - the saté chili sauce.
She officially launched the company in 2019 and is on a mission to bring healthy Asian food products made with natural ingredients and free of sugar, soy, or gluten. Her products are delicious, convenient, and are a healthy twist on traditional flavors.
