FOOD FUNDED

Amrita has built multiple fast growing, global organizations. As a strategist and operator, she has shaped the future of organizations and built operational capabilities of multiple functions. Amrita is a core member of the Management Committee at Acumen, where she has led multiple C-Level roles including CFO, Chief Strategy Officer and more.

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.

Charles Wade (he/him/his) serves as the Investment Director for Black Farmer Fund. He previously held senior roles at J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, and Citigroup, where he originated, structured, and distributed a range of credit solutions for private equity firms, hedge funds, and asset managers.

Originally from New Paltz, NY, Charles enjoys animal husbandry, gardening, and backpacking, and he is passionate about leveraging his finance experience to support food entrepreneurs in their efforts to improve the health and sustainability of community food systems.

Charles holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BS from West Point.

I make business delicious.

Christine Rico is a social entrepreneur, growth strategist and financial consultant to growth phase businesses with a social impact mission. Her company, CFO on Speed Dial, helps food companies improve profits while they innovate with flavor, sourcing and creating a more sustainable food system.

Christine is also mentor in New York City’s WENYC program (women’s entrepreneurship NYC) and was a 2015 Agent of Change at the Centre for Social Innovation. Christine is a bike-commuting, fruit and vegetable grower who lives in Brooklyn.

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.

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.

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.

    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.

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.

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.

Hans Taparia is currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Business and Society at NYU Stern School of Business. He teaches courses on social entrepreneurship, professional responsibility and marketing.

Hans is also an active investor in the health foods space. He serves on several boards, including the board of the Acumen Fund, one of the original pioneers in social impact investing.

Professor Taparia has spent most of his career as an entrepreneur. He co-founded and led one of America’s leading health food brands, Tasty Bite, which was then sold to Mars. He was also the co-founder of a management consulting firm and incubator, through which he co-founded Bangalore-based Tejas Networks, that is now part of the Tata Group.

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.

John Lawson is the Forager for Local & Emerging Brands at Whole Foods Market in the Northeast Region.  John is proud of his role in supporting diverse brands & entrepreneurs, as well as working with suppliers of all sizes building partnership with Whole Foods Market.  He is particularly focused on product development & developing strategy for marketing, promotion, & growth.  John has worked in different roles at Whole Foods Market for  20 years.

Juan is a serial entrepreneur. He is Currently, Juan is the CEO & Co-founder of his 4th company – Waku – a beverage brand of prebiotic herbal teas. Waku is the new generation of tea, bringing pop and fun to the traditional ready-to-drink category. Same refreshing, sweet, fruity taste, but with only 3-4 grams of sugar, 25-30 calories and 5 grams of prebiotic fiber to maximize get-healthy benefit

Juan is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, a bass guitar player, and holds a MBA from Babson College.

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.

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.

Kobla Asamoah is a social impact professional with years of experience supporting entrepreneurs and the startup community. Kobla serves as Founder and Partner at Caminus Ventures, an accelerator program and investment fund targeting underrepresented entrepreneurs leading food, beverage and related businesses.

He also serves as an Adjunct Professor teaching Social Entrepreneurship to graduate students at NYU’s Stern School of Business as well as SVA’s Design for Social Innovation MFA program.

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.

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.