Maureen Ballatori (she/her) is a creative powerhouse shaking up the food, beverage, and agriculture world as the Founder and CEO of Agency 29, a strategy and creative agency for brands that feed and fuel us. A sought-after national speaker and workshop facilitator, Maureen is known for dropping knowledge bombs on her podcast, Spilled Salt, and bringing her brand-building expertise to diverse audiences. Her approach to industry relationships emphasizes partnership and shared vision, with a deep commitment to community engagement reflected in her multiple board seats for national and global organizations. Maureen isn't just building brands; she's cultivating a whole ecosystem of food and ag innovators. With her finger on the pulse of sustainable eats and ag innovation, Maureen is primed to distill key insights and spark meaningful conversations for the Food Ag Ideas audience.

Keith is the CEO of Alter Eco Foods. Alter Eco makes “The Cleanest, Greenest Snacks on Earth TM”. Throughout Keith’s career journey, he has served as the CEO and on numerous boards of food and beverage companies in the US and Europe. Keith is married to his wife, Amy, for thirty-four years and they have two successful daughters and three amazing grandchildren.

Asa is a managing partner at FoodOps with a broad background in engineering, production, and operations. His experience includes research and development, capital installations, product commercialization, and automation solutions. He applies his perspectives to help solve unique client problems, and develop scalable systems within FoodOps. He is energized by entrepreneurs that are developing new technologies, creating unique markets, or making a measurable social impact. Regenerative agriculture is a synthesis of these three motivations, and he is excited to be on the team solving these market challenges.

Diane is the Executive Director at the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, the non-profit backbone organization for the Poultry-Centered Regenerative Agriculture Ecosystem. She is responsible for aligning the priorities of the organization and ensuring the ecosystem’s social, economic and ecological criteria remain intact as it grows in scope and scale. Previously, Diane worked as the Catering Director for a Minnesota farm-table restaurant, Birchwood Cafe and Regional Infrastructure Director for a transitional healthcare group purchasing organization, Homeplate Holdings LLC. She enjoys forging new partnerships and identifying opportunities for symbiotic collaborations through outreach and innovative events.

Katharine Chute is the Product and Market Development Specialist at the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative. Forever Green develops, improves, and commercializes winter-hardy annual and perennial crops that protect soil and water resources while creating new economic opportunities for growers, industry, and communities across Minnesota and beyond. Prior to working at Forever Green, Katharine was employed at 3M doing strategic marketing research. She completed an MS/MBA degree from the University of Michigan in 2022. Katharine also has seven years of experience working in education and sustainability roles at environmental non-profits.

Carolyn Gahn is the Senior Director of Mission and Advocacy for Applegate. In this role, she is responsible for setting the long-term overarching mission objectives that will allow Applegate to remain the number one brand and trusted leader in the Organic and Natural meat industry. Prior to this, Carolyn was the Director of Farm-to-Institution for Aramark, a leading global foodservice provider. As part of the Global Supply Chain & Procurement team, Carolyn worked to build scalable solutions for increasing institutional food purchasing from small farms and businesses. She started her career as a community organizer with Community Farm Alliance, has worked on several diversified organic farms (including her own), and spent a decade as a founding entrepreneur of a food manufacturing business. She serves on the boards of the Organic Association of Kentucky and The FruitGuys Community Fund.

After discovering the potential of an underutilized superfood while living in Australia, Chicago-native Emily Griffith founded Lil Bucks, "America's Buckwheat Brand", to make America fall in love with this nutrient-dense fruit seed primarily sourced from regenerative organic farms. What started in 2018 as a local market brand made in a shared kitchen, has now scaled into over 1,500 retailers nation-wide, including Whole Foods Market and Target, all while trailblazing in the regenerative agriculture movement and building the first Regenerative Organic Certified® buckwheat supply chain. Emily graduated from Indiana University Kelley School of Business in 2014, and then spent 3 years in the ad agency world in Chicago and Sydney, Australia. She then ran her own marketing and graphic design consultancy for 2 years before transitioning to Lil Bucks full time. Emily now lives in San Diego with her husband/taste-tester Chris, and loves travel, adventure sports, smoothie bowls and cocker spaniels.

Alex is an agricultural markets specialist, with deep subject expertise within organic and regenerative food and agricultural supply chains. Prior to co-founding Mad Markets, he worked across the agriculture and food value chain; from cooking at Eleven Madison Park to merchandising and trading commodities, and driving business development and sales at seed stage to Series B start-ups. He holds an A.O.S. from The Culinary Institute of America, a B.S. in Food Systems & Applied Economics from The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and an Executive MBA from INSEAD.

Jessica has extensive experience in fostering cross-sector collaborations to drive systemic change. Her expertise lies in engaging diverse stakeholders to develop sustainable national supply chains, a focus that has been central to her work with member organizations. This work has led Jessica to engage across industries including in the for and non-profit worlds, as well across the government engaging both policy makers and policy implementors to create meaningful change that impacts the lives of those working to improve the world around them. Working in both local and national food systems has allowed Jessica to more directly understand and engage in the issues that impact both our global food system and those on the front lines of this work. By connecting players across the food and agriculture spaces Jessica is able to identify the roadblocks in advancing the system and guide the development of solutions that address the root cause of the block. Focusing on all possible levers to create lasting change allows for solutions that address all sectors and players and lead to lasting change.

Laura Kuykendall is Senior Vice President of Marketing at Frontier Co-op where she oversees brand management, innovation, and sustainability for the Frontier Co-op, Simply Organic and Aura Cacia brands. She has nearly 30 years of consumer-packaged goods experience, managing large CPG portfolios and early stage brands. Companies that have benefitted from her marketing expertise and interest in growing organic food accessibility include Snyder’s of Hanover, Annie’s Homegrown, Applegate Farms, Boulder Brands and Popcorners. In addition to building strong brands, Laura is passionate about Frontier Co-op’s Doing Good, Works programs which include Breaking Down Barriers to Employment, Simply Organic Giving Fund, and Aura Cacia Positive Change Project. Laura currently serves on the board for United Way of East Central Iowa and as an advisor with James Madison University Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship. Laura lives in Iowa with her husband David where they enjoy gardening and biking. They have two children and three grandsons which drives Laura’s commitment to leave a better world for future generations.

Matt was raised on a multi-species farm near Clearwater, MN. After a 15-year career working in conventional food marketing, he returned to the family farm, only to see the beautiful rolling farmland and wetlands devastated by decades of tilling to sow an extractive rotation of monoculture GMO corn/soy crops on all the neighboring farms. He quickly understood his true purpose and passion was to contribute to the improvement of the US food system by implementing regenerative agriculture land management practices. What started as a 100-acre project on his family's farm has grown into Thousand Hills Lifetime Grazed, a national leader in grass-fed beef. Matt is the owner and Chief Regenerative Renegade of Thousand Hills.

Sue Marshall has spent much of her professional career as an entrepreneur and is currently the founder and CEO of NETZRO, SBC. NETZRO provides a food technology platform that includes proprietary technology that powers the safe capture and conversion of industrial food & beverage byproducts into new sustainable upcycled food ingredients. Sue has entered NETZRO into numerous entrepreneurial contests, accelerators and incubators with success. She uses her range of business experience and education to assist other entrepreneurs with start-ups that desire a focus on socially responsible business models and funding. Sue is a founding member and emeritus board member of the Upcycled Food Association. She also is a board member of the newest chapter of Naturally Network in Minnesota.

Brittany Moore is the Program Manager of Product Intelligence at SPINS. SPINS Product Intelligence powers action through insights by applying attribution to the CPG landscape. Brittany has been in the CPG and Natural Foods industry for over 15 years, with a passion for improving methodologies, spotting trends, and watching for what's next in innovation across the world of CPG.

A quick glance at my resume and you'll notice a few commonalities; food, natural resources and restoration. I've had the honor of working with small teams to create large scale changes, from local to national. Tree-Range Farms is a perfect intersection of all three, where our food system and natural resources can be left in better shape than we found it for generations to come!

Luke Peterson from Dawson Mn. Runs a diverse farming system that includes perennials such as Kernza, alfalfa, rotational pastures. A variety of small grains and row crops. And a grass fed beef herd.

Ryan Pintado-Vertner is a Chicago-based activist and strategic marketing veteran with two decades of experience guiding the strategy, marketing and innovation choices of Fortune-level brands, startups, and nonprofit organizations. He earned his MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C.-Berkeley.

Ryan believes it’s not enough to create yet another brand in the marketplace. We have to go beyond the basics to create brands that will bring more justice, regeneration, equity and wellness to the world.

He is the Founder & CEO at Smoketown, a boutique brand consultancy whose fractional CMO services and strategy practice help mission-driven consumer brands maximize their growth and build more traction, while having meaningful ESG impact. Clients include Bragg Live Foods, Purely Elizabeth and DeeBee’s Organics.

He is also an advisor at Trailhead Capital and Whipstitch Capital, and a co-founder of (included), the largest peer network of BIPOC CEOs in the CPG industry.

Nic is a lifelong organic farmer, having grown up and farmed with his family on their certified organic farm in southeast North Dakota, raising small grains and vegetable seed. He is a Certified Crop Advisor, IOIA certified in crops and livestock, and holds a Masters degree in Agricultural & Extension Education. Prior to Rodale Institute, he worked in Extension for the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University.

Beth Robertson-Martin brings over a decade of deep food supply chain relationships to her position as co-founder and CEO at Merge Impact. Robertson-Martin most recently served as Director of Commodities and Risk Management at General Mills, where she worked with brands like Annie’s, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, Epic Snacks, Larabar, and Nature Valley. During her tenure, she focused on creating strategies to deliver a high-quality, cost-effective, and more sustainable regenerative supply chain. In addition to her work at General Mills, she founded SHINE Sourcing and Supply Chain Solutions, which created insights-driven sourcing to meet the needs of small and mid-size food brands, ingredient companies, restaurants, and school lunch programs. As CEO of Merge Impact, Robertson-Martin is focused on connecting food brands to fully verified regenerative supply chains by creating new alliances and breaking down barriers.

Joe Rouleau is a long-time organic advocate. His work has touched nearly all aspects of organic ag systems – from sourcing to retail. Rouleau joined Ciranda in 2005 and is now Head of Sustainability. He has since developed a deep understanding of organic supply chains, strong industry relationships, and extensive expertise related to organic food and agriculture. He has created the ESG program for the company, oversees global impact giving, and is spearheading Ciranda's first impact report.

Transforming businesses and building mission-based brands for 30+ years. Passionate about better-for-you food and bold growth ideas. Executive at the Clorox Company, Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP and Lundberg Family Farms.

A member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, Chef Sean Sherman was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, as his parents and grandparents were before him. His focus is on the revitalization and evolution of Indigenous foods systems throughout North America. His studies on the foundations of Indigenous food systems have led to his deep understanding of what is needed to showcase Indigenous cuisine in today's world. Through his activism and advocacy, Sean is helping to reclaim and celebrate the rich culinary heritage of Indigenous communities around the world.

Corinne Shindelar is deeply rooted in the natural and organic industry. She cofounded National Co-op Grocers (NCG) in 1999 and founded INFRA in 2005. After over 40 years in the business of leading organizations, she started All Natural Strategies to support the industry with leadership coaching, strategic roadmap planning, and board service. Corinne continues her mission to build and uplift communities that strengthen actions for good.

Through collaboration partnerships with an expanding network of farmers and growers, David Stennes leads the team at Arcola Farms Group, to create highly impactful positive changes to farmland soil health, the environment, vital fresh water supplies, and human and planet health, at scale. Their forward-thinking work seeks to broaden the impact and reach of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, in an era where degraded farmland soil has global consequences. Arcola Farms Group is a leader in innovation and commercialization of the next generation of University researched and created healthy grains crops, as food and beverage ingredients, and as healthy, nutrient dense, affordable foods.

John is a farmer, company founder and marketer of specialty food ingredients. Since 2016 John has been helping build out the Supply Chain logistics In the past few years he has expanded his work to the emerging Regenerative Agriculture Ingredient Markets. He enjoys working with farmers of all crops to create unique value-add direct markets for their production and connect it with Brands seeking this differentiation.

Sandy Syburg farms with his wife Mary in Stonebank Wisconsin. Their certified organic land is managed with a 6-year rotation and focused on a systems approach to minimize pest and weed pressure along with optimum nutrient cycling. Syburg (founder and former president of Purple Cow Organics), is a self-taught advocate for soils, has traveled throughout North America, Central America and Europe learning with, and assisting growers through the application of bio-mimicry. With a collaborative leadership style and goal to foster organic processes, Syburg is working continuously to help other farmers transition additional to certified organic production

Noreen Thomas owns and operates Doubting Thomas Farms near Moorhead, MN alongside her husband Lee and daughter-in-law Melany In addition to farm work, Noreen has found time to establish partnerships with neighboring farms and communities, provide educational opportunities to for local children, and advocate for farming practices that care for healthy lands, waters, and inhabitants.

Charlotte Vallaeys is the Organic Expert at General Mills, one of the largest producers of certified organic packaged foods with brands including Annie’s, Cascadian Farm, and Muir Glen. Within the company, she leads the sustainability strategy and initiatives for the organic brands, advances the perspective of the organic community, and represents General Mills with the organic industry. Charlotte has been deeply engaged in the organic community for nearly 20 years, working at The Cornucopia Institute and Consumers Union prior to General Mills. She earned master’s degrees from Harvard and Tufts.

As the Senior Vice President of Center Store Merchandising, Sourcing, and Product Development, Alyssa Vescio has responsibility for Grocery, Wellness, Beauty, Lifestyle, Local and Emerging, and Exclusive Brands teams at Whole Foods Market. Through her role, Alyssa celebrates what makes Whole Foods Market special — unique products, industry leading quality standards, mission-aligned suppliers, and talented team members — and pushes company growth by continuing to advance merchandising capabilities and deliver operationally-sound programs. Alyssa became SVP in November of 2020, after almost 20 years in the industry in roles across merchandising. Her experience spans product categories and merchandising disciplines including product selection, supplier partnership, promotional planning, pricing, presentation, and private label brands. Alyssa’s passions for purpose, people, and product drive her forward in her roles. Since 2024, she has furthered her impact by serving as President and Chairperson for the Whole Foods Market Foundation, supporting the projects of Whole Cities, Whole Kids, and Whole Planet. Alyssa is known as an all-in, purpose driven leader who values authenticity, connectivity, and collective strength. She serves as a catalyst for team members and suppliers to unlock collective potential and leverages every platform as an opportunity for positive impact. Alyssa aims to create a culture that inspires individuals to be their best in service of the greater good.