“Farming is an exercise in perseverance. It is continually challenged by the effects of climate change, evolving food demands, and the need to conserve natural resources. We all share the responsibility to drive the type of impact the world needs to create change for those most impacted by these problems.”

As CEO of Gates Ag One, Joe sets a visionary and strategic course for our efforts to champion innovations and cultivate global networks that prioritize the needs of smallholder farmers.

Joe began his career on a small, diversified family farm and has dedicated his professional life to improving the world through agricultural advancements. Most recently, he led efforts to strengthen agriculture’s adaptive capacity to climate change at the Gates Foundation, where he served as a director for its Global Growth and Opportunity Division. Joe brings to our team more than 30 years’ experience developing and launching new product inventions and has led breakthrough life-science research at multiple organizations including the Advanced Research Projects Agency in the U.S. Department of Energy. Joe holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Plant, Soil, and Environmental Science, as well as an MBA in Technology Entrepreneurship.

A Senior Scientist in the Biological Systems and Engineering Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. At ARPA-E, he is focused on reimagining nitrogen and carbon management in agriculture and biomanufacturing.

Before joining ARPA-E, Dr. Singer was the Director of the Microbial and Enzyme Discovery Group at the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville, CA. His group studied the microbial bioconversion of plant biomass and greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane) to fuels and chemicals. His group has also developed several widely used software tools for metagenomic analysis to characterize microbiomes. He has published 130 papers and holds four patents.

Dr. Singer received a B.A. in chemistry from Williams College and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Nishesh Chalise is passionate about using research to inform social change efforts. Grounded in community-based practice, he believes that research adds the most value when we collaborate with local stakeholders who are committed to social change.

Before joining the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, he was an assistant professor of social work at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minn. He taught baccalaureate and graduate courses on research, program evaluation and community development. He has years of experience conducting research on childhood obesity, collective action in community gardens, access to quality childhood education, sustainable natural resource management, diffusion of clean cooking technology, wealth disparities and food insecurity.

Chalise received a doctorate and master’s of social work from Washington University in St. Louis and has a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental sciences from Kathmandu University.

Dedicated professional with proven success across multiple Ag industry functional areas. Focused on championing industry collaboration to drive innovation. Skilled in Product Management, Agronomy, Supply Chain, Complex Negotiations, and working with NGOs.

Program Lead for NASA Lifelines and Senior Advisor at DevGlobal Partners. Rhiannan has over 15 years' experience working at the intersection of technology and development, leveraging Artificial Intelligence, very high-resolution satellite imagery, crowdsourcing, and other digital tools in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She's passionate about the potential for technology to break down our siloes and help us leapfrog to a more resilient, sustainable world.

ReFED’s Executive Director, providing organizational leadership with direct oversight of ReFED’s programs, operations, and administration, and contributing to the organization’s strategic vision. Most recently, she served as Founder and Principal Consultant at Burnett Strategy and Communications, helping purpose-driven organizations grow their businesses while driving positive impact. Prior to this, Sara served as the VP of Food Beliefs, Sustainability, and Public Relations at Panera Bread and Panera Brands for 18 years, where she pioneered the company’s Clean Food Commitment and also led Panera Bread’s Day-End Dough-Nation program and the Panera Bread Foundation. Sara began her career as a food scientist and supply chain expert leading programs in ingredient quality, food safety, climate strategy, and animal welfare. She was a Pathfinder Environmental Fellow at Washington University, St. Louis, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Psychology, and also holds an MBA from Webster University, St. Louis. Sara is the proud mother of two teenage daughters and has been happily married to a St. Louis firefighter for nearly 20 years. When she’s not on the sidelines at soccer games or attending school events, you can find her running, hiking, or reading.

A nutrition epidemiologist and expert in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing for nutrition, focused on creating a healthier and more equitable food system through evidence-based, financial market solutions and food policy in the US and globally. Meghan recently completed her doctoral research quantifying the diet-attributable diabetes burden globally through comparative risk assessment modeling and leveraging evidence-based nutrition metrics to engage with food industry stakeholders to drive a healthier food system. While at Tufts, Meghan was instrumental to the Food Compass project, leading analyses to validate this novel nutrient profiling system against major health outcomes and promoting its use in policy, industry, and public health. Meghan also drove the Tufts ESG-Nutrition project aimed at generating research to inform a science-based agenda for responsible investing in nutrition.

Executive leader with proven record of building cross functional teams, designing and implementing impactful projects across the developing regions, establishing networks and partnerships, and building ecosystems to advance geospatial analytics.

Technical leader and scholar with extensive expertise and knowledge in remote sensing and imagery techniques. Expert in statistical models and machine learning techniques for geospatial and big data analytics.