Sign up for our awesome New York Tech Events weekly email newsletter.     EVENT DETAILS - Gain insights on science, technology & market forces driving change in the food industry - Connect with founders, executive decision makers in food & food technology companies tackling some of the most difficult challenges in food - Enjoy unparalleled networking opportunities - Discover innovative companies shaping the future of food - Explore opportunities to promote your brand SPEAKERS Kate MacKenzie Kate MacKenzie is the Executive Director, NYC Mayor's Office of Food Policy. Kate advises the Mayor on all issues related to food policy & the City's food system. She also ensures the City's food standards are upheld by agencies. She drives the action to advance Food Forward NYC, the City's first ever 10-year food policy plan, that lays out a comprehensive policy framework to reach a more equitable, sustainable, & healthy food system by 2031. Kate is a recognized leader, with over two decades of experience fighting for food security & broader anti-poverty solutions in New York City & nationally. She comes to the Mayor's Office from nearly two decades in non-profit organizations & academia. Kate holds a master's degree in Public Health Nutrition from Columbia University & a bachelor's in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University. She is also a registered dietician. Phil Demokritou, PhD. Dr. Demokritou is currently the Henry Rutgers Chair & Professor in Nanoscience & Environmental Bioengineering at Rutgers School of Public Health, Division Head at the Environmental Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) & Vice Chair in the Department of Environmental Occupational Health & Justice at Rutgers School of Public health. Before joining Rutgers, he was a Professor at TH Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University for 25 years. He is also a founding co-editor in chief of NanoImpact (Elsevier), & co-founder of journal that focuses on all aspects of nanosafety research & co-founder of DIETRICS Plc. Dr. Demokritou's research interests are primarily in the areas of nano-aerosol science & technology with an emphasis on the interactions of particles with biological & environmental systems & elucidation of health effects. Eric Beringause Eric has over forty years of experience in the Food, Beverage, & Packaging industries. He is currently CEO of Winland Foods, an Investindustrial portfolio company. He has held CEO or leadership positions at Dean Foods, Alcoa, Nestle, Gehl Foods, Prima Wawona, Treehouse Foods, & Advanced Refreshments. He has broad experience turning around both domestic & global businesses while building nimble, fiscally accountable, & diverse organizations. Julia Olayanju, PhD. Dr. Julia Olayanju is the Founder & President at FoodNiche. An internationally recognized thought leader, she drives conversation towards a healthier food system through her contributions on Forbes, Entrepreneur, Thrive Global, & as the host of the FoodNiche Changemakers Podcast. Julia is a nutrigenomics expert & highly-regarded college-level educator. She completed her Ph.D. degree in Microbiology & Molecular Genetics from Rutgers University before proceeding to Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health for further studies in public health. She has led successful partnerships with Fortune 500 companies such as Kroger, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, & SAP Kevin McCurdy Kevin E. McCurdy is the Global CPG Partner Segment Leader for Amazon responsible for identifying & engaging relationships with strategic ISV & SI Partners for the Amazon Global CPG Vertical. Prior to that he served as Vice President, Demand Signal Management at E2open He was Co-Founder & Vice President of Sales for Orchestro which was acquired by E2open. He has led engagements with leading CPG companies including: The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Kellogg's, PepsiCo, Newell Brands, Scott's-Miracle Gro, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, & Kraft-Heinz. Alon Chen Alon is CEO & co-founder of Tastewise, the AI-driven data platform the food & beverage industry's leading brands use to innovate quickly, market effectively, & grow sales. Alon was a senior Google executive, & has a wealth of experience in leveraging AI & big data across technology, business & marketing. Alon initiated & launched the Google Partners channel program in 27 countries, served as Google's Chief Marketing Officer for Israel & Greece, & led the company's relationship with the World Economic Forum. Alon is a human rights activist for the LGBTQ community, & holds a BA in Economics from Tel Aviv University, a Master's in Law from Bar-Ilan University & an MBA from the University College Dublin. Anabelle Broadbent, PhD. Dr. Anabelle Broadbent, Founder & Chief Science Officer at Verde Operations (Verde Ops), is an internationally recognized NASA-trained pathogenic microbiologist, food scientist, nutrition scientist, biochemist, food safety & indoor controlled environment agriculture (CEA) expert with over 35 years of experience working in government (NASA & USDA), academia & private industry. Martin Slayne, PhD. Dr Martin Slayne is VP of Global Scientific & Regulatory Affairs at Ingredion. He is responsible for global regulatory compliance, enabling innovation & business growth. Prior senior executive positions heading up global scientific & regulatory affairs, compliance, food safety & nutrition organizations at The Hershey Company, Mondelez International & PepsiCo. Martin is a leader on global government engagement programs & cross-sector collaboration, including past roles as Regulator on food & feed legislation at the European Commission in Brussels, UK Food Standards Agency & Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food in London. Martin has a PhD in Microbiology, University of Wales College of Medicine, UK. He has a passion for advocating scientific truth, cross-sectional communication on food issues, transparency, regulatory simplicity, & building consumer trust. A strong advocate for environmental sustainability, spare time chairing his community environmental commission. Jonathan Deutsch, PhD. Jonathan Deutsch, PhD, CHE, CRC, is professor in the Departments of Food & Hospitality Management & Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University & a certified hospitality educator. Before moving to Drexel, Deutsch built the culinary arts program at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York (CUNY) & the PhD concentration in food studies at the CUNY Graduate Center & School of Public Health. At Drexel, he is the founding director of the Drexel Food Lab, a culinary innovation & food product research & development lab focused on solving real world food system problems in the areas of sustainability, health promotion & access. He was the James Beard Foundation Impact Fellow, leading a national curriculum effort on food waste reduction for chefs & culinary educators & was named a Food Waste Warrior by Foodtank. He is the author or editor of eight books including Barbecue: A Global History (with Megan Elias), Culinary Improvisation, & Gastropolis: Food & Culture in New York City (with Annie Hauck-Lawson) & numerous articles in journals of food studies, public health & hospitality education. He earned his PhD in Food Studies & Food Management from New York University (2004), his culinary degree from the Culinary Institute of America (AOS, Culinary Arts, 1997), & is a proud alumnus of Drexel University (BS, Hospitality Management, 1999). A classically trained chef, Deutsch worked in a variety of settings including food product development, small luxury inns & restaurants. When not in the kitchen, he can be found behind his tuba. Meghan McIlroy Meghan Mcilroy is Director in North America Disruptive R&D at Kraft Heinz, a trusted food producer of a wide ranging food & beverage portfolio, based in Glenview, IL. She is responsible for delivering on Environmental & Social Governance commitments on nutrition, sourcing, & net zero efforts. She also oversees US Export R&D & R&D Knowledge & Communications. Prior to her current role, she was responsible for driving growth, managing costs, & ensuring business continuity through product development in the Kraft Heinz Cheese portfolio including brands such as Kraft & Cracker Barrel Natural Cheese, Kraft Singles, Velveeta, Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese, Athenos Feta & Hummus. She has a BS in Food Science from Cornell University. Jenn Smith Jenn Smith leads food & ag innovation programs for Cornell's Center for Regional Economic Advancement, including the Grow-NY program, an annual $3M competition for innovative, early stage, high growth potential businesses working anywhere in the agrifood system. Through CREA she co-directs an ag tech hardware accelerator & runs a Dairy Product Innovation initiative & activities supporting the cultivation of Upstate New York's regional agrifood ecosystem. In her role she draws on her background in entrepreneurship in the food & farming space & subject matter expertise in craft beverage market development, gained while the Executive Director of the New York Cider Association & the New York State Distillers Guild. In addition to leading NYCA & NYSDG, Jenn has helped entrepreneurs throughout the Northeast launch value-added products, agritourism ventures & hospitality businesses. Anne Greven Anne Greven is a strategic finance executive with Big 10 banking experience & a reputation for catalyzing innovation of businesses & business models in food, agriculture, & sustainability. A business leader with strong investment, capital markets, & commodities expertise, Anne has a proven ability to build & rebuild companies & teams, positioning them to succeed & endure. As Global Head of Food & Agricultural Startup Innovation at Rabobank International, Anne led a visionary platform that drove corporate customers, startups, & investors toward a more stable & sustainable food system. With full P&L & operational responsibility for the $4M FoodBytes! platform, Anne built 100+ corporate partnerships with the likes of Nestl, AGCO, Syngenta, & JBS Foods; spurred $3.2B in investment across 400 startups; & positioned Rabobank as the premier collaboration platform for Food & Ag corporates, investors, & startups. Duncan Aust, PhD. Duncan Aust is Chief Technology Officer of AgroFresh. Aust has been in this role since August 2021 & focuses on AgroFresh's research & development as well as regulatory & external innovation. Prior to joining AgroFresh, he was Vice President & Senior Vice President of Research & Development for DFB Pharmaceuticals, Coria Laboratories & Healthpoint as well as managing Global R&D at FMC Corporation. Aust has a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from King's College London. Trish Thomas Trish Thomas is the Co-founder & CEO of Every Body Eat. She is a serial entrepreneur, problem solver, 4x founder, & lifelong mountain climber (the proverbial kind). She sold her first company four years out of college, built the first safe online community for kids, scaled a media company to distribution in 100 countries & 65 languages, consulted some of the biggest companies in the world on content & digital strategy, & currently teaches entrepreneurship at Northwestern University. On top of all that, she's been raising two sons, four stepsons, multiple dogs, & a husband. (But, she actually thinks they've been raising her.) Tim McCollum Tim McCollum is the Founder & CEO of Beyond Good. By making chocolate in Africa, Beyond Good has created a business model where cocoa farmers earn a thriving wage, 100% traceability to farm-level is unavoidable, & reforestation & conservation happen (almost) automatically. Tim has been recognized as a Leader of Change by the United Nations & named to Food & Wine's 30 Under 30 list of Americans for changing the way we eat & live. Beyond Good has been twice recognized as one of the world's most innovative companies by Fast Company & has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, National Geographic, Bloomberg, The Guardian, Saveur Magazine, & more.