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December 5, 2023February 26, 2024 by rwobeter

Speakers RFSI Europe 2024

Richard is a principal in a family that believes in its responsibility to support a new model of development that creates wealth in conjunction with environmental, social and human development. Richard has created two organisations that support its quest for systemic change. Mlinda, established in 2005, has been striving to create a replicable model for supplying energy and nature-based economic development in areas with poor energy access. The Good Investors, launched in 2020, is a cooperative of families that aims to build a financial system where sustainability drives profits, through collective intelligence and joint investments.

Richard AzarniaThe Good Investors | Principal

Titus Bahner is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kulturland cooperative, a German land stewardship organisation. He holds a PhD in agricultural and resource economics and has worked as a consultant in mediation and conflict resolution between administration, conservation NGOs and the farming sector, as well as in practical farming.

Titus BahnerKulturland | Chief Executive Officer

David Bennell is a leading Sustainability professional with over 25 years of experience with corporations and investors, as well as with many of the world’s top NGOs and philanthropic foundations. He’s a managing director the $28 billion Transformational Investing in Food Systems Initiative and an investor in start-ups focused on digital climate solutions and bioscience. He worked in the corporate sector for three prominent corporations leading R&D, leadership development and sustainability programs and held a 5-year appointment at MIT as adjunct faculty in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. David helped co-found the for-profit social enterprise company CottonConnect (a 2012 finalist for World’s Most Ethical Company), helped launch a multimillion-dollar USA impact investing fund focused on rural economic development, and co-created and led the global apparel industry standards non-profit Textile Exchange. David wrote and presents one of the world’s most watched sustainability education courses viewable on Linked In Learning (titled Sustainability Strategies) named the #1 global course for impact investors. He serves on the board at Wolfe’s Neck Center, home of the global agriculture technology platform OpenTEAM, and is a board director at American Forests, the USA’s oldest forest conservation organization founded in 1876.

David BennellTransformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS) | Managing Director

Benedikt Bösel is a farmer, an agricultural economist, bestselling author and managing owner of the 3000ha regenerative farm "Gut und Bösel“ and founder of the „Finck Foundation“, Europe's largest private living lab for regenerative agriculture. Together with his team, he researches various methods of regenerative and ecological land use. These methods include holistic pasture management, various composting methods, syntropic agroforestry, an agroforestry tree nursery and forest conversion. In 2023 Bösel published his book „Rebellen der Erde“ on how to save our soil and the documentary series „Farm Rebellion“ aired on Disney+, which portraits his life’s work on the farm. Bösel advises the German Ministry of Food & Agriculture through various roles.

Benedikt BöselGut und Bösel | Farmer

Joséphine BournonvilleOmie | Co-founder & COO

Andy is an unrelenting revolutionary. He’s lived a life of shaking up the status quo – first musically with the acclaimed dance music band Groove Armada and now in food production and agriculture with his organization, Wildfarmed. Together with his cofounders, Edd and George, Andy’s built a regenerative supply chain for wheat - ensuring farmers are equipped to grow regeneratively, offering secure and premium off-take agreements, and building diverse avenues for regen flour to reach consumers. At RFSI Europe, Andy and Edd, will offer insight into the imperative for regen supply chains and how to build and scale them, while keeping the farmer needs central.

Andy CatoWildfarmed | Co-founder

Clara is the Head of Customer Success at Proof.io, a data intelligence platform on a mission to help purpose-driven organizations realize their full potential by optimizing for purpose and profit simultaneously. She supports Proof's investor and enterprise clients to define their ESG + Impact measurement strategy, collect and analyze data, and actively manage and improve their ESG + Impact performance. Together with Trailhead Capital, Proof is facilitating the Regenerative Agriculture Working Group, focused on building consensus around leading regenerative agriculture KPIs and increasing sharing of learnings, trends, and best practices in regenerative agriculture performance measurement. Before joining Proof, Clara worked in management consulting, supporting U.S. federal agencies with impact measurement strategy development and technology transformation. Clara studied business at Georgetown University, with a concentration in sustainability. In 2018, she published her first book, It Starts with a Step, about the power of the simple act of walking to change the world for the better.

Clara CecilHead of Customer Success | Proof.io

Alfonso Chico de Guzman is a farmer managing the farm operation of La Junquera Regenerative organic farm in the Southeast of Spain. There they grow a diversity of crops like almonds, pistachios, grains, aromatic plants and vines, mainly in rainfed plots in semi arid climate. Since 2022, he has also operated for SLM partners El Roble farm, also located in South east Spain, growing with regenerative agriculture practices and organic certification olives, almonds and pistachios.

Alfonso Chico de GuzmanLa Junquera | Farmer

Fanny Corpet SauvageonLively Earth | President

Anthony Corsaro is an entrepreneur, investor, and regenerative agriculture evangelist whose mission is to help heal our people and planet through ventures that inspire the production and consumption of healthy, nutrient-dense foods. Anthony is the Managing Director at Outlaw Ventures: a family office backing the rebels, radicals, and revolutionaries building the better food system of tomorrow. Outlaw Ventures is in the process of raising a venture capital fund to invest in early-stage regenerative consumer brands. Anthony is also the Creator and Co-Host of The ReGen Brands Podcast: a podcast about the consumer brands supporting regenerative agriculture and how they’re changing the world. He is also a Co-Founder of Regen Coalition: a non-profit trade association of regenerative CPG brands working to solve the biggest problems facing regenerative brands in a collective and collaborative fashion. Anthony’s family has been deeply involved in the food system for almost 100 years since his orphaned grandfather started selling fresh produce in the early 1930s. That business grew into one of the leading regional fresh produce distributors in the country and today serves 2,500+ retail customers in 20 states. Anthony helped steward the most recent growth phase of the company as a third-generation contributor and executive leader in the business. His professional background in food distribution and personal health journey led him to his work in building regenerative food systems.

Anthony CorsaroOutlaw Ventures | Founder & Managing Director

Tim Crosby is Principal of the Thread Fund, Steering Committee Member Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Chair Transformational Investing in Food Systems Initiative, and advisor to numerous projects. He has developed a regional food hub, a loan loss reserve fund at a credit union, researched a logic model gap between for-profit and non-profit investors, and partnered to develop a sustainable ag loan program at a CDFI. Prior, Tim was a professional photographer and graphic designer. Tim holds a Sustainable MBA from Presidio University and a BA in Anthropology from Kenyon College.

Tim CrosbyThread Fund & Transformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS) | Principal & Chair

Ivo DegnClimate Farmers | Co-Founder

Henry Dimbleby is the author of Ravenous: How to get ourselves and our planet into shape. Published in March 2023, this analysis of the food system – how it is malfunctioning it, and what to do about it – builds on the work he did in the independent National Food Strategy, described by Prue Leith “the best government document that’s ever come out”. Dimbleby is the co-founder and former CEO of Leon restaurants. He also co-founded the Sustainable Restaurant Association and the charity Chefs in Schools, which brings restaurant chefs into school kitchens. In 2013, he co-authored The School Food Plan, a blueprint for government setting out actions to transform what children eat in schools and how they learn about food. It resulted in the introduction of free school meals for all children up to the age of eight, and cooking lessons being made obligatory for all children up to 14. From 2018 to 2023, Dimbleby was the lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, serving under Michael Gove, Theresa Villiers, George Eustice, Ranil Jayawardene and Therese Coffey. He has also advised the Labour party on how to improve the sustainability and security of the food system. Henry previously worked as a Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company, where he worked with businesses on strategy, performance improvement and organisational design. Before that he worked as a journalist at The Daily Telegraph and a chef at the Michelin-starred Four Seasons Inn on the Park.

Henry DimblebyAuthor | Co-Founder | Bramble Partners & Leon

After 9 years of co-founding and directing a Foundation in NYC, Isabelle returned to Belgium to take over the family estate. She got her agriculture degree in 2021 and has been transitioning the land to receive the organic certification, embracing no-till practices, applying agroforestry systems, and testing highly diverse fodder crops and combination crops. Her goal is to serve as an experimental hub to inspire and inform fellow farmers to practice regenerative farming without compromising on yields.

Isabelle d’UrselOrganic Farmer | Head of Smissenbroek.com

Tessa Etkin-Silver leads the investment arm of Be The Earth, a family foundation that works with a closed loop model combining Impact Investments and Philanthropy under the same vision. The team has been investing to maximise impact since 2011 and has explored a variety of ways to invest and deploy capital all of which seek fair returns alongside profits that go beyond financial wealth. Fairer food systems and regenerative farming are the core focus of the portfolio.

Tessa Etkin SilverBe the Earth | Investment Director

Simon is a co-founder and General Partner at Pelican Ag – the UK’s first venture fund investing in regenerative agriculture and sustainable food systems. Simon is a career veteran of the impact investing field having worked on over 50 capital raising mandates over the past 14 years and helping to raise over £230m for socially and environmentally progressive companies. During this time he also advised institutions in developing their own impact investing strategies. Simon’s passion for food, produce and ecology started in early childhood through his family’s suburban organic vegetable garden – an obsession that continues to this day.

Simon EvillCo-Founder & General Partner | Pelican Ag

Ivana Gazibara is the Director of Prototyping at the TransCap Initiative, a non-profit focused on applying systems thinking to investment and funding practices. Her work at TransCap focuses on research and methodology development, the design and development of systemic investment vehicles, and convening and investor education. Prior to joining TransCap, Ivana led Forum for the Future’s futures practice, where she incubated and led The Futures Centre, the only open, participatory futures platform focused on tracking and making sense of emerging trends with the purpose of advancing a sustainable future. Ivana sits on the Liontrust Sustainable Future Funds advisory board, and is a trustee of the EIRIS Foundation.

Ivana GazibaraTransCap Initiative | Director of Prototyping

Adele Jones is Executive Director at the Sustainable Food Trust. She has been with the SFT since 2013, and now oversees the organization’s strategic activities. In recent years, one of her major focuses has been the development of a project called the Global Farm Metric - an internationally common framework for measuring on-farm sustainability. She is currently an advisor to the Scottish Government. In 2020 she undertook a part time secondment with the Welsh Government, and in 2019 she completed a part-time secondment with DEFRA, both times working to develop metrics for monitoring the new post-Brexit farm support schemes. Previous to these roles, Adele has a background in geography and soil science.

Adele JonesSustainable Food Trust | Executive Director

Christopher Knowles is an independent adviser specializing in the financing of different types of sustainable assets. He has been engaged in the finance of infrastructure, climate and environmental assets for over 40 years, much of this time with the European Investment Bank. As EIB’s Head of Infrastructure Funds and Climate Finance he oversaw the EIB’s volume of climate financing grow tenfold to $20bn p.a., and led the creation of a $3bn portfolio of investment in 60 equity, debt and blended fund vehicles, the majority dedicated to environment and climate assets. Many of these supported SME vehicles, sometimes following highly innovative models. He has a broad, practical knowledge of the sustainable finance agenda, and is acknowledged internationally as a thought leader on climate finance. He has worked at all levels of the public and private financial worlds, throughout the EU and in many emerging markets. Currently he serves as NED on a number of investment funds, advises various policy advocacy and research entities, and works with startup fund management teams, all in the sustainable space.

Christopher KnowlesElements – Climate and Environment Finance | Principal

Adam is the Fund Manager for the Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund which provides equity investments to businesses driving a transition to a more sustainable food system. Backing late venture and growth stage businesses, the fund has invested in 20 leaders in the food system over the past decade. Adam worked in the fund since 2020 after previously investing in education and housing businesses as well as a period working in international development. He now leads the fund and sits on the board of five investments including Crowdfarming, Aarstiderne and Stadtsalat.

Adam KybirdTriodos Food Transition Europe Fund | Fund Manager

Edd LeesWildfarmed | Co-founder

Anne van Leeuwen (1987) studied art history, cultural analysis, philosophy and biology. During her studies, she got more and more convinced that the western distinction between 'nature' and 'culture' might be the root cause of many of our existential problems. She deep dived into this separation, co-curating a museum about the relation between humans and nature at ARTIS royal zoo, and later as a co-founder of the Embassy of the North Sea. In 2020, she started the regenerative demonstration farm Bodemzicht (‘soil perspective’) with her Spanish partner Ricardo Cano Mateo. This urban farm of over 5 hectares is located near Nijmegen, The Netherlands. It has a no-dig market garden and an agroforestry system with layers in egg mobiles. Anne also founded and coordinates the Bodemzicht foundation which invites people to reconnect to each other and place for a transition towards a regenerative (agri)culture. The foundation also provides training and courses for farmers. Anne closely collaborates with other Dutch regenerative initiatives, like Lenteland, We Are the Regeneration and the zoop project. She is also in close contact with other European regenerative farmers and a founding farmer of the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (EARA).

Anne van LeeuwenBodemzicht Farm and Foundation | Co-founder

Alessia is responsible for the development of impact policies, measurement and reporting at SLM Partners, while assisting with the development of new fund strategies and investment opportunities. She is based in London. Alessia has broad experience in impact investing across both the retail and institutional investment landscape. She previously led responsible investment research at Redington, a UK-based investment consultant which advises on over $500billion of assets. As part of this role, she sourced and researched impact investment opportunities across a wide range of asset classes – both private and public – and helped her client base of pension funds, endowments, foundations and wealth managers integrate sustainability considerations in their investment process. Before that, Alessia completed a 3-year analyst program at J.P. Morgan where she was closely involved in the creation of J.P. Morgan’s first sustainable fund-of-fund solution for private banking clients. Alessia completed the Huntsman Program, a coordinated dual degree at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Business). She holds French and Italian citizenship.

Alessia LendersSLM Partners | Head of Impact

Michiel Lenstra is a co-founder of Wire Group and has advised high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors on developing and implementing their impact investing strategies. Michiel oversees an investment team that sources, diligences and executes impact investments. Michiel has been involved in the regenerative agriculture movement since 2015 and has (co)written several thought leadership papers including on the food system and on carbon markets. He Is an Informal Investor In, among others, Meridia, a land rights company that leverages technology to provide smallholder farmers with official property titles. While at KPMG his work around the 'business case for sustainability' culminated in the KPMG True Value methodology. Michiel holds a Bachelor’s in Economic and Social Studies from The University of Manchester and an MScBA from Rotterdam School of Management, part of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Michiel LenstraWire Group | Co-Founder

Paul McMahon is a co-founder and Managing Partner of SLM Partners, an asset management firm that uses investment capital to scale up regenerative farming and forestry systems. The firm manages funds and separate accounts that invest in organic farming in the USA, forestry and orchard crops in Europe, and mixed farming and carbon projects in Australia. Founded in 2009, and a pioneer of investing in regenerative agriculture, SLM Partners manages almost half a billion dollars in capital. Previously, Paul was Vice-President at Climate Change Capital Ltd, where he led a team developing a strategy for a global farmland fund. Before that, he was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company in New York. He has published two books and numerous papers on sustainable food and forestry. Originally from Ireland, Paul holds a PhD from Cambridge University and a BA from University College Dublin. He lives in New York.

Paul McMahonSLM Partners | Co-founder & Managing Partner

Laura Ortiz Montemayor is a living-systems thinker and mompreneur, founder of SVX México, passionate about Regenerative Culture, biodiversity, and an advocate for transformative Impact Investing. Her life mission is to ensure that capital serves life instead of governing it and she works shifting investment paradigms. During the past years, Laura’s work has focused on building the investment case for biodiversity regeneration, climate finance and Latin America through Investment advice and education. She is also a board member of the Mexican National Advisory Board from the GSG (AII MX) a volunteer for ALTERNARE A.C., one of the founding members of the ASEM (Mexican Association of Entrepreneurs). Both Laura and her business partner Stevie are currently launching their first fund: Regenera Ventures to invest in the regenerative transition for rural Mexico with a gender lens and a landscape approach. She has taught impact investing, climate finance and regenerative economy to over 3,000 Latin American investors and spoken about the subject in multiple countries. Before founding SVX, she previously worked for over 8 years in wealth and asset management in BBVA and Citi Banamex. Laura has a degree in International Business from ITESM (Tec de Monterrey) and has additional certifications on Impact Investment from Oxford University, Regenerative Entrepreneurship by UCI, Venture Capital and Private Equity Seminar of RiskMathics, Investment Management training by ANDE and Behavioral Economics by NYU. Laura is an angel investor in Desplastifícate, and a micro investor through collective finance in 2 more social and environmental impact companies in Mexico.

Laura Ortiz MontemayorFounder | SVX México

Chris is founder and General Partner at Pelican Ag – the UK’s first venture fund investing in regenerative agriculture and sustainable food systems. Before this he grew Pelican Founders as a leading impact investment advisor for sustainable food and ag companies. Working with over 35 companies which received over £350m in subsequent funding. Previously he spent 16 years at Blackrock, Jupiter and CCAM, where he raised $1.8bn for 5 funds. He’s trustee to a 7k acre commercial farm in Scotland. Steers Patagonia’s 1% for the Planet UK initiative and is passionate about gut health.

Christopher RamsayPelican Ag | Founder & General Partner

João Roseiro is the Agronomy Director, Europe for SLM Partners. He is based in Portugal and is helping SLM Partners develop new investment opportunities in sustainable permanent crops in Portugal and Spain. João is a qualified agronomist with a track record experience in project farm management, investment planning and operations management, particularly in permanent crops and fruit production, with a strong focus on sustainable practices.

João RoseiroSLM Partners | Agronomy Director

Pete Russell is the founder of Ooooby, an online platform for small farms and food hubs to sell fresh food to local customers. Ooooby’s mission is to put ‘small-scale’ back at the heart of our food systems. More than 80 UK farms and food hubs are now using Ooooby to deliver more than 35,000 local food orders every month.

Pete RussellOoooby | Founder

Anouk leads The Nest’s allocations that aim at building more resilient food systems. With an engineering & economics degree, an enormous passion for food&ag, and a huge respect for nature, she looks for initiatives and collaborations that can help drive systemic change in our food system. The goal is to marry environmental health, human health and nutritional value by bringing back a holistic view on our food system. Formerly in strategy consulting, with solid experience in both the non-profit world and family advisory, she focuses on bringing the corporate and philanthropic worlds closer together to drive profound shifts.

Anouk SchoorsThe Nest | Investment Manager

Anthea, a seasoned founder with a history of backing from VC and Google, founded willow to accelerate the scaling of regenerative agriculture. By using technology to connect and solve problems for global ag-reliant procurement, willow aims to tackle climate change and landscape fragility, delivering resilience to farming communities in turn. With a background in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, her systems thinking allows her to confront nuanced issues in agri-food systems head-on. Previously a top-billing headhunter for high-frequency trading tech teams and a Michelin-trained chef, Anthea brings diverse expertise and an unwavering passion for working with nature to a complex and nuanced problem space.

Anthea StephensonWillow | Founder

Dr. Sonja Stuchtey is a serial impact entrepreneur with a notable number of companies founded and grown under her guidance. Sonja’s business ventures include the science education platform Science Lab, and the civil tech company Alliance for Europe, which combats mis- and disinformation. She is also board member of the Capitals Coalition. Her most recent entrepreneurial undertaking is the Nature-Fintech company The Landbanking Group, that strives to put nature on the balance sheet. Rounding the full scope of ESG, with The Landbanking Group in the environmental sector, Alliance for Europe on the governmental side and Science Lab as a social endeavor. Sonja Stuchtey has multiple publications regarding nature tech, economic development, and science education.

Dr. Sonja StuchteyThe Landbanking Group | Founder

Philip Taylor, Ph.D. (he/him) is the Executive Director of Mad Agriculture. He co-founded the organization in 2016 with his life partner, Nicole Brinks, to reimagine and restore our relationship to the land, sea, and each other through good agriculture. Prior to founding Mad Ag, Philip was a career global ecologist who specialized in ecosystem and soil carbon cycling. His research ranged widely, from understanding soil ecology and ecosystem biogeochemistry to exploring solutions to the sustainability challenges of agriculture. Philip’s work has been published in numerous journals, including Nature, Nature Climate Change, and Ecology, and he has diverse international experience in both private and public sectors, having led research and business efforts throughout North America, Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Now, he is bringing his entire being into Mad Agriculture—his life’s work, until he returns to the soil.

Philip TaylorMad Agriculture | Executive Director & Co-Founder

After completing a master in Mathematics, Thekla went on to consult for McKinsey in Amsterdam. A cycling trip through Asia opened her eyes for the possibilities of farming in harmony with nature and in 2014 she moved to South Africa to pursue her work on sustainable agriculture. Since then, she has been working relentlessly to make regenerative farming work as a business for farmers across Africa. With her team at Grounded she has founded multiple regenerative businesses, including processing companies for high value crops, a vegetable farm and a wholesale company. Her latest (ad)venture is an investment fund, Grounded Investment Company - which invests in regenerative agri-processors in East Africa.

Thekla TeunisGrounded | Founder and Managing Partner

Wood has worked for 30 years with international NGOs, public agencies, and consumer brands to develop ideas that restore environmental quality, regenerate working landscapes, and build community. He was previously the VP Sustainability Innovation at Stonyfield Farm, an organic pioneer then part of the Danone Group, and the founding executive director of Climate Counts. He has advised Sustainable Brands and Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment and now sits on boards for the Duke University Campus Farm and the Center for Good Food Purchasing. He began a five-year appointment to the National Organic Standards Board in early 2020 and is leading a regenerative transition of his family’s farm in North Carolina. Wood has an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a graduate degree in urban and environmental planning and design from the University of Washington.

Wood TurnerAgriculture Capital | Senior Vice President

Dimitri has spent the last 8 years working in regenerative agriculture in the Mediterranean basin, focused on tree crops and agroforestry. In 2017, he founded Mazi Farm, an innovative 5ha tree crop farm, with his family in Greece. Since then, he has created and run The Regenerative Agroforestry Podcast and co-founded AgroSystemic, a company that is focused on catalyzing the regenerative transition of the tree crop industry.

Dimitri TsitosMazi Farm | The Regenerative Agroforestry Podcast | AgroSystemic

Bart van der Zande is the co-founder of Fresh Ventures Studio: starting multiple new organizations a year focused on the transformation towards a regenerative food system. Passionate about taking a systems perspective on work and life. Helping drive more talent, capital and energy towards this transformation. Always looking for what should be build and how should it be done to bring about a healthy, increasingly self regenerating food & economic system.

Bart van der ZandeFresh Ventures Studio | Co-Founder

As developer and fund manager of the ASN Biodiversity Fund, Karin van Dijk has an inspiring mission: helping to scale up business models that strengthen nature instead of depleting it. To this end, she focuses on companies and projects worldwide that add value by working in balance with people and nature. With the commitment and dedication that brought her to the world top as a judoka, but also thanks to in-depth knowledge about sustainability. She studied engineering and technology in sustainable development at TU Delft. Karin is also a member of the investment committee that selects companies for the investment funds of ASN Impact Investors based on their sustainable performance. 'Not only in my private life, but also through my work, I am committed to a more sustainable future to which my daughter and all other children in the world are entitled. ASN Impact Investors is a leading investor in biodiversity, by doing so we want to inspire the financial sector to actively contribute to a liveable and flourishing world."

Karin van DijkASN Impact Investors | Fund Manager of the ASN Biodiversity Fund

Hannes Van Eynde is managing the feed and crops scope within the Danone Global Regenerative Agriculture team, based out of Belgium. In this role he supports Danone country-level teams with technical expertise on the implementation of regenerative agriculture, MMRV methodologies and is driving company engagement on Deforestation and Conversion Free soy in animal feed. In a previous role he was responsible for the procurement of cereal ingredients and related regenerative agriculture projects for the Danone EU and Asia plant-based business. With brands like Alpro and Provamel he has been pioneering efforts within the organization to move these brands towards a path of regenerative business. He also represents Danone in the SAI Platform Crops Working Group and Consumer Goods Forum Forest Positive Coalition on Soy.

Hannes Van EyndeDanone | Farming, Feed and Crops Manager - Global Regenerative Agriculture Team

Since 2011 Koen has been following the regenerative agriculture and food space when he stumbled upon the carbon sequestration potential of regenerative farming. Under "Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food" he has published more than 180 podcast interviews with impact investors, fund managers, farmers and many others. Regenerating soils and ecosystems by putting money (big and small) to work is the central theme that drives him. He is also manager at the Impact Investor community nonprofit Toniic.

Koen van SeijenInvesting in Regenerative Agriculture and Food Podcast

With experience in the development sector related to smallholder farming, policy advocacy and agricultural value chain development, Hans joined the Biovision Policy & Advocacy team in 2023. His work supports civil society actors in Kenya to advocate for enabling policy frameworks for agroecology. Hans is also involved in the continuous development of the B-ACT tool that helps financiers invest in agroecological enterprises and supports private sector advocacy efforts in Kenya to create a more conducive business environment for agroecological enterprises. Before joining Biovision, Hans spent 3 years at the International Trade Centre coordinating and implementing projects aimed at improving the business environment and strengthening SMEs in the coffee, avocado and beekeeping value chains in East Africa. Prior to this, Hans directly worked alongside smallholder farmers in Guinea to adopt regenerative agricultural practices, establish additional revenue generating activities and diversify nutrition.

Hans Von ZinkernagelBiovision Foundation | Program Manager

Freija Vermeer holds the position of Program Manager at the DOEN Foundation, a Dutch Venture Philanthropy organization. The DOEN Foundation, funded by the Dutch Charity Lotteries in the Netherlands, is dedicated to driving positive change through sustainable and innovative solutions. DOEN focuses on supporting entrepreneurial initiatives that contribute to a green, socially inclusive, and creative society. DOEN's impact investing efforts include a wide range of sectors, including, circular economy, social entrepreneurship, and regenerative agriculture. Freija Vermeer's work at DOEN focuses specifically on impact investing in the regenerative economy, with a particular emphasis on regenerative agriculture and landscape restoration. She manages a portfolio of different type of interventions in these sectors. Through the strategic partnerships and collaboration, DOEN aims to create a network of change-makers who can collectively drive the transformational change needed for a more regenerative economy in the Netherlands and East Africa. She holds a Master Degree in Political Science of the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.

Freija VermeerDOEN Foundation | Program Manager

Nicolas is an agronomist based in Belgium, he is passionate about regenerative agriculture and has practiced it in different crops and geographies for the last 30 years. He is a Co-founder of Cultivae Coop, a cooperative dedicated to create and scale value chains in Regenerative Agriculture. He is also a Co-founder of Soil Capital, an advisory firm specialised in the carbon certification and a board member at Ingleby Farms & Forests, an international farming group in transition to Regenerative Agriculture.

Nicolas VerschuereCultivae Coop | Co-Founder

Andrew is Chief Impact Officer at Soil Capital, the agronomy firm that launched a regenerative agriculture transition programme certifying its climate impact in 2020. It is the longest-running such programme in Europe. Andrew led the development of this programme, called Soil Capital Carbon, which has now seen more than 1,000 British, French and Belgian farmers enrol, achieved close to 200,000 tonnes of verified reductions and removals and enabled the disbursement of some EUR 4 million to farmers in performance-based payments. The programme is designed to enable food and beverage firms to deliver proven Scope 3 reductions. He is on the Supervisory Board of the Cool Farm Alliance and a Strategic Advisor to the Sustainable Soils Alliance in the UK. Prior to Soil Capital, Andrew spent a decade building the sustainable finance practice at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. During this time, he led several industry collaborations between the finance and food and farming sectors. He was also an advisor on climate change to the Bank of England.

Andrew VoyseySoil Capital | Chief Impact Officer

Quentin is a passionate advocate for the agri-food sector, and sees himself on a mission to restore landscapes and ecosystems, by supporting investment and entrepreneurship in the regenerative food value chain. In 2022 he embarked on a transformative family journey: 8 months overlanding South America (project “Wild Axiom”) where he explored multiple projects related to regenerative agriculture, landscape restoration and rewilding. He sees immense potential in Nature Based Solutions to solve our most pressing issues. Quentin worked previously at Buysse & Partners, a Belgian investment holding, where he supervised investments in Latin America. He currently serves on the board of family owned investment holdings. He graduated from ICHEC Brussels Management School, and IE Business School.

Quentin Werrie | DirectorBuildinvest SA

Antony Yousefian passionately believes in harnessing technology for a meaningful impact. As a Partner at The First Thirty, he is at the forefront of addressing the critical finance gap in nature-based solutions, channelling investments into early-stage innovators dedicated to regenerating soils and revitalizing natural ecosystems. His journey began in asset management, where he developed a profound commitment to ESG and impact investment. This path led to significant roles in tech, including scaling 30MHz’s agricultural IoT solutions and founding Bx to help farms quantify their ecological footprint. Antony also lends his strategic expertise to Wiliot, focusing on the application of Ambient IoT in the circular economy. Additionally, he supports the Tech Nation Climate Program, the Earth Shot Prize, and chairs the Advisory Board at Agrimetrics.

Antony YousefianThe First Thirty | Partner

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