SC20 Organic and Regenerative Ag Agenda

Thank you to our Sponsors for sparking change!

Sponsored by

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Kira Hunter Content Producer, New Hope Network

Todd Runestad Senior Editor, Ingredients & Supplements, New Hope Network

Amanda Hartt Lead Market Analyst, New Hope Network

Adrienne Smith Senior Food Business Reporter, New Hope Network

Who's Sparking Change? New Hope Network Editors Share Their Product Picks

This session is designed to help you discover innovative food products from organic and regenerative brands. Building on the trend insights from the prior session, we will go trend by trend sharing a carefully curated list of products, giving you a new way to navigate the virtual event landscape.

1:30 - 2:00 p.m EDT | 10:30 - 11:00 a.m. PDT

Claire Koch Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

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What makes our communities shine? The amazing brands that bring their passion and innovation through unique business models and exciting products. This tour will help you discover organic and regenerative brands in a fun, engaging format. Toot toot, all aboard!

1:15 - 1:30 p.m EDT | 10:15 - 10:30 a.m. PDT

Organic & Regenerative Guided Product Discovery Tour

Kathryn Peters Executive Vice President, SPINS

Eric Pierce Vice President of Business Insights, New Hope Network

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Join us for a session in which New Hope and SPINS present insights into the organic and regenerative trends shaping the growth of the natural products industry. In an industry with abundant innovation but limited shelf space, retailers need to be thoughtful about what fills their store shelves. Using the latest sales, innovation, and consumer engagement data we will help retailers identify and prioritize the organic and regenerative products that should be on the shelf.

12:45 - 1:15 p.m EDT | 9:45 - 10:15 a.m. PDT

What's Next in Organic & Regenerative? Data & Insights from New Hope Network & Spins

Kathleen Merrigan Executive Director & Professor, Arizona State University

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Join organic pioneer and former U.S. Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kathleen Merrigan, alongside Debra Eschmeyer, former Executive Director of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition at the White House, to celebrate 30 years of organic. While the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 has had a successful history serving as the bedrock for the National Organic Program and USDA organic certification, there's also a lot to be excited about for the future of organic and continued innovation and policy improvements.

12:10 - 12:40 p.m EDT | 9:10 - 9:40 a.m. PDT

Organic & Regenerative Keynote: Kathleen Merrigan & Debra Eschmeyer

Innovation for Good Title Sponsor

Linda Appel Lipsius Co-Founder, Teatulia Organic Teas

Carlotta Mast Market Leader, SVP of Content, New Hope Network

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How do YOU Spark Change and support organic and regenerative agriculture? Join us as we dig in to this leg of the Spark Change journey. Discover brands and products that exemplify organic and regenerative principles via the Product Discovery Zone, take in thought-provoking panels and presentations, and navigate the Spark Change platform to continue to make new and impactful connections.

Noon - 12:10 p.m EDT | 9:00 - 9:10 a.m. PDT

Welcome to Organic & Regenerative!

Organic and Regenerative Agriculture Community Event Agenda

Community Event

Lunch & Learn

Spark Your Day Meetup

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Join us as we continue on the Spark Change Journey with our Organic and Regenerative Agriculture Community Event on October 28.

Spark Change

Co-Founder, Teatulia Organic Teas

Linda Appel Lipsius is the Co-Founder of Teatulia Organic Teas. Since 2006, she's been working with her partners in Bangladesh to bring premium, 100% Organic, direct-sourced teas & herbs to the United States. Teatulia produces innovative, delicious & award-winning hot teas, foodservice iced teas & canned RTD teas that are sold throughout the U.S in grocery, foodservice and online. Lipsius has built a universally-respected brand known for doing things better. From the 3,000-acre regenerative tea garden itself, to Teatulia’s stunningly sustainable packaging to the long list of awards Teatulia has received for quality and using business as a force for good. Named one of Food & Wine/ Fortune’s 20 Most Innovative Women in Food & Wine, one of Denver Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business and a frequent public speaker, she is a leading voice on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to sustainable business practices to the food & beverage industry in general. In 2012, Linda also started the mama 'hood,a resource for new & expecting moms & their families, and opened Teatulia Tea & Coffee Bar next door to Teatulia’s Denver Headquarters. Previously, Linda was VP International with Orange Glo International (OGI) - makers of OxiClean, Kaboom, Orange Glo and Orange Clean - and Account Manager for Young & Rubicam. A Denver Native, she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Columbia University in New York City and her MBA in Finance from New York University before moving to Washington, DC, London, Los Angeles then back to Denver. She currently lives in downtown Denver with her filmmaker husband and her two children. In her spare time, Linda hangs with her kiddos, escapes to the mountains, devours movies & books, runs, cycles and practices yoga to keep her head & heart clear.

Linda Appel Lipsius

Kathleen Merrigan

Executive Director & Professor, Arizona State University

Merrigan is an expert in food and agriculture, celebrated by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010. She serves as the Kelly and Brian Swette Professor in the School of Sustainability and executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University. From 2013-2018, she was executive director of sustainability, director of the GW Food Institute, and professor of public policy at George Washington University. From 2009 to 2013, Merrigan was deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the United States Department of Agriculture, a 110,000 person, $150 billion federal department. Over the decades, Merrigan has been actively involved with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, including serving as the first woman chair of the Conference of Ministers. She is well known for having authored U.S. law establishing organic food standards. Merrigan is currently a board member of FoodCorps, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), Artemis, and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). She is a partner in Astanor Ventures and an advisor to S2G Ventures, two firms investing in ag-tech innovations. Merrigan holds a PhD in Public Policy and Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a MA in Public Affairs from University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from Williams College.

Eric Pierce

Vice President of Business Insights, New Hope Network

Eric J. Pierce is a strategic business leader, innovator, marketing, and market research professional, who specializes in helping businesses develop strategy and identify and prioritize opportunities. Eric brings business management and consumer behavior perspectives to the businesses he supports. Eric’s passions lie in the intersection of consumer behavior and business strategy within the Natural Products industry. These passions are focused on helping companies navigate the dynamic and changing marketplace, helping to re-imagine brands, drive innovation, and focus business investments with an eye towards meeting the needs of the evolving marketplace. At New Hope Network Eric and his colleagues sit at the forefront of the Natural Products industry, well positioned to identify the cultural forces and trends creating opportunity in this exciting and evolving marketplace. Together we help companies large and small identify, prioritize and take advantage of opportunities in the Natural Products industry.

Kathryn Peters

Executive Vice President, SPINS

Kathryn Peters has served SPINS for over 13 years across numerous key areas of the growing business. Her commitment to and passion for retail inspires her work developing and sustaining valuable retail relationships at the foundation of the SPINS ecosystem. Kathryn’s insight into helping retailers succeed with SPINS is informed by her previous vice president roles in merchandising and marketing at Ahold and BI-LO, LLC. as well as years of category management and sales experience with retailers during her time with Ralston Purina.

Todd Runestad

Senior Editor, Ingredients & Supplements, New Hope Network

Todd Runestad is a senior editor covering supplements and ingredients for Informa's Global Health & Nutrition Network (includes New Hope Network and Natural Products Insider). He has been covering nutrition science news and ingredient innovations for nearly 20 years. Todd has also served as editor for various publications including Nutrition Science News, Health & Nutrition Breakthroughs, Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, and Functional Ingredients magazine.

Kira Hunter

Content Producer, New Hope Network

Kira Hunter covers the personal care channel for newhope.com in addition to supervising and producing web content, newsletters and social media for New Hope Network.

Claire Koch

Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

Claire Koch is a mission-based marketing and branding leader who is passionate about bringing people together with the causes and brands that inspire them. She has 10 years of experience in marketing and brand communications, and has worked with everyone from early-stage entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 executives. She is also passionate about environmental causes and received her Masters of Legal Studies in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. Claire lives in Longmont, Colorado, with her husband and two young children.

Bill Puza

Category Manager, Meat, Hannaford / Ahold Delhaize Company

Bill is a third-generation meat-cutter who grew up in the family business learning all aspects of the meat industry. Bill earned his Associate’s Degree in Food Distribution Management, and Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management while working alongside relatives at multiple family-owned meat businesses and larger regional supermarkets. Bill has more than 20 years’ experience in the retail food business, and has worked in various sectors of the industry, ranging from Meat & Seafood Department Manager to Store Manager, to regional Meat & Seafood Merchandising Supervisor, and Fresh Meat Procurement Manager. Bill’s current role is Fresh Meat Category Manager (Beef, Veal & Lamb) for Hannaford Brothers, an Ahold Delhaize Company with nearly 200 retail stores located in New York and New England. Bill is responsible for category item assortment, procurement, ad planning, program development and cross-brand collaboration work with other Ahold Delhaize companies. Bill also participates in numerous critical work groups within Ahold Delhaize USA focusing on sustainability and animal-welfare initiatives.

Amy Jargo

Global Senior Category Merchant, Beauty, WFM

Amy is the Global Beauty Category Manager at Whole Foods Market where she leads the facial care, hair care, and cosmetics categories. Prior to Whole Foods Amy spent eight years at Target Corporation where she was most recently a Senior Buyer in beauty and held other roles in merchandising and Human Resources. Amy is personally passionate about clean and sustainable beauty and helping indie brands learn and grow.

Jay Wiener

Co-Founder, The Gentle Barn Foundation

Jay is a passionate animal welfare advocate, vegan chef, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expert. Specializing in the rescue and rehabilitation of severely injured and abused domestic farm animals he also participates in undercover discovery and disruption of the illegal treatment of animals. Jay spearheaded the “Gentle 12” program that introduces value-aligned companies to The Gentle Barn’s passionate supporters through social media engagement, onsite demonstrations, event support, and dynamic program integration.

John Pearson

CEO, French Transit & Dapple Bab

John brings 25 years of experience, including 8 as an executive in the PE space. John worked as a marketing executive at P&G and Clorox for over a decade, during which he ran billion dollar brands and also worked on Procter’s Walmart customer team in Bentonville, AR. John began his career as an Army Officer. He has an engineering degree from West Point and an MBA from Berkeley.

Jessica Rubino

Senior Director, Content Marketing Informa Health & Nutrition

Jessica Rubino is a natural products industry expert and content strategist covering issues that are shaping today's health and wellness industry. As senior content marketing director at Informa Health & Nutrition, Jessica helps companies in the food and beverage, personal care and supplement industries tell their stories and strengthen their businesses through high-quality content, education, data and insights and events. Jessica is passionate about making healthy living a reality for all people and serves on the advisory board for Protect Our Breasts, a nonprofit that raises awareness about breast cancer prevention on high school and college campuses. She believes that a good meal, great conversation and meaningful connections are the ingredients for happiness. You can catch her running or making a mess in the kitchen.

Carlotta Mast

Market Leader & SVP of Content, New Hope Network

As market leader, Carlotta Mast sets the strategy and guides the growth and impact for New Hope Network, the leading events and information services company for the natural & organic products industry. She also leads the content strategy and team for the Informa Markets Health & Nutrition group, which includes New Hope Network. Her team produces the content and conference programming for Natural Products Expos, NBJ Summit, Nutrition Capital Network, Esca Bona, Natural Foods Merchandiser, newhope.com, Nutrition Business Journal, NEXT Forecast, SupplySide, Natural Products Insider, Vitafoods and Vitafoods Insights. With 20 years of experience, Carlotta has her finger on the pulse of new health, wellness and natural product trends and the forces shaping consumer attitudes and behaviors. Carlotta is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences and has been interviewed about the natural products industry, regulatory issues and market performance by media outlets including The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, NPR, ABC News, BusinessWeek and many others. Carlotta serves on the board and is the past board president of Naturally Boulder, a 1,600-member trade group with the mission of nurturing community, leadership and innovation in the Colorado natural products industry. As Naturally Boulder’s board president, Carlotta helped bring the Naturally Boulder model to other communities and establish Naturally Bay Area, Naturally Austin, Naturally Chicago, Naturally San Diego, Naturally Los Angeles and Naturally New York City; and she now serves on the board of directors for the new Naturally Network. In addition, Carlotta is a co-founder of the J.E.D.I Collaborative, which was created to foster justice, equity, diversity and inclusion within the natural & organic products industry, and she serves on the board of the Climate Collaborative, whose mission is to leverage the power of the natural products industry to reverse climate change. In 2013, Carlotta co-founded a paleo snack company called Wholly Bites, which hit the market well before Whole Foods Market and other retailers began adding paleo sections to their stores. Wholly Bites was sold to 1908 Brands in 2016.

Ryan Pintado-Vertner

Principal & Founder, Smoketown, LLC

Ryan Pintado-Vertner is the Founder & Principal at Smoketown Consulting, a growth shop that helps visionaries build brands with more traction, fewer pivots, and stronger ROI. Smoketown combines strategy, design, storytelling and grit to give entrepreneurs and investors an end-to-end partner in category disruption. In addition to leading Smoketown, Ryan is a fifth generation innovator with a knack for uncovering extraordinary ideas. His 20-year track record spans the social impact and CPG sectors, including 12 years leading brands at Fortune 500 companies like The Clorox Company and Conagra Brands. Most recently, he was director of disruptive innovation for the Hillshire Farm portfolio at Tyson Foods.

Derek Azevedo

Executive Vice President, Bowles Farming Company

Derek Azevedo is the Executive Vice President of Bowles Farming Company. Prior to joining Bowles in early 2017, Derek spent 12 years working with farmers throughout the Central Valley as a business development representative for the world’s largest tomato processor. Derek graduated from Kansas State University, and currently resides in Gustine.

Bridget Bueche

Independent Consultant/Holistic Executive Chef, Bridget Bueche Consulting

Today, as an independent consultant, Bridget collaborates directly with farmers, regenerative~organic~non-GMO food brands, healthcare providers, home appliance retailers & manufacturers to innovatively enhance brand visions. You’ll often find her crafting experiences for her clients that come alive for their clientele. She teaches individuals how to gain the desired skills needed for improved health, sighting personal lifestyle goals, attaining cooking/ kitchen efficiencies and becoming the best purchasing agents for value, quality, taste, as well as identifying products that provide overall land and human benefits. Gaining these skills gives freedom of choice, wealth in health, buying confidence that lives long beyond the social media marketing pressures and the trap of the grocery store mindset. Organic, regenerative, sustainable food is a hot topic right now, but it’s something Bridget has focused on throughout her 30 year cooking career. And in that time, she has developed a reputation for anticipating future food trends, which allows her to provide on-trend recommendations to her consultancy clients. Bridget’s journey continually leads her to explore regenerative food systems — where our food comes from, how it’s grown, how it’s crafted, processed, and how it’s repurposed. In this spirit, she is launching Steward & Maven, a new whole grain product offering, regeneratively farmed and processed, from field to kitchen.

Jessica Shade

Director of Science Programs, The Organic Center

Dr. Jessica Shade is the Director of Science Programs at The Organic Center, where she directs projects associated with communicating and conducting research related to organic agriculture. During her tenure at The Organic Center Dr. Shade has collaborated on a number of diverse research programs ranging from applied solutions to on-farm challenges to methods for improving environmental impacts of agriculture. Some of her most recent collaborations include projects aimed at improving on-farm soil health, mitigating agricultural contributions to climate change, increasing on-farm biodiversity. Dr. Shade has extensive experience leading groups of diverse stakeholders to successfully develop unified visions and project goals. She leads the Center’s signature conference event, Organic Confluences, which brings together policy makers, researchers, farmers, industry members, and other non-profits to address and overcome challenges faced by the organic sector. Dr. Shade has been honored for her environmental accomplishments by the Audubon Women in Conservation through their Women Greening Food Special Recognition, the Ecological Society of America Student Section and Union of Concerned Scientists through their Ecoservice Award, and is a Switzer Environmental Fellow. She received her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Betsy McGinn

CEO, McGinn eComm

Betsy is the co-author of The Amazon Roadmap: How Innovative Brands are Reinventing the Path to Market, the quintessential start-to-finish guide for brands who want to launch, recalibrate, or optimize their business on Amazon and ensure continued growth on this powerful platform. As Seventh Generation’s first eCommerce channel director, Betsy pioneered the company’s innovative eComm strategy and created a thriving multimillion-dollar partnership with Amazon and other key online retailers. Since founding McGinn eComm in 2014, Betsy has worked with hundreds of natural and specialty brands to establish and strengthen their presence on Amazon. From product development and profitability analysis to guiding organizational change, McGinn eComm leads clients through every step of this complex channel, helping to ensure a successful and profitable online businesses. With more than a decade of eCommerce experience, Betsy is a thought-leader and regular speaker at workshops and conferences globally.

Sylvia Tawse

Director of Communications, Charlotte’s Web; Founder, Fresh Ideas Group

FIG founder Sylvia R. Tawse has conducted national campaigns for dozens of brands. Her “healthier-living-for-all” commitment is evident in her nonprofit work, from Chef Ann Cooper’s LunchBox.org and Salad Bar Project, to years of work for the Boulder County Farmers Market. Sylvia was an instrumental force in the “Keep Organic Organic” public awareness campaign for the Organic Trade Association, which resulted in the highest number of letters received by the USDA, all 280,000+ of them. Sylvia has firsthand knowledge of the food industry, from the ground up. Most recently, Sylvia joined Charlotte’s Web, a leading CBD and hemp brand, as Director of Communications. She and her husband also own Pastures of Plenty Farm, a 32-acre organic farm in Longmont, Colorado.

How do YOU Spark Change? Join us in a casual networking setting as we partner with industry leaders to address the pressing topics of today: How to lead a mission-driven business, create products that fit modern health needs, and practice agricultural methods that are healing to the earth. Discover partners and peers every week that can help you on your Spark Change journey. This week, join The Vitamin Shoppe and Vitamin Angels to learn about what it means to be a purpose-driven company. We'll discuss how they have built a successful cause-marketing partnership over the last 13 years that engages vendors, employees, and customers. We will also hear about how they have navigated this challenging year, creating new and exciting opportunities through bi-annual fundraising campaigns.

11:00am – 12:00pm EDT | 8:00 – 9:00am PDT

Spark Your Day Meetup with Vitamin Angels

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First came a pandemic. Then came an economic downturn. Then came … a health revolution. There’s never been a more important moment for the natural products industry to step up and lead, as consumers not only seek, they demand, safe and effective health and wellness solutions. Join us as we explore the trends, opportunities and conversations driving the modern health movement.

12:00 – 5:30 p.m. EDT | 9:00 - 2:30 p.m. PDT

Modern Health Community Event

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How do YOU Spark Change? Join us in a casual networking setting every week as we partner with industry leaders and our peers to address the pressing topics of today. This week, hear from Climate Collaborative about what's next in climate action. This next year will be critical for building a comprehensive global climate response, responding to COVID-19 and planning for an interrelated economic recovery. Join this session to hear updates from the Climate Collaborative and leading companies on how you can get involved in solutions and share experiences with climate leadership.

11:00am – 12:00pm EDT | 8:00 – 9:00am PDT

Spark Your Day Meetup with Climate Collaborative

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Join cookbook author and former Gourmet magazine editor Kate Winslow as she creates an all organic lunch, followed by a panel discussion featuring leading voices in the organic and regenerative agriculture community. Maria Balice, Applegate senior director of communications and strategic partnerships, Dr. Jessica Shade, director of science Programs at The Organic Center and Diana Rodgers, founder of the Sustainable Dish and co-author of Sacred Cow, will discuss how organic and regenerative agriculture can lead the way in building better health for people and the planet.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT

Lunch & Learn: Organic and regenerative agriculture: The pathway to a healthier you and planet

Paid Content

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How do YOU Spark Change? Join us in a casual networking setting as we partner with industry leaders to address the pressing topics of today: How to lead a mission-driven business, create products that fit modern health needs, and practice agricultural methods that are healing to the earth. Discover partners and peers every week that can help you on your Spark Change journey. This week, hear from the Organic Farming Research Foundation and the Rodale Institute. These outstanding organizations are dedicated to advancing organic agriculture through scientific research, consumer education and farmer training. Hear from Jeff Moyer and Brise Tencer about how they're helping to create a more resilient and sustainable agricultural system that values healthy environments and healthy people.

11:00am – 12:00pm EDT | 8:00 – 9:00am PDT

Spark Your Day Meetup with OFRF & Rodale

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RSVP for this Lunch & Learn AND a free bag of full-size products

Today, CPGs have a much greater responsibility than selling products. But what does it take to get consumers to buy into your vision … and take action? We’re in one of the most important moments in history and every consumer deserves to have a voice in democratizing health. Join New Hope Network and Unilever as we explore how human health and environmental health are intimately intertwined and why climate is a fundamental human rights issue that requires action now. This session will motivate you to mobilize your customers around supporting regenerative practices and proactive policy, and the next steps needed for us to collectively spark change in 2020—and beyond.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m. EDT | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PDT

Lunch & Learn: Mobilizing consumers around climate action

Paid Content

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How do YOU Spark Change? Join us in a casual networking setting as we partner with industry leaders to address the pressing topics of today: How to lead a mission-driven business, create products that fit modern health needs, and practice agricultural methods that are healing to the earth. Discover partners and peers every week that can help you on your Spark Change journey. This week, hear from organic industry leaders Gary Hirshberg, Katrina Staves, Tripp Hughes and Sarah Bird. With tough federal organic standards in place, purchasing organic ensures transparency from farmers and food companies. Join companies and industry leaders actively cultivating better consumer understanding of what being organic means and the environmental and health benefits that choosing organic provides.

11:00am – 12:00pm EDT | 8:00 – 9:00am PDT

Spark Your Day Meetup with Organic Voices

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Today, the natural products industry is focused on rebuilding, repairing and replenishing our natural resources through ecological practices. Organic and regenerative agriculture has the power to create the future we want for generations to come, but we have to act now. Join the Spark Change community for a proactive gathering of industry influencers committed to organic growth and innovation.

12:00 – 5:30 p.m. EDT | 9:00 - 2:30 p.m. PDT

Organic & Regenerative Agriculture Community Event

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Check out the Community Event Agenda here

Spark Change

We’ve come a long, long way together! Save the date and join us as we celebrate the Spark Change Journey with community activations, networking and New Hope Network’s notorious Pitch Slam event. On day one of our Spark Celebration, you’ll hear from some of the industry’s most innovative emerging entrepreneurs and our captivating keynote speaker, plus we’ll recognize industry leaders and changemakers who are proof of the power of positivity and have made 2020 a transformative year.

12:00-5:30 p.m. EDT | 9:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m. PDT

Spark Celebration Culminating Event Day 1

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Check out the Community Event Agenda here

Jessie Shafer RD Director of Influence & Health Education, New Hope Network

Jessie Shafer RD

Director of Influence & Health Education, New Hope Network

Jessie is a registered dietitian and the Director of Influence & Health Education at New Hope Network. For the last two decades, Jessie has worked in food and health publishing, holding the roles of editor-in-chief of Delicious Living magazine and senior nutrition editor for Diabetic Living magazine, and during which time she has managed the creation of more than 200 cookbooks, magazines, special-interest publications and nutrition articles. Jessie is a frequent contributing writer for national health publications, such as Oxygen and Clean Eating, and she writes nutrition- and product-based analysis for New Hope Network. Jessie earned her journalism degree from Northwestern University and her RD credentials through Kansas State University and the Wellness Workdays Dietetic Internship. Jessie and her husband love to ride their bikes around Colorado—now with two kids in tow—and share a deep appreciation for good food.

Adrienne Smith

Senior Food Business Reporter, New Hope Network

Adrienne Smith is the Senior Food Business Reporter at New Hope Network, where she writes about the natural products market. Prior to this she spent more than ten years working for the Spanish Ministry of Commerce, writing about the food and beverage industry in Spain and Europe with an emphasis on helping agri-food companies develop, promote and export their products.

Amanda Hartt

Lead Market Analyst, New Hope Network

Amanda Hartt, Lead Market Analyst at New Hope’s NEXT Data & Insights. Creative and passionate researcher and insights whiz, Amanda enjoys helping brands innovate and support the creation of healthier, responsibly produced and manufactured products. She brings a personal passion for regenerative agriculture, equitable supply chains, and innovative solutions to changing how business is done. As lead analyst for New Hope’s NEXT Data & Insights, Amanda designs research programs that help businesses better understand evolving consumer trends that both support and drive the evolving natural and organic consumer products industry.

Jessie Shafer RD Director of Influence & Health Education, New Hope Network

Chris McGurrin Manager, Influencer Programs, New Hope Network

Chris McGurrin

Manager, Influencer Programs

Working to inspire health for people and planet, Chris manages New Hope Network's influencer programs. In his role, he provides natural products industry-supportive content, resources and brand partnership opportunities for responsible health and wellness influencers and supports brands in their pursuit of strong influencer relationships. Chris also manages the NEXTY Awards, an industry-facing awards program which recognizes the most innovating, inspiring, integrity and impact-driven brands and products. On New Hope Network's content team, Chris also produces sustainability-focused content on topics such as organic and regenerative agriculture, upcycling and sustainable packaging. This includes Informa Health and Nutrition’s Sustainable Packaging Toolkit, a comprehensive resource designed to support brands in their pursuit of sustainable packaging. In his free time, you can find Chris cooking in the kitchen or running, climbing, biking and skiing in the mountains.

Jessie Shafer RD

Director of Influence & Health Education, New Hope Network

Spark Celebration Culminating Event

November 12 & 13

And the winner is ... On day two of the Spark Celebration, we’ll announce our Pitch Slam winner! Plus, stay tuned for some surprises we have in store for our Spark community as we wrap up the year’s activations—and look ahead to 2021.

12:00-2:00 p.m. EDT | 9:00-11:00 a.m. PDT

Spark Celebration Culminating Event Day 2

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Check out the Community Event Agenda here

Spark Change

Community Event

Lunch & Learn

Spark Your Day Meetup

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Thank you to our Sponsors for sparking change!

Sponsors

By Informa Markets

Innovation For Good Title Sponsor

Product Discovery Zone (PDZ)

Open through December 31

Founder & CEO, Grounded Growth

Over the past 20 years, Sara has developed deep expertise at the intersections of agriculture, climate change and corporate sustainability. She has spent a lifetime building bridges between unlikely allies by allowing each side to get to the same place for different reasons. From 1999-2003, Sara worked as a legislative staffer on agricultural, environmental and other issues in the U.S. Senate. She drafted legislation that would have paid farmers for adopting what are now called regenerative farming practices in exchange for measurement information provided to USDA about how much carbon was stored in the soil. This information would have laid the groundwork for farmers to be paid for the benefits they provided in fighting climate change. After her time on the Hill, Sara continued to build support for regenerative farming by building political and policy alliances between farmers, environmentalists and Republicans on the issue of climate change for the national non-profit, Environmental Defense Fund. More recently, she worked as a sustainability consultant for U.S. national farm associations and global agribusiness companies in the private sector. In late 2017, Sara launched Grounded Growth, LLC — a unique, online platform that provides the resources, strategy and connections needed to bring regenerative agriculture to market in a way that helps restore consumers, the planet, food producers and farmers. Grounded Growth is creating a pathway for a practical, outcomes-based version of regenerative agriculture to come to market. Grounded Growth’s private online website creates a place where experience is shared and trust can be built. Through it, Sara facilitates change by providing educational resources, emerging market intelligence, valuable introductions and business development content in a unique cross supply-chain community forum.

Sara Harper

Hear from Carlotta Mast, and special community guests, as we wrap up the day’s exciting Organic & Regenerative Community Event!

5:25 – 5:30 p.m. EDT | 1:25 – 1:30 p.m. PDT

That's a Wrap on Organic & Regenerative!

Derek Axten Owner, Axten Family Farms

Derek Azevedo Executive Vice President, Bowles Farming Company

Owner, Axten Family Farms

Derek Axten owns and operates a diversified grain farm in Southern Saskatchewan with his family. He has implemented innovative ideas to improve sustainability and profitability of the family farm. While attending many workshops and conferences with his wife, they met many farmers and scientists who taught them to change the way they looked at farming. This led to their journey towards soil health and regenerating their farmland. Learning about soil biology and how soil functions, has renewed their passion for farming, and improved the farm’s productivity. Derek operates a no-till farm and has improved their soil health by seeding intercrops, companion crops and cover crops. Increasing the farm’s plant diversity and intensity is feeding the soil biology, which in turn is regenerating the land. Improving soil health has allowed him to reduce synthetic inputs, increase water efficiency and build organic matter. He has also implemented controlled traffic farming, composting, and grazing as part of their farming system. Axten Farm’s latest addition is a food grade seed cleaning plant. The next step, which is currently in progress, is a flour mill. Derek wants to add value to the farm’s grains by selling them directly to food companies that value the way the crops are raised. He wants to focus on growing food and not commodities.

Derek Axten

Derek Azevedo

Executive Vice President, Bowles Farming Company

Marcus McCauley Farm Manager, McCauley Family Farms; Founder & CEO, Foremother Foods, LLC

Avi Garbow Environmental Advocate, Patagonia

Britt Lundgren Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture, Stonyfield Farm

Avi Garbow

Environmental Advocate, Patagonia

Avi is a nationally-recognized environmental leader, lawyer, and advocate, with decades of experience tackling the most critical threats to our air, water, and lands. Honored by the National Law Journal as an Energy and Environmental Trailblazer, Avi currently serves as Patagonia’s Environmental Advocate, helping to sharpen and strengthen the company’s voice and vision on environmental and conservation issues as Patagonia pursues its mission: being in business to save the home planet. Nominated by President Obama and confirmed with the unanimous consent of the Senate, Avi served as General Counsel at EPA from 2013 to 2017 – the longest to hold that position - and prior to that served as the Agency’s Deputy General Counsel. Avi’s service as EPA General Counsel occurred during the most advanced efforts of the federal government to address climate change, and Avi played important roles in developing, implementing, and defending key domestic and international climate change strategies. Avi also helped lead the environmental practice of a major international law firm, and was a distinguished federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice. Avi received the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Public Service from the University of Virginia School of Law, obtained a Masters Degree is Marine Affairs, and serves on the Board of Trustees for Rare, an international conservation organization, and on the Board of the Organic Trade Association.

Deb Eschmeyer Founder & Partner, Original Strategies

Claire Koch

Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

Claire Koch Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

Claire Koch

Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

Claire Koch

Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

Bridget Bueche

Independent Consultant/Holistic Executive Chef, Bridget Bueche Consulting

Claire Koch

Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

Claire Koch

Marketing Manager, New Hope Network

PDZ open through December 31

Britt Lundgren

Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture, Stonyfield Farm

Britt Lundgren is the Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture at Stonyfield, an organic yogurt company based in Londonderry, NH. She has over a decade of experience working to advance agricultural sustainability through policy and supply chain initiatives. Prior to Stonyfield, Britt was an agricultural policy specialist for Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. She holds a Master of Science in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from Tufts University. Britt serves on the boards of the Organic Trade Association and the Sustainable Food Lab, as an advisor to the New Hampshire Conservation Law Foundation, AGree, and Food Policy Action, and is a past board member of the Sustainable Food Trade Association. She has worked on several organic farms, and is an avid fiddle player.

Jessica Shade

Director of Science Programs, The Organic Center

Britt Lundgren Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture, Stonyfield Farm

Avi Garbow Environmental Advocate, Patagonia

Jessica Shade Director of Science Programs, The Organic Center

Debra Eschmeyer

Founder & Partner, Original Strategies

A social entrepreneur with a relentless passion, Deb has dedicated her career to building a better social contract. Deb is the Senior Fellow and Head of Innovation at the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University. She is also a Founder and Partner of Original Strategies and serves on the Board of Frontier Co-op. With a focus on policy and communications strategy, she advises organizations on how to build paths to transform our health and planet. She most recently served as the Vice President of Communications & Community Affairs for Danone North America, the largest public benefit corporation and largest Certified B Corp in the World. Deb led the public benefit strategy to help deliver on the mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible. She oversaw brand PR, strategy, programming, internal communications, and external communications for their portfolio of 20 brands. Deb served in the Obama White House as Executive Director of Let’s Move!, a public health initiative created by First Lady Michelle Obama, which focused on supporting healthy kids and families. She also was President Obama’s Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition focused on improving the federal nutrition landscape. Prior to serving in the Obama Administration, Deb co-founded FoodCorps, a national nonprofit that places AmeriCorps service members into schools to connect kids to healthy food. While growing FoodCorps into over 500 schools in 18 states, she started an organic fruit and vegetable farm on 22 acres with her husband in her hometown in rural Ohio. Fortune and Food & Wine selected Deb as one of “The Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink” permanently changing the way we eat and how we think about food. Deb is a recipient of the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award and the Xavier University Magis Award.

Shauna Sadowski Vice President of Sustainability, Simple Mills

Check out the hottest new products from innovative Colorado companies! Separate Registration Required

3:00 – 6:00pm EDT | 12:00 – 3:00 pm PDT

Natural Boulder’s Innovation Showcase, October 29

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Partner Events

3-4pm EDT | 12-1pm PDT

Connect and Learn About Misfits Market

Misfits Market is an online grocery store, except one that specializes in rescuing food that is unnecessarily thrown away. We source high-quality organic produce & CPG items that have a few quirks—potatoes that are shaped like your favorite celebrity, excess tortilla chips, package changes, and carrots that fell in love and got twisted together. Join us for an introduction to Misfits Market, a word from our Founder & CEO followed by a Q&A session with Daniel Litwin, VP Procurement & Brandie Miller, Director of Procurement.

Your registration includes access to Naturally Boulder's 16th annual Pitch Slam & Autumn Awards, broadcast 6:00 – 8:00pm EDT/3:00 – 5:00 PDT

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Marcus McCauley

Farm Manager, McCauley Family Farms; Founder & CEO, Foremother Foods, LLC

Marcus McCauley is a farmer and founder of Picaflor Live-Culture, a fermented condiment brand based in Boulder, Colorado. He runs McCauley Family Farm, a 40-acre holistic and regenerative whole-farm system that produces unique peppers, pasture-raised chicken and lamb, and other seasonal produce. He is a leader in the regenerative farm movement and an advocate for sustainable agriculture practices and collaborative bioregional food production.

Join two bright leaders in the food co-op movement, Heidi Traore, Business Development Manager for National Co+op Grocers (NCG), and Melissa Cohen, General Manager for the Isla Vista Food Co-op to learn how food co-ops are contributing stronger, more vibrant local communities throughout the United States.

12:00 – 1:00pm EDT | 9:00 – 10:00am PDT

Lunch & Learn with Food Co-ops: Using people-power to grow good

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Check out the hottest new products from innovative Colorado companies! Separate Registration Required

Your registration includes access to Naturally Boulder's 16th annual Pitch Slam & Autumn Awards, broadcast 6:00 – 8:00pm EDT/3:00 – 5:00 PDT

3:00 – 6:00pm EDT | 12:00 – 3:00 pm PDT

Natural Boulder’s Innovation Showcase, October 29

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Naturally Boulder’s annual competition challenges entrepreneurs to pitch their young companies to an online audience of industry legends and up-and-comers! Separate Registration Required

6:00 – 8:00pm EDT | 3:00 – 5:00 pm PDT

Naturally Boulder’s 16th annual Pitch Slam & Autumn Awards, October 29

Your registration includes access to Naturally Boulder's Innovation Showcase virtual trade show, 3:00 – 6:00pm EDT/12:00 – 3:00 pm PDT

Click to Register

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