Chris Goldthwait(retired) began his career with the Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in 1973. He served in several FAS jobs including Agricultural Attaché in Germany (1978-82) and Agricultural Counselor in Nigeria (1982-86). In 1991 he became USDA General Sales Manager/FAS Associate Administrator. Serving in this position until 1999, he managed all the Department's food aid, export credit, market development, commodity analysis and export subsidy programs. This was a widely varying portfolio of $5 to $10 billion annually. In 1999 he was selected as the first career FAS Foreign Service officer to become an ambassador, serving as U.S. ambassador to Chad from late 1999 until early 2004, when he left government service and founded his consulting business.
Ms. Habgood works with a diverse international client base to design innovative financial solutions. Ms. Habgood has negotiated hundreds of millions of dollars in debt financing and equity for investors, and has visited and performed due diligence and worked on financings in more than 70 countries. Prior to Delphos, Ms. Habgood was a senior project finance officer at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and a corporate finance banker specializing in secured lending and leveraged leasing for Chase Manhattan Bank, NA. She received her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Mitchell leads GCNF’s global mission to ensure that children around the world have nutritious, locally-sourced meals at school. Ms. Mitchell previously served in senior leadership roles at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UN World Food Program and the US Department of Agriculture. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Michigan State University.
Mr. Sherblom was a founder of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and served as its President. He was also President and Chairman of TSI Corporation. As founding Managing Partner of Seaflower Ventures, Mr. Sherblom helped create six biotechnology and healthcare companies and was an early investor in at least 12 more. Jim holds a BA from Yale, MBA from Harvard and Masters in Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Andover Newton Theological School.
A Dutch-American agricultural economist with over fifteen years of agriculture industry experience. Her expertise ranges from strategic market analysis and product development to sales, marketing and distribution strategy. She has lived and worked abroad- three years in Amsterdam and six years in Beijing- contributing to her robust global experience, cultural competence, and network. Today, Vassilos utilizes her global cross-functional experience from working for the USDA and John Deere to support the growth of sustainability-focused agriculture businesses. She has a BS and MS in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and University of California, Davis,
Mr. Villers led the company’s growth from a small, two-person operation in 1996 to a global company today with sales and operations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Villers also founded Computervision in 1969, an early pioneer in Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing, and Automatix in 1980.
Before joining GrainPro, Dey was a senior official with the UN World Food Program ultimately leading the US operation. Previously, he served as Senior Advisor to the US Ambassador to the United Nations at the State Department, spearheading efforts to improve the lives of refugees and internally displaced persons.
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