HORIZON21c Speakers 2018
Bethany Doerfloer, MS, RDN
Clinical Dietitian, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Bethany Doerfler MS, RDN is a clinical research dietitian who specializes in lifestyle management of digestive diseases including motility disorders, celiac, and eosinophilic esophagitis. She currently practices as part of a multidisciplinary team of Gastroenterologists, nurses and psychologists in the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern Medicine. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago. She received her bachelor of science in nutrition from Michigan State University and a masters of science in nutritional epidemiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has lectured throughout the U.S. on digestive health to both public and academic audiences. Her work has been featured in Shape Magazine, Women’s Health, Prevention, Gluten Free and More as well as the Today’s Show.
Rob Dongoski
Partner, Agribusiness, Ernst & Young LLP
Rob Dongoski leads EY’s Agribusiness sector globally and focuses on strategy, transformation and M&A for many of our clients in the Agribusiness sector. As EY’s global leader, he is at the forefront of industry issues and spends time with our clients globally. He also serves as the lead partner on several global accounts ranging from grain processing, meat processing, and seed. Rob’s experience includes leading a number of clients in the design and implementation of the appropriate operating model for their business. This includes various functions across strategy/portfolio management, marketing/merchandising, operational areas and back-office efficiency.
Rob has also been involved in designing transformation and integration strategies for his clients that have recently acquired new companies or needed to more effectively integrate previous acquisitions. In over 15 years with EY, Rob has served companies such as Land O’ Lakes, CHS, Tyson Foods, Monsanto, ADM, Hillshire Brands, Kellogg, Cargill, Ingredion, The Andersons, Beam Global, and Kraft. This client base and his role as the senior advisory partner on several other clients have enabled him to become a knowledge leader on matters of critical importance to global and market-leading companies. Rob spent earlier parts of his career in EY offices in St. Louis and Boston, where he was promoted to partner in 2000. Rob moved to Chicago in 1997 after working for Fidelity Investments. He volunteers at 1871, leads EY’s Midwest Veterans Network, co-leads our recruiting at Indiana University, and is a Board member at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and Member of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Dave Donnan
Senior Partner, A.T. Kearney
David Donnan is an accomplished business leader and consultant with significant global experience in the agriculture, food and retail industries. With a passion for pressing global issues like hunger relief, and the expertise to match, he brings first-rate knowledge to every client and speaking opportunity. During his career Dave has managed operating companies, run food plants and consulted to leading global retail and consumer product companies in technology and supply chain strategies, brand growth and market positioning. He is a senior partner with A.T. Kearney, a global management-consulting firm, and a senior member of the global food and beverage team. A champion of innovation in the food sector, he also works as a mentor with many food startups.
Dave actively speaks and writes on topics vital to the global agriculture, food and beverage, retail, and restaurant industries. He has presented at a variety of industry conferences for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, USDA, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Food Marketing Institute, Consumer Goods Forum, National Restaurant Association, Specialty Foods Association, U.S. Soybean Export Council, Farm Foundation, and Retail Council of Canada. He has also appeared on Bloomberg TV and is quoted in various business journals, including Business Week, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. Dave is an advisory board member of the Global Midwest Alliance, Here Foods and Good Food Accelerator. He also serves on the boards of Rubicon Organics, Family Farmed, and The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dave lives in Chicago with his wife Karen.
Stephen B. Hanauer, MD, FACG
Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine and Medical Director, Digestive Health Center
Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine
Dr. Hanauer is a board certified internist and gastroenterologist, and is the Clifford Joseph Barborka Professor of Medicine and Medical Director of the Digestive Health Center at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Hanauer is a Fellow and past President of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the former Chair of the American Gastroenterological Association’s Inflammation, Immunology, and IBD Section. He is also a prior member of the Gastroenterology Specialty Board of the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member and former-Chairman of the International Organization for Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Among his many honors, Dr. Hanauer received the ACG’s Fiterman Foundation Joseph B. Kirsner Award in Gastroenterology and the Janssen Award for Clinical Excellence. He has served as a member of the U.S. FDA Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee since 1987, he Chaired the Committee from 1998-2000, and he presently serves the Center for Drug Development and Research as a Special Consultant defining new guidelines for clinical evaluation of IBD patients.
Sanjeev Krishnan
Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director, S2G Ventures
Sanjeev is Chief Investment Officer and managing director of S2G Ventures, and he has been with the firm since its inception. Sanjeev has nearly 20 years of experience in sourcing, executing, managing and exiting venture and private equity investments, including a focus in agriculture and food companies. As Managing Director, Sanjeev is active in developing investments and managing portfolio companies including, serving on many portfolio company boards. His portfolio work ranges from genetics, crop protection, soil health, digital/IOT, crop insurance, merchandising, indoor agriculture, novel flavor, and ingredients, new protein development, unique processors and brands that will feed this changing consumer. He is passionate about the role of innovation, entrepreneurship, markets, and system investing as a theory of change.
Sanjeev has worked in the intersection of sustainability, technology and health in many regions, including Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. He has invested over $500 mm in venture and growth stage firms throughout his career. Sanjeev began investing as a co-founder of the life sciences practice of the IFC, the $20 billion private investment arm of the World Bank. His previous investment roles include CLSA Capital Partners, Global Environment Fund, World Bank Group’s IFC and JPMorgan. Sanjeev is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Linda Mallers
CEO & President, FarmLogix
Linda Mallers is the CEO and President of FarmLogix, launching the business as an online CSA from her kitchen table in 2012. Today Farmlogix’ technology manages Farm-To-Institution programs in four regions of the country and engages diverse distribution, corporate, nonprofit and government entities in its efforts. The company has two technology platforms: Open Fields, the country’s largest search engine for local and sustainable foods, and Aggrega8, an e-commerce platform that runs statewide aggregation food systems. To-date FarmLogix has placed $20M+ of farm-identified products into local economies, and whiles its search engine has scrubbed $6B of foodservice purchasing data. It has run Farm-To-School programs for large urban to small rural districts, and is Aramark’s enterprise solution for local and sustainable reporting and analytics.
FarmLogix was a winner of the 2013 Chicago Innovation Awards, the 2016 Food to Market Challenge, and was featured in Google’s 2018 Earth Week Podcast. Linda is a frequent public speaker, having spoken at the White House and, most recently, at a small USDA group discussion hosted by Secretary Purdue . She received her BA in English from UW-Madison and did her graduate work in Computer Science at the University of Chicago.
Ron Meeusen
Managing Director, Cultivian Sandbox
Ron Meeusen, Ph.D. is a Managing Director of Cultivian Sandbox and co-founder and Managing Partner of Cultivian Ventures. Ron has over 30 years of experience in bringing new technologies and products to market. He has led research and development for major corporations in agricultural chemicals, field crop and vegetable genetics and breeding, animal health, novel foods, and industrial materials. His successful projects include the world’s first field trial of a genetically engineered crop trait in 1986, development and launch of one of the first insect and herbicide-resistant corn hybrids in 1996, the introduction of a trans-fat free canola oil, and development of dozens of new varieties of field and vegetable crops on three continents.
Ron has been a frequent speaker at conferences, a consultant to Federal policy on biotechnology regulatory issues, and active in industry trade groups. Prior to forming Cultivian Ron led the expansion of the biotechnology research and development program of Dow AgroSciences, and founded a successful biopharmaceutical company, Immuneworks, Inc. Ron represents Cultivian on the board of directors of AbCelex Technologies, Agrivida (Board Chair), enEvolv, Proterro, Rivertop Renewables, Vestaron, and Virgin Plants. He was also a member of the board of directors of Allylix, Aratana Therapeutics and Divergence, Inc. Ron holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in plant cell biology, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in plant physiology.
Mark Rainey
Chief Marketing Officer, Archer Daniels Midland Company
Mark Rainey is chief brand officer for Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM). In that role, he oversees marketing, marketing research, consumer science marketing and sensory science marketing, contributing to stakeholder value and demand creation for one of the industry’s broadest and most on-trend ingredient portfolios.
Alpana Singh
Master Sommelier & Host of ‘Check Please!’
