Maggie Monast
Maggie works with agriculture financial institutions, food and agriculture companies, land grant universities, farmers and more to create an agricultural system that generates climate stability, clean water, and secure farmer livelihoods. Monast works to quantify the farm financial impacts of climate-smart practice adoption, collaborates with major financial institutions and food companies to develop financial products and other solutions, and identifies policy solutions to facilitate investment and risk management that supports climate-smart agriculture. Maggie has testified to Congress on the agriculture finance sector’s role in reducing climate-related financial risk and serves as co-chair of Field to Market’s Innovative Finance Working Group. Maggie also has extensive experience with corporate collaborations, including guiding the development of the first absolute supply chain greenhouse gas reduction goal by a major livestock company, and collaborating with an agricultural technology and finance company to launch a loan product with a reduced interest rate for farmers who meet environmental standards. Read EDF’s reports and blogs on agriculture finance here: https://business.edf.org/farm-finance/.
Maggie began working with EDF in 2011. She holds a master’s degree in Environmental Management with a focus on economics from Duke University and a Bachelors in Economics and Political Science from Tufts University. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two children, two dogs and many chickens, where she enjoys gardening and running.
Mary Obasi
Katherine Helm
Kimberley Nixon
Kimberley Nixon is Founder and Managing Partner at Open Venture Capital (OVC), an early stage venture capital fund. The fund invests in sport, health and wellness brands that have the ability to expand from product to platform via a unique product, marketing and/or community engagement approach. Open Venture Capital began as Open Venture Studio, and for several founders we continue to invest time and resources to build a clear value proposition and a path to scalability before investing capital.
Kimberley is an Operator turned VC. Kim holds deep expertise in leading digital transformations and launching new products to market. Over the course of her 20-year career Kimberley has been entrusted by her clients, boards and executive leadership alike to deliver against key strategic objectives tied to growth optimization and operational excellence. Her work has spanned startup to billion dollar organizations, and across several international markets for companies including Under Armour, Manduka Yoga, Health House, Headspace and Tonal.
Jennifer Simpson
Cristina Rohr
Cristina Rohr a Managing Director of Investments with S2G Ventures. Cristina’s portfolio work ranges from agriculture focused investments in genetics, crop protection, soil health and digital/IOT to consumer facing brands.
Cristina has nearly 10 years of experience in sourcing, executing, managing and exiting venture and private equity investments. Before joining S2G Ventures, Cristina was a private equity investor with the Edgewater Funds in Chicago and, prior to that, with First Reserve in London, where she focused on leveraged buyout investments in the natural resources industry. Cristina also previously worked for Citigroup Investment Banking Division in London.
Cristina graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with a double major in Mathematical and Computational Sciences and Economics. She earned her MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.