Food Forever Solutions Summit

Carla is best known as a former co-host of ABC’s Emmy award winning, popular lifestyle series “The Chew.” She currently appears on ABC’s Strahan and Sara.  She won over audiences when she competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and “Top Chef: All Stars” and shared her philosophy to always cook with love. Carla believes food connects us all, and she strives to communicate this through her work, her cooking, and in her daily interactions with others. Born in Nashville, TN, Carla grew up surrounded by soul food. When the time came for her to select her career path, she first opted for a business route – she graduated from Howard University's Business School and worked as an accountant for two years – before deciding to switch gears to work as a runway model. It was during that time, as she traveled (and ate) her way through Europe for a few years, that she truly realized her deep-rooted passion for food could be her career path. Today, she is a trained chef who has worked in several professional restaurant kitchens in and around the Washington, D.C. area and is an accomplished television personality and author. On the literary front, Carla has combined her loves of food, people, and culture to write several cookbooks. Her latest cookbook, Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, was published in 2018, landing on annual "Best Cookbook" lists across the country and receiving an NAACP Image Awards nomination. She has two previous cookbooks - Carla’s Comfort Food: Favorite Dishes from Around the World and Cooking with Love: Comfort Food That Hugs You. Carla is very active with a number of charities and not-for-profit organizations that reflect her passion for causes close to her heart. Such organizations include Helen Keller International, an organization that works to improve the lives of those with blindness, and to prevent the causes and consequences of blindness, poor health, and malnutrition. She is also the Culinary Ambassador for Sweet Home Cafe at the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. where she works to bring attention to and connect the experience of moving through the museum with the stories and history that inspire the food in the cafe. Carla lives in D.C. with her husband, Matthew Lyons.

Chellie Johnson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1955, the youngest of four children. Chellie has worked hard throughout her life - as a mother, as a farmer, as a small business owner, and in politics. She knows how difficult it can be to meet payroll and run a business in a small, rural community. Right after college, Chellie and her husband, Charlie, spent several years running a small farm and selling produce locally. In 1981, she started North Island Yarn, a cottage industry of local knitters, with a retail store on the island. The business expanded quickly, becoming North Island Designs, and employed as many as ten local workers in peak seasons. The business sold knitting kits and pattern books nationwide through 500 retail stores and 100,000 mail order catalogues. She sold the business in 1993.Today, in addition to her political life, Chellie co-owns and helps manage Nebo Lodge, a bed & breakfast and restaurant on North Haven, which she started with several partners in 2006. Chellie was elected to the Maine State Senate in 1992, representing Knox County. In 1996, Chellie was chosen by her peers to be the Maine Senate Majority Leader. She helped lead the Senate for four more years, until leaving office due to term limits. As a Senator, she fought for economic and social justice, taking on powerful adversaries - most notably the pharmaceutical lobby. In her last session, Pingree sponsored one of the nation's first prescription drug pricing bills, MaineRX. After a legal fight that led all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, the bill became law, and has since been a model for states around the country working to lower prescription drug prices. Chellie also sponsored the successful "Parents as Scholars" program, a national model for welfare reform, which continues to help working Maine parents gain access to education to help them achieve a better life for their families. She led successful efforts to protect Maine's environment, for corporate accountability, to protect workers, to promote a women's right to choose, and in support of Maine's small businesses. As a state Senator, Chellie was also a founding member of the Maine Economic Growth Council.Pingree's leadership in Maine politics led to numerous international appointments. She traveled to Hungary as an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, served as a member of the White House delegation to observe elections in Bosnia, and was a member of a U.S. delegation to Northern Ireland, working with women political leaders there. After being term-limited from the Maine Senate in 2000, Pingree challenged incumbent U.S. Senator Susan Collins in 2002. As one of the few outspoken opponents of the Iraq War running for U.S. Senate, Chellie mounted a strong, but ultimately unsuccessful campaign. From 2003 to 2007, Chellie served as the National President and CEO of Common Cause, a non-partisan citizen activist group with nearly 300,000 members and 35 state chapters. Common Cause's mission is to help citizens make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest. Under Chellie's leadership, Common Cause increased its membership and diversified its agenda to include limiting media concentration and consolidation, promoting Net Neutrality, and election reform, while continuing to pursue its traditional goals of campaign finance reform and oversight of government ethics and accountability. In 2008, Chellie was elected to Congress from Maine’s 1st Congressional District—the first woman elected to Congress from that District. She has previously served on the House Rules Committee and Armed Services Committee. She currently sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, serving on the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Interior and the Environment, and Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. She also has a seat on the House Agriculture Committee. Among other issues important to Mainers, Chellie has been an advocate in Congress for reforming federal policy to better support the diverse range of American agriculture—including sustainable, organic, and locally focused farming—as well as to reduce food waste. Many provisions from comprehensive legislation she introduced to make these reforms were passed in both the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills. She received a 2017 James Beard Leadership Award for her national leadership in food system reform.

Beth Dunford is the Assistant to the Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Bureau for Food Security, as well as the Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. In this dual role, she coordinates implementation of Feed the Future across the U.S. Government, oversees its execution, reports on results, and leads engagement with the external community to ensure that food security remains high on the development agenda. She also oversees USAID’s technical and regional expertise focused on improving food security to sustainably reduce hunger, poverty and undernutrition. A career Foreign Service Officer, Dr. Dunford most recently served as Director of USAID’s Mission in Nepal, overseeing the country’s massive earthquake recovery and reconstruction effort. Dr. Dunford has also served in Ethiopia and Afghanistan where she directed agriculture, resilience and emergency food assistance programs, as well as in a number of roles in Washington, D.C., including Deputy Assistant to the Administrator in the Bureau for Food Security and Senior Development Advisor to the Secretary of State’s Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dr. Dunford earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and her Ph.D. in Sociology from Michigan State University.

Meera Shekar is Global Lead for nutrition with the World Bank’s Health, Nutrition & Population Global Practice, managing key partnerships and firmly positioning nutrition within the World Bank’s new initiative on Human Capital. She steered the repositioning of the nutrition agenda that led to the new global Scaling-up Nutrition (SUN) movement and was a founding member of the Catalytic Financing Facility for Nutrition that evolved into the Power of Nutrition. She is Chair of the SUN executive committee, and has been one of the principals for the aid-architecture for nutrition within the G8 and G20 agenda-setting process. She led the development of the first global Investment Framework for Nutrition and co-leads (with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) the Nutrition Financing working group for the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) summit to be hosted by Japan in 2020. She has a PhD in international nutrition, epidemiology and population studies from Cornell University, has consulted and published extensively, and is on various advisory boards and panels, including the Essential Living Standards index (forthcoming), Legatum Institute, UK; and the advisory group at Gates Ventures.

Ravi Agrawal is the managing editor of Foreign Policy. Before joining FP, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade, including his most recent position as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. Previously, he served as a senior producer in CNN’s New York and London bureaus, receiving a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University.

Jon Clifton is the Global Managing Partner of Gallup, an advisory firm that specializes in big data analytics of employees, customers, students and citizens. Jon’s mission is to help 7 billion citizens be heard on their most pressing work and life issues through the Gallup World Poll, a 100-year initiative spanning 150 countries. Jon is a nonresident Senior Fellow at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion. He serves on the board of Gallup, the Meridian International Center, StreetWise Partners and Findyr. Because of his expertise, Jon has been interviewed on BBC News, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, and Al-Jazeera, and has testified in front of the U.S. Congress on the state of American small business and entrepreneurship. He is a frequent contributor on Gallup.com and has written for The Hill, The Diplomatic Courier, and The Global Action Report. Jon received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Michigan and a juris doctor in international law from the University of Nebraska. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Midland University.

Christine Daugherty, VP Sustainable Agriculture & Responsible Sourcing.  Christine and her team deliver global transformation and innovation through agriculture sciences and responsible sourcing solutions for PepsiCo. Prior to PepsiCo, Christine worked at Tyson Foods, where she held various roles, most recently Vice President of Sustainable Food Production.  Her responsibilities included natural resource conservation programs, responsible sourcing and farm animal well-being, as well as leading the company’s sustainability programs across multiple platforms. Christine holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law, a Post-doctoral in Plant Gene Regulation from the University of Florida, a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Louisiana State University, as well as an MS degree in Plant Pathology from Iowa State University.

Jeanette joined Upfield after twenty years at some of the world’s largest consumer products and healthcare companies. She has reputation for building corporate reputation, managing reputational risks, building stakeholder relationships, and developing strategy and policies for the most critical issues facing business. She has served in senior leadership roles covering global public affairs and policy, corporate communication, and issues management for companies including Bayer, Mars and Pfizer. Prior to those roles she led Health Strategy for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Australia and New Zealand and was Head Nutritionist for Wyeth Nutrition, Australia and New Zealand. Jeanette supports the global association for the over-the-counter drug industry and has held executive positions in several industry organizations, including President of the Asia Pacific Infant and Young Child Nutrition Association, Technical Chair of the Infant formula Manufacturers of Australia and the Infant Formula Marketers Association of New Zealand and served on committees for International Life Sciences Institute- South East Asia and the Australian Food and Grocery Council. Jeanette holds a PhD in Nutrition and Food Science, a Masters in Human Nutrition, a Bachelor of Biological Science and Graduate Diploma in Business Administration.

Marie Haga joined the Global Crop Diversity Trust as Executive Director in March 2013. She had previously been member and Deputy Chair of the Global Crop Diversity Trust Executive Board. Ms. Haga has a background from Foreign Service as a career diplomat, from politics and private sector. She has held various positions in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affaires including to the Norwegian Mission to the United Nations in New York and the Embassy in New Delhi. She was politically appointed and held the position as State Secretary/Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affaires 1997-1999. Ms. Haga has wide experience from politics and served as a Member of Parliament in Norway from 2001-2009. She was political advisor to the Minister for Development Cooperation from 1997-1998. She was Chairperson of the Centre Party from 2003- 2008. Ms. Haga has held three Ministerial positions: Minister of Cultural Affairs (1999- 2000), Minister of Local Government and Regional Development (2005-2007) and Minister of Petroleum and Energy (2007-2008). Marie Haga has held the position as Director for Renewable Energy in the Federation of Norwegian Industries (2009-2011) and as Secretary General of the Norwegian Air Ambulance (2011-2013) – the biggest voluntary organization in Norway. Ms. Haga has been on several boards, including as Chair of the Governing Board of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) (2009-2013) and Chair of the Governing Board of the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway (2010-2013). She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Regional Environmental Center (REC).Marie Haga has also published three books – one novel and two on Norwegian politics.

Craig Hanson is the Vice President of Food, Forests, Water & the Ocean at World Resources Institute. In this role, he guides programmatic strategy, catalyzes projects, and ensures a focus on results, financial development, and strong staff capacity. Craig has co-developed a number of leading initiatives, including Global Forest Watch, the Global Restoration Initiative, the Forest Legality Alliance, the Food Loss and Waste Protocol, Champions 12.3, the Better Buying Lab, Resource Watch, the Food and Land Use Coalition, Cities4Forests and the Ocean initiative. He is a co-author of the current World Resources Report, Creating a Sustainable Food Future, and lead author on publications such as The Restoration Diagnostic and the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review. Previously at WRI, Craig managed the Green Power Market Development Group, a coalition of a dozen Fortune 500 companies that helped pioneer corporate energy markets in the United States.  This initiative won a U.S. EPA Innovation Award in 2004. Craig spent five years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Craig holds a Master’s in Environmental Change & Management from Oxford University. While at Oxford, he also earned a Master’s degree in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics with an emphasis on environmental economics while on a Rhodes Scholarship.

Trey is a fourth generation grain farmer from Rock Hall, Maryland, he and his family till corn, wheat and soybeans on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Trey holds a degree in Farm Management and Economics from Purdue University. Trey has been committed to improving agriculture sustainability. He is leading the way in responsible agriculture and bridging the gap between environmentalists and agriculturalists. He believes that with the right farming practices farmers can improve the quality of our lives, land and waterways. Trey and his wife, Cheryl, have two children.

Thomas Pesek has 20 years of experience in international development with expertise in sustainable agriculture, food and nutrition security, as well as rural development. He currently serves as Senior Liaison Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Liaison Office for North America in Washington, DC where he works to develop and implement FAO policies and programs through strategic partnerships with governments and other stakeholders throughout North America. Previously, he worked for the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Washington, DC for more than 12 years representing the Fund and managing its relationships with Member States and other partners in North America, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining IFAD, he served as Program Officer at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Office of the Under-Secretary- General at United Nations Headquarters in New York, where he evaluated and finalized proposals for projects funded by the United Nations Development Account. He also worked as Liaison Officer for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in New York, where he coordinated on global emergencies with United Nations development and humanitarian agencies, as well as NGOs and UN Member States, and issued situation reports to WFP leadership worldwide.

Dr. John Purcell has dedicated nearly three decades to helping farmers safely and sustainably grow food using less of the earth's natural resources. John is currently the Head of Vegetable Seeds R&D, Senior Vice President and Distinguished Science Fellow for Bayer Crop Science. In this role he works closely with teams of researchers and scientists looking at ways to breed and cultivate vegetables that are more appealing, nutritious and can be grown using fewer resources.  Over the course of his career at Monsanto, John’s work and research has taken him to more than 35 countries around the world to work with and learn from farmers in their fields. His prior roles at Monsanto include Hawaii Technology and Business Lead and Global Technology Development Lead for Monsanto Vegetables, as well as several other roles in the Monsanto Technology organization in which he contributed to advancements in many diverse crops including corn, cotton and wheat. Prior to joining Monsanto, John was a post-doctoral researcher at the United States Department of Agriculture. His Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology was granted from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and focused on studies in Insect Biochemistry. He is an inventor on several patents and an author of numerous scientific papers, reviews and book chapters. He is often invited to speak on agricultural technologies at venues around the world. John’s love for agriculture also extends to his personal life, where he is a part owner of a family ranching operation in Montana.

Jennifer Roberts is a Registered Dietitian and the Senior Director of Nutrition Communications for Envision Group, Compass Group’s support and visionary team. Envision Group is shaping the future of foodservice, with its focus on business growth and leveraging strategic partnerships. Envision Group ensures the industry leader remains on the cutting edge of innovation - making it easy to do the right thing by promoting well-being of people and planet while driving commercial results.  Through her work with Envision Group, Jennifer develops nutrition and wellness programs that are implemented in thousands of locations throughout the US.

Susan Sadigova is Foreign Policy’s Director of Strategic Development. She is responsible for developing long-term institutional partnerships with public and private sectors through FP Magazine, www.foreignpolicy.com, FP Analytics, and FP events. She is also in charge of developing custom programs tailored to specific client challenges. Susan has more than 10 years of business development and international government relations experience with US federal agencies, foreign governments and the private sector. Prior to joining FP, she ran an American non-profit with 55+ member companies focused on Eurasia-US relationships, assisting with market entry, partner identification, financing and investment, contracts and proposals. Prior to that, she spent two years with British Embassy in Baku as a Manager for Government Relations on behalf of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Susan also has extensive event management and public speaking experience. She is fluent in English, Russian, Turkish and Azerbaijani. Susan holds a Master’s degree in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of Johns Hopkins University.

Beth supervises and supports AFT’s national initiatives. Before joining AFT, Beth worked as a sustainability strategist, consulting for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to identify and develop strategies for environmental and social risk opportunities. Before that, she served as senior director, corporate sustainability at Pepsico, where she integrated environmental and social sustainability and developed the Sustainable Farming Initiative for arable crop suppliers and dairy farmers, driving Pepsico’s prioritized focus on the agricultural supply chain. Her agricultural background is extensive, serving as deputy to the counselor to the administrator for Agricultural Policy at USEPA, national ecological climatologist at USDA-NRCS, and district conservationist at USDA-NRCS where she worked closely with farmers to implement Farm Bill programs. Beth has appeared as a speaker and panelist in venues such as the Aspen Ideas Festival and GAI Ag Tech Week. She was named one of the “Top 9 Women in Sustainability” by American Builders Quarterly in 2015. Beth completed her undergraduate work at Grinnell College, earned a Master of Science in environmental management from Duke and a Doctorate in arid land agroforestry from the Texas A&M.

Andrew Sollinger is Foreign Policy’s Publisher. He joined FP in March 2018 to oversee all revenue generating efforts through subscriptions, sponsorships, advertising, events, podcasts and new ventures. Most recently at Business Insider as EVP – Subscriptions, Andrew previously ran the business side of Politico’s Capital New York acquisition (now Politico New York), was Managing Director – Americas at the Financial Times, and helped build and sell the digital startup Money Media to FT. He started his media career as a journalist at Institutional Investor, and was based in New York, London and Hong Kong. He has extensive experience in management, product development, digital and subscription sales, research, and in setting strategy.

Dr. Phillip Sponenberg is a Professor of pathology and genetics in the Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Clinical Service duties include diagnostic histopathology and necropsy. Didactic teaching includes reproductive and endocrine pathology, domestication and genetic resources, veterinary genetics and small ruminant medicine. Service roles have included Director of Student Affairs and Advisor to Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Research interests include pathology and genetics. Genetic work includes single gene diseases in domesticated animals, and color in domesticated animals. Active research includes the conservation and history of domesticated animal genetic resources. Publications include eleven books (Horse Color, A Handbook for Conservation Breeders, Equine Color Genetics (three editions), Taking Stock, A Rare Breeds Album of American Livestock, Managing Breeds for a Secure Future), 28 chapters of books (including some on pathology, others on genetics), 101 refereed journal publications, 17 invited papers, and 409 publications in the lay press (these concern genetics, and the history and conservation of rare breeds of livestock). Service roles include for technical advisor for the Livestock Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization working to conserve genetic resources of livestock species in North America. This work involves the identification of livestock genetic resources, as well as their phenotypic and historic characterization. Work includes the development of conservation strategies for those breeds that are rare

Steve Chu was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, and eventually settled in Montgomery County with his Taiwanese parents. Although his father is a chef, he discouraged Chu from following the same path. As he studied economics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Chu realized that his dream was to open his own restaurant. While volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, he met his future business partner Ephrem Abebe. After graduation, Chu learned on the job in the kitchen and on the floor at Petit Louis Bistro working for Chef Ben Lefenfeld. He also worked for Harold Dieterle at Kin Shop as a line cook and spent summers helping out at his family’s restaurant, Jumbo Seafood. In 2014, Yesupriya, Abebe, and Chu opened Ekiben, an Asian fusion fast-casual stand in a farmers market. In 2016, Ekiben moved into a brick-and-mortar space in the Fell’s Point neighborhood of Baltimore City. Chu’s goal with the cuisine of Ekiben is to create a space for anyone, from any demographic, to try something different. In Baltimore, a city deeply divided along economic and racial lines, Chu aims to make everyone feel welcome “one bun at a time.” In 2017, Travel & Leisure named Ekiben the best place to get a sandwich in Maryland. In 2018, Eater nominated Chu as a semifinalist for their Young Gun Awards. Chu is also involved in Youth Works, a summer program for teens in Baltimore that provides job training and mentorship. He has more concepts in the pipeline for the Charm City—with different food but the same community-oriented ethos.

Chef Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray opened Equinox in 1999 to showcase innovative interpretations of classic American cooking. It has been recognized for excellence by Bon Appetit, The New York Times, Esquire, Gourmet, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and Town & Country. Todd and Ellen’s cookbook, The New Jewish Table (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), tells the story of how they partnered to create new and meaningful family traditions. Experience and philanthropy has been a cornerstone of Todd and Ellen’s philosophy, and they have worked closely with various organizations and leaders, including First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Chefs Move to Schools,” which has had the greatest impact on affecting change in our nation's schools. The dialogue that began between chefs, students, and their families still continues today.

Owner and chef Ruth Gresser learned her craft at her mother’s side, cooking for her large family and her mother’s catering company. Gresser cooked her way through college before entering the professional food scene in San Francisco at the early stages of the modern American food movement. In 1987, after graduating summa cum laude from Madeleine Kamman’s Classical and Modern French Cooking School, and cooking professionally in French, American, and Italian restaurants across the country, she moved to Washington, DC. In 1991, Gresser turned her attention to pizza, opening Pizzeria Paradiso to critical acclaim, earning praise from local and national critics including a spot on Washingtonian magazine’s Very Best Restaurants List, Washington Post dining guide, and one of Zagat’s best restaurants nationwide. Now considered the matriarch of pizza in the District, Gresser has been instrumental in the opening of seven popular Washington restaurants including five locations of Pizzeria Paradiso, Birreria Paradiso, which she helped build into one of the area’s most highly regarded craft beer programs, and Obelisk. In February 2014, Gresser released her first cookbook, “Kitchen Workshop-Pizza: Hands-on Cooking Lessons for Making Amazing Pizza at Home.” After having established Pizzeria Paradiso in three DC-area neighborhoods over a 25-year span, Gresser opened her first Maryland location in Hyattsville in 2017 in a mixed-use space with Art Works Now, a creative education and development-based organization helmed by her partner, Barbara Johnson. In December 2018, Pizzeria Paradiso opened a fifth location in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Washington, DC. Gresser is active in the Washington, DC culinary and arts communities; she holds the position of Emeritus President of the Board of Directors of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, is a member of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, an active member of Les Dames d’Escoffier, and supports various arts organizations, most especially Art Works Now and The Theater Lab. She has earned a number of media accolades, including profiles in The Washington Post Magazine and The Washington Business Journal. The Washington Business Journal honored Gresser in 2017 as part of their ‘Women Who Mean Business’ awards. In 2019, Gresser was named a semifinalist in the James Beard Awards in the category of Outstanding Restaurateur. She lives in Silver Spring, Md., where she recently married her partner of 27 years.  

After graduating from The French Culinary Institute in New York City, Chef Zack Mills worked in various restaurant kitchens until he was catapulted into fine dining with his hire at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Michelin-starred Chef Michael Mina’s restaurant group in 2008. Zack spent 10 years with both companies and helped open Bourbon Steak in Washington DC, Pabu in Baltimore, MD and The Handlebar in Jackson Hole, WY. In 2013, Zack was named Executive Chef of Michael Mina’s Wit & Wisdom Tavern in the Four Seasons in Baltimore, MD. Under Zack’s charge, Wit & Wisdom received 4 1⁄2 out of 5 stars in the Baltimore Sun and was named each year to Baltimore Magazine’s Best of Baltimore Restaurants. In 2018, Zack left Wit & Wisdom and partnered with long-time friends and owners of True Chesapeake Oyster Co. and The Local Oyster to form True Chesapeake Hospitality. Zack regularly makes appearances on local morning news segments and participated in Food Network’s Chopped in 2017. His recipes have been published in several cookbooks and magazines such as Baltimore Chef’s Table and Wine Spectator. Zack donates his time and expertise to a multitude of charitable organizations, including: The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Maryland, No Kid Hungry, Moveable Feast, Semper Fi Fund, the Oyster Recovery Partnership and St. Jude.

Erik Oberholtzer is chef, social entrepreneur and food activist. He is co-founder and chairman of Los Angeles-based Tender Greens, a healthy food restaurant chain. Founded in 2006, Tender Greens started with a mission of providing seasonal home cooking at affordable prices to as many people as possible, using supply chain innovations and a guiding philosophy that food can transform lives. Tender Greens has since grown to 29 restaurants in California, New York and Massachusetts. While growing the Tender Greens brand with his team, Erik has stayed true to mission, leading initiatives on food security, urban agriculture and organic farming. Erik sits on the boards of Sustainable Economic Engines of Los Angeles (SEE-LA), LA Kitchen, The California Restaurant Association and Big EQ Campaign. He holds advisory roles with The Berkeley Food Institute, Farmshelf and is a global champion of Food Forever. In 2009, Erik founded The Sustainable Life Project, a program offering culinary job training for at-risk foster youth in the United States. In 2017, Erik partnered with the Crop Trust to start The Spice of Life Project, which champions the need for biodiversity by reintroduces “forgotten foods” into restaurants and ultimately back into the food system. He also works with local farms outside of New York and Los Angeles to cultivate these ancient crops and then works with chefs to put those ingredients onto the plates of diners at Tender Greens restaurants. Erik speaks internationally about his passion for food justice, social entrepreneurship, mindfulness, health and wellness, supply chain integrity and championing the role that chefs can play in solving global problems. He splits his time living in New York City and Venice, Calif., with his dog, Bowie, and can often be found meditating, exercising or enjoying a thoughtful meal with friends.

Zena, co-owner of The Daily Dish and The Dish & Dram, is a trilingual author, editor & writer with experience writing about food, wine and travel in and about Latin America, the Caribbean, Puerto Rico & the US. She is the author of two guidebooks, The Other Side of Sydney & The Pub, Club and Grub Guide to Washington, DC; managing editor and principal writer of two destination magazines, Visitor St. Kitts and Nevis and Discover St. Kitts; and writer for a Caribbean cable television show, St. Kitts Travel Channel. She’s written on food and wine for Washington Flyer, Latitudes Magazine and Mexican Xpatz among others. Prior to The Daily Dish, she was the owner of The Winning Ticket, a public relations, marketing & communications firm with clients in Washington, DC, St. Kitts & Puerto Rico. She appeared on Planet Green with Emeril Lagasse on Craving the Caribbean and decided she was ready for a career change! She is on the Board of Directors of Art Works Now and on the Scholarship Committee of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs.

LARDER looks to pre-industrial food preservation techniques to offer a year-round menu rooted in local ingredients. Chef del Pesco combines peak-harvest produce from regional farms with culinary influences from her German, Irish and Norwegian heritage as well as travels in Mexico, Spain and the Middle East. LARDER makes gluten-free pastries, vegan pâté and lacto-fermented pickles for our neighbors at Sophomore and Fadensonnen. We source humanely raised meat and collaborate with small Maryland farms growing the most delicious varietals of produce available. Chef del Pesco’s background in visual art and deep curiosity about agriculture and nutrition led her to work with some of the most forward thinking chefs in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Jerome Waag, Russell Moore and Brandon Jew. She opened Larder with her husband Joseph del Pesco in May 2019 in the heart of Baltimore’s Old Goucher neighborhood.

The Michelin starred and only Forbes five-star rated restaurant in the nation's capital features executive chef: Ralf Schlegel, a native of Germany with extensive experience in prestigious European kitchens. Leading the kitchen since 2014, Schlegel oversees Plume restaurant, Quill lounge, and the entire Jefferson, DC hotel. At the age of 11, Ralf Schlegel and his family fled from East Germany to the West, where their life began to prosper, and his culinary journey began. His daily chores took place after his homework, by preparing the mise-en-place for dinner in the kitchen of one of his town’s fabled restaurants and hotels run by his parents, master trained chefs and hoteliers. Ralf excelled through Germany’s rigorous training program for chefs and, like his parents, became certified as a “Staatlich geprüfter Küchenmeister” ["kitchen master"]. His career experience includes leadership posts at a number of acclaimed German and Austrian restaurants and hotels, as well as various positions in Italy, Denmark, and Sweden. Before joining the team at The Jefferson, he spent two years as executive sous chef at notable Washington, DC restaurant, Marcel’s. David Bueno, General Manager of The Jefferson, says of Schlegel; "Ralf has been an integral member of the staff since he started here in 2011 as executive sous chef. His hard work and talent have contributed to the great success of The Jefferson, and to the critical acclaim of Plume in particular. At the helm of the culinary program, his remarkable creativity will flourish, and it is exciting to see his constantly evolving vision." That vision is evident in the menu of 'authentic' cuisine Schlegel develops for Plume, based on his notion of Washington as a steakhouse town. Making use of the finest ingredients and his extensive technical expertise, he presents exquisite cuisine with the advantage of a clear international perspective. In addition to the honors garnered by Plume, The Jefferson has attracted top rankings from Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, and U.S. News and World Report. As 'the second most notable address in Washington,' The Jefferson, DC is the capital city's premier boutique hotel.  

Born to a military family, Kevin Tien spent most of his childhood and early life in Louisiana and was educated at both the University of Louisiana and Louisiana State University, where he received degrees in business administration, finance, and analytics. In between and during early restaurant work, Tien applied his learned skills as a business analyst at companies like Geico. He found, though, that his heart lay in the kitchen jobs he’d held as a student working to pay the bills. Louisiana restaurant Tsunami, where Tien worked for 10 years throughout his schooling, felt more like home than any office setting. After college, Tien moved to Houston and entered the scene there with a job at Tyson Cole’s Uchi, before heading back east in 2013 to end up in D.C. He spent time at Kaz and José Andrés’ Oyamel, before rising to a coveted sous chef position at Momofuku CCDC. After nearly a year into his Momofuku rule, Tien began dreaming of opening his own restaurant, a space where he could showcase his culinary vision. Himitsu, which Tien opened in late 2016 with Carlie Steiner, became just that, serving takes on everything from crudo to karaage in D.C.’s Petworth neighborhood. Tien cites summer as an inspiration for the menu at Himitsu. That seasonal awareness combines with his extensive experience with Japanese cuisine combines to create a memorable eating experience well-deserving of all the acclaim it has received, including being named one of Food & Wine’s “Best New Chefs” in 2018. Tien is currently focusing on his new ventures: Hot Lola's, Quarter Market, and his latest restaurant, Emilie’s.