Leadership
Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of VegTech™ Invest and a consultant in sustainable investing through food systems transformation.
She is considered one of the foremost thought leaders on the Plant-based Innovation sector, speaking internationally on the intersection of sustainability, investing and food systems shifts, including recently at the United Nations. She is also the host of The Plantbased Business Hour.
Elysabeth began her career with The Kellogg Company after attending Northwestern and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. She was CIO/CSO for a small family office before moving into sustainability investing and consulting.
Chris Buck is the CIO, CCO & Co-Founder of Harvester Wealth, LLC and the Strategic Advisor to VegTech™ Invest.
Chris has 30+ years of experience in capital markets, investment management, and distribution. He was the previous Managing Partner, Director of Capital Markets and Sales of ROBO Global LLC and led AUM growth to $2B in ETFs and licensed products. He was also the former Head of Client Execution Services, iShares Capital Markets at BlackRock. Prior to the asset management industry, Chris had leadership roles at UBS Investment Bank and CAPIS focused on investment research and global trading.
Sami Nabulsi is a VegTech™ Invest & EATV Advisor.
He is the former International Equities Trader with Morgan Stanley, focusing on Asian ADRs. He currently invests in public and private equities, focusing on cultivated meat. Sami is the Founder of an upcoming venture in Bio-Tech and the Co-Founder of Voltaire Foundation of North America, an animal welfare organization located in NYC.
Mike Cronan is an ETF Industry innovator who is currently the President of ETF Insight, a NY based full-service content and digital marketing firm who writes for and consults with several ETF issuers.
Having consulted on the launch of over 40 ETFs in the last 5 years he advises on the market positioning for new ETFs. His firm develops marketing programs for ETF providers with a focus on digital marketing, content development, distribution and product strategy.
Prior to ETFI, Mr. Cronan was the President of Marketing at ETF Issuer and White Label Firm, Exchange Trade Concepts having launched ETFs on their platform and other platforms. Prior to his role in marketing ETFs, he was the VP of Sales & Marketing for ETF.com, starting with Index Universe. Prior to ETF.com, Mr. Cronan held several (SVP) executive level marketing positions in publishing companies most recently with The Financial Times of London.
Sasha Goodman is the President and Fund Manager at VegTech™ Invest and the Founder of New Growth.
He is a plant-based private and public investor. He worked at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, was a postdoctoral fellow at Northeastern with a joint affiliation with Harvard, and earned a Doctorate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business focusing on time series analysis of organizational growth.
Ken Kornbluh is the Founder of Kambio Partners and Fund Advisor to VegTech™ Invest.
Ken develops algorithmic portfolio optimization software. He has launched a family of Smart Beta Funds for Semiconductor, Alternate Energy & EVs. He has 9+ years’ experience with thematic investment funds focusing on semiconductors, AI, Cloud Computing, 5G, Autonomous Vehicles and the Internet of Things.
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Bonnie Brown is the Founder of New Earth Partners and the Accounting Advisor at VegTech™ Invest.
Bonnie is a Former CFO with 25+ years in finance, accounting, management, and information systems. She has extensive experience with management, boards, auditors, attorneys, investment bankers, and VCs, and has a background in SEC compliance, financial modeling, budgets, audits, and investor relations.
Gwendolyn Brown is the Communications Director at VegTech™ Invest.
Gwendolyn has recently received her Bachelor of Arts in film and digital media from Loyola University Chicago. Her digital media major and environmental action and leadership minor have given her an abundance of knowledge in both the media and environmental fields. She is passionate about using her organization and communication skills to facilitate change in the plant-based investment world.
Thought Leadership Council
Peter Singer is the IRA W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University.
Singer was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946 and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. After teaching in England, the United States and Australia, he has, since 1999, been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. In 2021 he was awarded the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture.
Singer first became well-known internationally after the publication of Animal Liberation in 1975. In 2011 Time included Animal Liberation on its "All-TIME" list of the 100 best nonfiction books published in English since the magazine began, in 1923.
In 2012 Singer was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, the nation's highest civic honor. Since 2021, he has been a founding co-editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas.
Jason Scorse is a professor and Chair of the International Environmental Policy Program and Director of the Center for the Blue Economy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.
Jason completed his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics at UC-Berkley in 2005 with a focus on environmental economics and policy, International development, and behavioral economics. Upon graduation, he became a full-time faculty member of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. In 2009 he was promoted to the Chair of the International Environmental Policy Program, and in 2011 Professor Scorse became the Director of the Center for the Blue Economy, which provides "leadership in research, education, and analysis to promote a sustainable ocean and coastal economy."
Beginning in 2019 he helped organize a national coalition to develop an Ocean Climate Action Plan (OCAP), which included hundreds of organizations from across American society. Dr. Scorse insists that along with shifting our energy systems away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, a shift away from industrial animal agriculture to plant-based and cultivated protein sources is essential.
Sharyn Murray is the Investment Engagement Manager at The Good Food Institute*.
Sharyn crafts and executes strategies to support investors' exploration of and investment in the alternative protein industry. Prior to joining GFI, Sharyn spent nearly a decade as an investment research and marketing professional at GCM Grosvenor, where she built expertise in the alternative investments industry.
Sharyn earned a BA in economics and psychology from Northwestern University, and is a CFA charter holder. She feels incredibly privileged to have a chance to devote her career to supporting this fast-growing and high-impact industry. *For informational purposes only.
Abbey Schmitt is an MBA Candidate at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business.
Abbey is passionate about pursuing impact at the intersection of food, health, and climate change. She started her career advising UHNW families on their personal wealth and investments across asset classes and engaged financial advisors and clients on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing at the J.P. Morgan Private Bank in New York.
Most recently, Abbey consulted with asset and wealth managers on how to integrate ESG, Climate and Impact factors into investment strategy creation and reporting at MSCI, New York.
She is currently an MBA Candidate at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, IL where she continues to explore sustainable investing and strategy.
Maha Tahiri is the CEO and Founder or Nutrition Sustainability Strategies LLC.
Maha is an independent board advisor, successful entrepreneur, and food industry thought leader best known for developing game-changing strategies that translate science and technology into business opportunities.
Currently, Maha is CEO and Founder of Nutritional Sustainability Strategies LLC, a boutique consulting firm supporting early-stage start-ups and multibillion-dollar companies aiming to improve the food system. As a strategic advisor to leading food-tech companies she leverages her expertise and extensive global network to help build an innovation pipeline, H&W strategy, as well as business development through her broad global network.
She also works with Investors to build new investment fund strategies and provides counsel on high-impact investments. She is experienced in interacting with all levels of corporate leadership, government officials, and regulators globally.
Barb Stuckey is the Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer at Mattson and the Author of Taste: Surprising Stories and Science on Why Food Tastes Good.
Barb has been at Mattson since 1997 and is currently Chief Innovation & Marketing Officer at North America's most successful independent developer of food and beverages for the retail food and chain restaurant industries. Barb is known as a taste, food trend, innovation, consumer insights, and product development expert.
Barb was instrumental in helping The San Francisco Cooking School integrate the science of taste into their curriculum. Barb is also a contributor to Forbes.com where she writes about the food industry.
Dave Brett Wasser is the Executive Director of Cruelty Free Investing.
Dave was born and raised in New York City, and now lives in Austin, Texas. In his professional career he has worked in the non-profit arena, and in sports research and journalism.
Dave created Cruelty Free Investing because he saw a glaring need for research on companies that have the ethical treatment of animals as part of their corporate philosophy.