Tim Joseph
President
Tim Joseph is the Founder of Maple Hill Creamery, the preeminent organic grass-fed dairy brand in the US. In 2004, Tim and his wife Laura started milking 64 cows on their 250-acre dairy farm in Central New York, with no prior farming experience.
By 2007 they had transitioned their herd to both certified organic and 100% grass-fed, and in 2009 Tim created the company’s “creamline” yogurt on his kitchen stovetop. Maple Hill has grown to source milk from 160 family farms in Upstate NY. Maple Hill’s products are distributed nationally.
James O’Donnell
Program Manager
James is the Program Manager of the Grassfed Alliance. He has utilized education and messaging to work towards a better food system in a variety of roles. He previously worked for the fair trade, worker-owned cooperative Equal Exchange, where he crafted consumer facing messaging that authentically conveyed the principles of equitable trade. He also wrote food studies curricula for the Stone Barns Center, worked in logistics for a New York seafood cooperative, and worked in a variety of restaurants across New England. James is also the co-owner of Allora Farm & Flowers, a specialty flower farm and wild foods business based in the Hudson Valley. In this role, he forages wild foods for both New York restaurants and home cooks.
James received his B.A. in Economics from Tufts University, where he also studied music. He lives in Pine Plains, NY with his partner Amanda.
Cory Carman
Cory grew up in the isolated mountains of Northeastern Oregon as the fourth generation in a cattle ranching family. She attended college at Stanford University, where she came to understand that many aspects of cattle production were associated with environmental degradation and poor human health. She returned to the family ranch in 2003, seeking to raise cattle, not only in a healthier way but also as one of the best tools for fighting climate change and growing healthy food.Inspired by the potential and the urgency of this opportunity, she started Carman Ranch Provisions, a company focused on finding market outlets for the cattle, pigs, and other crops raised to build soil health and pull carbon from the atmosphere. With the home ranch as a supplier, the Carman Ranch brand comprises a group of ranchers in the Pacific Northwest who raise a year-round supply of grassfed cattle. Her customers, investors, and producers share her core values of building a new type of food system that can sequester carbon, improve nutrient density in food, and support rural communities.
Erin Wirpsa Eisenberg
Erin Wirpsa Eisenberg is an experienced nonprofit and philanthropic professional committed to solving the world’s problems in ways that respect and value the environment and the economic resilience of the communities that steward our natural resources. She is a long-time leader, advocate, and supporter of regenerative agriculture. She co-founded and was the Founding Director of Funders for Regenerative Agriculture, an initiative of funders and investors working together to accelerate the emergence of regenerative agriculture, healthy soils, and working lands that support people and the planet. Erin worked with Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor overseeing their charitable giving at the TomKat Foundation and TomKat Ranch, and worked closely with strategic partners making the business and environmental case for regenerative agriculture. Erin also served as the Executive Director of CitySeed, which is building an equitable, local food system in Connecticut. She earned degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Yale University.
Esther Park
Esther is the CEO of Cienega Capital, a regenerative investment firm utilizing an integrated capital approach to systemic change in the areas of soil health, regenerative agriculture, and local food systems. Cienega Capital is also part of the #NoRegrets Initiative, a regenerative asset strategy focused on the health of agricultural soils and agricultural communities of North America. Esther has 20 years of experience in mission-based financial services ranging from microfinance to risk capital investments, in partnership with financial institutions, family offices, foundations, and investment advisors. She also serves as a Board member at Custom Food Solutions, Carman Ranch Provisions, Eden Cider, Civil Eats, and Grassfed Alliance.Esther has also served as the Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at RSF Social Finance, and oversaw all lending activity from 2007-2011, which resulted in a tripling of the loan portfolio, and the development of a mezzanine debt fund. Prior to joining RSF, Esther was a senior consultant for ShoreBank Advisory Services, where she provided strategic and capital planning advice for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), particularly small business and affordable-housing loan funds. She also trained lenders internationally in small business lending practices, and underwrote Program Related Investments (PRIs) for private foundation clients. And in a previous life, Esther lived in Nukus, Uzbekistan, teaching English and conducting program evaluation work for the United Nations. Esther received her MPP from University of Chicago and BA in Social Welfare from the University of California Berkeley. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, Greg, and their two children, Evangeline and Bryce.
Rosie Kissel
Rosie Kissel leads the ecosystem building and land-based work at Armonia, a group supporting the regeneration of soil, soul, and society. Since joining Armonia in 2017, Rosie has focused on regenerative farm and ranch management, collaborative initiatives, and investment partnerships. Her work has ranged from leading the audit process for one of the first Regenerative Organic Certified farms in the US to coordinating the HERD Fellowship, a sponsorship program that brings young farmers and ranchers to regenerative agriculture conferences.Rosie is a founding Steering Committee member of the Funders for Regenerative Agriculture (FORA), an initiative of funders and investors working together to accelerate the emergence of regenerative agriculture, healthy soils, and working lands. Within FORA, she co-leads the Promoting Economic and Ecological Resilience (PEER) Fund, a pooled fund launched in response to COVID-19 to serve producers and BIPOC groups in the regenerative food and fiber systems. Rosie serves as a board member of the Grassfed Alliance and a board advisor for the American Grassfed Association.
Rosie received her BA in Environmental Science from Brown University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner, Kate.
Urvashi Rangan
Urvashi Rangan is an environmental health scientist, toxicologist and investigator with more than 25 years of experience deciphering food systems to educate consumers, companies, government agencies and philanthropic investors on the best systems to support. She is Chief Science Advisor to the Grace Communications Foundation, focused on regenerative food systems, labeling and other food production issues. She is also an expert spokesperson on a wide range of food safety risks – pathogens, pesticides, antibiotic resistance, arsenic and other carcinogens – as well as sustainable solutions, product choices and meaningful labels.She has won several awards in investigative journalism and communications, participated in a number of public debates on food systems, testified to Congress and other agencies, as well as served as a member of the FDA Food Advisory Committee. From 1999-2016, Urvashi worked at Consumer Reports leading Product Safety, launching the Food Safety and Sustainability Center and directed dozens of investigations. She is a frequent speaker on the national stage including TedX, Aspen Ideas Festival, Chicago Ideas Festival, and dozens of national media spots. She received her PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health.
Urvashi is a founding board member of the Grassfed Alliance, chairs the True Cost Accounting impact area, at the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, and co-chairs Funders for Regenerative Agriculture.
Erik Norell
Erik Norell currently works at Accenture Federal Services in Washington D.C. as a management consultant with the USDA. Prior to joining Accenture, he was the founding project manager for the Grassfed Alliance, helping to launch the organization in 2018-19. He has also worked as an independent consultant on projects in regenerative agriculture, carbon finance, and sustainable investing. Previously, he was Director of Market Initiatives at Armonia, a small impact investment firm.In May 2016, Erik completed an MBA and Master of Environmental Management at Yale, where he studied conservation finance, forestry, and renewable energy. Before that, Erik served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army. He also manages a small farm purchased in 2013 with college friends from the University of Virginia.