Profiles

Jason is a Partner with Open Prairie, a leading Midwest-based venture capital and private equity firm focused on providing debt and equity capital to companies throughout the agribusiness value chain. As a fund manager with over 20 years of experience in working with and developing companies across a variety of industry sectors, Jason is responsible…

Mac Marshall serves as the Vice President, Market Intelligence for the United Soybean Board (USB). In this capacity, Mac works with USB leadership to evaluate and establish long-term strategic initiatives in support of advancing domestic and international market opportunities for the U.S. soybean industry while serving as an industry source of market information and analysis.…

Born and raised in St. Louis, MO, Nick developed a passion for taking care of the planet, food justice, and working with youth. In 2014, he began a 3-year stint as an AmeriCorps VISTA and State member. He taught professional development skills and engaged high school and college students in service learning projects, managed volunteers,…

Jennifer Ozimkiewicz is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Corn and Soybean Crop Business for the Crop Science division in Bayer. Based in St. Louis, MO, Jennifer develops corn and soy crop strategy and portfolio management across technologies to create long-term value for farmers worldwide. Over the last 25 years, Jennifer has served in…

Dr. Ryan Bond leads global business development and innovation for Nutrien Ag Solutions (NAS) headquartered in Loveland, Colorado. In his role, Dr. Bond leverages NAS’s global retail footprint and >500,000 grower clients to understand and creatively solve for inefficiencies challenging productivity on the farm via innovative build, buy, and licensing strategies for crop inputs, like…

Bob Morris is president of AndMore Associates, LLC, a global advisory firm providing strategic counsel on science and technology innovation, commercialization and new business opportunities to food, agriculture, and energy sector stakeholders worldwide. Identifying the need for accelerating agricultural innovation, Bob has focused on the agtech sector since it emerged, advocating for entrepreneurship and higher…

Matt Bechdol is the CEO of GRYFN, a collaborative Purdue University startup focused on turn-key multi-modal, research-grade drone sensing solutions to facilitate digital twins approaching the plant scale. GRYFN empowers plant breeders with high-quality, high-precision, multi-modal sensing platforms for high-throughput phenomics research and also provides value in many adjacent markets, such as natural resources and…

Daniel Schachtman is currently a George Holmes University Professor in the Department of Agronomy and the Director of the Center for Biotechnology at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. His current research focuses on the interactions between plant roots and soil microbes and the impact those interactions have on plant performance in water and nitrogen…

Winnie Lieu is the General Manager of Downstream Strategy at Chevron, where she leads development of global business strategy and emerging business initiatives for manufacturing, lubricants, chemicals and renewables. With over 20 years of experience in the Energy business, Winnie’s diverse career includes roles in engineering, refining operations, technology development, new venture investments, strategic planning,…

Named the “greatest female athlete of the 20th century” by Sports Illustrated magazine, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a four-time Olympian with six medals, whose record for the heptathlon set in 1988 has never been surpassed. She is the founder of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation which seeks to instill youth in East St. Louis (her hometown) with…