Opening Plenary
Session Speaker 
Cabinet Secretary, Republic of Kenya Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
Willy Kipkorir Bett is the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. By the time of his appointment to the Cabinet, Mr. Bett was serving as the Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Seed Company, a position he held for six years (2009-2015). During his tenure...
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Managing Director, Alternative Risk Transfer Solu, Willis Towers Watson
Derrick Easton is the Managing Director of Alternative Risk Transfer Solutions at Willis, Towers, Watson. Derrick joined Willis in 2015 from Aon where he was Managing Director and Leader of their US Risk Finance, Captive Consulting and Captive Reinsurance practices. He was also a...
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Associate Dean, University of Illinois, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Scie
Dr. Prasanta K. Kalita is the Director of the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss and a Professor and Leader of the Soil & Water Resources Engineering Division in Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department at the University of Illinois. He currently also serves...
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President, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
Managing Director, S2G Ventures
As Managing Director at Seed 2 Growth, Sanjeev is active in developing investments and managing portfolio companies. He has over 15 years of experience in sourcing, executing, managing and governing venture and private equity investments.
He began investing in the food and agriculture...
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Executive Director, Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition
André Laperrière is an expert in international development, joined the GODAN initiative as its first Executive Director in September 2015. During his career, he has led numerous projects on behalf of large private corporations and international organisations, including the UN and...
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Founder and Chairman, New Cities Foundation
Head of U.S. Policy and Advocacy, Global Citizen
Judith Rowland (@JudithJRowland) is the Head of U.S. Policy and Advocacy at Global Citizen. Ms. Rowland holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Missouri State University and a graduate degree in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. In her current...
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Vice President, The Demand Institute / Project 8
Sumair Sayani is a Vice President at The Demand Institute and Nielsen. Sumair leads The Demand Institute’s delivery of key research programs.
Prior to this role, Sumair led the Nielsen’s Public Development & Sustainability Vertical for Middle East North Africa & Pakistan (MENAP...
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U.S. Special Representative for Global Food Security, U.S. State Department
Dr. Nancy Stetson is the U.S. Special Representative for Global Food Security. As head of the Secretary’s Office of Global Food Security she is responsible for leading all aspects of U.S. diplomacy related to food security and nutrition. Dr. Stetson’s diplomatic efforts to advance...
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Policy Director, ONE
Kate (Russell) Van Waes is a Policy Director at ONE, leading the organization’s policy on global security and development, agricultural development, nutrition, energy poverty, education, women and girls, climate change, and trade and investment. Kate was the lead author of ONE’s...
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