Kim Curtis

Founder, FoodFlip

Kim Curtis is an entrepreneur, chef, and consultant.  With 20 years of experience in product development, Kim has helped launch 5 startups, consulted for most every vertical and size from startups to Fortune 100’s, spent 15 (long) years in financial technology, “intrapreneured” the Web Technology Team at Janus Capital Group, and even owned a cake company in the middle of everything.  As founder of FoodFlip, her mission is to change what healthy eating means. FoodFlip is bringing real, accurate research and tools for understanding the power of food to the 50+ million people with autoimmune conditions.  

Venilde Geronimo

Venilde, originally from the Azores Islands, savors learning, traveling, and food. Based along the California coast in the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Barbara, her writing focuses on the past, present, and future of food. She has 25+ years in strategic planning, capital raising, driving initiatives and impact for start-ups, and building relationships across borders and cultures for institutions of higher education. You can spot Venilde early mornings with her running shoes.

Aarti Kotak

Managing Deputy Commissioner for the City of Chicago

Aarti Kotak currently serves as a Managing Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago, promoting the comprehensive growth and well-being of the City and its neighborhoods. She previously served as Choice Neighborhoods Director and Associate Counsel at the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) and managed a $30.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to redevelop and revitalize apartments in Chicago.

Adam Schlegel

Co-Founder, Snooze AM Eatery

Adam Schlegel has experience across multiple sectors and disciplines in entrepreneurship, management and socially conscious business practices. In 2006, Adam and his brother Jon founded Snooze AM Eatery, a consortium of breakfast and lunch restaurants throughout the Western US.  Adam currently sits on the Snooze Board of Directors and orchestrates the community and sustainability programs across this growing restaurant group. From 2013-15, he served as the Executive Director for EatDenver, a Denver based nonprofit focused on locally owned, developing the organization’s mission of education, community and advocacy before transitioning the Board President.

Adam sits on the board of multiple sustainability and health based initiatives in Denver, including Denver Urban Gardens and the Colorado Pedals Project.  In addition, Adam works with a number of socially conscious businesses on food sourcing, procurement and enjoyment.  Past involvement includes Denver SEEDS, Denver’s Sustainable Food Policy Council, GreenPrint Denver, and a handful of NGO and other Boards.  Adam speaks locally and throughout Colorado on sustainable and triple bottom line management opportunities.

A Denver native, husband to a dynamic partner Sarah, and father of their two boys, Adam spends more time than not playing with his boys, travelling any and everywhere, and whatever other hobby is the flavor of the week.

Wendy Moschetti

Director of Food Systems, Live Well Colorado

As the director of food systems, Wendy leads the development and implementation of LiveWell Colorado’s strategies related to food systems, food access and food promotion.

After moving to Colorado in 2005, Wendy researched healthy food access initiatives for the National Convergence Partnership while also serving as project coordinator for the “Gardens for Growing Healthy Communities” research project with the University of Colorado-Denver and Denver Urban Gardens. She joined the consulting firm Civic Results in 2007 to help staff the healthy schools and food access teams of the Metro Denver Health & Wellness Commission.  Wendy launched her own firm, WPM Consulting, in May 2009. Since then, she has collaborated with numerous organizations—including LiveWell Colorado, LiveWell communities across the state, Colorado State University, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Hunger Free Colorado, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment—to work on a variety of projects aimed at leveraging our food systems to improve equitable access to healthy foods.

Wendy holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Washington and a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of California-Berkeley. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her three young kids, trail running, camping, and reading fiction.

Alan Lewis

Director at Natural Grocers

Alan Lewis navigates government affairs and food and agriculture policy for Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, a 62-year-old health food store chain with over 140 stores in 20 states. Alan is active in several national trade and advocacy organizations. He sits on the board of the Organic and Natural Health Association and is executive editor of Local Food Shift magazine. He is speaker and panelist at many policy events, and presented a talk on the food system at TEDx Boulder in 2014. Long a student of political activism, his focus is on communicating with policy makers and stakeholders at the federal, state, and local level using frameworks that are non-confrontational and inclusive. He has started two successful companies and advised hundreds of others. A Colorado native, he has lived in Portugal, Haiti, and Dominica, where he developed an appreciation of ingredient supply chain challenges within different ecological, cultural, political and economic contexts.

Alex Hanifin

CEO, Alpine Start

Alex Hanifin, a native of Boulder, CO, is the CEO of Alpine Start.  She serves as the co-Vice President of Naturally Boulder and sits on the Executive Board of Directors for The Growe Foundation.  Alex has been in the food CPG industry for 10 years, and most recently was on the marketing team at Boulder Brands managing EVOL.  She previously worked on Rudi’s under the Hain-Celestial Group. When Alex isn’t working, she is off climbing rocks and mountain biking.

Alex Hernandez

Led over $100M investments in education

The Charter School Growth Fund is a nonprofit that supports the growth of the nation’s best public charter schools. He has led over $100M in investments and built the organization’s Next Generation Schools practice, establishing CSGF as a national leader in school innovation. He now leads CSGF’s Impact Team that provides direct services to portfolio schools to help them scale better and reach higher levels of performance faster. Alex is a former Area Superintendent at Aspire Public Schools where he managed schools in the California Central Valley region. He taught high school math in South Los Angeles and later served as a Broad Fellow at Portland Public Schools. Before that, Alex worked for several years with JP Morgan and Disney’s venture capital arm, Steamboat Ventures. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, has an MBA and Masters of Education from Stanford University, and is a Pahara-Aspen fellow for leaders dedicated to transforming public education. He is a board member of DSST Public Schools, Ednovate, Rocketship Education and 4pt0 Schools. Alex lives near Boulder, Colorado with his wife Michelle and twin sons.