Olutayo Adeyemi is a Nutrition and Food Systems Consultant in Nigeria committed to strengthening individual and institutional capacity of service providers to achieve food systems transformation and nutrition targets. Her work includes capacity needs’ assessments, support for the development of policies and strategies, training, and knowledge brokering. She further supports pre-service capacity development by volunteering as a Lecturer in the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Ibadan. Olutayo holds a PhD in Nutrition with minors in Epidemiology and Public Affairs from Cornell University. She has received several awards and is a 2023 Leading African Women in Food Fellow.
Lesego Serolong Holzapfel is a 2019 Tutu Fellow. She was listed Mail&Guardian 200 South Africans. Standard Bank Top Woman of the Year & received the Trail Blazer Presidential Award. She is CEO and founder, Bokamoso Impact Investments. Lesego completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Social Policy and Development at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She also with Neil, her husband, founded Raise the Children in 2008. Lesego, being a South African orphan herself, has always had a deep desire to give back to the community that raised her and to mentor and empower the many that share her story. Driven by a vision for sustainable poverty alleviation, Lesego founded Bokamoso Impact Investments, a social enterprise focused on uplifting rural communities through agriculture and entrepreneurship. Through Bokamoso, she introduces innovative agricultural solutions, incubates local entrepreneurs, and mobilizes resources to tackle poverty at its roots. Lesego's dedication to empowering young people through education, leadership, and entrepreneurship continues to leave a lasting impact on society.
Executive Director and Publisher, The Global Food and Drink Initiative/Cuisine Noir
BIO
Sheree Williams is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit, The Global Food and Drink Initiative (GFDI), based in Oakland, California. Since 2009, Sheree has published the first Black global digital and print culinary lifestyle publication, Cuisine Noir Magazine, that connects the African
diaspora through food, drink and travel. Through her leadership, the magazine has pioneered and influenced important conversations about Black chefs, tastemakers, winemakers, travel influencers and more. In July 2022, she launched Diaspora Food Stories, the first multilingual Black food podcast to host conversations in English as well as other languages spoken by people of African descent with a mission to preserve all food stories in the language in which people first connected with food. Sheree was a 2022 and 2023 judge for the annual James Beard Awards, 2020 Women of the Vine & Spirits Fuel Your Dream scholarship recipient and 2019 Dine Diaspora Black Women in Food honoree. Currently, she is a trendspotter for the Specialty Food Association and a member of the Bay Area Travel Writers. To add to it all, she is also a published photographer and an approved contributing photographer for Getty/iStock and Shutterstock. Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Sheree received her Bachelor of Science degree in advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications with a concentration in public relations from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She also holds a Level 1 Award in Wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, a certificate in diversity and inclusion from E-Cornell and a hospitality and tourism certificate from Florida Atlanta University.
Senior Technical Advisor, Food Safety Practices & Certification, CARE USA
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Born in a country hit by an interminable economic and sociopolitical crisis, Misha has become passionate about the idea of how entrepreneurial energy of some can in time raise economic status for all. To put it into practice, Misha spent two decades honing market-based solutions in international development and management consulting industries. He currently works for CARE USA as a senior Technical Advisor overseeing improved food safety practices and certification scheme solutions for smallholder women farmers worldwide. His portfolio includes various countries, including Colombia. Previous to CARE, Misha served as a senior technical manager for private sector engagement at Food Enterprise Solutions where helped improve food safety culture of small and medium-sized food businesses in Senegal, Nepal and Ethiopia. He brings expertise in market research and analysis, strategic marketing positioning, enterprise development, and go-to-market planning, and has worked with various certification schemes, including Global G.A.P. and Fairtrade. Misha holds an MBA and a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University. In addition to English, he is fluent in Spanish and in Russian.
Chef Stone is a renowned Nigerian chef and restaurateur who has achieved great success in the food industry. His culinary expertise and entrepreneurial spirit have led him to establish multiple highly acclaimed ventures, including The Burgundy, a pan-African fine dining establishment in Abuja, Red Dish Chronicles culinary school, and West Africa's First Food Truck Park, Truck Central. Chef Stone's business ventures have been widely recognized for their exceptional quality and attention to detail, solidifying his position as a leader in the industry. Beyond his culinary achievements, Chef Stone is known for his philanthropic efforts. He actively supports charitable causes such as hunger relief, skill acquisition, and education through the Red Dish foundation. His dedication to making a positive impact on society extends beyond his culinary endeavors. As an author, Chef Stone shares his knowledge and passion through a series of insightful cookbooks. These publications, including "The Bar Bible By Chef Stone," "Chef Stone Takes Africa," and "101 with Chef Stone," not only feature recipes but also provide readers with a glimpse into his culinary philosophy, techniques, and invaluable lessons learned throughout his career. Chef Stone's multifaceted success as a master of his craft, a successful entrepreneur, and an inspiring author has earned him a prominent reputation in the culinary world. His contributions serve as an inspiration for others to pursue their dreams with passion and dedication, both in the kitchen and in business.
The Reinarhz family history is a culinary love story dedicated to the fine flavors of Africa and the African culinary renaissance which can be tasted in every mouthful of Coco’s food. • - Cuisine is a family tradition - Currently a third generation of accredited chefs. • - Coco attended the École Hotelière de Namur in Belgium & Institut Supérieur de Gestion Hotelière in Namur. • - Worked in Belgium, Holland, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and South Africa - Chef-Patron @ Épicure restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa PHILOSOPHY • - Chef Coco Reinarhz philosophy is that of a modern world culinary citizen who is also an African by birth and choice. • - He combines classical French training and skill with the panorama of spectacularly expressive but previously overlooked African food in a modern, sophisticated and utterly delicious manner. - In doing so he is making a unique contribution to the development of an unrecognized new world food genre. RECOGNITION - TOP 100 South African restaurant since the year 2008 - Platinum Award Wine List from Diner’s Club since 2008 - Diamond Award for Sel et Poivre Restaurant in 2013 and since 2019 @ Épicure - Selected as American Express Fine Dinning restaurant since 2008 - Member of The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs - Disciple de l’Ordre d’Auguste Escoffier - Best African restaurant of South Africa 2019 and 2020 - Celebrity African Chef - Creation of African meals in Premium Class Since June 2016 with development in other countries - 100 Most Influential Africans of 2022, Opinion shapers.
Esther Dassanou joined the Mastercard Foundation in May of 2023 to lead the Foundation’s journey to accelerating access to dignified and fulfilling work for young women in Africa. Prior to the Mastercard Foundation, Esther was the Manager of the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), an initiative of the African Development Bank to reduce the USD 42 billion access to finance gap for women-empowered businesses in Africa. Prior to joining AfDB, Esther led the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) work on advancing women’s inclusion in the insurance sector as the head of the women’s insurance program. Esther worked with insurers across Africa and Asia to help insurers in de-risking female-owned SMEs and providing better coverage for women’s daily risk. Esther also led the mainstreaming of IFC’s women’s access to finance through the organization’s SME banking program. She has also managed the Secretariat of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, a consortium of financial institutions dedicated to promoting the growth of women-owned enterprises. Esther is the co-author of SheforShield: Insure Women to Better Protect All, a groundbreaking report articulating the business case for the insurance industry to address the needs of women as clients, employees, entrepreneurs and leaders. Esther was also a lead author of the G20 reports G20 – Access to Finance for Women MSMEs and Women-owned SMEs: A Business Opportunity for Financial Institutions, which for the first time measured the access to finance gap for female-owned SMEs in developing markets.
Director, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD)
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Susan Kaaria is Director, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program hosted by CIFOR-ICRAF. She has over 20 years of experience in international development, working with various organizations promoting gender equality and women empowerment in agriculture. Prior to joining AWARD, she served as the Team Leader for Gender at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), where she provided strategic leadership to the Organization’s technical work on gender which aimed to support governments and other stakeholders to integrate gender in agricultural policies, programmes and strategies. Dr Kaaria has previously worked as Program Officer, Ford Foundation Office for Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, managing a diverse portfolio of grants aimed at expanding livelihood opportunities for poor rural households. She has also worked as a Senior Scientist at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), where she led a program entitled, “Enabling Rural Innovation”, implemented in Latin America and Eastern and Southern Africa.
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates)
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Dr. Dorothy Nyambi is the President and CEO of Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a non-profit international development organization with a mission to create business solutions to poverty around the world. Dorothy is a thought leader in international development, devoted to creating dynamic organizations that respect diversity, equity and inclusion and succeed in times of challenge and change. Dorothy has experience providing knowledge-based, strategic leadership for effective implementation of an organization’s mission and goals. With a 25 + year career in the sector and applied governance experience, Dorothy’s work is founded on and informed by unique lived experience and a commitment to authentic leadership. Dorothy has significant and meaningful lived experience in the global south working in a wide range of sectors. She consistently demonstrates an ability to step forward and challenge the status quo, re-imagine and strengthen business processes, challenging old paradigms and programs in support of respectful human-centered design thinking.
Francis Juma is the Founder & CEO of FW Africa, which is the leading publisher of websites and trade magazines and organiser of events focused on the food and agriculture, healthcare and general business sectors in Africa. A Food Technologist by training, my early career involved several technical roles in the food manufacturing sector, followed by nearly two decades of business development across eastern, central and Southern Africa, where I helped build capacity of SMEs and large corporates in new product development and business strategy. The work and activities at FW Africa enable me to contribute to a sustainable future in Africa. At personal level, am involved in various activities within my local community in western Kenya, where I grew up, with a focus on education, green initiatives and nutrition and health.
Uche Pedro is a Nigerian entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of BellaNaija, a media tech brand known for entertainment and lifestyle content. Under her leadership, BellaNaijas social footprint has grown through its collective brands - BellaNaija.com, BellaNaija Weddings and BellaNaija Style - to be the largest on the African continent with more than 200 million impressions each month. In March 2019, Uche was honoured with the Forbes Woman Africa New Media Award for her innovative impact on media in Africa. Uche is passionate about progress of youth in Nigeria and across Africa. Uche holds a Bachelors degree – Honours Business Administration (HBA) from the Ivey Business School at Western University in Canada where she graduated with distinction.
