Andy Burness is the founder and president of Burness, a mission-driven global communications firm supporting nonprofits and the people they serve.  Founded in 1986, the company has served over 400 non-profit organizations around the world and has been cited four times by Washington-area media as on the region’s “great places to work.”  Andy is regularly sought after for counsel on strategies to increase the impact and amplify the voices of those committed to improving quality of life for people who are poor or vulnerable.

Nicole Civita directs the Food Recovery Project, a special initiative of the University of Arkansas’s Agricultural and Food Law LL.M. program. The Food Recovery Project aims to reduce food waste by producing informational resources regarding the legal aspects of food recovery. She also on the faculty of Sterling College, where she serves as the Assistant Director of the Rian Fried Center for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems. Professor Civita’s scholarship focuses on alternative, sustainable, and place-based agri-food systems, food conservation, and  food justice.

Robert Egger is the Founder of L.A. Kitchen, a social enterprise driven nonprofit that recycles fruits and produce, trains people for jobs and produces healthy meals.  Prior to this, Robert founded and led the DC Central Kitchen, which provides meals from donated food and job training programs for the unemployed. Since opening in 1989, the Kitchen has given 1,500 individuals full time employment and produced more than 30 million meals. Egger also founded the Campus Kitchens Project, which is the only other national program doing student-led food recovery on college campuses.

Jim Larson is the Program Development Director at the Food Donation Connection, one of the largest and oldest food recovery programs in America. Annually, the Food Donation Connection coordinates the donation of over 40 million pounds of surplus prepared food, providing meals to those in need while benefiting donors through tax return savings.

Gina is the Founder and CEO of Mrs. Green’s World. She is the host of the international radio show Mrs. Green’s World and is a trusted voice in the green movement among experts and mainstream Americans. Mrs. Green’s World is helping to create a global community of people who care about the planet.

Gary Oppenheimer is a CNN Hero, World Food Prize Nominee and the Founder and Executive Director of AmpleHarvest.org, which helps 42 million home/community gardeners reduce food waste by connecting them with more than 7,500 food pantries in all 50 states, making them for the first time, capable of receiving the growers excess bounty.

Evan Ponchick is the founder of the Alpha Phi Omega Food Recovery and Donation Program at the University of Maryland (2010). He led the first ever food recovery on a college campus at the University of Maryland and then helped spread the idea to other college campuses while teaming up with other interested students to found the Food Recovery Network as we know it today! Evan currently works at Dropbox as an Engineering, Product, and Design Program Manager (internal operations). Previously, Evan worked in education reform and education technology at General Assembly, and KIPPDC.

Doug Rauch is the former President of Trader Joe’s Company, CEO of Conscious Capitalism, and Founder/President of Daily Table, an innovative non-profit retail store working to recover food and provide affordable nutrition to the food insecure in our inner cities.

Angel Veza is COO of First Line, which aims to create both healthy individuals and communities, by transforming commonly wasted produce into the healthiest whole-food products. Originally, Angel worked in the education field teaching underserved communities. After working with students for 7 years, Angel received her Grade Diplome at the French Culinary Institute and worked through New York City’s top restaurants including Morimoto and two-Michelin starred Atera and with foodservice companies like Compass Group. During that time, she witnessed the significant amount of food being wasted and then decided to work with ReFED, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste through Economics and Data. As an expansion of that, she also worked in supply chain and led strategic sourcing and procurement at Manhattan Restaurant, part of Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group.

Colleen Wright-Riva is the Director of Dining Services at the University of Maryland, College Park, which is the oldest and largest food donor to Food Recovery Network. At UMD, Colleen has championed the launch of Terp Farm and The Campus Pantry. These initiatives increase sustainable food options on campus and help alleviate food insecurity for members of the campus community.  Colleen was honored as a 2015 recipient of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ Staff Award for her exceptional work contributions. Prior to her work at UMD, Wright-Riva started several innovative programs during her time as Director of Dining and Retail Services for Cornell University.

Reed spent his career working with nonprofits at the local and national levels. As Director of the Montgomery County (MD) Volunteer Center, Reed supported over 800 nonprofits and 100s of companies related to civic engagement. Reed also worked at the Points of Light Foundation where he provided technical assistance to Volunteer Centers, Corporate Volunteer Councils and Fortune 500 companies. Other positions included the Consumer Federation of America, Rebuilding Together and AARP. Reed now enjoys his encore career as a transitions coach focused on supporting those who are close to or have finished their main career - to figure out what's next. Learn more about Reed at www.whats-next.org.

An early-career bioscientist with a passion for food justice, Ja'Sean Holmes was the founder and president of the FRN chapter at Colby College during his senior year in 2021. After graduating college, he joined FRN's Student and Alumni Advisory Board (SAAB) for the '22-'23 academic year where he collaborated with student leaders to grow FRN chapters in both size and impact. Now he is serving on the Advisory Board, communicating with FRN’s leadership about ways to advance the organization’s mission to decrease food waste and make our country's food system more just.