Alicia Lochard a scholar and food historian of Black American foodways. Alica is currently a teaching fellow and doctoral student of Africana Studies at University of Pennsylvania.

Amanda Feifer makes, writes and teaches food fermentation of all kinds. Her first cookbook, Ferment Your Vegetables, was published in 2015 by Fair Winds Press.

Anastasia Sotiropulos managed Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery and lead the bakery department for the highest-volume region in Whole Foods Market. In 2017, she founder her own consultancy to help food entrepreneurs scale their businesses.

Last year chef Ari Miller opened Musi in Philadelphia, which Eater named one of the best new restaurants in America.

Davana Bolton is a certified sommelier and manages The Riddler, a female-funded and operated Champagne bar in San Francisco. She also writes about wine and talks about wine.

Ernesto Mandowsky builds technology systems and data analysis tools for the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Gideon Burdick the marketing & development manager at  Red Tomato, a Massachusetts food hub helping mid-sized farmers bring their products to market.

Kristen Loken photographer and visual strategist working with restaurants and food businesses. Her clients include the Culinary Institute of America and The Ritz Carlton.

Laura Reiley is a journalist and food critic for the Tampa Bay Times. Her Farm to Fable series earned her a Pulitzer Prize and James Beard Award nomination in 2017.

Mark McKenzie is a sommelier based in New York City. He studied wine with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and has worked with some of NYC’s most iconic restaurants. He’s now exploring new avenues to express his passion for food and wine.

Natalie Fullerton promotes works with family-owned farms promoting ecologically sound agriculture and the production specialty crops as program director at the Kansas Rural Center.

Rebecca Gildiner studied environmental management at Yale and worked on sustainability issues with companies like IKEA and Shake Shack. She now heads up social impact and advocacy at Sir Kensington’s.

Sarah Meyer is the food systems manager at the Finger Lakes Institute Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She is also a master gardener, beekeeper and the founder of Workers Random honey and hive products.

Seth O’Donovan is a chef, butcher and beekeeper whose credentials include stints at the French Laundry and Frasca. She is the founder and co-owner of The Guesthouse, a mountain lodge and restaurant in the Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado.

After graduate school, Tamika Francis led product development for an agro & eco-tourism project with small farmers and fisherfolk in Saint Lucia. Now she runs Food & Folklore, inspired by the tropics, using New England produce, indigenous food-ways, and story-telling.