Who We Are
Grow Further catalyzes social and technical innovation for a food secure world.
Who We Are
Grow Further catalyzes social and technical innovation for a food-secure world.
Who We Are
Grow Further catalyzes social and technical innovation for a food secure world.
Who We Are
Grow Further catalyzes social and technical innovation for a food secure world.
Grow Further engages farmers, scientists, and investors in participatory innovation for global food security and sustainable agriculture.
Grow Further engages farmers, scientists, and investors in participatory innovation for global food security and sustainable agriculture.
Fast Learners
It often takes city-dwellers until they have lots of gray hair to fully appreciate the importance of agriculture. Most of the organizations that fund agricultural research in the US today immediately saw the importance of public health and were slower learners with respect to agriculture.
At Grow Further, many of us are city-folk, but we see outside of the bubble and learn fast. We learn from the formal programs and from informally interacting with the farmers and developing country immigrants in the group. We don’t need 20 years to realize that innovation in agriculture is just as important as that in public health.
Fast Learners
It often takes city-dwellers until they have lots of gray hair to fully appreciate the importance of agriculture. Most of the organizations that fund agricultural research in the US today immediately saw the importance of public health and were slower learners with respect to agriculture.
At Grow Further, many of us are city-folk, but we see outside of the bubble and learn fast. We learn from the formal programs and from informally interacting with the farmers and developing country immigrants in the group. We don’t need 20 years to realize that innovation in agriculture is just as important as that in public health.
Our People
Our People
Peter Kelly
President and CEO
Prior to founding Grow Further, Peter was an assistant professor of economics at Renmin University in Beijing, where he taught and published on agriculture, international development, and the environment. He currently serves on the boards of a number of other charitable, policy, and for-profit organizations in addition to his full-time work at Grow Further, including as vice chair of Carbon Washington. He holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley; holds a BS in International Agricultural Development, with distinctions in agricultural science, from UC Davis; and has completed Global Washington’s Global Leadership Forum.
Learn more about his personal journey and the inspiration that lead him to build Grow Further.
Elena Lamont
Board Secretary
Elena is a strategy, communications, and organizational development professional with extensive experience leading nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and governments through complex growth and change. Prior to Grow Further, she spent two decades with Casey Family Programs as a strategic and systems improvement adviser overseeing a national portfolio of programs and initiatives focused on human services systems integration, leadership and capacity building, community engagement, and culture change. Issues of equity and opportunity, and health and well-being for children, people and their communities are driving forces in her life and work. She holds an MPA from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, a Bachelor's in cultural anthropology, and a graduate certificate in social innovation, all from the University of Washington.
Robert Reid
Board Treasurer
Robert is a recently retired international development executive who currently serves as board member of ShelterboxUSA, a global disaster relief organization. He previously served in a number of executive roles at United States Agency for International Development and the Millennium Challenge Corporation, including Resident Country Director for Mongolia, and in management positions at Save the Children and Winrock International, where he increased grant funding by tens of millions of dollars. He holds a Master in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a BA in cultural anthropology from the University of Michigan.
Ken Hunt
Board Member
Ken has spent the last 25 years building, growing, and managing businesses, in Board, C-level, and EVP roles in industries including agriculture, biotechnology, nutrition, software, and consumer packaged goods for organizations ranging from 5 to 250 people while overseeing P&L’s with up to $210M in revenue. Ken is currently the Principal and Founder of Fiber, Field, & Fork, a consultancy for companies in natural-fiber textiles, agriculture, and plant-based nutrition with corporate strategy, business development, marketing & sales, capital, and M & A needs. Ken holds a JD, an MBA, and a BA from Wake Forest University.
Donald Summers
Management Consultant
Donald was involved in the development of our business plan and is continuing to provide incidental management consulting services to Grow Further, particularly around acquiring capital and talent. He is the founder of Altruist Partners, a consulting firm for growth-oriented nonprofits and social enterprises, and was formerly Director of Development at the University of Washington. He holds an Ed.M. in Leadership and Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s in English from Middlebury College.
Christine Xu
Communications and Marketing Consultant
Christine advises on and assists with communications and marketing including our newsletter, website, and social media. She previously worked in international communications and policy between Washington, DC and Beijing at the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Natural Resources Defense Council. She holds a BA in International Studies and Chinese Studies from UC San Diego and a Masters in Corporate Responsibility from Escuela de Organización Industrial in Madrid.
Brady Walkinshaw
Adviser
Brady is CEO of Grist, a national environmental magazine, and was formerly a Washington State Representative, general-election candidate for Congress, and agricultural development program officer at the Gates Foundation. He has provided strategic advice to and made connections for Grow Further since well before incorporation. He holds a BA in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.
Malcolm Blackie
Adviser
Malcolm has 5 decades of experience in African development, having served as founding dean of the University of Zimbabwe College of Agriculture. His extensive experience includes founding the Rockefeller Foundation southern Africa office and serving as key adviser to the formation of the pan-African Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nottingham and a BS in Agriculture from the University of Edinburgh.
Robert Zeigler
Adviser
Bob is the retired Director General of the International Rice Research Institute and former chair of the Association of International Agricultural Research Centers. He holds a PhD in plant pathology from Cornell University.
Jim Harkness
Adviser
Jim led the World Wildlife Fund’s China office through rapid growth to become the largest and most effective international environmental NGO in the country; he also led the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. He is now consulting on program evaluation and business in China and developing a food security venture capital fund. He holds an MS in Development Sociology from Cornell University and a BS in Chinese, Ecology, and Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Alesha Black-Miller
Adviser
Alesha is non-resident fellow (formerly managing director) at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and was founding director of its internationally prominent global food security program. Previously, she was a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, where she helped create the agricultural development program and its strategies around gender, program evaluation, and public-private partnerships. She holds an MA in International Relations from Syracuse University and a BA in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Arizona.
Alex McCalla
Adviser
Alex is a retired scholar and public administrator. He previously served as director of rural development at the World Bank, dean and professor of agricultural and resource economics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, board chair of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and founding board member of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. He also advises Innovare Advisers ag-tech venture capital. He holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota.
Ruth Oniang'o
Adviser
Ruth is a professor of food science and nutrition at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi and founding director of Rural Outreach Programme. She has served as a member of the Kenyan parliament, Norman Borlaug's successor as board chair of Sasakawa Africa Association, a member of the Gates Foundation Agriculture Strategy Advisory Committee, and a consultant to numerous international organizations. She is a joint recipient of the 2017 Africa Food Prize. She holds a PhD in food science from the University of Nairobi.
Prabhu Pingali
Adviser
Prabhu is professor of economics at Cornell University and founding director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition. Previously, he was deputy director of agricultural development at the Gates Foundation, director of economics at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, and manager at major international institutions. He holds a PhD in economics from North Carolina State University and a 5-year MA from Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Rajasthan.
Gurdev Khush
Adviser
Gurdev Khush is an agronomist and geneticist who led plant breeding at the International Rice Research Institute from 1972-2002. He oversaw the development of 300 varieties of rice that played a key role in doubling global rice production and preventing famine. Effects of his work can be seen from space and are discussed in primary school textbooks throughout Asia. He won both the World Food Prize and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, and has used earnings from these and other major awards to establish an agricultural science foundation at his alma mater Punjab Agricutural University. He holds a PhD from UC Davis.
Peter Kelly
President and CEO
Prior to founding Grow Further, Peter was an assistant professor of economics at Renmin University in Beijing, where he taught and published on agriculture, international development, and the environment. He currently serves on the boards of five other charitable, policy, and for-profit organizations in addition to his full-time work at Grow Further, including as vice chair of Carbon Washington. He holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley; holds a BS in International Agricultural Development, with distinctions in agricultural science, from UC Davis; and has completed Global Washington’s Global Leadership Forum.
Learn more about his personal journey and the inspiration that lead him to build Grow Further.
Elena Lamont
Board Secretary
Elena is a strategy, communications, and organizational development professional with extensive experience leading nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and governments through complex growth and change. Prior to Grow Further, she spent two decades with Casey Family Programs as a strategic and systems improvement adviser overseeing a national portfolio of programs and initiatives focused on human services systems integration, leadership and capacity building, community engagement, and culture change. Issues of equity and opportunity, and health and well-being for children, people and their communities are driving forces in her life and work. She holds an MPA from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, a Bachelor's in cultural anthropology, and a graduate certificate in social innovation, all from the University of Washington.
Amy Burton
Board Member
Amy is the founder and owner of A. Burton & Associates, LLC. Her expertise is in executive and technical search, as well as developing scalable recruiting processes. She works with executives and hiring managers to define and build teams that improve capacity and organizational capabilities in global health, life sciences, high tech, digital healthcare and healthcare industries. Clients include Juno Therapeutics (acquired by Celgene), Universal Cells (acquired by Astellas), iStreamPlanet (subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting), Placed, Owl Insights, and Group Health among others.
Prior to starting her own firm, Amy led recruiting of the Global Health Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She worked with Dr. Tachi Yamada and members of his leadership team to build and recruit the Delivery program and expand the Discovery, Development, Advocacy and MNCRH teams. She trained and managed the Global Health Program recruiting team, optimized processes and managed vendors. Amy holds an MBA from Seattle University and a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University.
Donald Summers
Management Consultant
Donald was involved in the development of this plan and is continuing to provide incidental management consulting services to Grow Further, particularly around acquiring capital and talent. He is the founder of Altruist Partners, a consulting firm for growth-oriented nonprofits and social enterprises, and was formerly Director of Development at the University of Washington. He holds an Ed.M. in Leadership and Policy from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s in English from Middlebury College.
Brady Walkinshaw
Adviser
Brady is CEO of Grist, a national environmental magazine, and was formerly a Washington State Representative, general-election candidate for Congress, and agricultural development program officer at the Gates Foundation. He has provided strategic advice to and made connections for Grow Further since well before incorporation. He holds a BA in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.
Malcolm Blackie
Adviser
Malcolm has 5 decades of experience in African development, having served as founding dean of the University of Zimbabwe College of Agriculture. His extensive experience includes founding the Rockefeller Foundation southern Africa office and serving as key adviser to the formation of the pan-African Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture. He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nottingham and a BS in Agriculture from the University of Edinburgh.
Robert Zeigler
Adviser
Bob is the retired Director General of the International Rice Research Institute and former chair of the Association of International Agricultural Research Centers. He holds a PhD in plant pathology from Cornell University.
Jim Harkness
Adviser
Jim led the World Wildlife Fund’s China office through rapid growth to become the largest and most effective international environmental NGO in the country; he also led the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. He is now consulting on program evaluation and business in China and developing a food security venture capital fund. He holds an MS in Development Sociology from Cornell University and a BS in Chinese, Ecology, and Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Alesha Black-Miller
Adviser
Alesha is managing director of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and founding director of its internationally prominent global food security program. Previously, she was a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, where she helped create the agricultural development program and its strategies around gender, program evaluation, and public-private partnerships. She holds an MA in International Relations from Syracuse University and a BA in Journalism and Psychology from the University of Arizona.
Alex McCalla
Adviser
Alex is a retired scholar and public administrator. He previously served as director of rural development at the World Bank, dean and professor of agricultural and resource economics in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis, board chair of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and founding board member of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. He also advises Innovare Advisers ag-tech venture capital. He holds a PhD from the University of Minnesota.
Ruth Oniang'o
Adviser
Ruth is a professor of food science and nutrition at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi and founding director of Rural Outreach Programme. She has served as a member of the Kenyan parliament, Norman Borlaug's successor as board chair of Sasakawa Africa Association, a member of the Gates Foundation Agriculture Strategy Advisory Committee, and a consultant to numerous international organizations. She is a joint recipient of the 2017 Africa Food Prize. She holds a PhD in food science from the University of Nairobi.
Prabhu Pingali
Adviser
Prabhu is professor of economics at Cornell University and founding director of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition. Previously, he was deputy director of agricultural development at the Gates Foundation, director of economics at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, and manager at major international institutions. He holds a PhD in economics from North Carolina State University and a 5-year MA from Birla Institute of Technology and Science at Rajasthan.
Gurdev Khush
Adviser
Gurdev Khush is an agronomist and geneticist who led plant breeding at the International Rice Research Institute from 1972-2002. He oversaw the development of 300 varieties of rice that played a key role in doubling global rice production and preventing famine. Effects of his work can be seen from space and are discussed in primary school textbooks throughout Asia. He won both the World Food Prize and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, and has used earnings from these and other major awards to establish an agricultural science foundation at his alma mater Punjab Agricutural University. He holds a PhD from UC Davis.
Want to Grow Further With Us?
By joining Grow Further, you can help make history.
Want to Grow Further With Us?
By joining Grow Further, you can help make history.
Want to Grow Further With Us?
By joining Grow Further, you can help make history.
