Ryan Brown spent the first seven years of his career in finance, while volunteering with food policy organizations in his free time. He founded an organization in Chicago through which he established CSAs connecting his neighbors to local farmers and launched community gardens and composting centers. Ryan’s passion for this work led him to a Master of Public Administration degree at NYU Wagner with a specialization in International Development.

Pete Freeman is an International PNP and Management student at NYU Wagner. He spent 2½ years in Senegal with the Peace Corps consulting for artisan cooperatives to improve access to export markets, financing and business skills. After returning to the US, Pete managed 7 country programs’ grants for the International Rescue Committee. Pete then focused on sustainable agriculture as a Regional Fellow for the Rudolf Steiner Foundation.

Leah Selim is an MA Candidate in Food Systems at NYU. Before graduate school, she worked in the worlds of marketing and publishing with a focus on writing and design, punctuating her career path with a few summers spent farming and teaching English in East Africa. She currently works as an editorial contractor for ReliefWeb at UNOCHA while continuing her coursework in agriculture, food policy and human rights issues affecting sub-Saharan Africa.