Board of Directors
Co-Chairs
Maria Rodale
Maria Rodale is the author of Love Nature Magic, Scratch, and Organic Manifesto. She is also the former CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., publisher of books such as Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, Howard Schultz’s Onward, and classics like The South Beach Diet. Rodale also published the magazines Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, and Organic Gardening, among others. She has been involved as a supporter, board member, and co-chair of the Rodale Institute for over three decades. And has received awards for her lifetime of service and activism, including the National Audubon Rachel Carson Award, United Nations Population Fund’s Award for the Health and Dignity of Woman Everywhere, and The Auburn University International Quality of Life Award. She also has an honorary Doctorate Degree from Delaware Valley University. Maria is also the children’s book author Mrs. Peanuckle.
Roberta Lang
Roberta Lang is the former General Counsel and Global Vice President of Legal Affairs (ret.) for Whole Foods Market, Inc., a Fortune 300 company and the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods headquartered in Austin, Texas. She has been recognized five times as a Whole Foods Market “All*Star,” the Company’s highest honor. Roberta is a Board Member of Conscious Capitalism, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating the theory and practice of a more complex form of capitalism. She is a founding Board Member of the Whole Planet Foundation and she also sits on the National Council of Valparaiso University School of Law. She is passionate about and regularly consults with business leaders regarding Purpose, Mission, Culture and the fundamental principles of Conscious Capitalism.
Members
Christa Barfield
James Beard Winner Christa Barfield is a healthcare professional turned farmer and lifelong Philadelphia resident. It was 10 years into her career in health care administration when her life led her to pursuing health and happiness in a more sustainable way. After a solo trip abroad in January 2018, she returned home inspired to connect with the land, plant life and social issues that heavily impact Black and brown communities and people’s perception of food. Her business is a reincarnation of her career in health care with a focus on regeneration and nutrition security. Now with 128 acres across three counties in Pennsylvania, she has built FarmerJawn with an equitable focus on Food as Medicine and she is leading conversations nationwide on how to take a Farm First approach to America’s relationship with food and health.
Christopher Ely
As Co-founder of Applegate, Chris has helped bring organic and antibiotic-free meat products to the market. Chris has been able to take his life experiences of growing up on a farm in New Jersey, along with working in his family’s specialty meat business and apply it to growing Applegate into the leading natural & organic deli and meat company in America today. After graduating from culinary school in England, returned to his family’s meat business. Chris worked closely with farms to assure they adhered to Applegate’s strict animal welfare standards. Chris is a member of Arcadian Organic Board of Directors, Board member of Shenandoah Valley Organic, PAACO Trained Auditor, former board member of the OTA and of OTA Livestock subcommittee, former board member of the American Association of Meat Processors.
Matthew Grand
Matthew Grand is an investment advisor at Goldman Sachs. He manages investment portfolios on behalf of Foundations, Endowments, and Individual Investors. Prior to his current role, Matthew was a founder and Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs’s Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) franchise. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Matthew was with PwC, where he earned his Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) designation. Matthew lives in Scotch Plains, NJ, with his wife Lily and their son, Julian.
Alison Grantham
Alison Grantham, PhD, is a scientist and business leader who founded and runs Grow Well Consulting, a firm dedicated to improving our food system. She brings a rigorous yet practical approach to her work with leading nonprofits, private sector businesses, and foundations to build a more just, regenerative, and resilient food future. Prior to launching Grow Well, she led Food Systems R&D and then Food Procurement at Blue Apron, an $800M revenue meal kit company; Penn State Extension’s beginning farmer training program; and research and policy at the Rodale Institute. Alison currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee to advise the US Global Change Research Program, the body that oversees climate and other global change research across the 14 federal agencies. Alison lives in New Jersey where she and her spouse are raising 2 kids, 2 dogs, a giant garden, and way too many shiitake mushrooms.
Mark Koide
Following a 30 year career as an executive in a series of Fortune 500 and earlier stage companies, Mark Koide is currently CEO of Kommunity Ventures a small investment LLC and Founder of the Fund for Social Equity, a nonprofit committed to narrowing the racial wealth gap. His corporate career was built around his ability to manage primarily health and nutrition oriented companies and brands. This includes tenures at the world’s largest food and beverage corporations – Mars, Kraft, Danone and Campbell Soup/Pepperidge Farm as well as in CEO and strategic consulting roles in smaller companies. He serves as an advisor to the Rodale Institute, the US Asia Institute and the Marine Biological Laboratory of the University of Chicago. An avid fly fisherman, competitive tennis player, he and his wife Karen have three adult children.
Pedro Landa
Pedro Landa is the founder and Technical Director of Organización Internacional Agropecuaria (OIA), an Argentine certification body, dedicated since its beginning to organic production with international scopes. OIA is a member of the Directory of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) Affiliates. Pedro was a founding member of Argentine organizations such as MAPO (Argentine Movement for Organic Production) and CACER (Argentine Chamber of Certification). Pedro is also an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor, with a long experience in auditing Quality Management Systems.
Brian Lehnart
Brian Lenhart is a Vice President at American Express with a 20-year career covering advertising, product management, marketing, digital development, human resources, strategic consulting and partnerships and has served premium customers, small businesses and large corporations. Before joining American Express, he worked at Saatchi & Saatchi on advertising campaigns for Procter & Gamble. He has proven to be deeply invested and involved in the Rodale Institute mission for nearly five years. Brian and his wife, Lisa, were some of the first Pennsylvania-based clients to engage with the Institute’s Organic Consultancy when they moved back to their family farm in 2019.
Erik Oberholtzer
Erik Oberholtzer is the chef and entrepreneur who co-founded Tender Greens in Los Angeles, CA. He now serves as chairman of the growing restaurant group, which currently has 30 restaurants in CA, NY and MA. Erik serves as a global champion for the Food Forever Foundation and, in 2009, founded the Sustainable Life Project, a six-month, paid internship program offering culinary job training at Tender Greens for at-risk, former foster youth in the US. In 2017, he partnered with the Crop Trust on ‘The Spice of Life Project,’ an effort to reintroduce forgotten foods and heirloom seeds back into the food system. Erik holds undergraduate degrees in psychology from Temple University and culinary arts at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island, respectively. He spends his time between New York City and Venice Beach, California.
Esther Park-Hallam
Esther Park Hallam is founder and CEO of Nara Organics, an organic infant formula company. She founded Nara from her own pain of finding clean, organic Infant Formula in the United States. Prior to founding Nara, Esther spent 20 years as a digital product leader for many startups in Silicon Valley and NYC. She was the first product manager at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia launching marthastewart.com and went on to be an early director of product at Gilt.com.
Maya Rodale
Maya Rodale is a fourth generation member of the Rodale family and has served on the board of the Institute since 2013. Previously, she worked as the organization’s Director of Communications and Outreach and launched the Organic Pioneer Awards. She began her work with Rodale Institute as a Farm Ops intern. A prolific writer, Maya is a bestselling author of more than twenty books and freelance writer for NPR, The Huffington Post, and more. Maya lives with her family in New York City.
Loren Speziale
As Deputy Managing Partner, Loren Speziale regularly counsels small to mid-sized, private and public corporations as well as privately held businesses on corporate and employment matters. Loren is a former member of the District XA Attorney Ethics Committee. She was selected for inclusion in the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Stars list, and in 2010 and 2011 Loren was recognized by New Jersey Super Lawyers on their Rising Stars list. Loren was nominated as one of Lehigh Valley Business’s 2018 Women of Influence. In 2017, she was recognized by Lehigh Valley Magazine as a “Local Legal Leader” and was selected for Lehigh Valley Style’s “Lehigh Valley Select Lawyers” issue. In 2014, Lehigh Valley Business also recognized Loren on their list of “Forty Under 40.” After receiving this recognition, Loren was asked to serve as a judge for 2015.
Scott Stoll
Dr. Scott Stoll is an international leader in lifestyle medicine and board-certified physician specializing in sports and regenerative musculoskeletal medicine. During his career, he has provided care to top Olympic, professional and collegiate athletes as well as Royal families in Europe and the Middle East. An innovator, he is the co-founder of the Plantrician Project and served as a member of the Whole Foods scientific and medical advisory board and consults with healthcare organizations globally to integrate lifestyle medicine solutions. As a past keynote speaker at the Institute’s Regenerative Healthcare Conference, he has been a long-time thought leader to the organization.
Jennifer Taylor
Jennifer Taylor, Ph.D. is owner of Lola’s Organic Farm in Glenwood, Georgia and Associate Professor, coordinator of Small Farm Programs/Sustainable Agriculture Systems at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). At FAMU she developed the Statewide Small Farm Program, a sustainable development program that focuses on education, training and technical assistance for underserved small farm populations. Jennifer served on the National Organic Standards Board for 5 years and currently serves as Board member on the Organic Farmer’s Association Governing Council and Policy Committee, IFOAM-NA, US Food Sovereignty Alliance, and Georgia Organics.
Jeff Tkach
Jeff Tkach, Rodale Institute’s Chief Executive Officer, is on a mission to reconnect humans with the earth. He is responsible for leading the organization’s growth, impact, and strategic planning, and is committed to advancing the Institute’s world-renowned research and education on regenerative organic agriculture. In this role, Tkach leads a global workforce dedicated to advancing innovations in regenerative organic agriculture. His management portfolio includes strategic planning, overseeing the Institute’s twelve campus operations in the U.S. and Europe, directing research investments, and supervising the organization’s education programs. Before assuming the Institute’s most senior leadership position, Tkach served as Rodale Institute’s Chief Impact Officer.
Bill Wolf
Bill Wolf is Founder and CEO of Wolf & Associates, a leading global organic consultancy, and an innovative thought leader in organic and value-added product development and sustainable agricultural practices. He passionately mentors numerous individuals, projects and companies to enhance food and agriculture for healthier soils, plants, animals, and people. Bill’s pioneering work includes founding the first national organic farming supply company and Thorvin, the largest U.S. certified organic seaweed brand and co-founder of New Resource Bank to fund organic and sustainable businesses. He received the Organic Trade Association’s top accolade, the Organic Leadership Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement. He and his wife, Bonnie Brooks, operate Second Star Farm in Sinking Creek, Va.