Kathleen Merrigan

Kathleen A. Merrigan is an expert in food and agriculture, celebrated by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2010. Currently, she serves as a Professor in the School of Sustainability and executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University and has been a Venture Partner with Astanor Ventures since 2017. Kathleen is renowned for her efforts supporting local food systems and authoring the law establishing national standards for organic food, as well as the federal definition of sustainable agriculture. She is known for authoring the law establishing national standards for organic food and the federal definition of sustainable agriculture. Alongside her role at Astanor, Kathleen serves as a Professor in the School of Sustainability and executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems. She also serves on the boards of various global food, climate, and forestry research centers including FoodCorps, Stone Barns Center, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the two international forestry research centers CIFOR/ICRAF.