With a Ph.D. in Food Studies from New York University, Mitchell Davis is founder of the consultancy Kitchen Sense, LLC, a laboratory for creative food content and innovative food-system solutions at the intersection of gastronomy, culture, and politics. He serves as Chief Picnic Officer of the Jewish Food Society, where in 2025 he successfully launched The Great Nosh, a new food and culture festival in New York City to help bridge diverse communities.

Davis is an advisor to the Florence University of the Arts in Italy, the cultural center Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel, the Nanro Foundation in Seoul, Korea, and the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in Palm Springs, California. Davis spent nearly three decades at the prestigious James Beard Foundation in NYC, leaving in the role of Chief Strategy Officer, and is a former Academy Chair for the London-based World’s 50 Best Restaurants. He is also an IACP award-winning author of five cookbooks and a James Beard Award-nominated food journalist.

He writes a weekly newsletter on Substack called Kitchen Sense and was host of the two popular food podcasts: What’s Burningand Taste Matters. You can follow him on Instagram @kitchensense.

Karen Mapusua is Director of the Land Resources Division of the Pacific Community which provides technical and scientific support to 22 Pacific Island countries & territories on all aspects of agriculture and forestry.

She has worked in rural development in the Pacific region for close to 26 years including co-founding the Pacific Organic & Ethical Trade Community (POETCom) leading in implementing the Pacific Organic Standard and Guarantee Scheme, building tools to support organic policy development, and establishing alternative forms of certification that empower farmers.
Karen has driven the development of the Pacific Community Flagship on Food Systems for improved health, nutrition and resilience outcomes and has actively promoted economic
empowerment of women through agricultural value chains.

Karen has recently completed a residency on food system transformation at the Bellagio Centre and is President of IFOAM-Organics International, the global umbrella body for the organic agriculture movement. She has previously served on the Board of Directors of Fairtrade Australia New Zealand. She is a national of Samoa and Australia.

Alpha Sennon is the Founder and CEO of WHYFARM, an award-winning NGO based in Trinidad and Tobago that pioneers agricultural educational entertainment, also known as
agri-edutainment. With more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of agriculture, education, and entertainment, Alpha has transformed the way young people view farming:
shifting agriculture from something overlooked into a field of imagination, innovation, and opportunity.

A Ph.D. candidate in Agricultural Education, Leadership, and Communication at Auburn University, Alpha combines academic rigor with creative storytelling to inspire the next
generation of food and nutrition leaders. His groundbreaking work has earned him numerous international awards and recognition as a global thought leader in agri-innovation and youth empowerment.

An accomplished international keynote speaker, Alpha has captivated audiences across the globe; including at TEDxAmsterdam, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Known for infusing his presentations with performance and entertainment, he energizes crowds while delivering profound lessons on sustainability, food security, and youth leadership. Alpha Sennon brings more than knowledge; he brings a movement. His talks ignite creativity,
challenge assumptions, and leave participants equipped and inspired to drive change in their
communities.

Paul Svensson is a chef and cookbook author, today working as culinary leader at Rosendals Trädgård.

He is passionate about improving restaurant operations and creating creative gastronomic experiences with a heavier focus on the relationship to soil, raw materials and how food is created. Paul works to be part of a change in the food system by inspiring a more sustainable food philosophy.  

Graham Aid is Strategy and Innovation Coordinator at Ragn-Sells Group, a leading environmental services and recycling company in Northern Europe. 

With a PhD in Environmental Technology, he bridges applied research and industry through collaborations across agriculture, critical raw materials, and bio-based production. He supports the coordination of industrial actors in the PLENTY initiative, fostering partnerships to accelerate circular and symbiotic food provisioning.

His work in the organic material space focuses on turning food and organic waste into valuable resources—such as alternative proteins to replace soy and fishmeal in animal feed, or recovered nutrients for sustainable fertilizers—bringing lab-based innovations into scalable solutions for future food systems.

Franco Fubini is at the forefront of a fundamental revolution in the way we all eat. His unique approach to seasonality and sourcing has actively shaped the way both top chefs and consumers cook and understand food in London, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Malmo, New York, LA, Miami and Melbourne.

Driven by his belief that by engaging people with the real flavour of fruit and vegetables, we can collectively transform the way that food is being farmed and supplied, Franco has built a resilient supply chain founded on flavour, transparency and direct relationships. A professor of Sustainability Management at Columbia University in NYC, Franco is also a judge for the Food Planet Prize, the largest environmental prize in the world focused on food systems solutions, and author of the award-winning book, In Search of The Perfect Peach (Chelsea Green).