Megan Beck

Director, Commercial Banking at BMO

Megan is a trusted advisor to beverage, food, and consumer brands, with deep expertise in financing, structuring, and underwriting. Since 2007, she has supported manufacturers, distributors, and retailers by delivering customized financial solutions across complex, interconnected supply and distribution networks.

Through a highly collaborative, client-centered approach, Megan facilitates access to specialized industry expertise, market insights, and tailored capital solutions. She is recognized for her ability to deliver certainty of execution and for helping clients achieve sustainable, long-term growth through disciplined strategy and thoughtful counsel.

Adam Biggs

Vice President of Sales at Nova Naturals

Adam Biggs is a seasoned sales and marketing executive with over 15 years in leadership roles in the natural foods industry, specializing in brand building, product innovation, and multi-channel growth. A Santa Rosa native born and raised, Adam has deep roots in the natural foods industry as well as within the Northern California community.

As Vice President of Sales for Nova Naturals, a division of Novamex, he oversees strategy and execution across all major trade channels for a portfolio exceeding $100M in annual revenue. Adam also continues to steward the C2O Coconut Water brand following its acquisition by Novamex, guiding its ongoing growth after helping build it from inception into a nationally recognized category leader.

Earlier in his career, Adam was a founding member of C2O Pure Coconut Water, scaling it into the #1 shelf stable coconut water in the natural channel where it continues to be the category leader at Sprouts and many major retailers across the country. His experience leading teams, launching innovative products, and expanding brands across Whole Foods, Sprouts, mass retail, and club channels gives him a practical, founder-friendly perspective on what emerging companies need to thrive.

Adam currently runs the NNC Sales Forum

Adam earned his MBA from the University of California, Irvine, and completed the Food Industry Executive Program at USC. He lives in Santa Rosa with his wife and three children, and enjoys mountain biking the Sonoma County trails.

Having benefited from mentorship and support early in his own entrepreneurial journey, Adam is passionate about giving back to up-and-coming natural food and beverage brands. He is committed to helping founders navigate growth, avoid common pitfalls, and accelerate the success of mission-driven companies across Northern California.

Mirek Boruta

Senior VP and General Manager, North America at Enervit

Mirek Boruta has spent over 20 years building and scaling commercial engines for globally recognized CPG brands — including Feastables, Clif Bar, and Danone — owning P&L, international expansion, and distribution strategy across 30+ markets and four continents. He currently leads North American expansion for Enervit, a global sports nutrition brand, and serves on the board of Naturally Bay Area, advising emerging brands on commercial strategy and growth.

Outside of work, Mirek is a husband and father of two who lives what he sells — a runner, cyclist and tennis player with a genuine passion for the outdoors and a commitment to eating healthy and sustainably for himself, his family, and his community.

Pete Brennan

President of Innovation at Mattson

An experienced CPG Executive with a love for building brands and a drive to positively impact communities through natural & organic mission-driven businesses that inspire a shift forward in the food system and the world around us. Pete currently sits as Chair of the Naturally Bay Area board and brings 20+ years of Consumer Packaged Goods experience to his role as Vice President of Innovation at Mattson.

Having worked and learned at small and large companies like Kellogg’s, Foster Farms, Del Monte, Zola, Purely Righteous Brands, and the E. & J. Gallo Winery – he has led & developed iconic food & beverage brands including Kashi, Morningstar Farms, Gardenburger, Eggo, Foster Farms Fresh Chicken, and most recently his own husband-wife startup, Soñar! Organic Grain Free Tortilla Chips. When Pete isn’t working or talking natural products, you can find him riding one of his bikes or teaming up with his wife to chase after their daughters on the soccer field or around the house in Oakland, CA.

Kristel Corson

Chief Marketing Officer at Traditional Medicinals

Kristel joined Traditional Medicinals in 2022 as their Chief Marketing Officer to focus on building the brand for its next phase of growth, rooted in purpose and delivering high-quality, medicinal products that harness the power of plants and their many wellness properties. Prior to Traditional Medicinals, Kristel spent more than 30 years helping beloved brands like Clover Sonoma, LeapFrog, Jamba Juice and Clif Bar & Co. meet or exceed business objectives through a combination of innovative new product launches, strong retail presence and marketing programs that create positive, lasting consumer connections.

In her last role at Clover Sonoma as Chief Revenue Officer overseeing Marketing and Sales, Kristel led the transformation of the brand from a values-based regional brand to a national, conscious consumer brand through mission driven branding and innovative new products. Corson championed Clover Sonoma’s B-Corp certification as a way to align the business with its care for people, the community, and the planet. A key focus for Corson was packaging sustainability and product innovation.

Under her leadership, Clover launched the first fully renewable plant-based milk carton in 2020 and the first gallon milk jug with 30% post consumer recycled (PCR) plastic in 2022. In 2022, the company launched Clover Sonoma Moon Milks, its first product line to go national and win a 2022 Nexty Editor’s Choice award for its Golden Moon. Kristel earned a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from San Francisco State University. She lives in Sonoma County with her husband and two children and proudly supports her community as a Bay Area native.

Alexandra Crane

Senior Brand Director at Grove Collaborative

Alex Crane is an early Grove Collaborative employee who joined the team to build their Grove Co. brand. Over the past 10 years, she’s led product development, innovation and supply chain through going public, moving to omni-channel distribution and committing to moving Beyond Plastic.

Alex loves to keep her finger on the pulse of trends / new technology and has increasingly encountered new entrants in AI with a focus on CPG. She’s excited to share how these companies can help CPG brands operate more effectively and efficiently.

Anna Dair

Founder and Principal at Confit Consulting

Anna Dair is the founder and principal of Confit Consulting. She leverages over two decades of foodservice industry experience guiding businesses toward success in this dynamic market. 

From scaling established CPG brands to revitalizing startups, Anna has worked directly with chefs and culinary professionals for more than 20 years. She excels at developing and implementing comprehensive go-to-market strategies and optimizing sales organizations to drive revenue growth. 

Anna served as Director of Business Development at the renowned organic dairy manufacturer, Straus Family Creamery, where she developed the vision and strategy to build the foodservice business from the ground up, and grew the business nearly 10-fold from inception. She has also held sales leadership positions at Ground Control, a coffee equipment manufacturer, and Niman Ranch Meat company. 

With a deep understanding of distribution channels, key industry players, and emerging trends, she partners with clients to unlock their potential in the foodservice sector, delivering tailored solutions and driving significant revenue expansion. She holds a B.S. in Labor Relations from Cornell University.Anna has had a lifelong love of food and cooking, and resides with her husband and son in Oakland, California. 

David Davick

CFO at Propeller Industries

David Davick is a Managing Director at Propeller Industries, where he leads the Consumer and Transaction Advisory practice areas. Propeller is a strategic finance partner to dynamic, early-stage and high-growth companies, providing the flexibility and tailored support needed to accelerate growth.

With over 25 years of experience in Investment Banking, Corporate Finance, Investor Relations, and Public Accounting, Dave has served as CFO and transaction advisor to more than 100 CPG and Technology clients since joining Propeller in 2016. Previously, he spent over a decade at Gap Inc., including leading its Investor Relations program, which was ranked #1 in the industry in Institutional Investor magazine’s 2015 survey of Buy-Side investors. He began his career in Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan (then Hambrecht & Quist) and in audit and advisory services at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Dave serves on the board of Naturally Bay Area and the advisory boards of Tribetic and HomeRunIQ. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Virginia, where he also taught in the undergraduate business school.

Outside of work, Dave and his wife, Natalya, report to their board of directors: their son, Felix, and daughter, Sasha.

Mario DiFalco

Founder at Illuminate Growth Partners

Seeing a gap in the industry, Mario launched Illuminate Growth Partners to provide senior-level strategic expertise without the high costs and slow ramp-up of large agencies. His consultancy helps food and beverage brands scale faster, with agility and precision.

Mario is a proven leader in food & beverage innovation, known for driving category-defining growth. From startups to global brands, he has led PowerBar, JOYBA Bubble Tea, Keen Footwear, and Del Monte through transformational expansion—building brand equity, unlocking new categories, and scaling distribution.

Bringing a classically trained CPG marketing skillset and an entrepreneurial mindset, Mario works closely with brands to refine growth strategies, develop innovation pipelines, optimize brand positioning, and accelerate go-to-market execution. Mario has built a reputation as a trusted partner for brands looking to bridge the gap between early traction and sustainable, long-term success.

Serves on the NNC Education Committee.

Jamie Emerson-Heery

Partner at BPM LLP

Jamie Emerson-Heery is a CPA and works as a Partner at BPM LLP. He has over ten years of experience in public accounting. His experience includes working with companies in a variety of industries in the public and private sector including winery and vineyard land, food and craft beverage, investment banking, investment funds, real estate and manufacturing. Jamie holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of San Francisco. He was recognized as a winner of the North Bay Business Journal’s Forty under 40 in 2016 and was recognized as one of ten North Bay Accounting Leaders You Need to Meet in 2019. He is also a member of Leadership Santa Rosa Class 35.

Lynn Graham

Hustle & Flower

Lynn Yako Graham founded, scaled, and exited Beekeeper Marketing, an agency that helps natural and organic foods reach their potential on Amazon and other online retailer platforms. While at Beekeeper, she built a data analytics platform that ingested Amazon data and provided actionable insights for her clients and company. Prior to founding Beekeeper, she led brand marketing initiatives at natural foods companies, was a tech product manager, and was a strategy consultant. Lynn has a BA in Economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Haas Business School. She loves to play tennis, is a mom of boys, and loves hip hop.

Dave Hirschkop

Founder of Dave’s Gourmet

I am a trained coach and mentor at ICA and SKU, who founded and exited two food companies. Also, I currently help create educational content for the Specialty Food Association (where I am in their Hall of Fame) and Naturally Bay Area. I founded, operated and successfully exited Dave’s Gourmet, a gourmet sauce company that won dozens of awards, gained enormous media coverage, and reached millions of consumers by selling to thousands of stores.

Shawn Jensen

Food and Beverage Partner at Moss Adams LLP

Shawn started his career at Moss Adams 1999 with a focus on serving food and beverage companies. Currently, he leads the Food & Beverage Practice in Northern California and works with numerous food manufacturing and processing companies in the region.

He actively helps clients implement their visions and business strategies. Shawn believes in a hands-on approach and spends much of his time in the field assisting clients with business issues, technical accounting issues, internal controls, implementation of corporate accounting policies and procedures, and financial management.

He has extensive experience working with closely-held family businesses and private equity portfolio companies and reporting to boards of directors, audit committees, owners, and management. Shawn has assisted in both the sale and acquisition of numerous food processing companies. He is a member of the firm’s business combination subject matter expert group which provides guidance to clients in accounting for and reporting business combinations.

Ericka Karner

Chief Growth Officer at Kuli Kuli Foods

Ericka has over 25 years of marketing, sales and general management experience in the consumer goods industry. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from UCLA. Ericka’s career has included positions at large companies like Kraft and Nestle, but start-ups have been where she feels most at home for the last decade. At Kuli Kuli, Ericka’s focus is to drive profitable growth through innovation and strategic sales expansion. She is passionate about the Kuli Kuli mission to improve the lives of women across the globe with both business opportunities as well as healthy food options.

Andy Kay

CEO at Manzana

Andy is a Brit who has split his career between roles in the UK, France and the US. He spent his early years in finance roles in various FMCG companies, before becoming General Manager of innocent drinks in France in 2011. In 2013 he left innocent to join the French farming co-operative Agrial as their UK CFO, then jumped the pond in late 2017 to become their US CFO and since 2021 US CEO, based at Manzana’s site in Sebastopol, with a remit stretching to a dairy in New York and a hard cider business in Seattle, with a few organic orchards to manage as well. Andy brings a strong international perspective to NNC board as well as sound financial and commercial acumen.

John Mackie

Partner at CMPR LLP

John Mackie is a Founding Director of FIG and serves as its pro-bono counsel and corporate Secretary. His firm, Carle, Mackie, Power & Ross LLP (CMPR) is a Founding Sponsor of FIG. John is a Partner in CMPR, a law firm based in Santa Rosa that specializes in the issues of business. John helped to found CMPR after holding a number of positions in government (last as Deputy Secretary of Business, Transportation & Housing for the State of California) and as a Partner in several other law firms.

His own practice is concentrated in food and beverage businesses, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and real estate. John has served on the boards of a number of non-profit organizations, including Sonoma Academy, The Oliver Ranch Foundation, LBC, Sonoma County Museum, North Bay Angels, Building Markets and others.

Carle, Mackie, Power & Ross LLP is a founding sponsor of FIG. It is a law firm based in Santa Rosa that specializes in the issues of business. This also includes issues related to non-profit organizations, such as trade groups and educational, cultural and philanthropic organizations. The firm’s practice areas includes the food and beverage industries; start-up enterprises and business organization; mergers, acquisitions and finance; intellectual property; employment counselling; real estate and land use; commercial litigation; affordable housing and other areas of expertise.

Shelly Malik

Counsel at DWT

Shelly Malik is a dedicated startup lawyer who represents emerging companies, investors, and strategic acquirers in several industries, including food and beverage, digital health, energy, financial services, and technology. She regularly negotiates complex corporate transactions such as venture financings, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, and corporate restructurings. Shelly also has extensive experience creating and negotiating capitalization and distribution models for various corporate transactions and often acts as outside counsel to her clients on general corporate governance matters.

In addition to Shelly's corporate work, she is also passionate about DE&I and is heavily involved in the firm's Food and Beverage JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) leadership committee and the Corporate and Business Transactions internal DE&I committee. This passion expands to her work as co-lead of the firm's Project W Legal Team, making quality legal advice more accessible to female founders of emerging companies.

Ian Malone

Director at Aspect Consumer Partners

Ian Malone is a Director and a founding member of Aspect Consumer Partners. He has over 18 years of finance, investment banking, M&A and operational experience in consumer products, food & beverage, real estate and technology. Ian specializes in advising growing consumer products companies on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and other important strategic matters, with a particular emphasis on companies in the food, beverage, wine, beauty and personal care sectors.

Prior to co-founding Aspect Consumer Partners, Ian was a Senior Vice President with Global Wine Partners, where he led execution on a number of M&A transactions in the wine and craft beer industries. Previously, he was a Managing Director at Premier Pacific Vineyards, one of the largest developers of premium vineyards, where he worked in corporate strategy, finance and portfolio management. Ian began his investment banking career at UBS Investment Bank advising companies in the Technology sector on M&A and corporate finance. Ian received his Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College, and also attended Oxford University (St. Catherine’s College).

Ben Mand

CEO at Guayakí Yerba Mate

Ben Mand is CEO of Guayakí Yerba Mate. Prior to joining Guayakí, Ben was CEO of Harmless Harvest. At Harmless Harvest, Ben successfully transformed Harmless Harvest by tripling sales, radically streamlined the supply chain, and ultimately transformed an unprofitable business into a profitable and scalable company. Ben also led the successful acquisition of Harmless Harvest by Danone. Perhaps most importantly, Ben’s passion and commitment to the company’s mission-led objectives has resulted in assistance to >38k people in Thailand via Fair For Life initiatives, a transition to >50% regenerative organic farming, conversion to 100% rPET bottles, and bringing Harmless Harvest dramatically closer to its goal of 100% zero-waste.

Over the past 20 years, Ben has worked in various brand marketing and innovation roles at leading companies including General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, and Interbrand. He has made an impact as a change agent, driving improvements in health, sustainability, and social impact while delivering consistent sales and profit growth. Prior to joining Harmless Harvest, Ben oversaw all marketing, innovation and creative strategy for Plum Organics, a leading organic baby food brand. Under Ben’s tenure, the brand quickly accelerated from #3 to #1 in the category.

Ben is a seasoned speaker and has been featured at industry events including SXSW, Natural Products Expo and Advertising Week, speaking about everything from socially-minded business practices to marketing with empathy.

Noel McArdell

Senior Vice President and Market Executive at Bank of America

Noel McArdell is a Senior Vice President and Market Manager for the Bay Area Business Banking team at Bank of America. In this capacity, Noel leads a team of financial specialists focused on delivering strategic advice with an emphasis on understanding a client’s industry and unique needs to ensure delivery of integrated financial solutions to help them attain their goals no matter how simple or complex.

Noel’s mission is to help companies and local communities thrive by making financial lives better. Bringing over 20 years of banking experience, Noel joined Bank of America in 2007. Prior to her role as a Market Manager, she worked as a Middle Market Client Manager with the Greater Bay Area. Throughout her banking career, Noel has served many mid-sized companies throughout the Bay Area to support their commercial banking needs.

Originally from Marin County, Noel graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from University of Berkeley. In addition to her degree from Berkeley, Noel also attended the University of California, Paris, where she conducted an economic comparative study of France and the European Union while studying French. She now resides in the Marin area with her family.