Katrien Verbeke

Founder at Let us

Katrien Verbeke is a social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in transforming the food system for the better. As a passionate advocate for change, she challenges the existing food system and pushes for a more sustainable and equitable way to grow, distribute, and consume food. 

In her previous experience as a Sustainability Manager at the food retailer Delhaize, Katrien built the sustainability strategy from scratch. She worked with several prestigious organizations including WWF to create a sustainable fisheries policy. She also developed the award-winning food strategy Gent en Garde for the city of Ghent.

Today, Katrien continues her mission of challenging the existing food system through Let us. Let us tackle various challenges within the food system, including food waste reduction, promoting short supply chains, and fostering collaboration. They also create innovative food products alongside vulnerable groups, ensuring a more inclusive food system.

Molly Anderson

William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Food Studies at Middlebury College

Molly D. Anderson leads the Academic Program in Food Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, where she teaches courses such as Agroecology, Food Power and Justice, Fixing the Food System, and Food Policy. Her interests include fostering multi-actor collaborations for sustainable food systems, enhancing food system resilience, advocating for human rights within the food system, promoting the right to food in the US, and bridging the gap between academicians and community-based activists. Molly works on improving food system sustainability on local, national, and international levels. In recognition of her significant contributions, Molly received the 2024 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award from the Agriculture, Food & Human Values Society. 

Active across various networks, Molly is a member of Vermont’s Farm to Plate Network, the Food Solutions New England network, the national Inter-Institutional Network for Food, Agriculture & Sustainability, and the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). She co-founded and led the Agriculture, Food & Environment Graduate Program at Tufts University’s School of Nutrition Science & Policy for its first five years, worked with Oxfam America, and consulted for clients at local, state, and international levels. Molly holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Systems Ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a B.S. and M.S. in natural resource management, and a certificate in Latin American Studies from Colorado State University.

Nikolai Pushkarev

Manager EU Policy for Food and Land Use Sectors at Agora Agriculture

As the Manager for EU Policy on Food and Land Use Sectors at Agora Agriculture, Nikolai Pushkarev monitors European policies related to agriculture, land use, and food in Brussels. He also works to coordinate these activities with other think tanks across Europe.

Before joining Agora Agriculture in November 2022, Nikolai was Senior Policy Manager and Policy Coordinator at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), where he developed and implemented the organization's policy strategy on food systems and health. 

Nikolai holds an MA in European Law from Maastricht University and a postgraduate certificate in Agricultural Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies.