2022 ForumforAg Final Wrap-up and Soil Award Ceremony

Robert Bonnie is the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation at USDA. Prior to joining USDA, Bonnie was at Duke University first as a Rubenstein Fellow and later as an Executive in Residence at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions working on conservation and environmental issues in rural America. In 2020, Bonnie also worked with the Bipartisan Policy Center on its Farm and Forest Carbon Solutions Initiative. Bonnie was Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment at USDA from 2013 to 2017, and a senior advisor to Secretary Tom Vilsack from 2009 to 2013. Prior to joining USDA, Robert was vice president for land conservation at Environmental Defense Fund where he focused on developing incentives to reward stewardship on private lands. Robert has master’s degrees from Duke in forestry and environmental management. He lives with his wife, Julie, and daughter, Lilly, in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Dr Marie Brueser is the Entrepreneurship Leader at Thought For Food, the world's pioneer and leader of next-gen food and agri-tech innovation for impact. In her role, Marie leads several of TFF's flagship programs, including the TFF Challenge, the sector's largest and most diverse innovation challenge; the TFF Academy, an in-house acceleration program supporting promising early-stage startups; as well as TFF's mentoring and intrapreneurship offers.

Marie holds a PhD in plant genetics and has worked on various multinational sustainable development projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Through her work, she has a unique overview of trends in food and agriculture. She has spoken at and moderated discussions with organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Danone, Cargill, EIT Food, thhttps://www.forumforagriculture.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=faqe World Food Forum and more. She is passionate about biotechnology and lives as a nomad, always on the lookout for new innovations.

Thierry de l’Escaille was born in Belgium on 11 May 1955. He studied first at the Faculté Universitaire Saint-Louis, Brussels (1976-78), where he obtained the Diploma in Law, and then at the Université Catholique de Louvain (1978-1980), where he obtained the Licence en droit. He subsequently carried out his Military Service as a Cavalry Officer, 1^er Regiment de Guides (1981-1982) in Germany, current rank: Commandant. Since 1979 Thierry de l’Escaille has been running a family farming enterprise active in Belgium and the Netherlands, in particular in vegetables, sugar beet, potatoes, cereals and flowers. He was the founder of Agriland in 1985. Since 1994, Thierry de l’Escaille has been Secretary General of the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO).  He is also Vice-President of Landelijk Vlaanderen, Member of the Agricultural Reform Group (London), Board member of the Transatlantic Policy Network, Sorgho EU, Société Royale forestière, President Patrimoine Culturel Immobilier, Chairman of various funds. Since 1998 he is also Secretary General of Friends of the Countryside (FCS), and member of different committees. He is currently Member of the Board of several agro-industrial companies in Europe, America and involved in Africa. He is a founder of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture, of the Wildlife Estate Label and deeply committed in private conservation such as in reasonable agriculture. He is member of the Board of Directors of a major protected area in Latin America. President of the board in a work promoting rural development and supporting education of young rural citizens in Colombia. More information Website – www.elo.org Twitter – @EULandownersOrg Facebook – europeanlandowners LinkedIn – thierry-de-l-escaille-6728724

Martin Hubert Gerzabek is an Austrian ecologist and soil scientist. He is a professor of ecotoxicology and isotope application and was rector of BOKU, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna from 2010 to 2018.

Franc is Emeritus Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty and former President of Slovenian Council for Environmental Protection. He is vice president of Council for Environmental Protection at Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. His current research activities include geochemistry and soil development, soil mapping and GIS, pollution monitoring, analytical methods in soil and environmental science, risk assessment of metal-polluted soils, the fate of pesticides in soil, and bioremediation of contaminated soils. He is also member of ESB-European Soil Bureau, former member of EEA-Scientific Comm., former member of EEAC-European Environment and Sustainable Development Adv. Councils and Alumni of The Prince of Wales’s Business & the Environment Programme (BEP).

In January 2022 Emmanuelle Mikosz took the role of 'Forum for the Future of Agriculture' Programme Director. Previously she was the coordinator of the regional events of the Forum. Since 2005 Emmanuelle has been an ELO adviser specialised in property rights, agricultural and environmental policies dedicated to Central & Eastern European countries. Trained as a lawyer, she earned a Master of Arts degree from the College of Europe (Natolin). Emmanuelle is involved on a daily basis with the formulation of ELO members' positions regarding national land laws and management of enterprises. The European Landowners’ Organization - ELO asbl, created in 1972, is a unique federation of national associations from the EU27, which represents the interests of the landowners, land and forest managers and rural entrepreneurs at the European political level. Emmanuelle is the Editor-in-Chief of the ELO bimonthly "Countryside Magazine", edited in English, French and Spanish. She is also an expert representing ELO at different international events as well as at the European Commission Civil dialogue groups or biogeographical consultations processes. She has a personal interest in innovation and research policies, including aviation and protection of data regulations. She believes that the future of European agriculture relies on sustainable development hand in hand with the protection of biodiversity and access to water.

Prior to his current function as President Global Crop Protection, Jon Parr was Chief Operating Officer EAME & Latin America from 2015 to 2016. Before that, he was Head of Global Crops & Assets for Syngenta from 2014, Regional Director for EAME from 2009 to 2013, Head of Syngenta Flowers from 2007 to 2008, Head of Marketing and Strategy from 2004 to 2007 and European Manufacturing Manager from 2000 to 2003. Before joining Syngenta, he worked at AstraZeneca: as a Factory Manager from 1998 to 2000, Global Product Manager Fungicides from 1996 to1998 and Supply Chain Project Manager from 1994 to 1996. From 1987 to 1994, he held project and engineering management functions at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Apart from his function in Syngenta, Jon Parr holds no other mandates in the supreme executive bodies of listed or non-listed companies. Jon Parr is currently serving as a member of the UK Government Investment Council. He is a Chartered Engineer and also holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Civil Engineering from the University of Southampton, as well as a master’s degree in Management from the University of McGill, Canada, and a Diploma in International Management from the INSEAD Institute.

Galina Peycheva-Miteva studied Econometrics and Statistics in New York and graduated in 2005, when she joined the family farm. She started her active agricultural activity in 2007 by managing 1,650 ha of land. She was instrumental in creating the family vineyard, lavender fields and rose fields. She changed the direction of the family business towards crop diversity adding milk thistle, coriander, alfalfa, grass mixes, cotton and acacia to the traditional wheat, barley and sunflower. She changed the method of farming from conventional to minimum disturbance and has made numerous efforts to preserve and improve soil fertility, fight water and wind erosion and has in the process certified as biologic over 580 ha of arable land. She allocated 200 ha of her arable land to be converted to pasture grass land in order to ensure the sustainable long-term management of the land. For those efforts, she was awarded the prestigious Soil Award in Brussels, in 2017. She was named Business Woman of the Year for 2017 by the Agrobusiness Magazine of Bulgaria. Galina is the Vice-Chairman of the Bulgarian Landowners Association, holds a seat on the Board of the Association of Agricultural Producers in Bulgaria and is a member of the National Grain Producers Association. She is actively involved in policy-making and advocating the rights and responsibilities of farmers and landowners. In 2018, she joined the Wildlife Estates label and is passionate about promoting the message of sustainability and the active role of landowners in protecting and promoting biodiversity.

Dr Janez Potočnik graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After a successful career starting in 1989 in Slovenia as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (1994), he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002). In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as "shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. His term ended in November 2014 and he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel and was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and a Member of the European Policy Centre's Advisory Council. From April 2016 he is also the Partner in SYSTEMIQ. More information Twitter – @JanezPotocnik22 Facebook – potocnikjanez LinkedIn - janez-potocnik-872470a7

Mark has enjoyed a long career in the agri-food sector having previously worked at the United Nations and for Syngenta where he held a number of senior leadership positions in corporate affairs and business sustainability in the EAME region and globally. After leaving Syngenta in 2017, Mark became Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring and nurturing STEM skills in young people. Mark later became Head of Marketing and Public Affairs for Indigo Agriculture Europe GmbH. Mark is a co-founder and senior adviser to the Forum for the Future of Agriculture and a Senior Fellow at the Transatlantic Policy Network.

After a period working like a technician in field, first in Morocco and then in Murcia, Francisco started a new period working for Cooperative Spanish Organization, where I was able to combine my fieldwork experience with responsibilities for managing an advisory system for input supply cooperatives. This gave him the possibly of facing to different aspects of agriculture: support cooperatives, technical support, and represent cooperatives toward national and European authorities.

In 2013 he started a challenging journey with Syngenta. He is responsible for sustainability and Stewardship, where he has developed a strong knowledge in sustainable agriculture: biodiversity, water protection and safe use of products, setting up many projects in collaboration with technical support team and salesforce. He also has a strong passion for travelling, mountain and sports in general.

Andrea Vettori is temporarily replacing Camilla Bursi as a Member of Cabinet. His responsibilities include the implementation of the EU-Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (Biodiversity and Nature Protection) and the EU Forest Strategy and the Strategy for Soil Protection.

Member of the European Commission since 1 December 2019, responsible for Agriculture, he is a lawyer and an attorney. Commissioner Wojciechowski’s responsibilities include supporting negotiations on the future of the CAP, developing a long-term vision for rural areas and developing an action plan for organic farming. Commissioner Wojciechowski grew up on a farm in rural Rawa Mazowiecka, Łódzkie region in central Poland. He had started his professional career as a judge at different levels up to being a judge of the Supreme Court of Poland. Then he held very significant post of the President of the Supreme Audit Office of Poland (1995-2001). From 2001 Commissioner Wojciechowski represented Łódzkie constituency as a Member and also Vice-marshal of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland - Sejm (2001-2004) and from June 2004 till May 2016 as a Member of the European Parliament of 3 terms. As MEP he was Member of the European Parliament's Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals in the European Parliament since his 1st term in 2004; since 2014 till 2016 its President. From May 2016 to November 2019 he was the Member of the European Court of Auditors, representing Poland. More information Website – www.ec.europa.eu Twitter – @jwojc