Dave Curry is a serial entrepreneur focused on scaling up carbon removal technology.  Dave has  founded, taken public, and successfully exited three companies. He has over 30 years of telecommunications and energy software industry experience. Dave is currently Chairman of NextWatts and CarbonQuest, both clean energy technology companies. He was co-founder and CEO of Demand Energy Networks, President and CEO of World Wide Packets, and co-founder of Architel, which went public in 1998. In 1996, Dave was selected Canadian Entrepreneur on the Year for his leadership at Architel.

Jeff Thiel is committed to making agriculture a part of the solution to the global warming crisis.  His recent work has been as an investor in decarbonization technologies, consultant to non-profits seeking to scale their impact, and advocate for policies that accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. Jeff is an experienced executive and entrepreneur who has built and launched new products and services in PC software, financial services, health care, and K-12 education.  Jeff was a co-founder of three software startups that shipped high-quality offerings on shoe-string budgets.  Jeff worked at Microsoft for 10 years leading product management and development teams in the Windows and Consumer Products Divisions, after starting his career with global management consulting firm Bain & Co. He was a Dean’s Medalist at the University of Washington and received his MBA with honors from the Wharton School.

Al Wagner has a deep passion for innovation in agriculture and works with landowners to uncover the best tools to efficiently manage their property. Al has over 40 years of experience in large scale farming and vineyards serving in leadership roles at Coastal Vineyard Care Associates, Foley Family Farms and Clos du Val Wines.  With a degree in Soil Sciences, Al is committed to helping other growers discover best practices to optimize plant and soil health. A pioneer in trying promising new practices, Al has used Oakville bluegrass on hundreds of acres of vineyards throughout California. He was named the Napa Valley Farm Bureau’s Agriculturist of the Year in 2022.

Kara Maraden, is the Senior Director of Viticulture at Foley Family Farms where she drives all viticultural operations for 4200 acres of winegrapes in California and Oregon. Kara, a native of Pennsylvania, earned her BS in Horticulture and Master of Agriculture in Plant Pathology from Penn State University. She moved to California in 2010 to pursue a career in wine and viticulture. After a season of vineyard scouting in Sonoma County, CA, she earned her PCA license and went on to work as a viticulturist for several premium winegrowing operations including Clos du Val and Regusci Vineyard Management in Napa Valley. She joined the Foley Family companies in 2016 as the Director of Viticulture where she brought regional operations together and worked to bring 100% of Foley’s planted acres into sustainability programs. Kara joined FFF’s executive leadership team in 2023 where she drives strategic planning and long-term sustainability initiatives, identifies and implements operational efficiencies, and ensures quality farming at an enterprise scale. Kara is driven by her commitment to sustainability and passion for agriculture. In her free time she can be found helping her partner Mike with their small wine label, spending time with their two rescue dogs, and enjoying good food, and fine wine.

Jeff Colombini is President and part of the team management of Alpine Farming Company, Inc., farming olives for olive oil, apples, cherries, almonds, walnuts, and processing tomatoes in the northern San Joaquin Valley near Lodi, California. Prior to farming, Jeff worked as an operations analyst for the San Tomo Group and worked as a loan officer for the Farm Credit System. Jeff currently serves as Chairman of the California Apple Commission, Board member of the US Apple Association, and Treasurer/Board Member of the Olive Oil Commission of California. Jeff is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program and served as a Board Member for Diamond of California, a walnut processing and marketing cooperative, and served as a Board Member for the California Cherry Board. Jeff earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management and a technical degree in fruit science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California. Jeff is married to Sarah and has three children.

Lael Gerhart has spent more than two decades building relationships that bring farms and communities closer together. She began her career at Cornell Cooperative Extension, where she created Healthy Food for All, an early Food Is Medicine program. At Frog Hollow Farm, a 280-acre certified organic, regeneratively managed stone fruit orchard in Brentwood, California, she grew the CSA from 300 to nearly 2,000 members. Today she leads Partnerships & Engagement, connecting the farm with businesses and organizations that share its values to amplify their collective impact. She guides the farm’s storytelling strategy around the ecosystem benefits of its regenerative practices and heads its Nutrient Density Initiative. Lael holds an MS from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Wes Sperry, is a fifth-generation farmer at Sperry Farms, a family-run almond operation based in California's Central Valley that has been growing multiple varieties of almonds since 1974.  Under his forward-thinking leadership, the farm has dedicated a portion of its acreage to organic and regenerative farming practices, utilizing pilot programs to improve soil health and increase climate resilience. Beyond orchard operations, Wes has served as a Board of Directors for the Eastside Water District for over 7 years and has helped develop SGMA implementations for the grower funded water district.  Through these efforts, Wes focuses on reducing farming's carbon footprint and creating an environmentally sound, economically resilient farming system designed to last for generations.