Grace Goodell. Dr. Goodell, former SC&D director, earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University with a dissertation based on two-and-one-half years of field research in the World Bank's showcase Dez Irrigation Project in Khuzestan Province, Iran. The first agricultural anthropologist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, she has been a visiting scholar at the Australian National University and at the Harvard Institute for International Development, a fellow in law and development at the Harvard Law School, and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Goodell's field research and applied work frequently link her with agricultural scientists in two main areas of agricultural development: crop protection and irrigation. She has had short-term assignments with numerous development agencies, and has served on various advisory boards. She is currently writing a book on the non-economic factors behind the rapid rise of East Asia's "four little dragons" (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea). Goodell has also lectured at various universities, published numerous articles, and collaborated in writing a university-level agricultural textbook for use in developing countries.

Mark Wishnie. A forester with seven years of Latin American project management experience, Mark is responsible for the Equator Timberlands group, oversees technical reviews of investment opportunities, and manages Equator’s Technical Advisory Services. Mark previously served as Program Director of the Yale Tropical Resources Institute, Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Native Species Reforestation Project, and as a silviculture and restoration consultant to forestry companies, universities, government agencies, and NGOs in Latin and North America. Mark is a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program and holds a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Washington (’98) and a Master of Forest Science from Yale University (’01).

Emil C. Herkert. Mr. Herkert is noted civil and environmental engineer. With more than 40 years of top-level experience in the field, Mr. Herkert is the retired Chairman and CEO of Hatch Mott MacDonald Infrastructure and Environment Inc. (formerly Killam Associates Inc.), one of the largest environmental engineering firms headquartered in New Jersey. Herkert has authored many technical papers and chaired several technical committees for the American Society of Civil Engineers. Mr. Herkert has been involved in numerous philanthropic activities. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Overseers for the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Vice President of the Board of Trustees for New Jersey Opera Theatre, a member of the Advisory Committee of M-1, an alternative energy company, a judge for the McClosky Business Plan Competition of the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, has been a member and president of the Parish Council for Our Lady of Mercy RC Church, and is active in Engineers without Borders-USA, including establishing a student chapter at NJIT. Additionally, Mr. Herkert also is on the Board of Directors at Kidspeace, a non-profit dealing with children in crisis. He and his wife Ann have six children and four grandchildren.

Lisa Kopp. Lisa currently leads brand marketing for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. Prior to IFC, she was the North American Director for Contra Integrated Creative Services, a Helsinki and London-based strategic communications agency, whose clients include Nokia and Hewlett Packard. Previously, Lisa served as Director of Marketing Communications at Friendster, where she served as official company spokesperson and executed day-to-day media outreach, secured product placement and sponsorships for the brand across entertainment properties, as well as wrote and produced the company's sales and marketing collateral. Lisa has held roles in brand marketing at Levi's and in advertising at McCann-Erickson Worldwide, both in the U.S. and overseas. She was instrumental in establishing and managing McCann's Moscow office, and later went on to work for them in London and New York. Lisa holds a BS in Languages from Georgetown University and a Masters in International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Peter Eliassen. Peter graduated with a BS in Economics/Human&Org. Development from Vanderbilt in 1999 and worked as a Project Manager at Capital One Financial for a few years before deciding to bid credit cards adieu to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin (West Africa).  As a microfinance consultant to a few banks and an entrepreneurial coach for local students and adults, he learned quite a bit about how individuals can succeed in resource-constrained environments. Once leaving the Peace Corps, Peter began his MBA studies at Thunderbird on the European campus near Geneva, eventually working as an intern for the UNConference on Trade and Development in Geneva for a full year on entrepreneurial training workshops in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.  Upon leaving Geneva, he returned to Glendale, AZ to finish his MBA in late 2006.  Peter is now acting as the Vice President of Sales and Operations at VisionSpring. He runs the global operations and sales, supply chain, etc. for VisionSpring in India, Bangladesh, China, Africa, and Central America.

Peter had this to say about PE: “My interests in Planting Empowerment are numerous: While working in Africa, one of our econ./enviro. development projects was strategic planting of revenue-generating trees (Cashew, etc).  I was also saddened at how quickly trees were cut down to use for cooking purposes and how little responsibility was taken by the community to ensure that they had sustainable forests for climactic reasons (near the Sahara desert) and for safe animal habitats (being near an animal refuge).  I think PE is a wonderful idea for many reasons: environment, land ownership, community involvement, and economic progress.  It is rare to find initiatives that can touch all of these aspects of life...so I would love to do all I can to help make it a success.”

Ned Symes III. Edward “Ned” Symes III, sits on the Board of the Maryland/ DC Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and is also a founder and Executive Vice President of Quadel Consulting Corporation.  As a boy, Symes’ love of nature developed during treks through the forests and marshes of South Carolina and Delaware. Since 1978, Symes’ company has assisted the government in operating affordable housing programs. He began his affordable housing career with the State of Maryland Community Development Administration. One of his responsibilities was starting up the state of Maryland’s Section 8 Program, including a statewide voucher program and numerous new construction and substantial rehabilitation projects. Mr. Symes holds a Master of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.