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President/CEO
Briana has dedicated her life to doing well by doing good. She is passionate about our incredible home state of Maine and working with our partner farmers to help create a more resilient and thriving coast. Since taking over as CEO at Atlantic Sea Farms in 2018, she and her team have expanded the company to work with 24 partner farmers from Portland to Eastport. Bri has followed a winding path that brought her to kelp - including serving several tours as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service, starting and selling a wholesale bakery in Portland focused on pies with an international flair and employing recent refugees resettled to the area, and creating the first Economic Development programming suite at the Maine-based Island Institute. She is an avid gardener, an obsessive cook, and a proud mother of two rad sons. In 2020, Bri was named an Eating Well Magazine Food Hero, awarded the Specialty Foods Association's Business Leadership Award, and had the honor of sitting on several state, national, and global aquaculture and business policy boards. She also believes that she happens to lead the very best team of people in the natural foods space - and challenges you to prove her wrong.
VP of Marketing & Strategy
Jesse has spent her career promoting food with integrity and activating the edible approach to healthy communities, economies, and environments. Before joining Atlantic Sea Farms in 2019, Jesse worked with mission driven food and beverage companies to tell their sustainability stories and educate consumers. Jesse, a native Midcoast Mainer, is deeply and proudly rooted in the Maine lobster industry.
Director of Quality and Food Innovation
Pete joined Ocean Approved in 2019 after over a decade in food manufacturing in the chocolate, dairy, and beverage industries. Pete's background focuses on Quality Assurance and food safety and he is responsible for making sure our kelp products are delicious and healthy. Pete loves the ocean and maritime history and is thrilled to be a part of ASF's mission to help make our coast more resilient in the face of climate change.
Sales Director
Zoe is an enthusiastic and impactful personality in the national natural food community, and a proud Mainer with a deep passion for the ocean and our working waterfronts, as well as brands on a mission to make a positive impact. Before joining Atlantic Sea Farms, Zoe worked with Maine brands Sea Bags and GrandyOats. Zoe brings a fresh perspective to the ever changing marketplace and her excitement for the social and environmental mission of Atlantic Sea Farms is contagious!
Continuous Improvement & Sustainability Manager
Casey is passionate about building an abundance of regenerative food products. As an environmentalist at his core, he is dedicated to finding solutions that improve the health of our food system without compromising the health of our planet. Prior to joining Atlantic Sea Farms, Casey did procurement and sustainability at B.GOOD, while also running a small mixed vegetable test farm for the company. He is excited to be back in Maine and working to grow Atlantic Sea Farms!
Seaweed Supply and Advancement Manager
Liz has always been in awe of the ocean, feeling her best at the beach, the dock or banding bugs on her partner’s lobster boat. Dedicating her life to all things ‘salty’ led her to Maine in 2010, where she has been farming the cool, clean, waters of the Gulf of Maine since 2016. While on the water crew at Bangs Island Mussels, she cultivated native mussels, scallops and kelp in Casco Bay. She has collaborated with researchers at the University of New England and the US Naval Academy on a Department of Energy aarp-e MARINER award to create a validated hydrodynamic model, using oceanographic instrumentation along with full scale kelp farms in Saco Bay. She is a published author in multiple scientific journals and has presented her research nationally. Liz is responsible for developing and advancing our farming partnerships to bring on the best partners and help them grow fantastic kelp!
Seaweed Supply & Innovation Manager
Thew spends a lot of time thinking about kelp. From the incredible biodiversity of wild kelp beds to its phenomenal growth rates, kelp occupies a lot of his head-space. His studies and research have taken him from the giant kelp forests of California into the Arctic and throughout the North Atlantic. He is passionate about sustainable aquaculture, believes deeply in diversifying Maine’s working waterfronts and looks forward to expanding our kelp nursery and seaweed innovation at Atlantic Sea Farms.
Production Manager
Don became a member of Atlantic sea farms in 2021. He has over 20 years experience as a production manager in the folding carton industry. Don was born and raised in Maine and moved to Texas for 9 years. He moved back to Maine to be with family and to be closer to the ocean and wilderness. Don is very excited to be part of the Atlantic sea farms team and will be managing all production and production efficiencies.
CEI Ventures
Chandler is Managing Director of CEI Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brunswick, Maine based Community Development Finance Institution, Coastal Enterprises, Inc (CEI). CEI Ventures finances high impact, growth-oriented companies located in targeted communities in Maine and the Northeast, investing in a variety of sectors and stages. Since 1996, CEI Ventures has raised 5 venture capital funds and invested in over 65 high growth companies. In addition to his work at CEI Ventures, Chandler assists CEI’s Sustainable Food Systems Program with investing in early-stage, high impact food systems businesses. Chandler received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from St. Michael’s College and an MBA from the University of Southern Maine with a concentration in finance. Chandler is also deeply and proudly rooted to the Maine lobster industry.
Aspire Food Group
Jason Jones is an entrepreneur, executive, and advisor with a passion for disrupting industries for the better, with a focus on scalable, novel farming models. He was Founding President of Vital Farms Inc, and today is Chief Growth Officer at Aspire Food Group. Jason is an active advisor and investor in a variety of growth-stage firms in the food, green-tech, and nutraceuticals sectors. He has served in a variety of non-profits, and is a founding Board Member of the CPG network Naturally Austin. Jason earned his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, is an avid outdoorsman and conservationist, and lives outside Austin with his family and two pit bulls.
Desert Bloom Foods
Julia Paino is a Partner and Board Director of Desert Bloom Foods, a fund investing in, and supporting, dynamic companies that are reshaping our food environment. Previously, Julia co-founded Branch Venture Group (BVG), a Boston-based syndicate that provides capital to early-stage companies in the food, beverage, and agtech space. Prior to BVG, Julia joined as a Founding Venture Partner at NextGen Ventures, the first network-driven venture firm investing in innovative technology solutions. In addition to her work in venture capital, Julia founded Swoffle, a nationwide organic food company where she now serves on the board of directors. Julia also serves as Co-Chair to the NEXUS Community on Global Impact Investing Initiatives. Fun fact: Julia started her career on assignment with National Geographic in Alaska helping to document the changing environment through aerial photography from low-flying floatplanes.
Sitari Capital
As Founder of Sitari Capital, Lisa works with investors to evaluate and manage impactful, direct investments in private companies that align with their values. She is also a Managing Partner at Fresh Source Capital, LLC, and a General Partner in Fresh Source Capital Fund 1, which focuses on the sustainable food and agriculture sector. Previously, Lisa served as a consultant to the Fair Food Fund, and spent 15 years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager for investment firms Batterymarch Financial Management and Boston Advisors. Lisa has served as an advisor and/or board director to several food and agriculture organizations, including Atlantic Sea Farms, Farmers To You, Big Picture Beef, and Boston Public Market, where she is the current Board Chair. Lisa holds an undergraduate degree from Holy Cross and earned her Masters at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She is a CFA® Charterholder and member of the Boston Security Analysts Society.
S2G Ventures
Larsen’s love for the ocean is evidenced by his career and family. In addition to work with Atlantic Seafarms, he is currently a Managing Director for S2G Ventures Oceans and Seafood Fund, serves as an advisor for Neptune NCRP, and a board member for Moleaer, ReelData, and Aquatic Protein. Larsen was also an owner and the CFO of Silver Bay Seafoods, and the Director of Key KeyBanc Capital Markets Seafood Investment Banking Group. He has an MBA with a concentration in Investment Banking from Wake Forest and Dual BBAs in Finance and Information Systems from the University of New Mexico. Larsen lives in Seattle with his family / best friends, Casey and Dylan and Bowie. They love scuba diving, paddle boarding, camping, fishing, skiing and cheering on the Seahawks (Kraken TBD).
True Wealth Ventures
Kerry Rupp is General Partner at True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing in women-led businesses that improve human and/or environmental health. Previously, Kerry was CEO at DreamIt, a Top Ten US startup accelerator and VC fund. She was Founder/CEO of travel company Holiday Golightly and held VP positions at AllRecipes.com, Jobster, Classmates.com, and LexisNexis. Kerry is an avid adventurer that has visited over 50 countries and all 50 US states.
