About
Leading Harvest

Who we are.

Leading Harvest is the industry leader in sustainability, created by and for all stakeholders across the agricultural value chain—from farmland owners to companies to communities.

As an innovative nonprofit organization and trusted economic and environmental partner, we’re working together to grow a healthier future and advance agriculture from the ground up.

What we believe. And why it matters.

With 50% of the earth’s habitable surface already in agriculture production and nearly 1 billion people working in the agricultural industry around the world, food and agribusiness form a $5 trillion global industry that is only getting bigger.

Given this scale, we believe that we all have a responsibility to act by sharing and adopting better practices now. Through collective action, Leading Harvest is continuously improving systems and ensuring that everyone has access to healthy soil, food, and water for generations to come.

How we’re leading the way.

Leading Harvest provides assurance programs comprised of standards, audit procedures, training and education, and reporting and claim offerings that are optimized for flexibility, scalability, and impact.

Our inaugural Standard is designed by and for stakeholders and their diverse needs, ensuring that it is credible and readily available to everyone across the agricultural landscape and supply chain. We also offer ongoing training and education that’s rooted in sound sustainability principles, designed to address critical environmental and social issues and create lasting results in communities.

Ready to make an impact? Learn how you and your organization can join us.

Kenny serves as President and CEO of Leading Harvest and was part of the initial working group that incubated and launched Leading Harvest in 2020. He is responsible for leading the organization and its team to improve sustainability outcomes and create transparency in agriculture globally. Prior to joining Leading Harvest, Kenny served as a Working Lands Principal at The Conservation Fund where he launched sustainability initiatives and raised capital for investments in working lands conservation, both forestry and farmland. Kenny holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an MBA and MS from the University of Michigan.

Fun Facts: Kenny developed a love and appreciation for sustainable food systems from working at a local, women-owned butcher shop in the Bay Area. There he learned a lot about sourcing high-quality, local and sustainable meat and seafood as well as how to mop a floor.

Peter serves as Director, Supply Chain Engagement at Leading Harvest. In this role, Peter manages key relationships with food and apparel brands to deliver group certification across the supply chain. Since moving back to Kansas after living in Chicago for years, Peter continues to help on his family’s fourth generation farm growing corn, soybeans, wheat, and sunflowers. He received his BA from Bethel College and holds an MBA from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has worked on farms in Europe, the Middle East, and across the US.

Fun Facts: Peter’s favorite summer job was building barns with an Amish construction crew. Today, he plays speed chess and loves (but says he is terrible at) woodworking.

Rebecca serves as Director of Strategic Partnerships at Leading Harvest, where she fosters collaboration among members across the value chain to drive positive outcomes and continuous improvement in sustainable agriculture together. Prior to this, she built and led sustainability departments from the ground up at natural CPG brands Daily Harvest and Sir Kensington’s, leading sustainability strategy, program development, and operationalization across the businesses. Rebecca received her Master of Environmental Management at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and her BA from Colgate University.  

Fun Facts: Rebecca’s passions for food and agriculture go beyond her day job. She is a long-time member of the Park Slope Food Coop; she sits on the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Farmworkers; and she’s a proud member of the Rancho Gordo Bean Club, for which it only took her 5 years to get off the waitlist.  

Emily serves as the Director of Brand and Communications for Leading Harvest. She develops and executes strategies to increase awareness and trust in Leading Harvest’s brand globally through media engagement, thought leadership, and various other marketing and communications activities. Prior to joining Leading Harvest, Emily worked with a series of startup tech companies aiming to build a better food system, and she has served as Editor of the global sustainable food nonprofit Food Tank since 2015. Her reporting as a freelance journalist covering the intersection of food, agriculture, climate, and health has appeared in GreenBiz, Edible Magazines, Civil Eats, The Counter, AgFunder News, AG DAILY, Inter Press Service News, the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the New York City Food Policy Center, and more.

Fun facts: Emily’s parents met as Marines in Hawaii and she grew up in Rhode Island, but she now lives in the landlocked state of Colorado. She’s a long-distance cyclist and loves riding up and down the Rocky Mountains.

As the Director of Standards and Education at Leading Harvest, Scott serves as the chief steward of the Leading Harvest certification program and suite of standards for all constituents across the food value chain, domestic and global. Scott has deep experience in auditing sustainability standards and indicators for certification programs, including responsible forestry, climate, environmental claims, food and agriculture, and sustainable seafood. Scott graduated from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo with a degree in Natural Resource Management. He is a Certified Social Compliance Auditor, has created an accredited ISO 19011 lead auditor training course, and is an auditor for various supply chain standards.

Fun facts: Scott enjoys any and all water activities with his family: Sailing, surfing, boating, fishing, snowboarding, sledding, swimming, you name it. Scott also has a scar on his leg from a Black Widow spider bite and although it made him very sick for a week, he has yet to receive any superpowers from the venom.

As the Manager of Partnerships and Programs for Leading Harvest, Laura manages relationships with key stakeholders, and projects for Leading Harvest across the supply chain. Laura grew up on a small dairy farm in western Wisconsin and has traveled throughout the continental United States working with the National Park Service. She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, and an MBA and Carbon Management Certificate from Colorado State University. While completing her MBA, she also completed a Corporate Sustainability Fellowship with Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Fun Facts: Laura is an avid outdoorsman. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, paddleboarding and kayaking. If the weather is nice, you can bet she will have found something to do outside.

Maggie serves as Leading Harvest’s Operations Manager. Maggie works to support the Leading Harvest team and its programs through the management of membership administration, licensing, communications, and data. She manages Leading Harvest’s general office systems and has a background in office administration and content creation for website and social media. She holds her M.A. from George Mason University in Global Affairs with a concentration on Global Governance and Public Management.

Fun facts: Maggie grew up in Florida with her identical twin, who both enjoy baking, sewing, and spending time with their cats. Maggie is also learning to play the banjo, although she isn’t very good yet.