Crop Talk: Career, Stories & Networking
January 22 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Join ECO Canada for an inspiring evening connecting professionals from the Agricultural Sector. Hear authentic career stories, exchange insights, and engage in open conversations about challenges, growth, and success.
What to Expect:
• Fireside Chat: Senior leaders share real-world experiences and strategies for navigating the Ag industry.
• Networking: Connect with role models who have overcome barriers and build meaningful connections across the industry.
Whether you’re just starting out or leading change, this event offers valuable insights and connections to help shape your career and the future of the ocean sector.
Agenda:
- 4:00 – 4:30 – Check-in and Networking
- 4:30 – 5:00 – Panel Session
- 5:00 – 5:30 – Networking
Panelists:
Lenore Newman
Director @ Food and Agriculture Institute – University of the Fraser Valley
Lenore Newman is the Director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley where she specializes in agricultural innovation and policy. She holds a Research Chair in Food and Agriculture Innovation and is a past Canada Research Chair in Food Security and the Environment. She is a professor in the department of Planning, Geography, and Environmental Studies and is an emeritus member of the Royal Society of Canada’s New College.
Lenore mentors in Creative Destruction Labs-Rockies agricultural stream and works closely with industry in the areas of alternative proteins and controlled environment agriculture. Lenore was a member of the BC Premier’s Food Security Task Force, sat on the BC Minister of Agriculture’s Advisory Committee, and consults widely on the future of food. She has published numerous academic journal articles and book chapters, and her opinion pieces have been published in the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, Hill Times, CNN, and the Georgia Straight. Her first book, Speaking in Cod Tongues, was published to wide acclaim in January 2017. Her second book, Lost Feast, was published by ECW Press in 2019 and awarded silver in the 2019 Forward INDIES and was the winner of a Canadian Science Writers Award. She is co-author of Dinner on Mars, which was published in 2022. She holds a BSc in Physics from the University of British Columbia, and a PhD in Environmental Studies from Toronto’s York University.
Alycia van der Gracht
Founder @ Quanto Tech Solutions
Alycia is an entrepreneur. As a founding member of QuantoTech, she oversees supply chain management, client services, research and analysis, and day to day operations for the QuantoTech team. Before QuantoTech, Alycia worked at several companies and technology start-ups such as the Alacrity Foundation, CarrotLines, and Media Touch in roles ranging from recruitment to marketing. In her personal life, Alycia had become increasingly interested in knowing where her food came from and how to grow it herself. As her interest developed, her research led her to the conclusion that LED grow lights and systems were the future of horticulture. In 2012, Alycia decided to pursue her research professionally and founded QuantoTech where she engineers solutions to combat food insecurity.
Alycia earned a B.A. at the University of Lethbridge with a Major in Sociology. Her continuing professional development activities include attendance at a variety of conferences and events including the Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) at the World Trade Centre, the International E-Commerce Essentials program at the World Trade Centre, attending finance bootcamps with Women Tech Founders association, and perusing a MITx MicroMasters in Supply Chain Management.
Yuan Shi
General Partner @ NYA Ventures
Yuan Shi is a General Partner with NYA Ventures, currently deploying its specialized fund in Food and AgTech, a $51M deep-tech, early-stage venture capital fund, investing in breakthrough innovations and outliers solving the planet’s most urgent food-related climate, agricultural, and farming challenges. Yuan comes from a 4th generation farming background, and was a small-scale farmer in British Columbia. She is an environmental engineer by training, and has led early-stage and growth-stage investments, M&A and investment banking projects. Yuan is a sought-after speaker and moderator, often focusing on the intersection of technology/science, investing, climate, agriculture, food and cleantech. As a community advocate and builder, Yuan teaches innovation, commercialization, and private equity at UBC as an Adjunct Professor to contribute to experiential learning & training of the next generation business, community and industry leaders. Yuan sits on the Board of Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She is a believer that access to arts & music shouldn’t be a privilege. Yuan was recognized and awarded as the 2023 Cleantech Investor of the Year.
