Our Team

These industry and organizational leaders are driving and shaping regenerative agriculture and inspiring others to follow.

Lauren Manning, Executive Director

Lauren Manning is Executive Director of Food System 6, leading initiatives that redesign agricultural finance and expand access to capital for regenerative producers. A lawyer, former regenerative rancher, journalist, and agrifood tech VC, her work bridges law, capital strategy, and on-the-ground farming experience to advance regeneration and financial viability across the food system.
Meredith Nguyen, COO

Meredith runs Vim & Rigor, a non-profit consulting firm that supports organizations working to transform the food system. Prior to consulting, Meredith spent 15 years serving the mission of the San Francisco Marin Food Bank (a $60M organization with more than 200 FTE) as the Chief Development Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer.
Denise Gurule, CFO

An experienced CFO, controller, and nonprofit financial leader, Denise brings more than 25 years of accounting expertise to DMG Accounting Services. She has led finance teams in both nonprofit and for-profit sectors, including 13 years at LEGOLAND California and ten years as CFO/Controller consulting for nonprofits and small businesses. She specializes in building efficient financial systems that empower organizations to focus on their mission while ensuring long-term sustainability.
Karen Simons, Director of Innovative Finance

Karen Simons brings more than 20 years of experience advancing healthy, sustainable regional economies and equitable food systems through innovative finance, research, and strategic advisory. In her current role, she designs finance solutions for regional food systems and regenerative agriculture, and previously led grantmaking and community-centered investment strategy as Executive Director of the WellMet Group. Karen brings expertise in finance, business development, and community engagement, grounded in her MBA and Master in Public Policy from New York University, her CFA credential, and her training as a Master Gardener.
Tara Davids, Partner, Strategic Finance

Tara Davids brings more than 15 years of experience spanning corporate strategy, venture-backed technology, and regenerative agriculture finance. At Pollination, she advised leading global food and financial institutions on financing supply chain decarbonization and regenerative transition, and previously worked in operations and finance at rePlant Capital deploying debt capital to improve soil, water, carbon, and biodiversity outcomes. Earlier in her career, she advised Fortune 500 companies as a strategy consultant and helped scale Silicon Valley startups through growth and exit. Tara holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Dartmouth College.
Kyle Rudzinski, Partner, Strategic Finance

Kyle Rudzinski brings nearly 20 years of experience at the intersection of climate, finance, corporate supply chains, and public policy. He has led regenerative agriculture financing strategy and corporate engagement at Pollination, directed strategy and operations at rePlant Capital deploying capital directly to farmers, and previously held sustainability and clean energy investment roles at Levi Strauss & Co. and the U.S. Department of Energy. Kyle holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a certificate from the Sustainable Finance Executive Programme at Oxford University, along with graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Virginia.
Terrick Boley, Senior Program Manager, EQIP Bridge Loan Program

Terrick Boley is a seasoned agricultural finance leader with more than 20 years of experience designing and managing complex national and state-level programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. He has held numerous leadership roles spanning policy development, federal lending operations, program evaluation, and strategic outreach across California, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C., and is widely recognized for advancing equitable access to agricultural resources. In 2025, he founded Boley AgriCapital, an agricultural finance consultancy focused on expanding opportunity for farmers, ranchers, and ag-based entrepreneurs through strategic guidance, financial packaging, and technical assistance.
Alex Cherry, Program Manager, EQIP Bridge Loan Program

Alex Cherry holds dual Master of Public Policy and Master of Environmental Management degrees from Yale and is passionate about scaling regenerative agriculture in the U.S. and around the world through equitable and effective financing, policy, and governance. Previously, he worked in short term positions at the Rockefeller Foundation, TNC, and FAO, co-founded an executive functioning coaching business, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin, West Africa. He speaks fluent Italian and French, intermediate Spanish, and some Arabic, among other languages.

Board of Directors

Seanicaa Edwards Herron

BOARD MEMBER
Seanicaa Edwards Herron is a highly respected agricultural economist, market analyst, and one of the most distinctive voices shaping the future of agriculture. With more than two decades of cross-sector experience spanning government, academia, private industry, and nonprofit leadership, she brings a rare combination of technical authority, strategic insight, and visionary thinking to the most pressing challenges shaping the future of agriculture and food.
A pioneer and trailblazer, Seanicaa was the first Black woman agricultural economist at USDA’s World Agricultural Outlook Board, the University of Missouri–Columbia’s Commercial Agriculture Program, and the agricultural consulting firm formerly known as Informa Economics–Memphis. Her career has been defined by her ability to translate complex market and economic forces into actionable strategies that drive long-term viability and growth for agricultural businesses, institutions, and farmers.
As Founder and CEO of Freedmen Heirs Foundation, Inc., Seanicaa is building the market and financial infrastructure necessary for farmers historically excluded from opportunity to achieve long-term economic resilience and build generational wealth. She brings the same rigor she once applied to global agricultural market analysis and agribusiness strategy directly to producers, while also helping shape broader systems that determine their success. Freedmen Heirs Foundation is distinguished by its integration of applied economic strategy, business acumen, and cultural competence—equipping farmers not only to participate in modern markets, but to compete and thrive within them.
Committed to developing the next generation of agricultural leaders, Seanicaa actively mentors students and early-career professionals and serves as a guest lecturer at universities and academic programs across the country. Through these engagements, she shares practical economic insight, career guidance, and real-world perspective with emerging leaders preparing to shape the future of agriculture.
Seanicaa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Mississippi State University, where she was named to the 2022 inaugural Reveille 25 class recognizing exceptional alumni for leadership and service. She is an Aspen Institute Food Leaders Fellow, a member of the New Profit Economic Mobility Cohort 3, and a recipient of the inaugural 2025 James Beard Foundation Impact Award—one of the most distinguished honors at the intersection of food, agriculture, advocacy and equity. She is also a recipient of the Albert R. Hagan Award for Excellence in Agricultural Economics.
Kelly Nuckolls

BOARD MEMBER
Kelly Nuckolls is the Assistant Director and Assistant Professor of Practice for the LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. She directs the Food and Agriculture Impact Project , which provides the next generation of food and agriculture lawyers with hands-on experience in policy and legal research, analysis, and education.
Kelly received her LL.M. in Food and Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law, her J.D. from Drake Law School, and her B.A. in Political Science from Fort Hays State University. Kelly previously worked in Washington, D.C. as a senior policy specialist at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), where she advocated for federal policies related to sustainable agriculture, including the farm bill, food safety, and food labeling laws. Prior to NSAC, she worked at the University of Maryland Agricultural Law Education Initiative, where she provided legal education on a variety of agricultural law topics to farmers in Maryland and Delaware. Kelly has also taught Food Law and Policy to second- and third-year law students at George Mason University Law School in Arlington, VA, and U.S. Farm and Food Policy to undergraduate students at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, VT. She is licensed to practice law in the State of Iowa.
Janie Simms Hipp

BOARD MEMBER
Janie Simms Hipp is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She has worked in agricultural law for nearly 40 years, having launched her career during the 1980s farm financial crisis. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in social work from the University of Oklahoma; a Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law; and a Master of Laws in Agriculture and Food Law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
She currently serves as founding CEO of the Native Agriculture Financial Services (NAFS), a nonprofit lender within the Farm Credit system of lending institutions which specialize in rural and agricultural lending. Prior to launching NAFS, she as General Counsel of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). She was nominated for the position by President Biden and was confirmed in that role by the United States Senate. She served as only the 4th woman and the 1st Native woman in that position since the founding of the office in 1905.
Hipp was the founding CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund; the founding director of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative; and served as national program leader at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, leading programs focused on agricultural economics, agricultural law, risk management, trade adjustment, agricultural tax, and beginning farmers and ranchers. Her first tour of duty with USDA was in the Bush Administration as national program leader, and she went on to serve as Senior Advisor to Secretary Tom Vilsack in the Obama administration, and founding director of the Office of Tribal Relations in the USDA Office of the Secretary, before coming back in the Biden administration as General Counsel.
She has received numerous awards over the course of her career and has expertise in the full range of agricultural and food policy and law, having taught many of the subjects associated with this specialized area at the university level (graduate and undergraduate), law school level, and among those whose livelihoods are tied to the agricultural sector. Her career has also touched on issues related to trade, international development, sustainability, environmental issues, food safety, and food security/national security. She has served on numerous national boards and committees in private philanthropy and within the federal, state, local, and tribal governmental context. She splits her time between Arkansas and Oklahoma.