Our Team
|
Caesare Assad
CEO |
Peter Herz
Co-founder & CFO |
Perri Kramer
Program Director |
Melissa Rouse
Program & Communications Manager |
Caesare Assad, CEO, has developed and led several food business innovations to address social and environmental challenges. Her 20 years of food industry expertise as a chef and business executive spans the private, non-profit, and corporate sectors, with a wide range of hands on, operational leadership roles. Prior to joining Food System 6, Caesare launched back-to-back start-up concepts for Whole Foods Market, co-founded The Cleaver Group - a food environment design consultancy, developed culinary programs for at-risk populations, and launched a plethora of food businesses and foodservice concepts around the US for clients that include Tesla, SpaceX and LinkedIn. Caesare’s mission is to enable relationships within and across the food system that can make healthful food readily accessible to all. She holds a B.A. degrees in Painting and Philosophy and advanced certifications in nutrition and fitness training. As a native to rural Oklahoma, she is especially passionate about surfacing and supporting issues that impact agricultural communities.
Peter Herz, Co-founder & CFO, is a serial entrepreneur, board member and advisor to early stage companies. He was forced to confront his relationship to food due to a set of chronic medical conditions. By turning his attention to food and agriculture he was able to address these conditions without medication, and is now committed to addressing the root causes for poor health that lie within the current food system. He previously served as CEO of irisnote, a SaaS based application provider for scientists to manage their research, interim President of the biological simulation company Entelos, and founding CEO of 3ware, a revolutionary data storage company sold to AMCC. Prior to co-founding 3ware, Peter ran North American Consulting for Synopsys and managed customer engineering for Siemens Semiconductor’s (now Infineon Technologies AG) North American embedded control business. He has broad international experience including a startup in Munich, Germany and managing sales and partnerships in both Europe and Asia. Peter also serves as a member of the board of directors of Kendall Investments, a private equity fund-of-funds company and previously IPextreme, Inc., a semiconductor intellectual property company. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and completed A-levels at Eastbourne College, Sussex, United Kingdom.
Perri Kramer, Program Director, has led Marketing and Operation teams, as well as product launches, in the organic food industry for over a decade. Prior to joining Food System 6, Perri worked for Whole Foods Market, Revolution Foods, and for restaurant and food marketing consultancies. An early passion for cooking led her to study food equity and farming and ultimately to build a career working with ethical businesses that support sustainable food systems. Still a deeply invested home cook and avid dinner party host, Perri brings communities together by celebrating good food and, in her free time, develops recipes for a local community supported fishery. Perri holds B.A. degrees from The Colorado College in History & Political Science as well as a concentration in Agro-Ecology.
Melissa Rouse, Program & Communications Manager, is a writer and editor with a passion for food system change. She is dedicated to supporting small and mid-sized organizations with big-picture plans for the betterment of local and global food communities. Growing up to a beekeeping family on the Big Island of Hawaii, Melissa has been immersed in the food and agriculture world since day one - and has been captivated by the challenges and opportunities that this industry creates. By turning her editorial background towards the FoodAg space, Melissa has been able to combine her skill and passion; she is excited to be partnering with Food System 6 as they work to transform the traditional structures of this age-old industry. Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Critical Social Thought from Mount Holyoke College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Peter Herz, Co-founder & CFO, is a serial entrepreneur, board member and advisor to early stage companies. He was forced to confront his relationship to food due to a set of chronic medical conditions. By turning his attention to food and agriculture he was able to address these conditions without medication, and is now committed to addressing the root causes for poor health that lie within the current food system. He previously served as CEO of irisnote, a SaaS based application provider for scientists to manage their research, interim President of the biological simulation company Entelos, and founding CEO of 3ware, a revolutionary data storage company sold to AMCC. Prior to co-founding 3ware, Peter ran North American Consulting for Synopsys and managed customer engineering for Siemens Semiconductor’s (now Infineon Technologies AG) North American embedded control business. He has broad international experience including a startup in Munich, Germany and managing sales and partnerships in both Europe and Asia. Peter also serves as a member of the board of directors of Kendall Investments, a private equity fund-of-funds company and previously IPextreme, Inc., a semiconductor intellectual property company. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and completed A-levels at Eastbourne College, Sussex, United Kingdom.
Perri Kramer, Program Director, has led Marketing and Operation teams, as well as product launches, in the organic food industry for over a decade. Prior to joining Food System 6, Perri worked for Whole Foods Market, Revolution Foods, and for restaurant and food marketing consultancies. An early passion for cooking led her to study food equity and farming and ultimately to build a career working with ethical businesses that support sustainable food systems. Still a deeply invested home cook and avid dinner party host, Perri brings communities together by celebrating good food and, in her free time, develops recipes for a local community supported fishery. Perri holds B.A. degrees from The Colorado College in History & Political Science as well as a concentration in Agro-Ecology.
Melissa Rouse, Program & Communications Manager, is a writer and editor with a passion for food system change. She is dedicated to supporting small and mid-sized organizations with big-picture plans for the betterment of local and global food communities. Growing up to a beekeeping family on the Big Island of Hawaii, Melissa has been immersed in the food and agriculture world since day one - and has been captivated by the challenges and opportunities that this industry creates. By turning her editorial background towards the FoodAg space, Melissa has been able to combine her skill and passion; she is excited to be partnering with Food System 6 as they work to transform the traditional structures of this age-old industry. Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Critical Social Thought from Mount Holyoke College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
Board of Directors
Renske Lynde, Board President, has worked in the non-profit sector on food, agriculture and nutrition policy and issues for nearly 20 years. Her work has included grassroots education and community organizing, strategic campaign development, quantitative policy analysis and legislative advocacy. She began her career in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy working on behalf of small-scale sustainable agriculture producers and went on to build direct markets for Pennsylvania farmers in the Philadelphia marketplace. Renske subsequently directed Advocacy and Research for the San Francisco Food Bank working primarily on cross-sector partnerships to improve the federal food stamp and school lunch programs. She holds BA degrees from Boston University in Political Science and Psychology and a Masters in Public Policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
Peter Herz, Director, is a serial entrepreneur, board member and advisor to early stage companies. He was forced to confront his relationship to food due to a set of chronic medical conditions. By turning his attention to food and agriculture he was able to address these conditions without medication, and is now committed to addressing the root causes for poor health that lie within the current food system. He previously served as CEO of irisnote, a SaaS based application provider for scientists to manage their research, interim President of the biological simulation company Entelos, and founding CEO of 3ware, a revolutionary data storage company sold to AMCC. Prior to co-founding 3ware, Peter ran North American Consulting for Synopsys and managed customer engineering for Siemens Semiconductor’s (now Infineon Technologies AG) North American embedded control business. He has broad international experience including a startup in Munich, Germany and managing sales and partnerships in both Europe and Asia. Peter also serves as a member of the board of directors of Kendall Investments, a private equity fund-of-funds company and previously IPextreme, Inc., a semiconductor intellectual property company. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and completed A-levels at Eastbourne College, Sussex, United Kingdom.
Peter Herz, Director, is a serial entrepreneur, board member and advisor to early stage companies. He was forced to confront his relationship to food due to a set of chronic medical conditions. By turning his attention to food and agriculture he was able to address these conditions without medication, and is now committed to addressing the root causes for poor health that lie within the current food system. He previously served as CEO of irisnote, a SaaS based application provider for scientists to manage their research, interim President of the biological simulation company Entelos, and founding CEO of 3ware, a revolutionary data storage company sold to AMCC. Prior to co-founding 3ware, Peter ran North American Consulting for Synopsys and managed customer engineering for Siemens Semiconductor’s (now Infineon Technologies AG) North American embedded control business. He has broad international experience including a startup in Munich, Germany and managing sales and partnerships in both Europe and Asia. Peter also serves as a member of the board of directors of Kendall Investments, a private equity fund-of-funds company and previously IPextreme, Inc., a semiconductor intellectual property company. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and completed A-levels at Eastbourne College, Sussex, United Kingdom.