Olivia Tincani
Food and Agriculture Business Consultant
Olivia Tincani is a food and agriculture business consultant and educator with 20 years of experience in the field. Olivia Tincani & Co. provides business, financial and strategic planning and technical assistance for small-scale independent farms, ranches, food businesses, and the institutions that service them. She has specific expertise in entrepreneurial empowerment for farmers and ranchers, program and curriculum design, livestock businesses, whole animal supply chains, communications, and community building. An ambitious spirit infuses her teaching and consulting work, inspired by her personal entrepreneurial endeavors. She currently directs business programming for Fibershed, Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest Incubator, and the nascent Grazing School of the West. Past projects include work with venerated organizations such as Glynwood and Pie Ranch, alongside independent coaching for a roster of small and mid-scale sustainable farms. She served as a Business Strategist and Communications Director for 8 years for Rancho Llano Seco. Alongside farm and ranch operations, she has deep history in food business as well: was the co-founder of food service management company Fare Resources and founder of Farm 255 and Farm Burger, landmark restaurant /farm enterprises operating restaurants alongside co-owned vegetable and pasture-based livestock farms. She is on the Advisory Boards of the National Farm Viability Conference and Bernoulli Finance, and was a founding Board member of Kitchen Table Advisors. Olivia splits time between Sonoma County (CA) and her husband’s family farm and winery in the Valtènesi region of Italy, with her hands in the dirt and her skin in the game.
Anjali Oberoi
Financial Strategy and Operations
Anjali Oberoi is an incurable chocoholic, food enthusiast, and environmentalist with extensive experience in financial strategy and operations. Anjali founded Bernoulli Finance to address critical gaps at fast-growing ecologically-minded companies, helping them record, monitor, and use their financial data for better decision making and long term planning. She is a Finance & Operations Instructor at the Food Craft Institute. Previously she was a Partner/CFO at Fare Resources, a values-driven food service management company, and prior to that was the CFO at Belcampo, a food production and farming company with operations across California, Belize, and Uruguay. Her prior experience spans management consulting for multinationals, financial planning and analysis for small enterprises, and business concept development for seed stage ventures across multiple industries. Her progressive specialization in the food sector stems from an early and unrelenting passion for the history, economics, and production of good chocolate. Anjali holds an MBA in International Business and MS in Finance from Temple University, and an MTech and BTech in Biochemical Engineering & Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. She is bilingual, in English and Hindi, and has a working knowledge of Arabic and Spanish.
Poppy Davis
Business and Policy Adviser
Poppy Davis is a business and policy adviser to agricultural and food and beverage enterprises, and to nonprofits and local governments. She provides training and technical assistance on issues such as business formation, land tenure, value-added inventory, accounting and taxation, federal programs, and nonprofit management. She works directly with nonprofits, associations, and local governments to help them develop financial and managerial capacity and programs to improve the environment for farming, ranching, and healthy food access. She worked eight years at the USDA, most recently as the National Program Leader for Small Farms and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers. Previously she was a California CPA with an emphasis in agricultural enterprises and non-profits. She holds a Juris Doctor with a Certificate in Food and Agriculture from Drake University Law School, a Masters in Journalism from Georgetown, and a BS in Agricultural Economics from the University of California at Davis.
Rod Ofte
Rod Ofte is a fourth-generation rancher who operates a rotational grazing operation on 400 acres near Coon Valley, WI. He has around 30 cow-calf pairs and grass finishes approximately 100 head per year that he sells direct to consumers and to the Wisconsin Grass-fed Beef Cooperative. He also raises pastured pork and range free layers. He holds a BS from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, and an MBA from Boston University. Mr. Ofte has over 25 years of experience in the food industry including time working in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He is President of Norse Group Consulting and has been the General Manager of the Wisconsin Grass-fed Beef Cooperative since its inception in 2008.
Nathan Burke
Nathan Burk prides himself in supporting the niche meat industry. Over the past decade Nathan has garnered a breadth of experience working in various segments of the cattle and meat industries. From cow/calf and seedstock operations to packing plants and meat retail settings, Nathan is passionate about providing both strategy and solutions. Equally comfortable in the branding pens and the butcher shop, Nathan can also brings value in the board room. Nathan has a strong creative drive and is focused on providing business driven strategies for his clients. Nathan has a belief that butchery can be less intimidating and more accessible. Nathan has a BA in Environmental Studies and is currently based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nathan is creating a Legacy for his vision and purpose with his wife and three young boys.
Camas Davis
Good Meat Project Founder
In 2009, Camas Davis, a ten-year veteran magazine editor and food and travel writer, traveled to Gascony in southwest France to study the art of butchery and charcuterie with a family of pig farmers and butchers. Upon her return she founded the Portland Meat Collective, a one-of-a-kind meat school and culinary resource that has changed the way citizens of Portland, Oregon, think about their food, their community, and their local food economy. In 2014, Davis launched the Good Meat Project in order to spread Meat Collective-style education across the country. Camas continues to write about her experiences in the world of meat, including stories for the radio show, This American Life and Elle magazine. Davis and the Portland Meat Collective have also been the subject of media stories from the New York Times Magazine to Martha Stewart Living. She is also the author of Killing It, a memoir about her adventures in the world of meat. Camas lives in Portland, Oregon.
Jonathan Packman
Business Management & Organizational Development Consultant and Executive Coach
Jonathan is a consultant and executive coach based in Berkeley, California. His first paid job was washing dishes in a Chinese Restaurant when he was 13, and has been working with food in one way or another ever since. He is the former CEO of Atkins Ranch, a New Zealand lamb producer with processing, distribution, marketing and sales operations in California, and the former CMO of vertically integrated meat producer Belcampo. Jonathan has over 20 years of retail food industry experience working with national and regional chains including Whole Foods Market, Safeway and HEB. In his consulting practice Jonathan has worked closely with founder and family-led food producers. Jonathan’s consulting work focuses on shaping highly functional organizations and identifying and planning for specific, achievable, measurable goals. He is currently training towards licensure as a Marriage & Family Therapist and Professional Clinical Counselor. He earned a Master of Management in Hospitality degree from Cornell University, a Master in Counseling Psychology degree at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA, and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont. When he’s not working, Jonathan can be found training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or grilling in his backyard. Jonathan lives with his wife, Liz, two teenage sons and two unemployed (but very happy) border collies.
Marissa Taylor
Business Manager, Northway Ranch Services
