The Team
Nature
#1 Shareholder
Mark Drewell
Executive Chairman
P. Mark Drewell M.A. (OXON), FRSA brings a wealth of expertise and business experience from a career as a change agent and innovator.
His agriculture and land management experience includes seven years chairing a 35,000-hectare mixed farming, conservation and tourism enterprise in South Africa as well as co-owning a 700 hectare farm and conference centre where he applied regenerative farming to restore degraded land and improve economic performance. He has also served in the UK as a director of the Biodynamic Land Trust which owns and manages farms for ecological outcome. In a wider conservation context, he has chaired the largest local environmental NGO in Southern Africa which pioneered techniques of working with farmers to improve conservation and social impacts while simultaneously making them more economically productive.
Educated at Oxford University, Mark’s business career included a decade on the executive committee of a South African multinational with operations in 30+ countries including across Europe. As the executive responsible for investor relations in two listed companies, he has worked extensively with investors worldwide. He has served in numerous leadership roles in society including Founding Chair and CEO of the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative – 100 global companies and business schools transforming leadership development at the world’s 20,000 business schools. He has served advisory boards at The University of Pretoria, South Africa, The University of Cumbria, UK and The Business School of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Professionally, Mark is also a brand and communications expert and served on the board of the 14,000-member International Association of Business Communicators, also chairing their world conference. In thought leadership, he is co-author of The Rise of the Meaningful Economy. Its ground-breaking insights explore how meaning has become a new currency changing our economic choices in terms of what we buy, where we work, how we invest and how we run our organisations.
Marcus Link
CEO
Marcus Link BA (Open), DipRS, CertHum, FRSA is an entrepreneur who has led a range of agricultural projects which inform his thinking around what is possible and the opportunity gap from conventional practices.
At Riverford Farm Foods (which is the market leader in organic vegetable box schemes in the UK), he was instrumental in scaling up the meat box home delivery side of the business from a small local scheme to a major national player. He has established a Masters programme Researching Agroecology at Crossfields Institute and led the planning and bid phase of a biodynamic community-supported agriculture scheme (CSA) on the Dartington Hall Estate in Devon. He recently co-authored for the national Food, Farming & Countryside Commission a substantial research piece on the economic dimensions and bankability of agroecological approaches with regard to the creation of an Agroecology Development Bank in the UK.
Marcus brings a deep for-purpose mindset and an entrepreneurial drive to New Foundation Farms. He has developed his skills in a series of business opportunities in new technologies and emerging industries at executive and board level. His experience covers start-up, high-growth and turnaround situations across food and farming, digital platforms, renewable energy, education and cultural organisations.
In his early career, Marcus co-founded the vertical online marketplace windpoweronline.com and the ecommerce development and digital marketing agency Vu Online Ltd.
From 2012 to 2019, first as chairman of the board then as chair of the executive leadership team, Marcus led the restructure and turnaround of an alternative co-educational independent day and boarding school.
Marcus studied philosophy, religious studies and business. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
Wayne Gibbins
COO/CTO
Wayne is a business technologist with a 20 year career in the software industry. He has worked across both various functions and geographies, covering Engineering, Product, Marketing, Management and Leadership. He has worked in roles across the UK, Europe and the United States.
Wayne spent three years as a Venture Capitalist at Notion Capital examining companies in the space of B2B SaaS, Enterprise Software, Artificial Intelligence and Developer Tooling. He was Chief Commercial Officer at Wercker and supported its fundraising, growth and final sale to Oracle Corporation.
Following a sabbatical period where he researched such topics as community, permaculture and regenerative agriculture he has retargeted his career to focus on Agriculture and brings scientific rigour, technological understanding and an innovation mindset to the industry.
He is digging deep into scientific and technological solutions to accelerate the transition of farming to regenerative including current participation in an MSc Agricultural Technology & Innovation at the Royal Agricultural University and working closely with AgriFood Tech businesses through his advisory work. Throughout the last 10 years he has advised a variety of companies on topics such as technology, strategy and operations, both directly and through a variety of leading business accelerators.
Whilst his Masters’ degree is in Agriculture he holds a Bachelor’s Degree, Software Engineering (BEng) from Manchester, and brings a broad knowledge of technologies and approaches to their utilisation to solve industry problems.
He has particular interests in Soil Science, Artificial Intelligence, AgTech, the Future of Food and the Future of Agriculture and brings those interests together for New Foundation Farms as our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer COO/CTO designate, ensuring farming operations are conducted efficiently and effectively by the appropriate use of science, technology and ecologically centred processes.
Wayne is a member of international networks Global Regeneration CoLab & Top Tier Impact and is a student member of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers (IAE), British Society of Soil Science and the British Institute of Agricultural Consultants.
Kirsty Saddler
CMO
Kirsty is a strategist, marketer and advocate for impact based strategies in business. She has worked for 15 years at creative agencies in London and New York, working on brands such as Unilever, Sony, BBC and Volkswagen to develop award-winning brand, marketing and communications strategies. This was during a time when more and more valid questions were emerging about the purpose of brands and the impact of business, both environmentally and socially. These questions gave Kirsty the added motivation she needed to go and explore this more deeply, through an MSc in Sustainability and Responsibility at Hult Business School.
After establishing an in-agency consultancy to advise clients on their social and environmental impact strategies, leading to projects with the likes of Barclays and BA, this journey got cut short by an introduction to the co-founder and CEO of LEON restaurants. Kirsty joined the Naturally Fast Food business to work as Brand & Marketing Director for three years, overseeing international restaurant expansion, menu development and a range of partnerships. After a hiatus to run a consultancy working with the UN Women Unstereotype Alliance, she rejoined LEON to focus on sustainability and the development of a food-loving community of change makers.
A passionate believer in the potential of food to help us lead lives that are healthier and happier, Kirsty is really engaged in the challenge of realising that potential, through how we reconnect with the soil we live on, grow food on and ultimately depend on.
In her soil research, she discovered regenerative agriculture and, in particular, an article by Mark Drewell and Marcus Link that so inspired her that she contacted them.
Six months later, she joined New Foundation Farms to help pursue the mission to transform our food system.
Paul Pizzalla
CIO
Paul brings a unique mix of skills and experience to the team from his career in investment and fund management, at Heartwood Wealth Management and WHEB Group to his deep dive into ecological complexity and systems thinking gained through his MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College.
Paul has taken an entrepreneurial route since 2013, raising finance for local renewable energy projects at TRESOC, starting an NGO, The Climate Map, in the US and developing the market for leading edge carbon drawdown technologies with Rainbow Bee Eater in Australia.
Stefano Semprini
Associate Researcher
Stefano enjoys building bridges between the natural world and human-centered design. He applies a biomimetic lens to all challenges, drawing on the first principles demonstrated by the evolution of life on earth. He is a specialised generalist, focussing on three areas of expertise: Biomimicry, communication and governance, and regenerative design – currently as it applies to agriculture.
Stefano is trained as a mechatronic engineer (BEng), and his work began in mechanical design, followed by business development and project management in the solar energy industry. He has years of experience dealing with the pragmatics of on-farm, rural life.
As a Biomimicry Practitioner, Stefano solves form-, process- and system-based challenges by applying the philosophy and practice of Biomimicry. This is a design discipline and methodology based on learning from all of biological life, what we call “nature”.
Stefano recognises that all challenges, particularly those arising when organisations scale, entail solutions arising from communication and governance. He has therefore placed a personal emphasis on learning and practising effective communication techniques and team-building strategies. Stefano’s growth-orientated mindset catalyses the teams he works with.
During a recent sabbatical period, Stefano learned from and worked with the innovators in successional agroforestry (Syntropic Farming), assisted the restructuring of a farm-to-fork organic food enterprise, and consulted with numerous start-ups and NGOs. Through these experiences, Stefano has learned to identify drivers of and obstacles to growth.
Glyn Jones
Associate Developer
Hi, I’m Glyn. I’m a professional software engineer with over 10 years experience working for various companies from a web design agency to an innovative healthcare startup.
Technology has profoundly changed all of our lives through disruptive innovation such as the internet, search engines, and the rise of social media. I see the same disruption having a positive impact on agriculture. There has never been more information available to us than at this very moment in history and it stands to reason that we should know more about the soil beneath our feet.
A project which I am still actively involved with has cemented the adage to me that “you can only improve what you can measure”. It involves collecting readings from electrical equipment and applying statistical modelling to determine its overall health. This has already revealed many previously hidden issues from what would appear on the surface to be a healthy piece of equipment. I feel the same can be applied to agriculture to empirically show that a regenerative approach can improve topsoil health, biodiversity, and much more.
I care passionately about the environment. For a long time I’ve been aware of my own disconnect with the food that I eat and the journey it has been on to arrive on my plate. Crucially, the environmental impact durings its journey is hidden. I believe that while it’s important that people should be aware of the impact, the time has come to be bold and to fundamentally change the food production system as it stands today so that we can all benefit.
I am pleased to be involved with a group that wants to prove that a regenerative approach can work commercially.
Edmund Sutcliffe
Associate Regenerative Farm Planner & Designer
Edmund Sutcliffe MChem (Oxon) brings a great deal of practical experience which comes from living and working on a family farm, managing a suckler herd of Aberdeen Angus X cattle. An internship with Richard Perkins gave him experience of managing small-scale, intensive, regenerative enterprises and provided him with training in Keyline Design, financial planning and farm design.
Edmund has used this training and the REX course offered by Darren Doherty as a base from which to develop further skills in whole farm planning and design.
Whilst studying Chemistry at Oxford, Edmund discovered permaculture which convinced him that the biological sciences were more appropriate for a sustainable agriculture. This led to the study of root exudates and rhizosphere interactions for his MChem, followed by detailed analysis of the incredible complexity of soil.
Edmund is qualified as an Accredited Professional and Trainer in Holistic Management, having completed the training in Holistic Management with Chris and Sheila Cooke. He is also an Ecological Outcome Verification Monitor with the Savory Institute.
Strategic Partners
International Advisory Group
Christopher Cooke
Holistic Management & Whole Systems Thinking
Christopher is Managing Director of 5 Deep Limited (Incorporated April 2001) a specialist change management company that was established as an experiment to explore the leading edge of the science and practice of complexity-aware organisational and social change.
In 2015, 5 Deep was appointed as the as the sole UK’s hub organisation for the Savory Institute under the brand 3LM. Christopher is both an accredited educator and full field professional with Savory Institute.
A water engineer by background, Christopher is an expert coach, mentor, trainer and facilitator who works at the cutting edge of innovation and change in multiple arenas from technologies to organisational development. He also advises on and delivers advanced training for the owners and trainers of Erickson Coaching International for whom he has recently delivered programmes in China and The Crimea.
Christopher brings a wealth of broad and specialised experience and expertise in his support for New Foundation Farms. His notable past strategic leadership roles have included:
- The implementation of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for the recording of underground assets across Yorkshire (1989 – 2003);
- Board level Change Agent, Yorkshire Water (1992 – 1997);
- Managing Director, based in S E Asia, of a UK Water Company / Australian Mining Conglomerate, Joint Venture in S E Asia (1994 to 1996);
- Large-scale social-change pilots in former coalfield areas in Yorkshire (1997-2000);
- Strategic design and implementation of NHS Health Action Zones across the UK (1998 – 2001);
- The design and implementation of Full Spectrum Thought Leadership training and education (1998 – current);
- Managing Director of a Swiss Research Company (2004-2005);
- Mentor, Strategic Advisor and Practice Manager for a UK Home Building Company (2003 to 2008);
- The strategic redesign, leadership mentoring, and facilitation of the re-creation of a medical school in the Texas Medical Centre, Houston (2004-2007);
- The establishment of large-scale social engagement known as Be the Change in the UK and USA (2004-2007);
- Interim CEO (2008-2012) of a UK Foundation, with two Australian subsidiaries, focused on the recovery and regeneration of soil following the failure of conventional farming methods during profound drought in New South Wales Australia;
- Technical and Regenerative practice advisor in institutional funds placement (2009-2012).
Michael Boyle
Farm Retail
Michael’s love of food and farming started at an early age. His grandad owned a small plot of land where he reared animals, milked goats and lived off the land, the good life. It stuck with Michael and after some time working within the agricultural sector he made his move into food retail. He began by creating a new farm shop with a close friend in Nottinghamshire over 18 years ago. From there Michael progressed his career and became Head of Retail at one of the largest farm shops in the country. He helped the brand to grow and with his specialist knowledge in fresh food production and retail the business grew to a decent £21m turnover.
During his time working in the industry, Michael also studied Strategic Management and Leadership. All this experience gave Michael the knowledge and expertise to start Fresh Retail Group, 3 years ago. The company has gone from strength to strength and now helps advise clients with a combined annual turnover in excess of £50m. It has also helped to steer new projects with investments in excess of £15m.
Michael believes that great tasting, local, sustainable food, sold by experienced, passionate people is key and his knowledge of how to do this commercially but sympathetically for the farmer, the local community, the team and the customer makes for a better future.
Walter Jehne
Soil Microbiology & Climate Science
An internationally recognised Australian climate scientist, soil microbiologist and innovation strategist, Walter Jehne was one of the early researchers on glomalin, mycorrhizal fungi, and root ecology. Walter worked for three decades at CSIRO (the Australian government’s scientific research organization), with the UN, and with NGOs such as Regenerate Earth and Healthy Soils Australia to create global change in food systems and climate response. He is also a member of The Mulloon Institute’s Science Advisory Council.
Walter has a remarkable ability to explain complex science and economic paths forward in easy to understand ways, and is passionate about educating farmers, policymakers and industry about the “soil carbon sponge” and its crucial role in reversing and mitigating flooding, drought, wildfires, and searing global temperatures. His message is that we can safely cool the climate and restore essential biodiversity by repairing our disrupted hydrological cycles. We thus return excess carbon to the soils, where it can build a sponge that soaks up water and revives the biosphere.
To cool the planet, Walter argues, we must work with the dominant greenhouse gas: water vapour. CO2 by itself only governs a small percentage of the greenhouse effect. Water and its interactions govern 95% of the heat dynamics of our planet and its role in climate control has been ignored for far too long.
His ideas are influential internationally and, for example, led to a focus on soil in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reporting.
For more about Walter:
Sheila Cooke
Ecological Assessment, Education & Training
Sheila Cooke is the lead Director for 3LM, which acts as the Savory Institute hub for the UK and Ireland. As a Savory Institute accredited educator and Field Professional, she educates and advises farmers and business leaders in Holistic Management: a framework which informs high-quality decision-making, by providing people the insights and management tools needed to work with a full awareness of nature.
She holds an MBA in international business, and a BA in sociology/anthropology, and worked in international business for twenty years, including 5 years as a general manager in Japan. This was followed by a career as a facilitator and educator which led her to become a customer of 5 Deep Limited in 2011.
She is a qualified trainer for the Institute of Cultural Affairs in Chicago, and developed and facilitated courses at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN) in Rome.
Sheila is really inspired by 3LM’s network of producers, brands and retailers, professionals, and consumers who seek, through constant innovation, to change the paradigm of farming from extractive to regenerative.
Through 5 Deep Limited, working with Christopher, she has been developing plans for the large-scale adoption of Regenerative Agriculture across Europe since the development of the 3LM offering in 2014.
Leonardo Valletas
Business Strategy
Leonardo has founded and managed a variety of organisations in more than twelve countries on four different continents, focusing his energy and passion the last few years advising Family offices and HNWI’s in the UK on the Renewable energy sector, Farming, F&B and Wellness.
With initial studies in Microelectronic Engineering & Computer Science and an MSc in Global Management, he is linking Strategy, Operations and Technology with Impact Investing and Social Innovation.
Kevin Wissett-Warner
Estate Management
Kevin has spent the last 35 years in Estate Management, overseeing projects and providing strategic advice on over one million acres in the United Kingdom and Europe.
His management expertise extends beyond farming to forestry and amenity woodland, wildlife and game including fisheries, and the plethora of detail in the various agri-environment schemes currently in place in Great Britain. Kevin’s love of farming started whilst still at school milking cows at week-ends, before going on to three periods at Agricultural College, including Cirencester. In between, he worked for one of the original Farmer’s Weekly farms as well as practical spells on Market Gardens and pick your own establishments. He then worked for an environmental charity for 14 years advising farmers and landowners with the last six as a director on the Board. He is now a trustee of the leading organic gardening charity, Garden Organic.
For the last 20 years, Kevin has run his own estate management consultancy, concentrating on the relationship between farming, wildlife and game. Out of this came the realisation that food production needs to change and a close study of regenerative practice and a recent immersion in a 3LM Holistic Management course has given him renewed excitement and vision for the future of land management.
Away from his rural life Kevin enjoys watching cricket and rugby, his playing days sadly gone. He also thoroughly enjoys surprising clients by arriving for meetings on his motorcycle.
Misa Lukic
Business Strategy
Misa Lukic is one of the most prominent brand and business leaders in Europe. He is an expert in business design and combines business strategy and creativity together in the ground breaking Business Sapiens approach he has co-created and executes through his company New Startegy.
Misa was previously Chief Executive Officer of Publicis One for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) including the Baltics, Greece, Turkey and some Central Asia countries. For two consecutive years, 30 countries under Misa’s leadership achieved the highest growth and profit, not only within Publicis One Worldwide (95 countries), but the entire Publicis Group (2016 – 2018).
Over the 25 years, Misa has become a “business rockstar” who has led five marketing communications agencies. He is a lecturer, speaker and panelist on numerous international conferences, events and post-graduate courses. He is a philanthropist and humanitarian.
A multi-faceted source of inspiration and expertise, his many public awards include:
- Honorary Ambassador of Knowledge, Life Learning Academia, Slovenia
- Benchmarked with numerous awards from the most recognized creative festivals in the world: Cannes Lions, Cresta, Eurobest, Epica, Moscow Red Apple, FAB awards, EACA Care Awards, Golden Drum
- Ranked among Top 100 Business Leaders of South-East Europe – Summit100
Sue Ralphs
Strategy & Organisational Culture
Sue has had a diverse and extensive career as a senior manager and director. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, she led the international finance team in Oxfam at a watershed moment in the organisation’s history before becoming Finance Director at a national women’s organisation.
She went on to join the social business sector with the Ethical Property Company where she was FD, then Managing Director for eight years. She brings a wealth of experience of managing teams, working with boards and leading strategic change, as well as procuring social investment and growing one of the UK’s leading social investment organisations.
Sue holds roles of non-executive Director and Board Chair in the family business and social enterprise sectors.
