Our People and Our Supporters

Food Ladder Projects Changing the way asutralia eats

It all starts with people

Alex Shead

Chairman and Co-Founder, Director, Board Member

Alex has been a passionate entrepreneurial business leader for more than 35 years. It’s his passion to create lasting social change which led him to establish ‘Fair Business’ in 2008 which evolved into Food Ladder in 2012. The vision was to tackle inequality, food security and environmental issues on a global scale.

Alex has also been a founder of numerous insurance businesses and is the current Chairman of Ocean Underwriting as well as Director of Pacific Green Group, a renewable energy company.

Kelly McJannett

CEO and Co-Founder, Executive Director

Kelly McJannett is a visionary social entrepreneur and global trailblazer in harnessing AI technology for the greater good of humanity. Kelly is an experienced and passionate leader in multidisciplinary approaches to addressing societal challenges having pioneered highly scalable, place-based, turnkey agri-solutions.

Co-founder and CEO of Food Ladder, Kelly has a laser-like focus on the next generation. Together with her team she is employing the power of AI coupled with the physical structure of hydroponic greenhouses in reaching remote schools to promote education, health and economic participation with a holistic focus on wellbeing.

Kelly holds a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Technology Sydney, and an MBA from The University of Sydney Business Schoo where she was awarded the David Anstice MBA Scholarship for Community Leadership. Kelly has also attended INSEAD for Executive Management in Social Entrepreneurship.

Accolades include The University of Sydney Dean’s Prize and Leadership Excellence Award. She was named in Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review and recently won the AACSB Global Influential Leaders Award. Kelly is a member of the University of Sydney Business School Board of Advice.

Jane Clifford

Director Board Member

Jane has worked in public education for more than 20-years. Her commitment to social justice and philanthropy has already helped multiple not-for-profit organisations – including Room To Read, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and The Bright Spots Schools Connection. As a Director of the JAAM Foundation since June 2012, Jane has helped support organisations in the arts, education, health, domestic violence, and the environment. We were so pleased she joined the Board of Food Ladder in July 2019.

Darren Milne

Director Board Member

Darren is a specialist in writing strategic direction, growth planning and complex implementation. His extensive business contacts and considerable expertise is drawn mainly from the insurance industry. In a 40-year career, he completed eight broker acquisitions – managed integrating processes and driving ongoing business success. His entrepreneurial approach has helped Food Ladder adapt to our challenge of straddling both education and corporate environments.

Sudeep Gohil

Director Board Member

Sudeep is a strategy, marketing and branding specialist with over 25 years of global experience. Having started out in Australia, Sudeep’s career has seen him work in Singapore, Japan, England, the USA and India. He has worked with brands such as Nike, Adidas, CUB, Coca Cola, Qantas, Telstra, Tiger Beer, Levi’s and Instagram, and with agencies including BBH, W+K, Droga5, and Publicis.

Currently, Sudeep is a partner at KPMG, where he leads the Creative, Reputation and Insights practices in the Customer Advisory part of the Consulting Division. He joined the Board of Food Ladder in 2024 to throw his branding smarts behind a vision he believes in.

Mike Abbott

Director Board Member

Mike Abbott is currently a Partner at Antler. He is a finance guy turned start-up junkier. He joined Uber pre-Australia launch and loved every minute of the next 6 years building the company Across Australia and NZ. He co-founded Kaddy – a B2B marketplace platform for the beverages industry (at least initially). Mike is passionate about using tech to revolutionise real world operations, scaling businesses, hiring and developing the very best talent and team culture. He joined the board of Food Ladder in 2024 as the NGO sets its course for scale.

Lucy Payne

Head of Partnerships

Unusual among investment experts, Lucy has a passion for food, nutrition, and sustainability. Before joining Food Ladder, she was Head of Clients at an Australian trading platform. It’s the perfect grounding for engaging with our invaluable partners and donors. Lucy has been critical to the success of our School Rollout Program –an important focus for Food Ladder in the year ahead. Lucy believes Food Ladder is a positive catalyst for helping school children understand the importance of fresh produce, good nutrition, and healthy eating.

Michelle Brownstein

Head of Philanthropy

Michelle is a strong believer in the power of philanthropy to create change. She is passionate about improving Australia’s health landscape and believes Food Ladder’s approach to addressing food insecurity will generate real results for vulnerable communities. Michelle has built a strong reputation as a highly effective leader by combining integrity with strategic ability. She has unique blend of nutritional knowledge, management experience, and communication skills. Michelle is determined to ensure everyone has access to healthy and nutritious food.

Dylan Male

Head of Food Systems

Dylan is an agricultural scientist committed to the fight against global food insecurity. This fight began from a young age, when he witnessed the devastation triggered by the millennium drought on his family farm in rural NSW. Dylan believes Food Ladder is uniquely placed to improve the resilience of our food systems in the face of the climate crisis. More than that, Dylan advocates that the true power of Food Ladder is within the ability to reconnect us with our food and where it comes from; something so intrinsic to us as humans but, to our detriment, largely lost in modern society.

As a PhD graduate of the University of Melbourne, Dylan holds a deep understanding of the complex agronomic science that underpins crop production. He has a talent to communicate this science in a simplified way to equip us all with the skills and knowledge to grow healthy and nutritious food. Dylan is also excited about how Food Ladder can empower youth towards a career in STEM.