People

Alex is a co-founder and executive director at Pacific Green Technologies Inc., a public quoted US emissions control company. As an entrepreneur CEO, Alex has been a founder of numerous insurance businesses including Stuart Alexander in the UK and Winsure in Australia, both of which were sold to public quoted companies. Alex is also the Executive Chairman of Lockton Australia.

Alex conceived of and established Fair Business in 2008 in order to use his experience in business to create lasting social change. From this foundation in 2010, together with Kelly McJannett, Food Ladder was created to tackle inequality, food security and environmental issues on a global scale using the model of social enterprise for scale.

As the CEO of Food Ladder, Kelly has driven the organisation’s growth throughout Indigenous communities in Australia and its international replication across some of the most challenging communities on earth.

With a background in communications and public relations Kelly holds a Bachelor Degree from UTS and recently completed her Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at The University of Sydney, where she held a full scholarship for her leading work in social enterprise development.

Kelly is passionate about creating sustainable solutions for pervasive social issues affecting communities around the world, and galvanising the power and passion of organisations, individuals and governments to do this.

In November 2016, the Australian Financial Review named Kelly among Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women.

With the earth’s growing population, Tate’s goal is to enable Food ladder to implement innovative and effective solutions in the food-energy-water nexus area.

He is passionate about the optimisation and transformation of businesses to eliminate waste, increase efficiencies and reduce resource inputs. Environmental, societal and financial sustainability are his drivers.

Tate is a qualified chemical engineer with a background in program and project management, he has recently completed his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with The University of Sydney.

For the last 20 years, Scott has been a lecturer in Horticulture and Rural Operations for Charles Darwin University, with much of that time as the Head of Department. With a focus on productive and sustainable landscapes, Scott has been involved in numerous projects, including: aquaponic production systems, trials and research of traditional Papua New Guinean vegetables, and an award winning underground water harvesting system for a small production nursery.

Scott has worked with many Indigenous communities, assisting them to establish and maintain food gardens, as well as overseeing the development and daily operations of the food gardens at Charles Darwin University.

To further develop his knowledge across a variety of climates, Scott has volunteered on organic farms and a cultural heritage project in Denmark, organic farms in Italy and a permaculture farm in Sweden. He has also studied the art of dry stone wall construction in Scotland.

Scott’s long-term commitment to sustainable food production and the career development of people of all ages and backgrounds, is what led him to join Food Ladder.

He served as a Farm Manager growing Atlantic Salmon and Ocean Trout on the West Coast of Tasmania, before turning his hand to hydroponics and the emerging berry industry in 2010. Holding the position of Technical Manager at Tasmanian Berries for five years, Nigel has a passion for using hydroponics to combat water wastage and food insecurity.

In 2014, he completed a certificate in Greenhouse Management at Shepparton, Victoria, and the following year attended the Hydroponics and Aquaponics Conference on the Gold Coast. In 2017, Nigel was invited to attend a Berry Plant Physiology workshop in Xishuangbanna, China.

As Food Ladder’s Project Coordinator, Nigel combines his knowledge of sustainable food production with his desire to empower communities through food and economic security.

He has a background in biotechnology, having completed a Bachelor Degree from Bangalore University, as well as a Diploma in Management – Sustainable Development Practices from BIMTECH.

Kumar joined Food Ladder with a view to use his understanding of hydroponics, business management, renewable energy and sustainability to bring socio economic and environmental change to disadvantaged communities in India.

From his roots as a vegetable grower in Victoria, Graeme long-held the position of Foundation Secretary at the Hydroponic Farmers Federation, before becoming the President of the Australia Hydroponic and Greenhouse Association, and most recently completing a tenure of five years as the Chairman of Protected Cropping Australia Ltd. Today Graeme consults on commercial projects internationally and facilitates quarterly training programs across Europe, North America and Asia.

Graeme’s expert insight and counsel is driving technical innovation at Food Ladder and ensuring maximum productivity across its systems in Australia and abroad. In a further commitment to see Food Ladder become ubiquitous worldwide, Graeme has integrated his unique mobile phone application for remote disease diagnostics, meaning communities with Food Ladder systems can identify and treat issues in the greenhouses before they threaten the system’s ecosystem.