Kalera Inc.

With well over 20 years of industry experience, Jim will provide us with dedicated and steadfast leadership as we pursue our strategic global growth vision. Jim most recently served as Chief Executive Officer for Ingham’s Group, the largest integrated poultry producer across Australia and New Zealand supplying foodservice, retail, and wholesale entities. Prior to that, he served as Chief Operating Officer, Interim CEO, and Director at Boulder Brands where he played a key role scaling the business and selling it to Pinnacle Foods. He also spent seven years at Perdue Farms, including serving as President of the global Food Group. James holds an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management, and a BA in Business Administration and Industrial Relations from the University of Iowa.

As Chief Operating Officer for Kalera, Austin brings nearly two decades of executive experience in both large public and private companies, including Target, Aldi, Delek US and Shamrock Foods. As an executive of Fortune 500 companies, Austin, who holds an MBA in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University, has successfully built and led high performing teams to scale businesses and return shareholder value. As a leadership team executive with Delek US, a Fortune 500 vertically integrated refining company, Austin developed revenue growth strategies and supply chain optimization initiatives that helped to turn around a multibillion-dollar retail unit leading to a strategic divestiture that returned multiples well above the industry average.

As Chief Science Officer for Kalera, Dr. Cristian Toma brings over 30 years of R&D experience. Prior to founding Kalera in 2010, Dr. Toma worked in the biomedical and telecom industries with Fortune 500 companies such as Becton Dickinson and Lucent Technologies and with several biomedical device start-ups, in various technology development and R&D management positions. He holds a Ph.D. in Electronics Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and a Professional Doctorate (PDEng) in Software Technology from Eindhoven University of Technology. Dr. Toma has several patents and patent applications, has lectured advanced courses in signal and image processing, and has co-authored several peer-reviewed scientific articles. Additionally, Dr. Toma serves on the Advisory Board of University of Florida’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department.

As Chief Human Resources Officer for Kalera, Keri has experience as a global business strategist developing people and culture in entrepreneurial environments. Gasiorowski is the founder of Keri Laine Consulting, which provided consulting and advisory services to individuals and businesses internationally. Prior to that she was an adjunct professor at Rollings College in Orlando, Florida teaching MBA courses. In the past decade, Gasiorowski has specialized in helping technology, manufacturing, and engineering companies with entrepreneurial, innovative success. She has served as Head of Human Resources for Luminar Technologies, executive vice president (EVP) of Human Resources for MSouth Equity Partners, Vice President of Human Resources for Park Square Homes, Regional Director of Human Resources for Meritage Homes and Senior Director of HR for Digital Risk. Gasiorowski holds has a Masters in Human Resource Management and a Bachelor in Organizational Behavior from Rollings College. 

As Chief Marketing Officer for Kalera, Aric Nissen brings more than 20 years of senior leadership experience and award-winning expertise engaging customers and building brands. Nissen joins Kalera from Restaurant Technologies where he served as Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Revenue Optimization for Subway® and spent over four years as a management consulting executive with Accenture Digital. Aric began his career with International Dairy Queen Inc. where he was ​​responsible for menu strategy, market testing, product launch advertising and brand management. He earned the nickname “CEO of Blizzard” for his efforts to increase awareness and sales of the brand’s flagship products resulting in a sales increase from $400MM to over $800MM in less than five years.

As Chief Commercial Officer for Kalera, Henner brings over 20 years of strategy, consultancy, and executive leadership experience. Schwarz began his career as a Manager for Bain & Company. After leaving management consultancy, Henner served as the Managing Director for Planet Sports and the CFO and COO for 21sportsgroup. Prior to becoming CCO for Kalera, Henner served as CEO of &ever. Henner’s diverse experience in consultancy, strategy, and executive leadership ensure Kalera is strategically investing in key products and markets across the globe.

As Chief Financial Officer for Kalera, Fernando Cornejo Brings over 25 years of finance experience, including 15 years as banker for M&A and capital raising at Citibank, Bear Stearns, and Credit Suisse. Later he worked for 4 years as CFO for Argo's International Specialty Segment where he became CFO for Argo Re, a reinsurer in Bermuda with a total of USD 6.5 billion assets under maanagement. After Argo, Fernando became Chief Financial Officer for Exin Group, a private equity fund created by Calamos Investments to target investments in financial services. Fernando holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering from ITESM and an MBA from Georgetown University.

As co-founder and President for Vindara, a fully owned subsidiary of Kalera, Dr. Stinson's AgTech experience includes executive leadership as Chief Scientific Officer of AgTech Accelerator, a venture development group, where she sourced transformational technologies and provided scientific diligence for investments. Dr. Stinson has additional executive leadership experience serving as
Head of Global Operations for BASF’s Professional and Specialty Solutions business. Dr. Stinson Cofounded Vindara, a company that delivers seeds specifically designed for use in vertical indoor farms. Vindara functions as the key to pushing market projections even further, removing limitations that traditional seeds impose and giving growers, retailers, and consumers even greater control over their produce.

Dr. Stinson holds a Ph.D in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Manchester, UK, an MBA from Manchester Business School, UK, an MS in Instrumentation and Analytical Science from UMIST, UK and a BS in Biomedical Science.